What planned indoor activities do you do?

[lollipopmother]

My DD is 16 months and I look after a 14m/o and a 2y/o and I've been trying to do planned indoor activities with varied success! So far I have done pasta & lentil play, water play and bottle lids with pans and utensils. All of them have been successful especially the water and the lids & pans.

What sort of indoor things do you do with under 2s?

I have a big tray that I use for water that I could use for other things, and I also have two tuffspot trays that I haven't even unwrapped yet!

Thanks.

Playdough
Real Dough - Cookie dough for example, so they can make shapes... then I cook it and they eat it.
Any cooking - toddlers seem to love helping pour things, can get very messy.
Washing up - similar to your water play I expect.
Jigsaws, Train set, Teddies Tea Parties.

You could do sand in a tray - just a thin layer of sand so they can drive cars/trucks and use their fingers to make marks.

I like the idea of the sand, hits the 'mark making' critera among other things I'm sure.

I have been thinking of doing play dough, DD did it a couple of weeks ago at the Childrens' Centre but it didn't hold her attention at all so I've been a bit put off, maybe I should try for the 2y/o though as I'm sure she won't have had a go before.

Thanks for your ideas Nick, much appreciated.

Make your own playdough - then it's a cooking exercise as well, plus they may be more inclined to play with it, as it will be warm to start with.

2 cups plain flour
1 cup salt (get cheap stuff from Tesco, Morrisons etc)
2 cups of Boiling water
2 tablespoons of oil (vegetable oil/sunflower oil)
4 teaspoons of cream of tartar
Few drops of food colouring

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Pout in 2 Cups of Boiling Water
Mix quickly (with a spoon I suggest)
Then knead for a bit.
Then give to the children, they can knead it a bit more.

action songs
ball rolling
hoopla
the children even had fun with yoga today
cutting up or tearing magazines and sticking
most things that are sticky or messy

box play (making things out of them, popping things in/out and just playing in them)

threading/beading

easy puzzles

colouring / sticking / finger painting (for little ones you can make your own fingerpaints out of cornstarch/jelly which are ok if ingested!)

different things in empty water bottles with lids glued on to make sensory bottles (oil & water with blue food colouring to make a sea, pasta to make a shaker, sand to make an 'hourglass', etc.)

This has some good ideas, especially on how to involve the different ages in the activities suggested

Coral - Thank you for that link, that's really helpful.

Thanks everyone for your ideas!

Fab link Coral, thanks!

I am definitely going to do the sand and cars as mindee has a thing for cars so think he'll enjoy it. Tomorrow I think I'll use flour and see how it goes, I don't have any sand yet!