Ideas for summer activities?

[MartiesMom2B]

Am I the only one at a loss of things to do now that preschool is out for the summer. I know I should've signed her up for summer sessions. Let's share some favorite activities that your toddler loves to do.

-Sonia
Mommy to my Strawberry Shortcake lovin' Martie

[barbarhow]

We have a local farm that we go to fairly frequently. Jack loves the animals but even more he loves the tractors. We usually meet friends there. It helps that my brother manages the farm-he gets to gather eggs, play with the piglets, lambs and goats but even better he is allowed to "drive the John Deere tractor."
I imagine we will be spending a fair amount of time at the lake that is about 15 minutes away. If I can get it down to a system where I can manage both kids it will be great. He loves the beach and the water.
Rainy days we have been doing alot of play doh, coloring, cooking. But his favorite thing lately, yes my son might be a bit of a freak, is helping me do chores. He LOVES the vacuum, loves to fill and empty the washing machine, yesterday he emptied the dishwasher of the silverware and put it in the right drawer (I had to sort, of course).
I guess my point there is I try to disguise some of my stuff I need to get done as "fun". So far so good.
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03, a Red Sox fan
and Anna 5/12/05, my little Yankee fan!

[bluej]

Ryden loves to vacuum too! When he was younger he had the Pottery Barn Kids vacuum and would run that thing ALL DAY LONG! Now I give him the hand held vac and goes around and vacuums up the crumbs after meals and my hair in the bathroom (gross, I know).

For summer activities we spend a lot of time at the pool. We also get a membership to the zoo and go there frequently.

Look into your community Parks and Rec. Some of them have great toddler programs that are a week or two long (usually an hour or so in the morning).

[hjdong]

Water, water and more water. DS is a water freak. Water the plants, swim, slip n slide, wash the car, water and sand table, wash the dishes, take a bath. I feel bad because we basically live in a desert.

He also loves arts and crafts stuff. Right now, scissors are a big hit. Painting, play doh - all the usual suspects. Painting in the bathtub with soap fingerpaints.

He is also a big chore doer. He loves doing the laundry (another reason a front loading washing machine is a wonderful invention), vacuuming, dusting, clearing the table, throwing things away. Lest I make it sound too good, he generally makes more of a mess than acutally cleans, but I'm hoping we'll develop good habits.

Oh, and story time at the library. Technically, he doesn't really like this, but I think it's important for him to sit and listen to an adult other than me (he's not in preschool and I could read to him all day and he would sit patiently and listen. Give him a roomful of kids and another adult . . .). And they do a craft afterwards, so he likes that.

[JulieL]

Another pool family here - lots of pool time! Also I'm getting together w/friends a little more as well to make up for the time Anthony would be in preschool.

[Phoebe]

Have you looked at what your local parks & rec has to offer? I was just looking through the catalog for ours last night, and there are so many great classes for toddlers. What is nice is that most of them are 2 week sessions and you can sign up all summer long.

How old is Martie? My dd started ballet at 2.5 and she still loves it.

Mary
DD 4/01
DS 6/03

[mattiew]

Ideas not yet mentioned:
DD likes to go to the library (plays with puzzles, looks at books). Throwing pennies into the fountains at the mall is also a big hit. Glueing pictures I cut out from magazines, making a "paper" garden was a big hit. She loves the Sesame Street feltboard I recently purchased.

Then the standard...cooking, swing, ride her bike/go for walks, read books, color/paint.

[Mommy_Again]

One of our movie theaters has "movies for moms" - they show adult movies with the lights higher and sound lower. It is best for infants who nurse and sleep. But this summer they are showing FREE cartoon movies under the same pretense every Tues and Wed. I didn't think DS would be interested, but he sat next to me for almost an hour. Of course, he was scarfing down popcorn quicker than they could pop it...

[alkagift]

These are good suggestions! I am doing pool time, doing playgroups, as well as doing the "rounds" to all the playgrounds I can find. The playground rounds is just so I can see some new things and he can figure out a new series of slides, etc.

For Matthew's birthday my parents got him one of those small climbers and with that, plus the tricycle, sandbox, and small pool I'm hoping that it stimulates him.

I like the farm idea, though.

Allison
Mommy to Matthew Clayton, who is TWO!

[mharling]

Until we leave the house in the morning (waiting for Faye's nap), we empty and load the dishwasher, move laundry around, read books, play music, water plants, etc, etc. Most afternoons we play outside with the water table. He loves this thing! We have some water toys, a watering can and stacking cups out there. He could move water around all day. He also mows the lawn with his little John Deere mower.

As far as activities out of the house, we have playgroup one day a week and music one day a week. Other than that.... lots of parks (it's amazing what finding a new park can do to break things up), the library, the zoo, a walk up to the pond to see the ducks.....

Do you have 'splash parks' in your area? We spent lots of time there last summer and will this year too. I'm also going to check for outdoor concerts and city festivals.

I'm hoping to do one 'big' outing each month. This month will be a day trip to the beach. I'm also trying to come up with one new activity each week. This week we're going to make Rice Krispie bars. :9

Mary
Lane - April 2003
Faye - March 2005