What Are Your Kids' Favorite Activities?

[LeslieG]

I feel like my kids are bored A LOT!! I need new ideas. I have kids between the ages of 18 months and 4 years old.

What activities (toys, games, art, ect.) are big hits in your daycare? And, for what age group?

Thank you!!

[MamaBearCanada]

These have been the most popular this past year:

Crafts & I always have markers, stamps, paper & stickers out at the table.
Little People - all ages love these. At the advice of some wise people on here I am have just divided up the sets to rotate them out.
Toy kitchen and food. - They could play restaurant for half the day. I add some notepads and pencils for those that want to take orders.
Cosy Coupes cars - we have 2 inside and they are a big hit. My own DS 16 months can play in one for a long time.
Baby dolls, accessories, and strollers.
Toys cars and garage.

[mom2many]

My younger ones love the toy kitchen, balls, blocks, finger painting, water table, cars & dolls. My 3 & 4 yo also enjoy playing board games like Candy Land and matching cards, puzzles, crafts of any kind, preschool activities & legos are big favorite too. They enjoy imaginary play and love dress up clothes. I find rotating toys helps!

[Brooksie]

Our favorite activities seem to be either really messy or really active.
-They love mixing colors of finger paint on tables, then we draw shapes or letters in the mess (15mo-4 years). We do the same with shaving cream.
-I've taken the kids outside and let them paint my fence a few times. Really adds a fun element to my yard and they love having the freedom to do something that is out side of the box and normally forbidden.
- We also do 'Marching Band' and march around the house with different instruments and practice taking turns being the leader of the band, practice keeping a rhythm and trade instruments and talk about the different kind of instruments.
-We do Koo Koo Kangaroo dance videos which all ages love. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGA1rYOrbUo
-Sometimes I will make an obstacle course (tunnel, chair to crawl under, 'balance beam'/2x4 to walk across, hula hoops to jump in and out of and our hopscotch which is on the hard wood made out of painters tape), This is a big hit with 2-4.
-These are great too, if you have readers they can read out loud to all the kids, if not it's just as effective if you read them

http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2013/08/an-outdoor-game-for-kids-who-love-fairy-tales/#_a5y_p=861353

Good luck!

[coolconfidentme]

I feel like my kids are bored A LOT!! I need new ideas. I have kids between the ages of 18 months and 4 years old.

What activities (toys, games, art, ect.) are big hits in your daycare? And, for what age group?

Thank you!!

Here, it's outside at the dirt kitchen. Only once have I had someone throw dirt.

[Leanna]

Mine LOVE the play kitchen too. They love dress-up and babies...any kind of dramatic play really.

They also love the sensory table. I switch it up every week but they pretty much love everything I put in there.

Easel painting.

Any "free" art activity: drawing, fingerpainting, play dough, clay, collages...

Mine just love to be outside too. I don't have anything fancy out there but they will play in the sandbox, ride trikes, draw with chalk, and play pretend outside for hours.

Some of our favorite toys are:
Young Toddlers: pull toys, push toys, fill & dump activities, balls

Older toddlers & 3's: cars & trucks, Little People, stuffed animals

4's: games (Hi-Ho Cherry-O, Memory, Bingo, Doggy Doggy Where's Your Bone), Legos (Duplos), toy animals

Sounds crazy but mine also LOVE to clean! I give them a dry Swiffer, feather duster, spray bottle with water & a clean rag, and a tiny broom and dustpan and they go to town ::

[Josiegirl]

Do you have a picture of your dirt kitchen or could you explain please? I put my old play kitchen outdoors and it's covered with dirt, is that the same thing?

My dcks love to play kitchen, playdough, and car/trucks on our railroad track set. Babies galore, dressing, undressing, feeding, carrying them around all day, I definitely have some mini-moms right now.

[Laurel]

I feel like my kids are bored A LOT!! I need new ideas. I have kids between the ages of 18 months and 4 years old.

What activities (toys, games, art, ect.) are big hits in your daycare? And, for what age group?

Thank you!!

Doll strollers (they sit in them but I don't care as they can hold them), play kitchen, dress up clothes (simple ones; I don't do any that I have to put on them). I have tutus that slip over their head, shoes, old watches, kiddie purses, hats, aprons, etc. Not whole outfits that they would need help with.

Playdough with accessories that are switched out for variety; paper, scissors, glue, crayons for open ended art; sidewalk chalk outside. Some like to play with the crayons/chalk more than use it but that is okay with me. One day we sorted the crayons into colors since I have so many and they liked that.

Outdoors the water table is popular in their bathing suits; ride on toys, balls, etc.

They like "I Spy" type books where you find the hidden picture. All ages like those and you can find easy and hard ones for different ages.

Cooking activities (especially for your 4 year old). Today the almost 2 and almost 3 year old just enjoyed emptying a microwave oatmeal packet in their bowls and pouring the water into them. Slicing bananas with a canape or plastic knife, helping stir things, etc. Pretend cooking is also fun. Outside you can put water in a pot or sand bucket and add grass, pebbles, dirt or whatever to make pretend soup. I remember LOVING to do that when I was a child myself.

The 4 year old might like to play Candyland and then make up variations. When my granddaughter was 4 we played it backwards (starting at the end and going to the beginning).

I find that boredom comes when the toys aren't changed often enough or we are stuck in the same room too long. If we get bored (say on a rainy day) in the playroom then we go to the dining room table and do something or go into one of the bedrooms to read and do puzzles (where I store them). Also I let them go in the bedroom where I store a lot of the toys and have them fill up a box of things they want to bring out to the playroom. I get tired of looking at the same toys year after year but when my granddaughter got to fill the box she said "Grandma you have so many cool toys." I had just been thinking that I needed some new things because I was sick of these things. ::

Also we go on stroller rides/walks. The park is popular or just a walk but we also have walks where I let them each push a doll stroller, take a corn popper to push or for my older ones I give them a list of things to find. Kind of an I Spy on a walk.

Laurel

[melilley]

My kids are 12 mo. to 2.5 (sometimes I have a 3 yr. old) so mine are all younger but their fav activities are:
Kitchen play
Painting
Coloring
Cooking (they help me cook and usually pour the ingredients in the bowl and stir and it's usually baked goods that they help me with. I also will give them empty bowls and spoons and they stir whatever we pretend is in the bowl)
Bubbles
Water Play outside when the weather is nice
Sensory Play
They also love to play with toy vehicles
Yard work-they "rake" with the plastic rakes and help me weed...