Indoor Fun

Since it's been SO hot this summer and we can't really go outside unless it's to the pool, I've been searching for fun things for us to do inside. Garrison is great when I'm doing things around the house (vacuuming, dusting, laundry, making the bed, emptying the dishwasher, etc) because he tries to help and whatever I'm doing keeps him occupied and entertained. It's when we have down time and just plain old "play time" that I've struggled with fun, engaging things for him to do. I've been trying to come up with a good list of things I can do with him once he drops his morning nap and today I decided to test out a few things on the list. I got a lot of ideas from other blogs and some from a website called productive parenting.

The first thing I attempted was making a tent for him. I made it while he was napping so that it would be ready for him as soon as he woke up. I stole the idea from another blog and just used a sheet draped over our dining room table and threw in some blankets, pillows, and toys.

Just after his nap I took him over to show him the tent so he's checking it out.

Playing and having fun




Hey... I can get out from the other side!

He really enjoyed playing in the "tent", but he was sort of back and forth between that and following me around and playing with his toys in the living room. I left it up for him the rest of the day and we cleaned up after his afternoon nap so that the table would be ready when it was time for supper. I definitely think I'll keep doing this in the future and I may even let him help me set it up next time.


After his afternoon nap and having a snack, I decided to let him play with alphabet magnets on the refrigerator. I used these when I was teaching and found them in our guest bedroom closet and decided to pull them out for Garrison to have. We started with his name on the fridge and then added more and more letters. He was pretty fascinated that they stuck to the refrigerator.

Then he decided to pull down the entire container I had sitting on the counter (I have got to start remembering that he can now grab things off the edge of the counter) and just played with them on the floor. Of course this made a huge mess and I was constantly trying to make sure they didn't go under the refrigerator, but it really entertained him and he seemed to have a lot of fun with them. Cleaning up seemed to be fun for him too because we put half on the fridge and half back into the container. Then I realized it was going to be a problem having the letters at his level on the fridge because he was taking them off and putting them in his mouth and carrying them off to other rooms in the house. Sooo, I decided my new rule for the alphabet magnets is that they have to stay in the kitchen and once we clean up we push them high on the fridge so he can't reach them. I'm looking forward to using them a lot though because there's so much he can learn with them.

The last thing I attempted from my list I let him do while I started on supper. I placed my big set of utensils/spoons/spatulas on the kitchen floor for him to play with. This seemed to entertain him for the longest amount of time and he absolutely loved taking them all out and then carrying them around and then trying to put them back in. I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun he had with this and how long it occupied him. And, my favorite part about this little activity was that when we cleaned up we just threw everything in the dishwasher.

In the picture below he was actually holding the spoons and "dancing."

The next activity I'm looking forward to trying with him is "water fun". I'm going to put a small tub/container on the floor filled with water (with a towel under it of course) and let him play in the water with cups and toys or just splash if he wants. This idea couldn't have come at a better time becasue he has now discovered that he can go over and splash in Bailey's water bowl. It's crazy that he's never bothered her water once (that we know of) until this week. That will definitely be a good time to teach him that it's okay to play in "his" water, but that Bailey's water is always off limits. Hmmm... we'll see how that goes.

I'm also going to let him start coloring (probably on a big sheet of paper sitting in his high chair) and finger painting with yogurt... that should be good and messy. And we'll still get out of the house lots too. Of course we have errands to take care of every week, but we'll go to the pool and the library lots more this summer too. We've tried the indoor Chick-Fil-A playground once (and he enjoyed watching the other kids mainly) and we're going to try Chuck E. Chesse soon too. It feels crazy having to plan activities and outings for an almost 17 month old, but we can't stay inside and be bored all summer and we can't really play outside since it's miserably hot. This way, at least we can do fun things inside and we can do "cool" (literally) things outside and away from the house.

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Bedtime update: Garrison did great last Saturday and Sunday nights. We left him in the crib wide awake and didn't have to go back in once. The nights since then have been a little inconsistent. One night we had to go back in his room once, and another night we had to go back in 3 times. So far the only change we've made is pushing back his bedtime routine by 15 mintues. I think the time is coming to take away his morning nap.... it will be a bigger adjustment for me more than him I think, but if it helps with bedtime then it's necessary and worth it, and time to make the change.