Entertaining a toddler during lockdown

Lockdown won't last forever and when it's done we know we will look back and remember a time of anxiety and of a global disaster. I'm hoping that's not what Isaac will remember. Through furlough, lockdown has given us family time like nothing else ever could have done. Under normal circumstances we like to spend our family time having days out; park walks, shopping trips, soft play. Now we've had to adapt (though I'm sure Isaac doesn't miss the shopping!) and though the rules are beginning to ease a little, it will be  long time before we can get back to some of our favourite places. This post is all about the ways I've been keeping Isaac busy during lockdown. Hopefully it will help to give some ideas to others with toddlers at home, give family a glimse of what we've been doing for the last few months while they've been missing us, and serve as a reminder when we look back on lockdown and when we have rainy days and need something to do indoors!

Baking

Baking with a toddler isn't always a great idea. It requires patience, and planning! You have to stay on your toes... one of Isaac's favourite things to do when we bake is press the button on the scales to reset them to zero! My number one tip would be get everything ready before you start so that you don't have to turn your back on the toddler with the cake mix, delegate jobs thoughtfully, and prepare for saliva in your cake mix. 

During lockdown we have baked banana bread (along with the rest of the nation!), cheesecake, chocolate cake, crispy cakes, cupcakes, biscuits, pretzels and bakewell tarts.

Baking is great for developing lots of skills with little ones - counting, number recognition, hand-eye coordination, following instructions, fine motor skills... and it's lots of messy fun. When he started to get the hang of baking we set up a baking themed tuff tray with flour, water, eggs for him to crack etc. so he could use his newly learned skills and schema without messing up our cakes!

Tuff trays

A tuff tray is a builders tray used to mix cement that is used for messy play. We didn't use our tuff tray much before lock down because it takes time and attention to set up and tidy away but it also often gives you time back - certain activities in the tuff tray will keep Isaac playing happily for over an hour. Here are some of our favourite messy play activities so far. 

Cereal play - Anything he can also eat goes down a storm. Cereals offer a safe exploration of different textures and are good for moving around. Weetabix makes a good "fence" in a farm themed small world, this is cornflakes with a railway, but Isaac would be equally happy with cups, jugs and bowls to move the cereals around, practising pouring etc. He loves this kind of set up with rice, lentils etc too, where we also practice writing movements and shapes in the rice. 

Messy play products - You can buy products designs specifically for messy play; including gelli baff, play slime and foam soap (pictured). These are designed to be materials with unique textures that move in different ways. They are lots of fun and can usually be found at a reasonable price, lots of them also keep in air tight containers so they can be used in multiple play sessions. You can also make your own versions of lots of products; there are recipes online for moon dough/ kinetic sand using flour and oil, you can make goo using cornflour and water etc. 

Arts and crafts

Organised crafts don't tend to go down well with young toddlers because crafts are more about the process than the outcome, though saying this we have made a few Easter cards and rainbow pictures for friends and family during lockdown... so much so that whenever Isaac sees a paintbrush he thinks we are going to paint his hands and feet for prints. I think this type of arts and crafts are good in moderation but it's also important to let little ones explore art and craft with no desired outcome. We have used paints, chalks, crayons, felt tips, and water paired not just with brushes but with lots of printing materials like plsatic eggs, fruit and veg, pom poms on pegs, plastic cars etc. If you can wash it clean afterwards (or don't mind throwing it out), you can paint with it. The more we've done this, the more we've found Isaac enjoys it and chooses to do it himself. Recently when playing with a cardboard box he got out the felt tips and decided to colour the box in. 

Nature walks 

We've been trying to get out when we can for our daily walks, sometimes venturing out in weather we might have otherwise avoided, letting Isaac experience different weathers. We've been splashing in puddles, flying kites in the wind, enjoying the sun, and just before lockdown we even got to play in some snow. 

When you only have one walk a day and you are walking with no destination or time limit in mind, you step back and enjoy it a little more. We've seen owls, a woodpecker and a baby squirrel being carried by its mother. Isaac is really enjoying the freedom of being able to lead more of our walk - venturing off the paths and investigating sticks, tree stumps and structures in the environment we might normally walk straight past. He's been spending far less time in his pushchair which has got to be good for his motor development and gives him the opportunity to feed his curiosity. He loves to walk along lines on the path, run around and through structures and bushes, climb, and generally just investigate and play outdoors. 

Reading and singing

Encouraging a love of books is really good for children and something that's always been important to us. Isaac has access to lots of books and loves to look at them and bring them to us to read (again and again), his favourites right now are I'm a New Big Brother, Postman Bear, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Trucks, Peekaboo and Animal Sounds. He loves books with flaps and moving parts and stories with good sound effects. He's had stories read to him over video chat, and we miss visiting the library for stories and songs, but have been keeping in touch with them through Facebook challenges and live streams - he loved joining in with a live stream singalong. His favourite songs are songs with actions - Wind the bobbin up, Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes, This little piggy, Round and Round the Garden and Five Little Ducks. These activities are great for developing language and teaching children about the world. I'm always surprised how much Isaac picks up on from books that reappears later in his play.

Housework

If you know me, you know housework is not my top priority! But it is something toddlers see us do a lot and Isaac likes to role play chores as well as help out when I let him. He likes his play hoover and often runs off to get it when we make a mess (or his brother is sick!) even though he hates the noise of the actual hoover. He likes to play with the mop, sweeping brush and dustpan too, and loves emptying and filling the washing machine... as well as pressing the buttons and turning the dials with mixed effect! When he sees a washing bag he likes to fill it... sometimes straight out of the drawer of clothes I've just put away. 

Free play

On a day inside, we don't always have to plan activities for our toddlers. Sometimes we just let Isaac play with whatever he likes. What's the point in having toys if you don't give him time to play with them? He often initiates play with his toy kitchen, car garage and Hey Duggee treehouse, plays with his sound book and lives to play in the garden too. It's surprising how fast the days can pass sometimes when it feels like we've done nothing at all. And if all else fails, you can always put a smile on his face if you crack out the bubbles.