Fun things to do with a toddler in the Winter

[Janus]

Help!! I have always been a very 'outdoors' sort of Mum as we haven't got the biggest of flats and I feel that my daughter, 16 months, and I would go nuts being indoors all day. We have a garden but not direct access, which is a pain, so we are often visiting the local parks, etc.
Last Winter was easy as she was still young but this year I'm already struggling with ideas of things to do. We still go for a walk every day and go to the park, except if it has been raining all day. However, the visits are much shorter as it's so bloody cold!
Has anyone any ideas for a toddler, she's just walking, to do more indoors now? We sing nursery rhymes, do some crayoning, do a music class once a week, swimming once a week. I've tried play dough but all she wanted to do was eat it, paint would probably be a bit ambitious too so I'm getting stuck. Sadly/luckily, she loves the Teletubbies but I feel guilty if she watches too much TV as I feel I should be entertaining her but I need help with ideas please.
Thanks.

Make cornflake cakes; make fairy cakes and ice them and let her stick on sweeties; set up a shop and take it in turns to be customer and shop keeper; draw pictures and post them to doting relatives; make christmas cards (let her sprinkle the glitter after you've glued); make a winter garden in a dish or bottle (twigs, stones, leaves from your short walks!, plastic santa etc) - hope this inspires you a bit!

On the less creative side, do you have a soft play area nearby? You might even get a chance to sit down for a coffee! Suggest you keep clear of school holidays, and after 3 in the afternoon, so fewer older kids about. Most soft play areas have somewhere for the younger kids to play without feeling intimidated by the older ones.

Hi Janus,

As you're such an outdoors person, how about looking for more things you can do away from the flat? Someone once gave me some good advice which was to make sure you get out of the house at least once a day, as it breaks up the day.

How about joining your local parent and toddler group, where your dd can play with other children; how about your local library - they might have weekly story sessions; do you have an Early Learning Centre near you? - I believe they do toddler sessions once a week for small children to try out all the toys; how about getting together with one or more other mums with their toddlers - invite someone to your flat one week and go round to theirs the next week; or is there a local indoor shopping centre that you could go round?

Looking at things to do inside the house - why not get the biggest cardboard box you can find and see what fun your dd has with it - my dd, 14 months, spends longer playing with an old cardboard box that our TV came in than with any of her 'proper' toys.

I hope this is of some use !

The ideas here are great! Another one I'd add is that some areas have a Toy Library, where you can borrow different toys and so ring the changes indoors. It's also fun for babies if they can play with the contents of your saucepan cupboard and things like that. If there is an NCT branch in your area you could try thier coffee events, where you can meet other parents while your baby has fun. They're on 0870 444 8707 or NCT

How about making indoor tents? We've got a big travel blanket and that gets stretched between the armchairs with cushions underneath for a den. Our little boy loves it. Not a day goes by without us having to make a den of some sort. We also brought a cheap torch from Homebase (£1.99) and he thinks its great to sit in his den with his own light.

Another thing we like to play is tea parties. We get his soft toys out and make pretend tea for them all. Some times we'll have real cakes.

These ideas are great. Not being a 'natural' mother in that I have no idea what to do with a child I would never have thought of half these things. Have problems getting my ds to sit still for two minutes though but am definitely going to try these ideas. I only work three days a week and tend to get a bit stuck on the two days I'm with him home alone. It gets a bit monotonous going to the park all the time (even though ds loves it).

If you've got one near then take a trip to one of those giant pet shops they keep putting up in new retail parks, you know the sort 'pets at home', 'petsmart' etc. They always have loads of animals inside for sale, ranging from rabbits, birds, hamsters, fish, chinchillas etc. Its free and you don't need to make a purchase, ours is next to Tescos, so usually combine a visit with the shopping. (BTW has anyone seen the new little car-trolleys they have in tesco's now, fantastic idea as dd won't enteretain the thought of sitting in a normal trolley) The best thing with the petshops is they have free parking and are always toasty warm so the animals (and customers) keep snug!
Another firm favourite is the library and dd's face lights up when I mention it now! We just plonk ourselves on the comfy chairs in the childrens section and read loads, then choose some to take home. Its always really quiet in school time so tend to go then as she can have a run about without anyone getting sniffy. They also have some toys to play with...
We also go to a 'babydance' group at the local hall which is great fun, mainly from the social aspect. Hope this helps...
I know what you mean though Janus, its tough thinking of inexpensive ideas. I must admit I do a lot of visiting people in the winter as dd loves to snoop round different houses!

Had a brilliant book by Paula yates from the library with loads of ideas - sorry can't remember the title!

She's done two; both of which are good fun tho' as a working mother I found some of her "we should be at home making biscuits" comments a little annoying. They do contain some lovely ideas tho' - The first (for mums with v. young children) is called "The Fun Starts here" - the second, for toddlers up I think, is called "The Fun Don't Stop." I do strongly recommend these, with the above proviso.

Just churned out a load of salt dough shapes ready for Christmas... as a result of a cancelled play session with best friend ie had to find something good to do ... and quick!! (ie, please don't take me as some sort of mega organised person!)
Anyway, said dough recipe withstood some serious manhandling from ds, and has come out really good.

Recipe:
2 cups plain flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water

Wizz in magimix, turn out and knead for few mins, roll out till 2 or 3 millimetres thick, and get stamping with your angels, holly, stars (look out for Inspirations magazine for Dec - they have free star cutters). Put holes in the top of them all so you can hang them up.
Bake in a really low oven for about 4 - 6 or even 8 hours. I have an aga, so suggest about 100 degrees. Wait until they're really dry and crisp. Then paint, scatter with glitter... whatever!

I've wanted to get hold of those books by Paula Yates for ages. My library doesn't have them - does anyone know any good out-of-print book sites? Or have any ideas? They are called 'The Fun Starts Here' and 'The Fun Don't Stop'.

Enid, this site is good for getting out of print books. Book Search

Good luck!

Thanks Suedonim, will ring the booksellers tomorrow. At last!

You found the books, I take it Enid! I used the site to get a book I only vaguely recall from my childhood (hope it's not a disappointment when it arrives!) and a book from S Africa I wanted, to continue some family history research I'm doing.

My childminder gave me a great recipe for play dough which I made over the weekend. I was surprised how easy it was to make and impressed with the results. Our son spent all weekend playing with it!

The ingredients are:

2 cups (ordinary tea cup)plain flour
1 cup salt
2 cups water
4 tablespoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons oil
food colouring.

Mix the whole lot together in a saucepan and cook over a low heat for about 3 - 5 minutes, stirring all the time. It starts off runny, but then turns into a thick dough. It cooled down in minutes and so is ready to play with almost immediately! Its not great for model making, but for cutting out shapes and decorating its fine. As long as you keep it in a tupperware box it should last a little while.

I'm never going to buy play dough again!

Anything that keeps my toddler son interested all weekend sounds good to me. Thanks for the recipe, Emmam. If I remember rightly, your son is a little older than mine, so I may wait a few months.

BTW what cooking and cutting implements did your son like the most?

Thanks ever so much for the salt dough recipe, Fms. My kids and I have just spent a happy afternoon making wonky Xmas decorations- I can't wait to see them on our tree! They're in the oven now. I'm going to try your play dough recipe next, Emmam. Just need to buy some cream of tartar and food colouring...

Dump them at your mothers and go shopping..... (sorry, been having one of those days)

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Tigermoth, my son is just over 2½, but he's been playing with play dough from around 2 years of age. We improvised with tools to use with the playdough I made over the weekend - I found an old biscuit cutter, some duplo blocks, a plastic spoon and the nozzles from an icing bag! The nozzles work in two ways - first they make pretty patterns, but also the playdough is quite flexible so you can squeeze it through and make great long toothpaste strips!

Scummymummy - cream of tartar was £1.25 from Tesco and food colouring 49p!

I had to get the playdough out again last night and it kept him amused while I was cooking dinner! (By the way, it washes out of clothes lovely and once dry hoovers up off the carpet good too.)

Yes Bloss, car is a useful one, BUT word of warning, my CD player is currently full of car park tickets (those ones with sticky backs..). Yes, I know I should have tidied up - on the plus side though it means no more nursery CD's until it's fixed !

Another warning about little ones playing in cars. My friend's little boy (always a meddler) managed to find some wires behind the radio, joined them up and shorted them, setting fire to the car!! She was not a happy bunny and nor was he cos he wasn't allowed to play in the car anymore.

LOL Willow2! Hope your day is improving as it goes along.

I, too, let my toddler sit in the driving seat. He's a real petrol-head and he loves it. But two further warnings:

1, Remember the handbrake could get dislodged if there's too much climbing around. Especially dangerous if your car is parked on a slope.

2, Poking a finger into a cigarette lighter socket can result in a painful burned fingertip.

Learning the hard way, I have, at various times, suffered both these mishaps with my sons.

Mmmm, another quick car warning similar to that of Twinks' fated CD. Make sure you get rid of all tapes too, I have sadly lost two thanks to little fingers pulling the insides out and snapping them into little segments - unfortunately these weren't any of her ELC ones, but my favourites borrowed from a friend's CD. No problem re-recording them, except friend now lives in blinking Sardinia of all places!!