1. Doodling/drawing - crayons, colour pencils, marker pens and paper will keep the kids busy for at least 20 minutes. Ask them to draw whatever they want and ask them to tell you about their drawings. It's alway fun to hear what they come up with.
2. Activity books - I've found sticker activity books quite fun for the kids. Adult supervision needed, unless your kid's old enough to listen to instructions and stick the stickers at the appropriate places. Other types of activity books include those with colouring pages, mazes, matching games and letter or number tracing.
3. Jigsaw puzzles - I couldn't get my son to do puzzles until he was 3 and a half. He'd get frustrated when he can't get the pieces to fit. Now, he enjoys it! Test the waters first and if he's really not into it don't force him. He's just not ready yet.
4. Games - I've found Orchard Toys games very interesting and educational for little kids. We have Crazy Chefs at home which my son loves playing with. If you're in K.L./P.J, you can get them at Toys R Us or Parksons stores. Boggle Junior is also a good learning game for kids to learn their alphabets and start to recognise simple words.
5. Get them to help in the kitchen - I'll get my son to help me wash the vegetables, peel onions or garlic, or help me wash rice.
6. Painting - If you can take the mess, that is. Let them do it outside or even in the bathroom just before bath time. Think places where clean up is easier.
7. Playdough - ahh, kids never get tired of playing with playdough. If you'd like to make your own, try this Playdough Recipe
8. TOYS - Toys glorious toys! Evergreen toys include, lego, building blocks, cardboard bricks, construction sets (Lasy and Junior Engineer).
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| They're My toys, all MINE! |
9. Read some books together.
10. Sing nursery rhymes or action songs.
11. Make up a story - Start with "Once upon a time....." and let your kid's imagination take over. Take turns to continue the story and find out how absurd it can get at the end.
12. Waterplay in the bathroom - If you're not the kind to waste water (and it's good to educate kids to conserve water at an early age), fill up a tub (baby tub works just fine) and make a bubble bath for the kids. Give them some small bottles, cups or small buckets and they'll be at it for some time.
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| Bubble bath - uncensored |
13. Cutting Play - Let your kid practice cutting paper with kid-safe scissors. For a little more challenge, ask him to cut around a certain shape or picture.
With these activities, 2-3 hours will pass just like that! *snap fingers*
