Sensory Play

People who know me know that I do not allow my kids to watch much television throughout the day - an hour is our absolute limit, usually it's 1/2 hour or none at all. What do you do to keep them occupied throughout the day, people wonder, especially during these cold months when we tend to stay inside more.

Well, I certainly give credit to many of the well-made, thought-provoking toys out there today, especially books, puzzles and things that exercise the imagination. But even those get "old" after a while. When this happens, I pull out a recent purchase of mine that I would highly recommend to others: The Toddler's Busy Book by Trish Kushner:

The Toddler's Busy Book

This book provides many activities for your little busybody, many without much preparation necessary and all at very low prices. The ones we have done so far are free and you know what they say about kids: we buy them all sorts of toys to play with but the ones that keep them occupied the longest are the free ones (think: "bow-on-top-of-the-package/box-that-the-toy-came-in" kind of fun).

So to buy yourself enough time to get dinner made, make a phone call, heck, to just go to the bathroom :), I would recommend this book. Plus, it helps to know that you are stimulating their minds through this sensory play.

Last night's activity while I made dinner involved a baking pan and/or Rubbermaid, some dry rice, oatmeal, and ABC pasta. Free. Simple. No frills. FUN!

Add some trucks and it's at least 45 minutes of sensory fun.

Since Nate will eat anything put in front of him, his "dirt" had to consist solely of oatmeal because (as I guessed) he dumped it all out and proceeded to try it out (in his mouth, that is).

Yes, it's true that you will need to pull out the broom or vacuum after this activity but to me, I would rather spend 5 minutes sweeping than an hour listening to crying and whining. It's the perfect trade-off in my mind.