Activities for the toddler set

Now that my daughter is two, she's definitely showing signs that she's ready to start taking on some new activities.  In the house, she's frequently coloring, or "cooking dinner" (which is cheese crackers, 99% of the time) in her play kitchen.  Outside, she's constantly playing in our gravel pathway, picking out specific rocks and excitedly bringing them to me to show me how beautiful they are.

At the same time that she's making new discoveries, I'm feeling like the time we spend together isn't "together" enough.  So often she's playing while I'm making dinner, checking email, folding laundry, and doing countless other tasks that keep the household running.  It's really starting to bug me, so I've decided that, starting this week, I'm going to do something about it. 

I recently bought a couple of great books full of ideas for activities - The Toddler Busy Book has a TON of great ideas for all different kinds of activities - crafts, songs, things to do in the car, it's a real gem.  First Art:  Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos has a wonderful array of art projects, most of which use simple items easily found at home or in grocery or craft stores.  I've been spending my evenings reading through them, picking out some things that I think we'll enjoy doing together.

So, starting tomorrow, my daughter and I are going to take time out at least twice a week and do some kind of activity together.  If it's on a weekend, I'll do everything in my power to get my husband to join in (not always easy - he's not really a joiner).  It may be an art project.  We may cook something together.  Maybe we'll discover a new song.  If it's not raining, we can go on a walk in our neighborhood.  If I can figure out how to adjust her tricycle to fit her, she can go on a ride.  Simple stuff.  We'll just do it together.

Tomorrow, we're going to make cotton ball collages.  I picked up some scrapbook paper at the craft store today - I'm planning to hang it on her wall when we're done, so I wanted something a little more decorative than the traditional construction paper.  I think she'll really enjoy playing with the glue - especially when she discovers you can peel it off your hands once it dries!

I already told her we'd make cheese crackers from scratch this weekend.  She's been talking about it all day!

I'll be posting here about our activities from time to time, so I have a record for my memory, which certainly isn't what it used to be.  I'm looking forward to fun and adventures!