Honestly, I have a hard time sometimes filling my day with fun things for my son.
There’s so many days where my husband leaves before he wakes up and comes home after he’s already gone to bed, so I find myself completely on my own trying to entertain him (and keep myself sane, for that matter).
We watch a lot of movies – way more than I ever admit to his pediatrician. We read a lot of books. We play with his trains.
But I get into ruts a lot where he wakes up and I go, “What am I supposed to do now?”
I’m thankful for the maternal instinct for filling in the gaps for someone who’s so not naturally good with kids.
One thing that’s helped me is to keep a list of simple ideas around. Even if I’m not totally in the mood to do anything, I choose one that sounds vaguely appealing and we usually have a fun time.
It never fails to amaze me how much he loves the simplest games. And it definitely brightens my day 🙂
30 Ways To Be A Fun Mom
- Play hide and seek. A classic! It’s especially fun with toddlers who have no concept of how to hide. Or is that just entertaining to me?
- Sing a song. If you’re like me and don’t know many nursery rhymes, that’s okay. I used to sing A whatever song was stuck in my head at the time (even if it was Bon Jovi’s You Give Love a Bad Name – he thought it was hilarious. #momoftheyear)
- Dance. Turn up some music and wear those kids (and yourself) out.
- Draw a picture. A is too young to do much more than scribble, but you should see his eyes light up when a truck appears out of “nowhere” on his paper. I’m practically a magician, guys.
- Give them “horsey” rides. I’m sure you remember these as a kid – time to pay it forward.
- Include them in your meal prep. This is a great way to let kids help. For older kids, give them a butter knife to chop something like onion or carrots. Even if they’re not perfect, it’s a great skill to learn… and fun for them to feel involved!
- Read a book. My son gets especially excited if he gets to pick out a new one from the library. Or if it makes noise, whatever.
- Snuggle and watch a movie. My favorite, if A will stay still long enough.
- Talk. Tell them about your favorite part of the day so far, ask them about theirs. Just sit and talk and enjoy one another. This is fun as A gets older – I like the stories he tells 🙂
- Get a fun treat, like ice cream or soda. I might do this one too often, but still fun.
- Let them pick any activity they want for 20 minutes. Within reason, for sure – but it’s nice to give them free reign for a bit.
- Go outside. Just being outside is fun for kids – especially if you let them play in dirt 😉
- Build a fort. I bet you’ve learned a few tricks in your time, and if you haven’t, Google it!
- Ask them about their favorite toys. It’s fun to hear about what they like best and why in their own words.
- Take funny selfies together. This is especially fun if you use Snapchat filters. A thinks it’s hilarious.
- Write a letter. Choose someone to write a letter to, whether it’s Dad, Grandma, or for older kids, to each other… Whatever. I like getting him involved by having him draw on the paper 🙂
- Tell them about yourself when you were little. A thinks this, too, is hilarious for some reason.
- Look through photo albums. Show them pictures of themselves (or yourself) as a baby. They’ll get a kick out of it.
- Give them eskimo/butterfly kisses. This never fails to make A giggle.
- Watch animals outside. Try to spot as many birds or squirrels as you can!
- Have a tickle fight. It’s more fun as an adult, because you win more often.
- Bake something together. I love baking banana bread, but you could make cookies/cupcakes and frost them together for a more “activity-oriented” baking session.
- Do a sensory activity. There are tons of ideas for sensory activities on Pinterest – but even just playing in a sandbox or with shaving cream works!
- Let them help you. Younger kids especially want so badly to help, so let them! Find jobs they can help you with, like dusting or cleaning the windows. Resolve that it’s okay if it’s not done perfectly. This doesn’t sound fun? Tell that to my two year old.
- Play a board game. I kinda can’t wait for A to be old enough for this. I’m a big fan of board games.
- Turn out all the lights and play with a flashlight. Play with shadows and tell “scary” stories by the glow of the flashlight.
- Go to the playground. A loves climbing, so this is a great one for us to prevent him from climbing his high chair or the counters. You know.. more than he would anyway.
- Look for bugs. Especially fun after it’s been raining, but a good springtime/summertime activity! To be totally honest, I HATE bugs. So I point them out and look the other way while he pokes at them because, gag.
- Play tag. Regular, freeze, or go all out and go to laser tag (because it’s awesome).
- Tell them “I love you” as many times as you can. Because it’s just nice.
So hopefully if you’re in a rut today, this list will help get you thinking about some new, fun things (or old things you haven’t done for a while) to do with your kids!
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