Playtime begins with me?

Lately I have been thinking about how I can better entertain my child, and the children I watch during the week, so that they can be learning and having fun. I also want to be able to relax when I watch them so I'm not constantly running around doing this and that fixing this and taking that away... you get the picture. So this week, I decided to figure out some fun educational activities that are not very messy and that don't take a lot of ground work for myself.

Here is a list that I have come up with for activities:

Play dough using letters and numbers to make shapes in the dough
     I was thinking of helping them with their colors, numbers, and letters
     I also found a good page with some homemade recipes here
Shoots and Ladders
    Helping them count and sit (I don't know how the two younger ones will be involved in this yet)
Reading books together on the couch
    Lucas loves books, he always brings like 20 and we have to read all of them!
Going for a walk
    around the block or to the park that is two blocks away.. maybe one and a half
Color time / drawing
    I have construction paper and various crayons in assorted colors. They love to draw, but it is not a
    long term activity
Some sort of craft with buttons or noodles, or leaves.
    I was thinking of using like yarn and stringing the noodles on there, but I'm afraid the noodles would
    scatter everywhere... Also, I was thinking of having them do some art with the leaves and buttons..
    maybe string the buttons as well.
Playing dress-up
   We have various fun costumes for little ones such as superman, a few lions, a duck and lots of fun
    hats that they can explore with.
When it snows I can't wait to be able to take them outside and have them play in the snow! I have a
    little snow suit for Lucas that was given to him for christmas from a wonderful friend of ours. He will
    finally be able to wear it :)
Playing pretend
    When I was little, my siblings and I used to play house, or cops and robbers.
    We need some more imagination up in here! :D

I would love some comments on what you think about these activities and more great ideas for toddler activities. I'm new at this whole thing, and I want to let the kids have a good experience when they are with me.

Chillin' like villians

Children need the most attention when they are young, I think, because it will set their view of how they should be in life. It is very important that I spend valuable time with these children, they are important souls.

Here is another blog that I found interesting about 5 ways to to keep a 1-year-old busy

Thank you for reading and I look forward to your comments! Be creative  :D Happy Wednesday!!









Side note: Today is September 11th. One year ago today, I lost someone very dear to my heart and I want to let you know that I miss her so much! She used to read to Lucas, we used to do fun things together. I miss my mom. I am glad that I know that I will see her again sometime in the near future, and I look forward to the day when I can go give her a huge hug again!

Lisa Anne Einfalt
died September 11th 2012 from Leukemia