Okay, I love my kids and I love doing things with them. And some days I want to do something that is minimal effort and mess. Today I am sharing three activities we all enjoy!
Activity #1
My absolute favorite is dollar store stickers, any type of paper and just let the kids go! Like seriously, get a variety stickers, let the kids do whatever they want with them. You really have to let go of control (something I work on some days) and just let kids be kids.
It is also great for their fine motor skills! Elena is one and a half and I watched as she used her fingers to place the stickers onto the paper. I did let her try to remove them, but she got frustrated. So, I would take them off, hand them to her and she would place them on the paper. I do recommend bigger stickers for the toddler age though.
Watching Jensen was fun, because he would try to create a 'scene' with his stickers.
With older kids, you can take it a step further.
-fold the page into fours
-create a theme for each square and put a few stickers in and then place a sticker that wouldn't "belong"
-with a pencil, have your kid circle the one that doesn't match
Activity #2
Bingo Dabbers!
*can get a little messy, so maybe wear clothes that can get stained or throw on a paint shirt
Obviously you can let the kids have free rain with this one.
I also liked to take a marker and draw lines or shapes and then they dab along the mark
I might try this with Elena soon and with Jensen I might take it up a notch and have him use the bingo dabbers along the letters of his name
Activity #3
Scissors and Paper and Glue
This activity you might want to monitor and hangout for. Also with my kid it gets a little messy because he insists on cutting the paper into tiny, tiny pieces and they all end up on the floor somehow *insert eye roll*
And just as simple as it sounds, give them some construction paper and let them practice using scissors. If you're feeling particularly ambitious you can do some gluing of the pieces together.
Elena gets safety scissors, mostly because she needs to feel included. Jensen loves to cut and is competent with those little ikea scissors.
To take it up a notch for a three year old, draw shapes they have to follow the line and cut out.
Hope you found this helpful! Do you have any cheap, low mess activities you like to do with your kids? Stay safe everyone <3
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