1 and 3 year old. What do we doooo all day!?

@ahead Mine are 3 and 1 as well! July birthdays.

For colder weather: waterproof overalls are amazing. Still get out and play, no wet bums.

Twice a week or so (skin issues) I throw them in the shower with me - a few toys in the bottom and we get clean.

Water drawing book- one each. Also those colour change bath books with the water pens.

If my 3 is on her balance bike I can put 1 in a stroller or carrier and go for a normal pace walk. Or a slow walk if 1 is walking.

It's hectic, but baking.

Judiciously applied screen time.

Sidewalk chalk.

Edit- it changes a lot in weeks and months- my 1 is now nearly 15 months and can join in so much better than a few months ago.
 
@cindyfernandez I had high hopes for those water drawing books but they give me mayyyybe 5 min lol. Water proof overalls is so smart. I’m going to look into those ASAP. Bc we NEED to be able to go outside year round.
 
@ahead I'm in Australia and found that when I actually twigged the first year they'd sold out of lots of sizes, so I went early this year.

Crawlers (closed foot) were good but now she's walking not so much.
 
@ahead So, I felt the exact same way with my 1 and 2 1/2 year olds. I tried filling the time at home but it just didn’t work well for me. If you find yourself in that situation despite all the excellent recommendations in this thread, what has worked well for me is getting them on a schedule of activities. We rotate between music, swim, and dance (for the older one) classes each week. These are signed up and paid activities so it can be tough to get out the door, but I find it easier than our one off adventures or stuff without a set time. Obviously, they don’t have to be paid activities, but it does help me keep to the routine. We still have plenty of home time too, but it is much easier to manage.
 
@ahead Also newly turned SAHM (as of Jan) of a currently have a 3.5yo and 19mo. Going out is particularly exhausting because I’m currently 36w pregnant 🤣 here are some activities we do - especially ones at home!

Library story time

Park

Play outside in the backyard (ours is fenced in and small)

Make bread/cook with mommy - I do a lot of cooking/baking so I try to include my girls as much as possible. Sometimes we do stuff that’s just for them like making gummies.

Color/paint/draw/cut

Indoor water play with small amounts of water (younger in the high chair). Doesn’t need to be a lot and I like to color the older’s water.

Aquafaba, play dough (again younger in high chair)

Dollar section at target has so many fun things. Even something as simple as a dollar pack of bandaids can be super fun, especially when I add it to part of a doctor kit for the older. Even more fun if you add a (neddleless) syringe and gauze.

Long bath (bubble pods make the best bubbles)

Taking care of baby dolls. I have a kid diaper bag (though it could be any) and I put real diapers and wipes and such a in there. Super fun.

Anytime you get a delivery, just cut the top off the box. My kids LOVE playing with boxes.

Interactive songs. My 1yo especially loves this - songs like head/shoulders/knees/toes, Hokey Pokey, wheels on the bus, baby shark (old school version), and the hop bunnies song from miss Rachel are fan favorites.

Any kind of fort thing is super fun.

In general, though, just try to include them in as many things that you’re doing, and if you can, try to set them up with an age appropriate version. Like the other day I was prepping cookies for Christmas so I really couldn’t have my 3yo helping legitimately. So instead I gave her some dough, a small rolling pin, and some cookies cutters and she had a ball.
 
@cadie Dollar section at target is a great idea! I bet the kids would love to pick things out there with me too. And I recently discovered that target has $5 craft kits!
 
@ahead I was going to suggest sensory activities and crafts but that makes sense with the 1.5 year old. Also when we are in a rut we take a long bath with bath paints or bubbles
 
@kampioen My little one is OBSESSED with bath paints! But the second I’m not staring her down she starts eating them. I’ve been researching edible bath paint but haven’t found anything yet :(
 
@ahead I also have a 1 and 3 year old. For us, going out is SO much easier than staying in, especially when the weather is colder. We go to library storytimes, McDonald’s play places, play dates at friends house, the children’s museum, and we check out tickets to other museums from the library. We go in the morning, leave when I’m getting tired, and then it’s naptime when we get home (and when we go out, they actually take a good nap because they’re exhausted after).

Staying home is just miserable. Things quickly devolve into them fighting over toys, 1 year old snatching everything out of 3 year old’s hands, 3 year old melting down as a result. A lot of the stuff 3 year old wants to do we just can’t do while baby is awake because she’ll destroy it (Magnatiles, art). If you have a large enough shower or bathtub, sensory play can be a good option (use the bath/shower to contain the mess and then hose the kids off afterward. Check out Mothercould for ideas of sensory play you can DIY). We also make different gross motor activities with the Nugget.
 
@ahead Well, first we start with a bowl of yogurt, then we put food coloring in it and stir it with spoon or fingers, then I've got granola or blueberries or bananas or Cheerios, you get the idea. Messy play with hands on a table with table cloth and eat it or don't. Usually we end up needing a bath at the end of the activity but that's okay because it's just more things to kill time. Don't worry about getting too structured or educational. This is an all kids like boxes age.
 
@ahead I have no idea what I do with my kids (same ages) every day, so I couldn't even tell you.

But, you'll also build up a tolerance to it. That and naturally lowering your standards in the interest of being able to leave the house, and eventually you'll be able to do that big fun list of things!
 
@ahead If you can fork out the $$, lovevery was so great for us during the pandemic. They send boxes of toys every couple months specially for the kids age. They also have suggestions for how to use them in different activities for the kids. It was such a relief not having to research what educational toys to buy and just have them show up along with a parent guide every couple months. They're really solidly made toys too, and they will replace anything that breaks which is 💯

Edit - mess free coloring from Crayola or the much cheaper nufun brand on Amazon. You can just let the one year old go to town. Once they stop eating art i guess.

I did food safe paints with my kids while they were in the snackin on art phase, it didn't taste good but it was safe to eat, made of turmeric and spirulina and beets and stuff. They tried it and noped out of eating paint pretty fast.
 
@ahead When I talk about it, I always feel like I sound like a paid spokesperson and people don't take me seriously but the stuff is so well designed and the cs is great too. We're actually on our third faucet lol

I just wish they did boxes past 4 years old!
 
@ahead It is amazing how many of my chores seem to require me and my child to walk from one end of the house to the other lol I am lucky because I have an infant who is happy to be worn and a toddler that likes to just follow me around. I try to go somewhere in the morning (park, library, walk, etc) then we come home for lunch and rest time. I try to vary the parks to keep it interesting, but I also try to involve my kids in daily chores and tasks as much as possible. Otherwise I rotate them between focused attention time with me (workbook, reading, letters, etc), independent play, chore time, screen time, and whatever else I can think of!!
 
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