20 Everyday Items My Toddler Finds Fascinating
The mirror is a constant source of entertainment around here.
It’s no secret that toddlers are fascinated by the most mundane things, but man, it’s like striking gold when you realize which everyday household items your toddler fancies because you know what that means: your kid is occupied! Unless of course, your toddler is fascinated by plugs and kitchen knives and then, well, not so good.
When I discover Violet is into some run-of-the-mill item just lying around the house, I encourage her interest because DUH, she’ll be entertained. Secondly, this kind of interest is excellent for the little imagination. For instance, Violet loves candles. LOVES them. She especially likes the scented kind and will sniff them several times and say the same thing each time: “Mmmmmm. Smells good!” She also moves them around the house and creates little scenarios with them: “Oh no, candle, come back!” She makes them chase each other and help each other out of sticky situations. I’ve cooked an entire meal for the family while Violet is engrossed in candle play.
This is the best equation: Toddler + fascination with stupid item = guilt-free time for mom. I stress the “guilt-free” because you know how it is when you stick your kid in front of the TV so you can have a few seconds to yourself — sure you have a few kid-free minutes, but you feel guilty the entire time (Spongebob is bad! TV is harmful!), so it kind of cancels your pleasure in having those few minutes.
With that in mind, I’m going to share with you 20 everyday items that seem to fascinate Violet in the hope that maybe your kid will latch onto one or two of these tricks and earn you some guilt-free mom time. And hey, what everyday items does your toddler find fascinating? Tell me in the comments!
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Mirror
From the time they can crawl on over to take a gander at themselves kids are fascinated by their reflection in the mirror. I remember the first time Violet French-kissed herself in the mirror —cutest damn thing I've ever seen. Even now, the only way I can try stuff on in a dressing room is choosing one in which she can arrange the mirrors so she can see "Two Wylets! More Wylets! So many Wylets!"
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Water
No brainer, right? Water in any form will occupy a little one for at least a full hour. From bathtub splashing to a couple of other unfortunate water choices you'll read about in the next few slides, kids dig them some water.
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Dogs
Violet follows our dogs, Max and Milo, around all day long. Thank goodness they're the benign kind of fellows that will let her pull their tails, their hair and even mess with their snooters so she can glimpse their teeth.
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Dog Food And Water
Remember that thing about kids and water? Yeah well, I routinely catch Violet playing in the dogs' water, which includes taking a drink or ten. She also enjoys a snack of dog food every now and again as well but only if she can get on all fours and eat it like the dogs do.
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Salt And Pepper
I have a sneaking suspicion this is because of Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper on Blues Clues. Nonetheless, I often hand Violet the salt and pepper shakers to play with while I cook dinner. She creates little scenarios, has them talk to each other, the whole nine yards. I've cooked entire dinners without having to entertain her because she's so engrossed in the salt and pepper.
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Vacuum
This is hit or miss, I know. Some kids are terrified by the vacuum but Violet hears that sucker click on and she immediately runs over to watch me roll. She does this bizarre thing where she gets on all fours and crawls up the vacuum like some kind of crazy game of chicken. Who's gonna back down first, Violet or the vacuum? Of course, Violet wins every time.
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Keys
What harried mama has handed off her keys to the kid to play with while she's trying to pay for the groceries or talk on the phone? Also, what stressed mama hasn't regretted that maneuver two seconds later when she can't find the keys? It's happened to me many times, but the allure of a few seconds of peace while she plays with the keys always prevails.
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Hose
Another water-related activity. Violet loves the hose. From watering plants to drinking from the hose, she is all about this one.
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Doorbell
I don't think there has been a time in the past three months that I don't have to pick up Violet so she can press the doorbell every time we enter the house. It's her thing. In fact, button-pressing of any kind is a huge hit. She loves to push the button to turn on the dryer and the dishwasher buttons often keep her busy for large chunks of time.
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iPhone
Do I even need to explain this one? Didn't think so.
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Balloons
Violet's interest in balloons is waning. I mean, she still digs them, but they don't occupy her quite as long as they used to. Back in the good old days when she was a year old, she'd run around the house dragging a balloon with her for hours.
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Chapstick
This is a new one. We recently went to the shore and it was windy so Violet's lips became chapped. I took to spreading my Chapstick on her lips throughout the day and right before bed and now she's obsessed with the stuff. Putting the lid on, taking it off, smearing it on her face, putting the lid back on, taking it off... This can go on forever — or until she eats the Chapstick, which happens pretty often.
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Leaves
It's fall and leaves in every fiery shade imaginable cover the ground in our backyard. I don't think I need to tell you how awesome it is to play in leaves seeing as how I still enjoy it myself, but in case you weren't aware, rake up a big pile of leaves and send your toddler out into it while you sit nearby with a good book.
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The Fridge
I can only imagine that to a toddler the fridge is some magical land that produces milk and juice and chicken nuggets and all sorts of other wondrous items, not to mention the light that comes on and all the colors inside! Sometimes, when it's complete madness and I need a second to cook dinner or whatever, I let Violet play in the fridge. Surprisingly, she doesn't get too messy — she mostly just takes out the ketchup and other condiments and then puts them right back in. She likes to organize stuff.
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Piggy Bank (And Pennies!)
This is our latest and greatest. On a whim I bought a little plastic piggy bank for a buck at Target. Best thing I did all month. I'll sprinkle pennies on the floor and say "Violet, look! Pennies!" It takes her forever to collect them all and put them in her piggy and that's not even the end of the fun — she'll run around shaking her pig for hours, making it climb stuff and slide down. Get your toddler a piggy bank, you won't be sorry.
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Music
We have a record player at our house and I've constantly got Frank Sinatra or some other crooner like Louis Armstrong spinning. Violet says, "Fwank Atra" and likes to dance along. She's even started humming.
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Shapes
Violet knows all her shapes (thanks Nick Jr.!) so, sometimes, when we're somewhere that doesn't have any obvious entertainment I start pointing out all the shapes. "What shape is this?" "Can you find a circle?" That kind of thing. Our favorite is looking at square tiles in the ceiling and then turning our heads so they turn into diamonds. "Square, diamond, square, diamond, square, diamond." You get the drift...
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Candles
I mentioned this earlier but Violet is fascinated by candles. Unlit ones, even! She just likes the colors and the smells and she especially likes the ones that aren't encased by glass. Don't know why, it's just her thing.
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Books
Thank God she's into books. The weird thing about this though is she's not just into her little kid books, she also really digs messing around with our books. She likes rearranging them and looking at the covers and pretending to read them. Whatever works, man.
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Empty Boxes
Any human being who's ever experienced Christmas with a kid under five knows the importance of boxes. Usually they're a bigger hit than the actual gift that came inside. This is great because it's old-school creativity. It's a boat, it's a plane, it's a house! Whatever kid, just so long as you're entertained, I'm cool with all that!
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My son spent about 4 hours this morning in his boat (a box) swimming and paddling and going from here to there. He also uses the laundry baskets as race cars. He’ll push his sister all over the house in one (which is a-okay when they are empty but very, very frustrating if they dump the clean, folded laundry for this play, lol).
This list is dead on! Who knew it wasn’t just my child fascinated by these things!!
Agreed, the list is dead-on, as are the additions of boxes and laundry baskets.
Bubbles aren’t an everyday item, but they’re way up on the list. Empty maple syrup bottles and ketchup bottles are a good one, the little jet of air can lead to hours of fun.
Oh, and a bicycle pump. Like the little double-quick hand pumps? Not quite an everyday thing, but my toddler classroom spent days fascinated by it, spraying the air on each other with the air hose, squealing, and chanting “uuuuuup! dooooooown.”
And shoes!
and wet washcloths.
And the trash can. And baby gates. Really, there’s not a lot that doesn’t fascinat them. I mean, besides the toys we paid loads of money for.
Potatoes – they’d treat them like puppies or dolls!
Toddler iPhone apps are AMAZING! My almost two year old’s favorites are the laugh and learn baby animals – perfect for car rides and diversions during shopping. Except when the iPhone ends up in the toliet or tub – oops glad is was the husband’s and not mine!
Ha,ha, I agree with all of them! My son find them fascinanting too…
I agree totally, my daughter’s obsession is def the chapstick!! But right now it’s little people & puzzles!! HOURS of entertainment there!! And she is a chef. She has her chair pulled right up to the counter to help in every way that she can!! She is hands on! I am always letting her “mix” stuff in her bowl with a fork!!
My lil guy loves empty formula cans with the scoop left inside so it rattles. He also loves t.p. or paper towel rolls once the paper is gone. He goes nuts for cat toys (bonus points if its the ones that are a ball with a bell inside) and will carry one around EVERYWHERE!
my kieran is almost 6 now but the laundry basket thrills show no sign of abating! when he was smaller and left in grandpa’s care, i could be certain he’d be soaked by the end of the day because gramp’s would fill up the bathroom sink (water AND a mirror) whenever the kiddo got too wild. automatic peace.
oh…and i almost forgot the fishtank. every day something new would be floating in it from a paperback book to my car keys…suffice it to say the fish didn’t last too long. ah, who needs fish in a fishtank!?
My almost-two-year-old is obsessed with his piggy bank. Whenever he finds a coin he runs around yelling “pig” “pig” until we get the bank out. Unfortunately, it’s this heavy, silver, engraved thing and he inevitably slams it into someone or something so we have to keep it hidden…
and don’t forget the phone–be it cell phone or wall phone
Oh thank you sooo much for this article. I am so glad that my lo isn’t the only one who gets a taste of dog or cat food every so often, he just loves to play in them and the water too. And with the metal bowls when they’re empty. And the air from the ketchup bottles and soap bottles, I thought my lo was the only weird one that likes that sound, feeling, whatever it is about tthat air and those bottles. He also loves to take all the videos off the shelf and get them out of the cases, who knows what movie is in what case but boy does he have fun!! And drawers of any kind, luckily most of mine are nothing that can hurt him because he’s always putting things in or taking things out of all the drawers in the house!! I figure if it can’t hurt him and he’s having fun … who cares, the mess will always clean up and the smiles and giggles of a happy baby *toddler* are unforgetable!
This list sounds like my daughters list; she loves eating chapstick too, sits in the bathtub for at least an hour and is obssessed with my keys…..I guess this is the time for discovery and curiosity…but truly gulit free time for me. Great Post!
Perfect list, spot on to my 2.5 yr old. Thanks for the smile!
Its not just iPhones, any cell phone will do. But also…
-watches
-light bulbs, esp if they’re ON thanks to his GRANDPA!
-light switches, esp if there’s a chair nearby on which to climb and teeter ever so precariously in order to reach that switch.
- drawers/cabinets
- security features on the said drawers/cabinets
- door knobs
- locks on the door knobs
-laptop
-printer
so many things!
My child loved playing with the pots and pans, a wooden spoon.Screened in patio made watching her easy, and the toys could stay out of the walkways. coloring and writing,were favorites. If she colored a wall. it was always small, and behind a piece of furniture!who knew?playing dress up with anything lying around, and music was alwayson, especially her favorite childrens music.
She’s in college now, THANK GOD!
Things have certainly changed in 21 years.
Good luck to all mothers out there. It’s not easy, but the more fun time you have the better.And it doesn’t have to be anything big. introduce new things, like nature walks,look for bugs, or a special color,think out of the bag! And relax!
Every item in this article is right on. I’ve fully enjoyed reading it. Thanks for all the smiles.
Noooooo!!! Not the salt and pepper shakers! My 3 yo (ooops, turned 4 yo today!) will dump every last grain of salt onto the table, floor, couch, wherever if he gets a hold of the salt shaker! However, when my oldest was little he used to have conversations between his shoelaces, so I can def see him doing something like that, lol! (Yeah, time-out was pretty useless for him!)
And I can’t tell you how many refrigerator locks my middle child BROKE! We had to keep replacing them though because his favorite kitchen activity was throwing eggs onto the floor! :-/
Other everyday items that have fascinated my boys: bathroom scale, pots & pans, whisks, spray bottles, rocks/pebbles, the fish tank net, credit cards, hair clips… necklaces!
I used to let my son rearrange my wallet when he was younger and we’d be stuck somewhere for hours like the SS office or something. it kept him entertained the whole time we were there, the only downfall was i couldnt find anything and my pictures were getting ruined, and he couldnt not play with the pictures..
flashlights! oh lord even during the day my twins are all over flashlights.
Ahhhh..memories…my son’s are big guys, 17 and 18…but I remember the early days..A spatula and some cereal in a bowl went a long way for me getting dinner done, my boys are 16 months apart..LOL..It took a lot to entertain the both of them!…the remote for the T.V. was a godsend..untill they learned how to turn the stereo on, at full volume…Nothing like a heart attack while doing dishes!…
I have found that babies and toddlers LOVE a tape measure, the retractable kind that seamstresses use. I keep one in my purse to use when I’m clothes shopping and it’s a great distraction at places devoid of toys. They like pulling the tape measure out and then pressing the button to watch it zip back inside.
Also, when my sister and I used to babysit, she bought a bunch of key chains from dollar stores and other places and attached them together in a long chain. The kids would turn it over and over and play with it just as much as a set of keys. Maybe longer! The key chains were all interesting shapes, like a miniature shoe, a ladybug, a mini koosh-ball, etc.
When I was raising my kids (they are in their late 20′s now) they did love all those things, wel except for the iPhone. Now I am nanny to a 22 month old and his parents think I am crazy because while cooking or cleaning I stand him on a chair in front of the kitchen sink and he will play forever. I love just giving him mundane things and watch what he does. I gave him a flashlite in church the other day and he was so good – the service was enjoyable.
My daughter is 2 an a half and has one of those plastic drawer sets, the ones with the clear drawers you buy at walmart, she is always emptying it, taking the drawers out to play with. She is at this moment wearing one like a hat.
some of these arent so safe candles what if 1 is lite and the kid tries to grab it and u dont get there in time and pennies kids choke on them all the time
My little two year old princess loves my crest spin brush. Who knew a toothbrush. I had to get her one of her own, to heck with a manual brush. She will brush her teeth twenty times a day if you let her, tooth paste optional. She loves the movies too, not one is in it’s own case, the phones are a big thing too, if she doesn’t have one, a remote will sufice as a phone too.
This was fantastic! I have to say that my son spends probably 2/3 of his free time playing with things that are not actually toys: boxes, kitchen items, my basket of potatoes and onions, our shoes.
My son loves most of the things on the list …. he is also endlessly entertained by playing in the cupboards and drawers in the kitchen, which I have rearranged so that two low cupboards and the two low drawers are filled with unbreakable stuff that makes lots of noise. They are an absolute mess and anytime I want to use my metal mixing bowls or my rubber spatulas I have to rinse them off since it is very likely they have been on the floor and/or chewed on but it’s totally worth it. He also really likes any kind of container that he can put things into and take things out of. And he can be distracted from almost ANYTHING if I offer to let him help me feed our pets. He will drop whatever he’s doing and come running to help me pour cat food in the dish and then put the scoop back into the bin and close the lid.
I also have a fantastic suggestion to try for cutting a toddler’s hair: I put my son in the bathroom sink and allowed him to play with the faucet (obviously I watched closely to make sure he didn’t turn on the hot water faucet alone). He sat in front of the mirror and played with water and looked at the baby and barely moved his head for at least 10 minutes which was more than enough time for what I needed to do. No tears, no bald spots, no being forced to leave him with half a haircut till his patience recharged and I could finish. Another plus was the super easy cleanup!
I agree that many common things are great for toddlers to play with. Some on the list aren’t really good for toddlers to have. Balloons are a bad choking hazard. Kids bite them, they pop and then are swallowed. Balloons are hard to clear with the Heimlech maneuver. Pennies and Chapstick caps are choking hazards as well, though not as severe as balloons. Car keys are often made with an alloy that includes lead and can lead to lead exposure as everything toddles have end up in their mouth or on their hands which end up in their mouths.
Hahaha…couldn’t agree more. Especially for the box part..he’d definitely take any box, even shoes box..Right now, my son likes to wear his dad’s sunglasses. LOL.
What are you serious on KEYS and Piggy Bank??????????? They are source of bacteria AND choking hazard. Unless you want to spend time in the emergency room getting those coins out of your child’s stomach. I think it is a HORRIBLE advice
My grand daughter is obsessed with plastic cups! She stacks them over and over…
I would recommend changing chapstick to Burt’s Bees. It would be safer for eating. I would add a large magnet to the list and replace the pennies. If you were going to recommend coins, I would suggest ones that are larger like 50 cent pieces.
When my kids were little and we would go out to a restaurant to eat,we would always play with the sugar, sweet and low and equal packets. We would count them, sort them, create patterns. It worked wonders and we didn’t have to bring anything along. I also had beads and string to occupy them. Easy to throw in your purse and they can string them again and again.
This is great. My son can be entertained for hours with all of these. He is 3 1/2 years old now. As he was growing and gaining interest in these items, it took me a while to get over my phobia of choking on things like pennies and germs on keys, too. But if they are supervised activities, there is no harm and they really do have so much fun.
Thanks, I really enjoyed this article. My daughter also loves all of the above even the items in the readers comments. She spends more time exploring these things than the boat load of toys she has. My daughter is currently obsessed with shoes. She puts them on, takes them off, messes with the buckles or the velcro. It’s the cutest to see her put daddy’s shoes on and try to walk around in them.
I babysit for toddlers a lot, and one object one of them loved was the whisk. He explored it, banged it on the ground, and smashed it together with a piece of paper for at least 35 minutes.
While list is as suspected, I did find disturbing playing with dog food and eating it. I don’t let my toddler (2.5 yrs) ever play with water or cat food. Before he was putting crunchies to water, but it just create mess and really it’s not hygenic for him. Eating it? That’s unnacceptable. I agree-I would not use chapstick with chemicals in it or play with dirty coins. Also metal rubs from coins and children probably stick their fingers to the mouth, or put coin in the mouth and it’s not safe and also would I allow my child to suck on heavy metals for amusement? I also don’t think candles are safe. What if she eats them? They are also laced with chemicals (unless you buy natural) and we already have too many assaults without introducing others. She is very cute girl, keep her safe and chemical free.
I am teaching a very misbehaved 4-year old girl. She likes to hit people and throw things. Then, I just found that she is very smart and have lots of energy. So when she comes to my home, I give her many things to do. I provided papers, colored pencils (she loves telling me the colors), scissors and glue stick. Of course, I have to tell her not to cut her fingers or anything thru a story. She loves it very much. After 3 months, to the great amazement of her parents, she has became the most behaved student in her class.
My grandson loves most all of the listed items. He is almost 3 and can entertain himself for several moments at a time with simple items. He loves helium balloons and we clip them with a long sting to his pants and he bats it like a bop bag. He never puts anything in his mouth so I don’t worry about small items (but then we are always watching) and I always take him to wash his hands when finished if something is nasty. He loves the empty cyrstal light canisters and will play along time just putting things in them and taking them out. Being a boy, he also loves cars or plastic animals and pretends all kinds of stuff, roaring and running all over the place with them.
Alayna played with a cardboard flat for months. I saved it & when she got older she colored on it. She is 3 now & still likes her cardboard flat using a glue stick to clue things on it. She has put stickers on it too. It’s like her own personalized piece of art “blankie”, drags it around wherever she goes in the house until we hang it up at night on the wall. She in turn got a sense of accomplishment day to day for something SHE made all on her own. When she’s sad we get use it for comfort showing her all of her handiwork, just an awesome idea that she herself made up!! As soon as she was old enough to reach over & pull it to her I let her have it.She most certainly didn’t like the taste of it so I didn’t have to worry about her trying to eat it. That other 25 dollar toy sat in the corner.
These are all such great ideas but there is one I wonder about. The Chap stick. On some of the chap sticks you will see warnings that say keep away from children. I have no iea why but was wondering if anyone knows any reason for this to be posted on the wrapper.
My son, Evan, who is 21 months old has a LOVE for my hand mixer. He loved it so much that he actually broke it playing with it so often. I didnt mind though since it was 10 years old and it was time for a new one anyways… So I cut the cord off of it and now its in his toy box and he plays with it even more! I was making coffee cake the other day and using my new hand mixer when he ran to get his and stood beside me making the mixing sound with his! So cute!
I find it really disturbing that you posted pictures of your child shirtless online. That’s almost as wrong as the people who post the intentionally bad ones.
Ok, why the hell are you letting your kid eat dog food and drink dogs’ water?
Keys? Piggybank? Pennies..wow.
Loved this! I’m on child #4 – ages 3 – 15. Some of our faves: laundry baskets in all shapes and sizes, mommy’s shoe closet, cotton balls, keys, flashlights, old phones, rocks and sticks, frig magnets (anything but the ones made for kids). Had to chuckle at those of you who are appalled by the dog food and water…my son went through a phase at about 18 months old of refusing to drink unless it was in the dog bowl. Our solution – get him his own and let him have at it! I guess by the time #4 rolls around, you realize that short of choking on the small stuff, not much will hurt them.
Kids love water but you should NEVER leave them alone with it or let them out of your sight at all. I know it sounds crazy, but kids can drown in as little as two inches of water.
Please tell me that isn’t a child in the bathtub. That doesn’t really sound like responsible “guilt-free mom time.” That sounds like more like time to call child protective services. But if you are going to let your child play with fire I guess it should be done with plenty of water nearby. And the refrigerator? Really?
I loved this list. The key chain idea in the comments was a great suggestion. I cannot believe I never thought about buying fun key rings so they could just have their own!!!
Funny how we don’t think about the every day stuff more. Since my mom was single, we didn’t have a lot of money, but she was great at pretend! For the record, my mom tells stories about me eating dog food and I am sure that I chewed on keys and ate some chapstick… We all did stuff like that growing up & we are still here. As my mom says: Relax! A little dirt (mud, dust, germs, etc…) ain’t gonna hurt!
What a fun article. I enjoyed all this with my 2 sons, now grandson. I shake my head at the parents that are being so judgemental. Really, you’ve never had that moment of, “oh my gosh, how did little Tommy get to that dog food so fast!” After you have the 2nd, 3rd or 4th child you tend to chill out a little and actually let your child play in the dirt or sand box & have fun.. & that we’re all human and most of us do the best we can. Yes there are unfit parents, but be careful before you point the finger at these great parents that realized their child was playing in the dog bowl and enjoying the taste of dog food. You’re bound to turn around and catch your child with a germy penny! Relax uptight moms/dads, enjoy what you have and that you have it because they will be grown & gone before you know it. Love, support, enjoy, laugh.. don’t condemn.
And yeah, you’ll probably find something wrong with me too.. but ask yourself first.. Do you really want to be “that” person?
my son loves socks and shoes. he puts socks on his hands and feet and puts his shoes on or my shoes or daddy’s shoes! even high heels and he can walk in them better than most of us ladies!
some more suggestions:
challenge toddlers to untie stray socks that you’ve tied in a big knot. Fill a basket with knotted up socks. (This can also be used for preschoolers as a benign ‘time out’ task. Calms them down)
masking tape. tear off small pieces for them to place on whatever….windows, cabinets, chairs, dogs, etc.
I think this was a great article. I don’t have children myself but I do babysit frequently and try to find things to entertain the children. The children are always obsessed with water and will play in it for hours! Makes my job easy! We play sail boats and Barbie goes for swim at the “beach”. And chap stick is the little girls favorite, so is my lipstick she usually has it all over her face in a second! lol Boxes are great you can build forts!
For all the negative comments about dog food and dog water, pennies, water hoses and etc. My sister and I both ate our dogs dog food at one point, hell I used to eat dirt. Water hoses? Yep drank from that and pennies or whatever coins we used to play with those too! And I must say that my sister and I turned out just fine! I think some parents have become too serious. Sure supervision is always a must but she never mention she left her child alone, just that she was entertained!
Hi, I don’t have any kids of my own (yet, and not for a long time!) but I work with kids with disabilities and was on here looking for creative ideas. I love the list and some of the ideas that people left in the comments. A few ways I have found that are really good at keeping kids occupied (as well as working on sensory and fine motor issues!) is put your kid in a high chair and fill the tray with a half inch of water (you have to be willing to get a little messy in my line of work) and sit next to your child and show him/her how to make suds (oh yeah with a little baby shampoo) soon he will be playing on his own! They can also (if the suds alone become boring after a few times) drive cars through suds, give barbie a bath, draw with their fingers to make shapes…ect.
A few other options for high chair play (while working, making dinner, doing laundry whatever!) is edible playdough (look up recipe online), painting with pudding on tray or a large piece of construction paper, frosting and sprinkles make a really pretty picture (I like do to this when I am baking because the kids are using the same ingredients I am), wet chalk, flour, or anything that will not harm the kid if they put it in their mouth it doesnt have to be tasty, just non toxic, its good to encourage messy sensory play.
If you don’t want to clean up a wet dripping baby (or your kid can’t handle the messy yet) here are some dry sensory options or what I call my “sensory box” clever right?
get a bin with high sides (to avoid more spills than necessary) and large enough that your kid can really dig into it, fill bin with dry beans, or rice, or rice krispie cereal, or something they can sift through that you won’t be reusing. then bury some toys in it and let your child go to town. if your kids likes to throw the beans everywhere while playing I suggest a plastic barrel, (at target they sell Utz Small Cheese Balls in a 23oz Barrel this is perfect because the opening is wide so child can fit arms in and comes with a lid to keep sensory box for later use the cheese balls however are not very tasty) now there will still be a mess to clean up but isnt ten minutes of sweeping worth not finding your kid with glassy eyes suffering from nickalodean overload?
oh and one of the comments just reminded me of an add to the suds is to take an empty bottle (ketchup, syrup, something flexible) and fill it with suds by shaking up and emptying the water out before handing it to your kid. then they can squeeze (good for fine motor hand functions) the soap out and suck it back up into the bottle. but don’t do it all at once. start out with just plain soap suds keep is simple. when the kids starts getting bored then change it up.
My grandson loves the make up bag I gave him to put his keys and chapstick in. Zipper and unzipper for hours at a time. Put something in…zipper it up. Take something out unzipper it.
To all the parents worried about chemicals and dirt; grow up!! I hope your kids can have any fun in the bubble you put them in. Yes there are harmful chemicals n bacteria but if you are a clean enough parent then theres nothing to worry about anyway. I knew a girl that loved eating dog treats until she was 12, and my brother ate icecream off a gravel covered lot. THEY ARE STILL ALIVE, and very healthy.
I have a two year old and his favorite things along with boxes and plastic eggs are string and hair bands. He loves making the string move and dragging it with him and the hair bands stretch to fit around a lot of things like the remote or oh! a clear water bottle with the plastic ring and some water inside of it. The plastic ring floats on top, add glitter, food coloring, and beads and you have the worlds best/ cheapest rattle ever. I froze it durring the summer, kept him cool and happy even after it was compleatly thawed and warm again.
Wow! That sums up my toddler’s interests; she’s nuts about all of that!
My toddler likes Benjamins and the Wall Street Journal. its weird
My daughter was fascinated by travel size lotion. She could turn it over and over, making up stories, it was amazing how long she would play with it.
lol my baby brianna is 2 in a half. and everything that violet does is the exact thing that my daughter brianna does. how neat is that.
My son is 20 now, but when he was a baby he was fascinated with keys. One day, we were in the zoo, in Honolulu (I was stationed at Kaneohe Bay), and he started fidgeting a little bit in his stroller, so I handed him the keys. We were checking out the tiger, and my son decided the keys were so delicious, Mr. Tiger wanted a taste, and threw them into the tiger pen! The tiger wasn’t really interested in the keys, but he sure gave his keeper an “interested” look when we finally rounded him up and got him to go in, and fetch my keys back! Needless to say, that was the last time I handed my son the keys–well, at least not until he was old enough to drive!
My girls love their shadows, they love going outside and dancing around and watching their shadows make the same dances with them, it’s fun to watch
My daughter loves hand towels! Whenever I am cooking or cleaning in the kitchen, I have a dish towel or hand towel out and everytime I turn around, she has taken it. She uses it to cover up her baby dolls/stuffed animals but I bought her a baby blanket and she wouldnt touch it. She also loves playing in the bathroom drawer where I keep those little bottles of shampoo/conditioner that come from hotels. They are the perfect size for her little hands and she doesn’t even care if they empty.
Yup this is the list for my 2 yr old – just change dog bowls to cat bowls!
He’s yet to find the allure of candles unless they are lit and he can blow them out either, but we have some of those battery operated ones that he adores.
Also doesn’t play with actual salt and pepper shakers, but has some with his play kitchen and likes to proclaim the letter on the top (loves letters and numbers, is on his way with the shapes)
So accurate it’s scary x
oven mitts… my 2 year niece grabbed one so of course my 3.5 year old had to have one so i gave her the other and they ran around the house with them ….
picking the bus seat … don’t know why she just loves it …….
keys are a good one … i gave my daughter all my old ones and her grandma gave her an old keyfob and she loves to have them ……
cheap easy and slightly messy …. flubber … just corn starch and water …. totally fun to watch my daughter play with it ……
My son who is now 9, would spend hours playing with odd things, some of his favorites were catalogs, didn’t matter what was in them, he would look at the pictures for hours. I actually used them to teach him, his colors, numbers, and letters. Empty cups, the ball he stole from the poor dog. But his all time favorite was my husband’s very old style floppy disc, the square kind in the hard cases. He would spend hours lining them up, making shapes with them, sorting them. As for the keys, I found an easy way to deal with him playing with and losing mine, I took some old keys and made him his very own set of keys. He would use them to pretend he was driving too.
haha you can tell who are younger/first time parents
i dont even have kids yet (way young for it) but my mum always let me play with little things as a toddler, she was always a little weirded out that i would talk to the kebler cracker box…
its actually better to let a kid encounter germs at a young toddler-ish age (the kind on everyday objects not crazy scary ones of course) because their immune system is still developing and if they are introduced at a young age its easier for the body to make antibodies. <- aka, a little dirt is good for a kid
another good one is letting them dig holes i could be amused straight up til twelve with hole digging.
and the sorting stuff (beads, coins, suger packets) is said to correlate to better math skills in older children
My 11 month old daughter just hit key faze but she’s loved the iphone (first thing she crawled for at 6 months old) and taking bottles of water out of the fridge for awhile. The tupperware cupboard is the only way I can do dishes because she loves the dishwasher (not helpful). The remote or game controller is in her hands at all times in the living room, even though she doesn’t watch TV. Picture frames are constantly being pulled down and carried around. Water bottles are fun to carry around and cool to chew when teething. Boxes she seems afraid of, maybe she’s too young yet.
As someone who works in an emergency department and has seen way too many kids whose parents weren’t careful about keeping choking hazards away from them, please take down the suggestion to let kids play with pennies. sure, some kids are mature enough to not put them in their mouths, but it is just insane and irresponsible to leave a suggestion to allow toddlers to play with items that could cause them significant and lifelong damage up on the internet.
I remember being so insulted when a Mom at my daughter’s Daycare laughed after smelling my daughter’s clothes (which smelled of Ivory Snow) and said ” only one eh? you’ll learn”, but she was dead on! I agree with the Mom who commented that we used to put babies to sleep any which way, and had bumper pads etc. Right now parents are so over-protective that they run the risk of destroying their child’s freedom to explore. But then I survived the era of “lawn darts” LOL!