It’s been a month now that we have been living away from home in a furnished apartment in the DC area. We are having a great time, but the first few weeks were a hard adjustment for the girls. We only brought one small bin of toys and with all the rainy days we’ve had…I have been amazed at how resourceful the girls have become!
These shoe boxes have become awesome ice skates! They are kept in the shoe closest and are pulled out at least a couple times a week to be used.
Extra sheets have been handy! We had fun reading ALL of the library books that we had gotten that week in there.
The long ribbon has become a fun snake for each of the girls to hold onto and run around. They came up with this one on their on. This ribbon is kept in the toy box and they pull it out often to play with the snake or to play follow the leader.
What is it about jumping on hotel beds? We are in a furnished apartment, but it feels like a hotel in some ways. The girls love jumping on the beds, so I’ve been trying to find other fun ways for them to get their jumping thrills. We made a bed on the floor and sing the monkey’s jumping on the bed song. It is a lot of fun, but it hasn’t done much for keeping them from jumping on the beds.
I also bought some tape to make a masking tape race track , a fun idea, from Maria soon.
I also saved our last egg carton so I could do this activity from Suzanne with my two year old.
What about you…do you have any other simple and fun make believe activities? I would love some more ideas!
*Aubrey*
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Aubrey, Looking time follower, never commented though. Need to recommend this site:
http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/
It is has been a wonderful place of inspiration for me for make believe and other crafty ideas for my son. I hope you enjoy!
Best, Niki
I really love this because it is so true, a kid’s best toy is their imagination. I remember buying so many toys for my daughter and she’d spend the most time with regular house hold things like boxes and string. She spent an ENTIRE summer in a patio set box…
Those dollar store version of plastic microphones really echo and you can
practice hard to say words, a song or maybe some foreign language! Make
a little stage so each one can get the spotlight and be heard.
This is the cutest post.
Add some floor pads to the bottom of the boxes, spray a bit of water on the lino and let them clean your floor for you. You might need to do a bit of detail work but hey presto, fun and cleaning in the one activity. And water too.
Love the resourcefulness of children.
Here are some ideas – hopefully you can adapt or find these materials easily.
* use a wrapping paper tube and cut it in half to make two “bobsleds”. Use toy cars or other small items and have a race. You’ll have to prop the “track” against something like a sofa or bed.
* paint on the patio with water and paintbrushes
* cook something or pretend to, and make a chef’s hat with a white plastic bag/stapler. You can make an apron with a white trash bag.
* put on a puppet show with stuffed animals while Mom reads a book
* put them in the tub and finger paint with pudding
* got any more boxes? build a castle or city
* have a zucchini beauty pageant. Color the zukes with markers and “dress them up” using toothpicks and other items.
* make collages with stickers and labels
* make life size dolls by tracing the girls on butcher/craft paper and have them illustrate their own self portraits
These are all incredibly simple, yet great ideas! Thank you for sharing!
My kids love pretending that the beds and pillows are boats!!!! We go down waterfalls!!! Have to rescue one another from the rushing water, or even have to pull someone in after a long swim and the sharks/whales are coming!!! We have a lot of fun…Another fun rainy day activity- Put on the swimsuits…Have a “pool party” in the tub…throw in a few measuring cups, bowls or whatever else you can think of…in the end, they wash up and have a “sprinkler Party” turn on the shower and rinse them down :0) Hope that you guys enjoy your time in DC!!!
Hey Aubrey, sound like you anad your family are having a fun little adventure.
My kids love to play this imaginary game we call Jungle Rescue. We set up a home base (aka the rescue shelter) then we set down a blanket or two as the shark infested waters or alligator swamp depending on the type of animal rescue. Makes for great learning as to what animals belong in certain environments.
Then the pillows go down on and around the blankets as the safe stepping stones. Hurt animals are scattered throughout the area within reach of the stepping stones. Their “mission” is to rescue all the animals without trying to touch the water or quicksand and take them to the console table, fix them up and release them back into the wild. (Our couches are safezones as well. This game is highly adaptable). This game can keep them entertained for a good while.
Good luck with the rest of your vacation, sounds like you’re enjoying yourselves!
Heidi
Loved all your ideas by the way!