15 Simple, Cheap Independent Activities for Little People

I was talking to my friend the other day about some of my favorite easy activities I always have on hand to keep little people busy. There are plenty of fun activities geared toward to the 1-4 year-old crowd, but a lot of those require supervision, and sometimes you don't have 100% of your attention to give, so something like fingerpainting is out. 

I try to keep all of these things within reach in my kitchen, because I usually have to utilize them when I am trying to cook dinner or Josie is very busy with an important project at the table and Genevieve is hell-bent on trying to destroy her project.

Simple toys that have a high success rate in our house and don't require constant supervision include things like blocks, big lacing beads, crayons/coloring books, Little People, stacking anything (cups, nesting blocks, etc.), books, and play food, but sometimes you need to branch out and introduce new things, and why not have it be simple and cheap? 

Here are my (our) favorites:

1. Pots and pans and spoons.

This one is the most obvious, and it is a loud one, but usually one that will keep them busy for quite some time.

2. Tupperware.

Similar to the pots and pans but (usually) more quiet. I keep mine in a low drawer so I can just pull it open and let them rummage around and build or pretend to cook while I am.

3. Ice.

Sure, your kids will get a little wet, and of course it's possible that my kids are just overly obsessed with ice and yours will look at you and be like "What the heck, dude?" but if I give either one a piece of ice, I can count on silence and usually a still child for at least five minutes. Bonus: give them a bowl of ice and the five minutes can extend indefinitely! 

4. Pom pons in a coffee container.

I just cut a hole in the lid and gave them a bunch of pom pons. They put them in, dump them out. Simple and fun. Perhaps the favorite in our house. Genevieve goes and gets this out of the craft cupboard every single day. She's crazy about it.

5. Cotton balls (or pom pons, packing peanuts, or whatever) to put in and out of an empty plastic container with a flip lid.

I use a parmesan cheese container, and our playgroup leader uses those big creamer bottles with a flip lid -- both are a big hit. Similar to pom pons in a coffee container, but easier to manage if your child is trapped secured in his or her highchair at the moment. Again, the putting in and out and figuring out the flip lid are just so fun!

6. STICKERS.

Peel. Stick. Peel. Stick. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Bonus points if you use the free ones in the mail from charities or get them from the dollar store.

7. Pipe cleaners in a colander.

They love poking the pipe cleaners in, making fun patterns, and lacing them in and out of multiple holes. Great for fine motor skills.

8.  Ziploc bag filled with hair gel and doodads. 

Fill a ziploc bag with hair gel and googly eyes, beads, buttons, glitter, or any tiny toy without sharp edges. They love to poke and prod and squish the gel. You can find hair gel, ziplocs, and usually little doodads at the Dollar Store. I recommend taping the zipper side with packing tape or duct tape.

9. Paint in a ziploc bag.

Painting without the mess and need for constant supervision! Again, taping the zipper side is recommended, and you can tape the bag right to a table or tray to keep it still.

10. Cheap vinyl window clings.

I got a big sheet from Dollar Tree and let them have at it, and they were in heaven. Bonus points if you have two big or low windows in nearby rooms. I put half of the clings on the big window in the living room and half on the sliding door in the kitchen to give them options, and they surprised me by carrying them back and forth from room to room for HOURS.

11. Dry erase markers.

Josie LOVES to write and draw, but sometimes if I know my attention is going to be very divided, like when I'm cooking dinner, I'd much rather let her (and especially Genevieve) use dry erase markers since they come off of everything much easier than other markers, pens, or crayons. We have a few dry erase boards from Dollar Tree, but I also really like making my own dry erase sheets. I print off writing practice sheets and put them in clear sheet protectors so she can write the words over and over. There are lots of amazing free printables HERE and you can enter any word HERE and make your own customized printable handwriting practice worksheets. 

12. Peeling tape.

(Stay with me here). Put big long strips of tape on the floor or a table and let them develop some fine motor skills while they try to get it off! Use scotch tape, masking tape, painter's tape, washi tape, or put all different kinds down at once. I happened to have this stripey glittery tape from Dollar Tree, and she was all about it. Then she stuck it to herself, stuck it back on the table, and pulled it back off, over and over and over.

13. Blanket party. 

I know this one sounds a little crazy, but a few months ago I had two cranky little girls on my hands, so I went and collected a bunch of blankets, threw them on the living room floor and shouted "BLANKET PARTY!" They flopped on them, made a mountain with them, and covered themselves and each other up, over and over and over for hours. The next morning the first thing Josie did was ask me for a blanket party (patent pending). Of course, this can lead to tents and forts as well.

14. Playing in the sink.

Now, I know some of you are probably a bit more squeamish about messes involving water, but I tell you, if you can turn a blind eye to puddles for an hour, you will have some busy kids. You can add soap or not, add lots of dishes or a few, ladles, funnels, whatever, just give the kid some water and she's happy as a clam. Sometimes Josie even surprises me and doesn't get a drop of water out of the sink.

15. Bucket of water, dish wand, and windows.

Another slightly wet option has the bonus feature of (possibly) getting your windows clean (somewhat). When Josie was two, I had just bought an extra dishwand and was going to fill it with half Dawn and half vinegar to keep in the tub for cleaning (I adore this method). It was sitting out on the counter and Josie kept asking for it, so I gave her a bowl of water to dip it in and told her to scrub the sliding glass door. She stayed there for AN HOUR. Depending on the age of your kids and how careful they are, you could always add a little vinegar to the water, and when you wipe the windows when they're done, your windows will be sparkling! 

And there you have it! Some of my favorite things to keep the girls busy without fear of paint on the walls or playdough in their tummies. Have fun!

Mother's Day Yardwork

I felt this overwhelming urge to tell you how I spent Mother's Day. (*everyone clicks away to something else*)

Joke's on you! I'm gonna keep writing anyway!

I always have this anxiety about my birthday and Mother's Day. Jeremy says "It's your day! Choose whatever you want to do!" but it's TOO MUCH PRESSURE. I want to do all of the following things simultaneously: 
1) NOTHING. That includes zero parenting. But I want to be around everyone. I want to watch them be parented in a relaxing setting. 
2) BIG! AMAZING! FUN! things with Jeremy and the girls that will take all day and likely be exhausting. 
3) Maybe have some alone time. Sue me. 
4) Have a leisurely day with Jeremy and the girls. Nothing big, just walks and playing and snuggling. 
5) Something productive that I have not been able to do with two monkeys attached to me.

Spoiler alert: You cannot do all these things simultaneously. So, I freak out and never plan anything. 

This year, I slept in, had breakfast and snuggles in bed, did two hours of back-breaking yardwork, went out to lunch, sat in the sun and talked to my mom on the phone, did two more hours of back-breaking yard work, ate a Jeremy-made dinner, snuggled with the girls, then got a backrub and a gin and tonic. Sure, I felt like I had been beat up at the end of the day, and I did have to run out and get a quick tetanus shot during naptime (HA HA HA OMG, kill me. My arm still hurts pretty badly.), but DANG it was a good day. And now I need to show you what my backyard looked like less than two years ago when we moved in and what it looks like now.

Sure, the before picture is pretty bad because I was pissed about closing issues and basically took it over my shoulder as I was walking back into the house on the day we got the keys, and the after picture shows almost nothing in bloom (there were supposed to be about one hundred more tulips and daffodils [no, really, I planted 150], but the squirrels and rabbits had a bad winter, so I can't be too mad.) and the trees looks much nicer with leaves, but LOOKIT:

When we moved in, I discovered that those flower beds were 80% Deadly Nightshade, 15% weird thorny vines, and 5% random crap. Well, shit, am I right?

I spent the first summer slowly digging stuff out and pruning things back, one weekend at a time, and then finally began salvaging non-poisonous and non-spiky plants, moving them to where they could better thrive, and filling the flower beds with plants I purchased and my mother and mother-in-law gave me. My mom helped me SO MUCH, taught me tons, and gave me a lot of what is there today. 

Yesterday I took out the last three huge, dead things things I needed to get out and dug out all the crazy roots, then I added a bajillion plants and bulbs.

In total, I have added:
-Lilac bushes
-Tiger Lilies
-Crocuses
-Tulips
-Daffodils
-Peonies
-Sedum
-Mums
-Hostas
-Trillium (found behind the garage)
-Hyacinths
-Zinnias
-Sweet William (salvaged from another bed)
-Sweet Peas
-English Daisies
-Gladiola
-Narcissum
-Irises
-Allium
-Fiddlehead ferns
-Rhododendron
-Bumble Bee Primrose
-Hibiscus

And that's just the back yard, not the front or side yards. I simply cannot wait to take a picture when everything is in bloom.

Oh, and on top of the satisfaction of getting all my major projects done in the front and back yards, I got to spend my day with my awesome husband and these two sweeties:

I hope you all had an awesome weekend, and I hope you think my backyard is amazing. ;)

Easter, Birthday, Sick, TV, Gardening

Get ready to throw me a pity party -- I've been sick since Easter morning. Luckily, I managed to focus on the children, although we all know that holidays are about cranky adults and not making it magical for children. 

Lots of family events, plus an egg hunt at the library. They had a ball.

It gets worse (for me). The next day was my birthday. sad trombone

I know. My first world problems like looking puffy and gross in my birthday picture are really breaking your heart, right?

Well, it turns out, my husband and kids are so magnificent that they made the day awesome anyway. They are the actual best.

I don't have a lot of deep thoughts about turning 32, so let's see ... what has been new lately?

*****

Jeremy and I finished watching Breaking Bad (slightly behind the times, I know, but it was very satisfying to binge-watch the entire series). Having let the finale sink in for a few days, I feel I can safely say I do NOT agree that it was the best show ever on television. I liked it. Well, I liked it once I got to the fourth season, and then by the last season I started actively hating a certain character and spent entire episodes shaking my head and sighing (between that and me guessing what's about to happen, I am an absolute JOY to watch TV and movies with). And everyone says the finale is fantastic, but I thought it was kind of a snooze compared to other episodes. It makes sense, I guess, since I liked the finale of Dexter even though it seems like everyone else in the world hated it, and I disliked the finale of BB even though everyone says it was the best. I still think it's a show worth watching for the characters alone, but not in my top five.

*****

I'm really itching to plant flowers and veggies, but to be safe I need to wait another month, and it just seems so very far away. Today we went outside and I designated one of the flower beds a "Josie garden." She is going to be in charge of choosing seeds, planting, checking them daily, watering, and weeding. She is GEEKED. While I was saving some Hyacinths that I planted in very poor places last fall and were coming up IN my Trillium instead of being interspersed with them (hey, I tried), Josie dug around in her garden and pulled out all the leaves and aerated the dirt and made sure there were a sufficient number of worms. Genevieve went down the slide a million times then tried to eat some dirt. It was nice to be out of the house, but that hour knocked me right on my butt.

*****

.... Yikes. Not much else is really going on besides me moping and moaning and coughing. I am moving steadily through House on Netflix while I laze about. This show, man. I should hate it, but I love it. You know?

*****

I JUST figured out how to tie this all together! Jeremy and I need a new show to binge-watch! Do you have suggestions? We prefer one that is done (so we can watch it all and not wait for new episodes), and some of our mutual favorites are LOST, The Office, Dexter, Mad Men, 30 Rock, Parks and Rec, Twin Peaks, Reno 911!, and Seinfeld. What can we watch next and both like?

What She's Doing; What She's Not Doing

Until very recently, if I sang around Genevieve, she would put her hand over my mouth in a very matter-of-fact way until I stopped. If I didn't stop, she would push on my mouth until my spirit was sufficiently broken, then would go back about her business. This meant that I never sang to her as I nursed her or rocked her to sleep LO those many hours for the eighteen months it took her before she finally decided it was acceptable to sleep through the night.

When she was little, I would try every week or so -- This is the week! She'll love it when I sing to her now! -- alas, I got a baby hand to the mouth. After a while I gave up. A stretch of quite a few months went by, and suddenly, she made it known that she wanted to turn off her light by herself at night, and when she did, I sang a little good-night song, and SHE LET ME. I was so high on the good vibrations that as I was about to put her down in her crib, I paused to sing "You Are My Sunshine" TWICE ... AND SHE LET ME. 

It's been a few weeks now, and it seems like she not only tolerates it, but I'm pretty sure she likes it. It's funny how one tiny thing can make her feel like an entirely different kid, but it does.

One thing that is not so different about her is that she still shows no interest in talking. She says mama, dada, wow, whoa, ow, and shoes. She also frantically shouts "O!" every time she sees the letter O, but that's about it. She has made up a few signs -- if she leans her head way over and touches it to her right shoulder, it means "please" (of course) -- but for the most part, she relies on shouting, pointing, and grunting to get her point across, which is just as delightful as it sounds.

The frustration has been compounded by the fact that she is also now very insistent on helping with things. I got my weekly e-mail from Babycenter letting me know that my 20-month-old is probably saying "Me do it!" all the time (not so much); instead, she screams and flails until I discover what she is trying to say she was wants to do and I let her do it (all the while helpfully saying "Say, 'let me help fill my sippy, mama!'").

She's a funny kid. She has a lot of opinions. Heck, she has a lot of advice for all of us -- Quit singing. Don't touch my toys. Give me all your toys. Big sister hair was made to be pulled, so give it up. Hug ME first when you get home, daddy. -- but she's not interested in using words to tell us just yet. Why should she? She lets us know just fine with her grunting, shrieking, and hair pulling. 

One day she'll talk, and I have a feeling she'll never stop. 

Teachers Change Lives (Sponsored Post)

I am lucky enough to have been positively influenced by a number of educators over the course of my many years in school. From my first grade teacher who made me feel so very safe at a new school, to my fifth grade teacher who saved novels from the reading enrichment cupboard just for me because she knew how much I'd love them. I'll also never forget the professor in college who encouraged me to go to grad school or the one who invited me to speak at an important conference. 

I've always had people who believed in me. However, the two most important educators in my life, without a doubt, are my mother and father. My mom was my first teacher -- I attended her Nursery School for two years before kindergarten (I had to call her "Mrs. Marcetti"! It was so weird!). I had my dad for a computer technology class my senior year of high school (I called him "Dad," and he always let me raid his snack supply). I loved my time as their student.

But they were so much more than that. They instilled in me a passion for learning. They managed to show me that school is very important and one must always work hard and do their very best, but also that it was a fun place to be, that I should want to be there.

In kindergarten I begged for homework, and in first grade I begged for extra homework. I loved learning and couldn't get enough. In college, I would go to a coffee shop after class and re-write my notes from class ... okay, so maybe I was a bit intense. But I liked it. 

School was far from perfect. I asked to be homeschooled a lot in junior high, but to be fair, one very "kind" girl told everyone I stuffed my bra when I showed up in 7th grade with boobs I didn't have in 6th grade. She convinced people to hand me tissues between every class while people laughed hysterically. That same sweetheart drew a mustache on my picture in the yearbook with the kind note "shave it already." 

If I still loved school despite all the time I spent crying, they really did their job well. They reminded me day after day why school was important and showed me that they never stopped learning themselves, even after they became the teachers. They made me want to show up day after day, even when my stomach was eating itself because I was so worried about running into you-know-who or one of her many friends. They truly taught me the power and importance of learning. 

Teachers across the country are doing innovative things in the classroom every day to reach their students and teach them the same thing. In doing so, I'm sure you know they spend money out-of-pocket every year to supplement their classrooms. Office Depot has partnered with Adopt-A-Classroom -- a nonprofit organization that helps connect donors with teachers to enhance the learning environments of students -- in the hopes of raising awareness about all that teachers do to improve the lives of their students. 

If you'd like an amazing example of what teachers are doing, check out this video of Brian Copes, a pre-engineering teacher whose students make prosthetic limbs out of old car and bike parts, and even help make utility vehicles for people in Honduras:

You can donate to a classroom or register your own classroom by visiting Teachers Change Lives.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.