I'll admit, sometimes I just feel like being lazy. I use the slow cooker, put as many dishes as possible in the dishwasher, and don't feel like getting out paint or lots of supplies for activities for C. During the summer we traveled a lot, and when we were home we spent a lot of time outdoors. When we were inside, I just didn't feel like I had a lot of energy for activities (as evidenced by my lack of posts on the blog!). On some of those days, here are a few super simple, low-prep activities we do:
Sorting
My gal
loves to sort. Mostly by colour, but also by shape and size. Alphabet letters have always been a big hit, and recently she's been into my button jar and a jar of beads.
Putting
Daddy's trying to raise a future golfer! Our putting machine (
kind of like this) is a hit, and we have a nice long hallway to keep the balls contained! I remember my brother and I spent a lot of time rolling balls into my Dad's machine when we were young - it was fun to watch them roll back at us!
Bead Designs
C loves Mardi Gras beads, but she doesn't wear them very often. She prefers to sit on the floor and watch me make letters and shapes with them. She'll tell me what to make, or I'll make it, and she'll guess what it is.
Shapes are fun because we can jump back and forth in them!
Beanbag Toss
Throwing beanbags into a basket is also a fun and easy activity. I just stick a piece of masking tape on the floor for C to stand on - otherwise she stands right over the basket! I keep moving the basket farther and farther away (until she gets frustrated and asks me to move it back!). If you don't have beanbags, just use small stuffed animals. Beanie Babies and Happy Meal sized toys are perfect!
Spelling
C is also very into spelling right now, and we use alphabet letter fridge magnets to spell our names, and any other word she can think of. We're working on identifying letter sounds, but some of them are tricky (especially vowels)!
So those are a few things I do when I want to be a good Mom, but I feel too tired or lazy to organize a big activity or craft! What super simple activities do you do when you're having those days?
I use them as pen jars, to hold scrapbooking supplies, put them by my sewing machine to store fabric scraps and bits of thread, and I even have a few in our craft closet to hold collage supplies.
