Water Play: Fill and Empty the Cans

The Activity: 

Fill and Empty the Cans

Materials Needed:

• Empty cans or containers
• A running hose

Get some clean empty cans (make sure there are no jagged edges that can cut) and a running hose and let your toddler play while you sit back and enjoy the laughter.  

This activity wasn't planned, but ended up being better than what I had originally planned for the day. I was just watering the lawn and was about to wrap it up when I found my toddler unscrewing the sprinkler from the hose and taking the tuna cans I use to measure water level when watering.  He loved filling the cans up one by one and then emptying them over and over again.  A few times he would offer me a full can of water, to which I would thank him and either pour it out and laugh or give back to him full so that he could pour it out and refill it. 

His baby sister enjoyed watching him play, it entertained them both for quite a while.

Wrapping Paper Station

The Activity:

Wrapping Paper Station

Materials Needed:

• Pre-cut pieces of Wrapping Paper
• Small pieces of pre-cut tape
• A workstation or table
• Toys and stuff from around the house

Find a good area for a workstation for your child.  Stick the pre-cut slices of tape on the edge of table or surface area being used for the workstation. Display the toys and wrapping materials in a way that will entice your toddler to come and wrap the toys, and unwrap, and then re-wrap.

This activity didn't do it for my Eli.  He was mostly interested in the pieces of tape.  I showed him how to wrap one of his toys and he acted totally uninterested.  I showed him how to unwrap/ open the wrapped toys; he wasn't even interested in that.

I think that this activity is a good idea, but I'm going to try again when Eli is a little bit older.  He is almost 2, I will wait until he is maybe 26 months.  I think he will be more interested and it will be Christmas time, perfect for this activity.