Weekends with the family can be so much fun! During the summer our weekends are jammed packed with beach days, camping trips, family bbq’s and so many other activities. During the summer our family doesn’t get much down time. During the fall, and through the winter when the weather changes we find that our weekends are pretty bare.
My husband and I thought after the busy summer that having nothing to do over the weekend would be amazing, and it was for the first couple of weeks. Then we found ourselves getting into a bit of a rut, asking ourselves what are we going to do today? I hope that if you too find yourself wondering how to spend your time off as a family that this list offers some helpful ideas to keep you from catching the nasty boredom bug!
What Family Activities Can I Do With My Toddler? There are countless activities you can do with a toddler such as: get outside, play bowling inside, pretend play, match socks at laundry time, get exercise, dance to videos on youtube, walk the mall, play a game, and help mom and dad with cleanup time.
Bake and Decorate Cookies
Teaching little ones to help measure and poor ingredients into a bowl is so fun. We let our daughter help with stirring the batter and putting the balls of dough on the cookie sheet. I love watching her anxiously wait for the cookies to be done by peering into the oven through the glass with the light on. Once our cookies are finished we decorate them together with sprinkles and icing!
Costco Day
Okay, what toddler doesn’t love sample day at Costco? This is our Sunday morning activity. Our daughter loves sampling all the yummy food. Then we take her to look at all the books and we read a few together, if she’s lucky she might get to take her favorite one home with her. She also enjoys going through the seasonal sections to see the different decorations they have. We get a lot of ohh’s and aww’s from her when we visit these isles.
If you have a Costco membership this is a great way to spend time as a family and get some grocery shopping done!
Bowling from Home
Find a ball and a few items that can be knocked down and teach your little one to bowl. This is a family activity that doesn’t have to cost a thing that the whole family will enjoy.
Hide and Seek
The classic game of hide and seek never fails, play this game inside if its cold, or take it to the yard if its warm. Kids cannot get enough of this game and I myself enjoy it as well!
Jungle Gym Play Time
Locate your nearest fast food restaurant with a jungle gym and pick up a fry to share and then play away. Our daughter is 17 months old and we take her to our nearest McDonald’s once a week on a week night when it’s typically slow and we all go play. My husband and I go into the jungle gym with her and have a ball playing hide and seek and chasing one another.
On the plus side my husband and I get a rigorous workout and our daughter sleeps like a rock after a visit to the jungle gym. If your toddler has siblings, you may be able to sit back and relax while they all play!
Tip: be sure to bring hand sanitizer to clean up after play time. Jungle gyms have germs just like everything else!
Dress Up
Bring out mom and dad’s clothes, hats, gloves, and scarves and have a dress up party with your little one. I was surprised how much my daughter enjoyed putting on our clothes and looking at herself in the mirror.
Quick tip: turn on some tunes during dress up and have a dance party!
Laundry Time
Play the matching game with your toddler with all of the socks, little kids love doing this. It’s also fun to have them try to identify each type of clothing item. Teach your toddler where each piece of clothing belongs and have them put them away for you. This is a great learning activity that can be done together and it has an added bonus…you get the laundry done…Hooray!
Finger Painting
Put down a tarp, grab some paper, pick up some nontoxic finger paints, and put on some old clothes. It’s time to show your little one how it’s done! We do this activity near bed time, then put our daughter in the bath when were done since she is typically covered head to toe in paint. After painting and having a bath she is ready to snooze the night away!
Make a Fort
Grab your bar stools or dining chairs and all your blankets and make a fort with your little one. Fort making is so exciting for toddlers, our daughter enjoys playing peek a boo from inside the fort once its made. We then all have story time together in the fort, which is a blast for our daughter. This is such great bonding time!
Go on a Walk and Play I Spy
I spy with my little eye, a tree! Identifying objects outside with your little one is so fun, and it usually surprises me how much our daughter knows. We try to take an I spy walk several times a week and its one of our favorite family activities. Regardless of the weather I make it a point to go on these walks, getting fresh air is so important to our well being. If you must, bundle up and get outside!
Play With Boxes
Collect boxes that you may have lying around in the house and pretend they are cars, boats, planes, use your imagination with your little one and play. Its free, its easy, and it’s fun! Quite frankly, our daughter likes boxes more than her toys, imagine that!
Grocery Shopping
Find the nearest grocery store that has mini grocery carts and have your little one take the cart around helping you pick out groceries. See if they are able to locate different items like bananas and carrots and let them put the item in their cart. Our daughter at 17 months is just getting to the stage where she can do this and it’s a blast watching her try to be like mommy. We always make sure to hit up the bakery so she can get a free cookie as an added bonus!
Visit the Mall
Each mall is different, but on days when the weather is not ideal, my husband and I take our daughter to the mall so she can run around. We were very surprised the first time we took her how many kid friendly activities were available. They have a train that takes kids and parents around the mall, which my daughter is absolutely obsessed with, a carousel, animal ride on toys, and a play area for kids. We can easily spend half the day playing at the mall together. I recommend checking out what activities your nearest mall has available for your toddler.
Play with RC Car
Do you or your significant other have an RC (remote control) car? My husband has several RC cars so we were lucky in this department. Our daughter could chase these little remote control vehicles around for hours! We also will let her try to control the car, she doesn’t have this down yet but is very curious about the whole thing. If you do not own an RC car I highly suggest picking one up, you will all have endless amounts of fun and when your all done your toddler will be ready for a serious nap!
