More Indoor Activities for Toddlers

It's getting to be that time of year - six months of winter is coming! Yay! (Nooooooooo. Make it stop.)

In my original post featuring indoor activities for young toddlers, many of you readers chimed in with AWESOME ideas and links in the comments. So awesome that someday I'll write it all up and make it a separate page to click on in situations of winter despair. I could pretend like I'll do that soon, but that would be totally pants on fire.

Here are a few things we've done lately on chillier days (or on baby-napping-and-it's-too-complex-to-leave-the-house days).

Magazine Collages
Oh, my do I heart collaging with a fervor unmatched for any other art project. Always have, always will. I even brought magazine collages to a place where magazine collages were never meant to go: an Honors Shakespeare class in college. For reals. PROOF!

(Somehow got an A+ in that class? What?)

So let's be real clear when I share these next few collage projects with you - it was all about me wanting to collage and I was maybe a little sad that Bella didn't show the project the reverence it deserved. She was half-interested and needed a lot of guidance. I'll have to keep trying. My children WILL love to collage. It must be so.

Supplies - Old magazines & catalogs, glue sticks or tape, markers, large sheets of paper, and we also include those foam stickers that meet a child's band-aid fix with all the peeling off of sticker backings.

Seasonal Collage
Bella is now aware of the changing seasons and loves talking about leaves falling and winter coming, etc. I randomly signed up for a two year subscription to Midwest Monthly (It was cheap? Or something? You can make fun of me, I deserve it.) and I never do anything with the magazine, but I do admire the pictures. And that was enough to inspire all this collaging. We started with a fall collage and I plan to do another with winter pictures and then spring. I would think you could find good seasonal stuff in many magazines, including freebie catalogs like Pottery Barn.

Tree Collage - I cut out leaves using fall-colored pictures and had Bella glue them to a tree. Then she stuck sea-themed foam stickers to it, which was awesome.

House Collage -  Fill the rooms of the house with the appropriate stuff. Totally lets me peruse the Crate & Barrel catalog.

Rice & Beans Play Bin
I originally intended for this to be a construction site-type activity for Bella. I filled a large plastic storage bin with dried rice & beans. I thought Bella would have fun with her dump truck scooping & digging (she's very interested in construction), but then she decided it was more fun to pretend to cook. I added the plastic bowls & measuring utensils that we don't use anymore and she goes to town and makes us cakes. I spread an old tablecloth underneath each time and then carefully fold it up and shake the stray bits back into the large bin when we are done.

Homemade Music Shakers
We did this at music class, but it can be easily replicated at home. Fill disposable coffee cups (available at Target) with dried rice or beans or a mix, tape on the lid securely and decorate. Turn on the Pandora toddler station (love) and shake your booties.

Colored Ice Cubes
Got this idea on Pinterest. I froze colored cubes and then Bella played with them in the tub. Just make sure to dole them out slowly to extend playing time. The first time I dumped all 12 in at once and the fun was over in a few minutes. Oops.

Anyone else want to chime in with something fun they did lately? I plan to use Pinterest to find lots more ideas this winter.

But winter isn't really right around the corner, right?  LALALALALALALALA!