Toddler Activities - Oklahoma City,OK

I started cooking with both of my kids around two. Find things he can stir to help. Sometimes, if it was a recipe they couldn't help with, I'd crack and egg and let them stir that. Or put water and flour in a bowl and let them stir. That would keep them busy enough while I finished up dinner. Magnets are great. The dollar store carries letters and numbers. If you put magnets on a cookie sheet, they are portable. Puzzles are terrific at this age. I usually buy them second hand from Goodwill, because they can get pricey when you buy them new. If you put finger pain in a snack ziplock bag that mix, red on one side and yellow on the other. He can push it around in the bag and learn about making new colors. Along with the bubble stuff you did, you could practice sinking and floating.

What about taking you boxes and making a tunnel or fort. You can take him to the park or play ball. This is a perfect time to start working on him playing catach and throwing the ball. You can collect bugs in the back yard and look at them under a magnifying glass. Have you looked into any books about science experments for toddlers? You can color shaving cream and then mix the primary colors to make other colors. In the summer what about going to the park or public pool to learn how to swim.

I don't know how I survived w/o a package of plastic Solo cups when my kid was a toddler:

Throw cotton balls into cups.

Turn plastic cups over on the floor and and try to run around them w/o knocking them over.

Turn cups over and play bowling w/them w/a ball or stuffed animal or rolled up socks.

Stack them.

Collect all the small stuffed animals and put them in each cup. Your kid will love to pull them out and put them back in, esp the ones you have to really shove in there.

Other things we did:

We liked gathering all the blankets, cushions and pillows in a pile and either throw them in the air or my kid would climb all over them.

Give him a stack of post it notes and have him stick them everywhere. I saved this activity for when I had to fold laundry and I had to keep an eye on my kid. I'd let him stick them on the back of the door while I folded.

Hit a ball w/a half a pool noodle.

I would give my kid a bucket of water and paintbrushes and let him "paint" on the driveway or patio. On esp hot days, the water would evaporate quick and so you could paint lots of "pictures" w/o having to move to a new spot.

I liked giving my kid a box of kleenex and have him pull them out one at a time. Then, he had to stuff the box back one at a time. This was saved for those really really rainy days when we had absolutely nothing else to do!

We did lots of stuff like this. If I have any more ideas I'll add them. I love this age.

I know you said indoor fun, but maybe he needs to just get out more... zoo, gym classes, swim classes, art classes... there are all kinds of classes offered by cities that are cheap. It sounds like you are already pretty creative indoors. There are websites with ideas. You just never know what your kid is going to love inside. Coloring on big boxes, jumping on bubble wrap are always winners. Have him help you cook and stir things.

-I bought inexpensive robotic toys @ Ross type of store.
-Puzzles (large size approx 15 pcs)
-sidewalk chalk
-Matchbox car that changes color in diff water temp
-matchbox car (all bought on sale)
-bowling pin set for toddlers
-blocks for stacking then knocking over
-forts built w/blankets
-we roll balls to ea othr in living room during inclement weather
-sort coins then place change in his piggy bank
-what can you load in your dump trunk dump
-plastic tea set: we play tea party, restaurant & drive thru (all imaginary)
-we play store
-we make ramps for cars
-leggos (the big ones for toddlers)
-buy 1 remote control car (inexpensive @ bargain stores)
-dress up in hand me down Halloween costumes
-have races w/our matchbox cars
-Dollar Store for things like magnifying glass to "look for bugs"
-color in coloring books
-play w/stuffed animals
-crafts w/foam & glue stick
-library for reading time

How about "camping" in the backyard?? I agree with the cooking ideas. We did LOTS of cooking at that age. I'd just have him help me around the house, maybe sorting socks, learning to fold a towel, loading the clothes in the washer. My kids did lots of things around the house and now that they're preteens, it's not a battle...they're used to helping.

we got an easel that has two sides, chalk board and magnetic. It came with two sets of magnet letters and my daughter loves it! We work on what sounds each letter makes and what word begins with what letter. She is just now getting that the alphabet goes in a certain order, so we are playing with that too.

She loves the chalk side, and loves to erase it just as much to draw on it. Best $40 we ever spent.