activities

[Raymond Luscombe]

I am a single dad that has a two and a four year old. I am very active in their lives and love exposing them to new activities and challenges. I joined today purely looking for advice on how to keep fresh with the kids. The types of activities I do with the kids are: arts and crafts - scissors, paint, glue, coloring, drawing, mixing; physical activities - hiking, walking the dog, playing at the park, bike riding, snowboarding, scootering, soccer, wrestling w/dad, helping around the house; mental stimulation - learing to read or reading to them, memory games, exposure different music, cooking, museum, zoo, problem solving games. I'm looking for new ways to present the material and also upcoming activities i.e. circus, Disney on Ice, Elmo. My wife was very good @ being aware of these upcoming events, I feel out of the loop. I live in the Denver area. Thanks

[wendmatt]

Oh man, you are making me feel like a crappy parent! Sounds like you do an amazing amount of stuff already. Have you flown a kite yet? That's a fun one. Aquarium? Theres a fab one in Denver, not sure how expensive it is I haven't been since it opened years ago (we moved). I think Elmo is done with it's tour for now. Keep an eye on the local paper, they have things listed. Is your wife not around to keep you updated? Hope you don't mind me asking. I'll let you know if I think of anything else, you are doing a GREAT job.

[jadamom]

I don't live in Denver, but in our area, apple-picking and pumpkin farms are popular now. There's a website I found that might have some other ideas for you: http://www.denverkids.com/ . For events, you can look up the individual event you're looking for: http://disneyonice.disney.go.com/dis...t.jsp?id=94591

[alexsmommy]

Um, you are making me feel inferior...but I will say, I love doing activities that present familiar things in new ways ie pudding painting, filling a small pool with rice or flour, finger painting on plexiglass (make sure the sides aren't sharp) - I'll try to think up some of the ones that we did way back when I was a camp counselor in college. You may want to cross post in the Baby Bargains Lounge - even though your children are not techically babies, there is a lot more traffic over there and lots of moms (and some dads) who have older kiddos who are far more creative than me.
Alaina
Alex 2-4-03

[raynjen]

You have to decide if your 2 year old is old enough for this, but a huge hit at our house is shaving cream on the kitchen table.

I take an old shower curtain and drape it over the table, take my daughter's shirt off and create piles of shaving cream within reach. Keep lots of towels on hand and make sure they go to the bathroom beforehand! This is also something that is appropriate to do right before bathtime. Obviously, especially with the younger one, you need to be sure they don't stick their fingers in their eyes or mouths. Put little figures, balls, popsicle sticks in and around the shaving cream and viola! This is easily two hours of entertainment in our house.

Jen (soon to be) in Wichita
Mom to my beautiful daughter,
who is now 4, Noelle!