Summer Activities - Broken Arrow,OK

Rachel,
My family very much enjoys the summertime! I have a 2.5 yr old little girl and a 15 month old little boy. You mentioned movies in Jenks but have you also gone out to the Riverwalk? They have live bands there for free a lot in the summer. There is also this super cute ground fountain that streams water my kids LOVE to play in. We like to eat dinner at home then go their for music and to play in the water and get ice cream! The zoo is also an inexpensive idea. We spend lots of time at the park. Haikey Creek at 121st and Garnett is especially great for toddlers. We also bought a cheap little fountain from Toysrus to hook up to the garden hose. Also, my daughter LOVES helping me plant flowers. I give her special toddler size tools and cheap flowers and plastic pots and she goes to work. She especially loves the dirt! Some churches will also have summer day camps. Our church, First Baptist BA, has one that runs every Thurs in June and July and the total cost is $115 including registration. I hope these ideas help and let me know if I can do anything else for you!

I work with 2-year-olds all day long. I am an early head start teacher and we are in school year round. I think the most important thing to do is try to keep a routine. Make sure you have a supply of paint, crayons, paper, pencils, blocks, shape sorters, puzzels, dramactic play items (especially kitchen type), books, people and dolls to dress and undress, a variety of music CDs, and limit the TV time. You will want to have outside time at least twice a day even if its cold. If its raining outside then you will need to find a place that has an indoor playground so that your child can get her gross motor time or she will drive you nuts. Some of the favorite things that our children like to do is:
Flash light hunt- turn off all the lights and search for items in the dark together.
Make homemade playdough with the children- flour, salt, oil, water and food coloring (keeps well in a plastic baggie)
Crayola window markers color on a clear clipboard
Waterplay- water in a dishtub filled with measuring cups, funnels, sandwheels. you can add food coloring and find out which colors mix to make a new color.
ripping paper- rip paper in old magazines
Food experiences- let children be part of the process of cooking, mixing, chosing foods, and clean up.
Make an album- find pictures of family and friends and put them in an album just for the child. Let child turn pages and name each person.
Zoo trip-take a camera and take pictures with your child in the picture. Once the photos are developed you can make her a zoo trip album that she can revisit and take about
A two-year-old will have new words every day. Make sure you ask open ended questions to encourage language development. As you drive you can talk about where you are going, what you see, what you are going to do when you get there. Give her choices so she feels she is part of the process. "Do you want peanut butter and jelly today or chicken nuggets?". "Do you want to wear the blue shirt or the pink one?". "Do you want to lay down by yourself or do you need mommy to help you?" "Do you want to drink out of an orange cup today or the green one".
Describe everything like you have seen it for the first time and encourage your child to have conversation with you.
And most important- take time for yourself. I get a lunch break and go home at the end of the day. Make sure you have time away to recoop and have adult conversation or it just wont be fun anymore.

When my kids we small we went on daily adventures.

some ideas that are FREE. Park of course. Car dealer ships, ( kids LOVE to see shiney cars.)pet stores, even Toys are US> construction sites/to see the BIG TRUCKS.

Somtimes we would just pull into a unigue strip mall to see what was there. Good for me and the kids.

We laugh now because my kids did not know until they were about 4 that you could buy toys from the grocery store, ETC. i let them look and then we had to LEAVE them there.

Lots of sprinkler time and messy paint in the front drive way.

spur of the moment play dates even with gals you do not know well really mix it up.

Visit and get to know one of the drop off play areas.
91st and Memorial and Tot Spot at 41st and yale.
These can be a life saver when being a STAY AT HOME mom is too much. My kids would meet friends there while us mom's did our own set of errands. sometimes i would take them there at 5:00 go to TENNIS match. Dad would pick up at 6:00 just enough buffer to make our life easier.

It is just a great backup for emergencies. I do suggest using it and getting comfortable BEFORE the emergency arises.

Remeber it is your summer too. Let that hubby have baby sometime. Good FUN TO ya.

Story time at the library
read books aloud
go to the park
make cookies
play pretend games
make a tent in theliving room (blanket over a table)
go to the pet store and look at the pets
go to the dollar store and buy something for a dollar
get a little broom, mop, and let him help you sweep the house
work in the yard and let them find worms, butterflies etc.
go to a sprinkler park (hunter park, riverside park) etc.
go get an icecream
make popsickles
teach him to count
Find someone else to play with and have play dates
let him help water the plants
blow bubbles with a bubble wand
start a garden and let him help plant the seeds
Just have fun. This is a fun age. Enjoy the learning that goes on and teach him what you can.

I've had four 2 1/2 year olds and they can be a huge amount of fun.

K.

Check out your local community center. We live next to McClure, and they have tons of stuff to do with toddlers, mommy and me class, tumble tots, free admission to the pool, parks, one time craft classes. You can also checkout the zoo, at Mohawk, the park where the zoo is, there is also a free water park, with sprinklers instead of a pool, it is really awesome!