Easy activities that I can do with my 3.5 yo

[manishk012]

@michaelcanter777 She might be into the paint idea but the week and fine books look great so I’ll buy one. I’d love one of those ride on toys but our garden/house isn’t big enough!

 

[jian]

@manishk012 My daughter has always loved floor puzzles, the pieces are bigger and some are easier to solve and you can find puzzles with stuff she likes and she enjoys doing them with me or by herself. When I don't feel like going on the floor we do them on the table.

Connect 4, we play that on the couch or table all the time.

I made up this coloring game for her where you cut pieces of paper, write animal names, objects, whatever you want really and scramble it and have her take out 2 pieces and whatever name it's on them she has to draw it. We ended up with some silly drawings (pencil/monkey and crab/bat were probably my favorite)

 

[manishk012]

@jian That game sounds amazing! I'll keep it in mind for when she's older!

 

[micahalex]

@manishk012 Paleontologist! You lay down on the couch and they lightly brush you with a dry paintbrush.

 

[manishk012]

@micahalex Amazing! I'll give it a try hahaha

 

[leozac]

@manishk012 Do you have PreK type activity books for her? My daughter just turned 4, and in the past year she really liked cutting and pasting or color by number activities on her own. She's also liked dinosaur egg hatching, which I got a kit of 12 eggs fo her to chip away at and in each one was a little dinosaur, and now all 12 "play together". We borrow tablets from our local library too, which are loaded with educational games or read along stories (and she's learned how to read since about a year ago!).
I have a 2 year old as well, so I've been there, had to find many things to keep my older one busy (and be more independent).

 

[manishk012]

@leozac Yes we do have a few PreK type books for her which she likes. I’ll have a look at some more and some dino eggs - never heard of them before! We already have a tablet and she goes on it whilst I shower in the morning thank god!

 

[tommyszc]

@manishk012 Magnatiles, duplo Legos, resin letters with a letter mat to practice matching letters, large floor puzzles (I love the Melissa & doug), perler beads. Ice cubes on a tray with bowls, spoons and cups is always a hit at my house.

If you have an outdoor space, a water table is always entertaining. Today, I made a “potion table” where I put shaving cream in cups, a few drops of food dye in each and water in squirt bottles. They had a blast making “potions”. If you have a bathtub, you could probably do it indoors too for easy clean up!

 

[manishk012]

@tommyszc Food dye in squirt bottles and shaving cream sounds great, she'd love this.

 

[danprayer]

@tommyszc Can you explain about the ice cubes activity? Thanks

 

[tommyszc]

@danprayer Sure! I originally heard about it on the coffee & crumbs podcast. You just take a cookie sheet, add ice cubes, then put cups/bowls/spoons on there too and let them play with it outside.

 

[un12]

@manishk012 Nesting cups, blocks, Water play, you can get a plastic cement mixing tub and fill with water and other sensory things, gluing scraps of paper to create mosaic

 

[manishk012]

@un12 Thanks but she's outgrown all of the sensory types of activities but thanks anyway

 

[chole1]

@manishk012 You could get some games and sit at a table maybe like snap or the mach the card memory games One of my faves was doctors when I was pregnant with my second, I got to lay down and be the patient and she was the doctor I fell asleep a couple of times but I also somehow fell asleep playing lego somehow

 

[manishk012]

@chole1 Yeah she's just getting in to those types of games and she loves playing doctor but it only ever lasts 5 mins!

 

[darryl50]

@manishk012 Put some plastic animals in a bucket, add water, and freeze it. My 3.5 year old loves using squirt bottles and such to free the animals. Keeps her busy for awhile.

 

[manishk012]

@darryl50 We do this with giant ice cubes in the summer. She loves it!

 

[esta25]

@manishk012 We have a cupboard my daughter can go in and pick from herself. It's loaded with puzzles, beading toys, Playmobil and lil woodzeez, kinetic sand, play doh, water wow, dry erase activity books, matching game, books that read to her, magnetic dress up toys, coding game, tinker toys, gear toys, etc...

Only rule I have is they have to put away one item before taking out another and it's always done at the table. I have coffee while she plays.

I also suggest going to a second hand store or buying used stuff!

 

[manishk012]

@esta25 Everything is accessible for my daughter but she needs me to get it out and do it with her 99 percent of the time haha.

 

[easternorthodox]

@manishk012 What I did was get like a clear tote (usually not too tall and rectangular) and filled it with water and food dye. Put some toys in it that he can scoop water with and put him on the back porch. Literally entertained him for hours, not sure how.