#stayhome necessities with a preschooler!
I thought I would do a roundup of everything we have been using and enjoying while we are at home during the pandemic. It’s obviously a tough time for a number of reasons, but I am going to keep this post positive and light, and highlight what has been keeping my preschooler happy and busy!
Lauren is 3 (turning 4 in July), and she normally goes to preschool once a week, gymnastics, dance, cheerleading and library time. And she was also supposed to be starting swimming lessons in April, and soccer in May! So with her busy schedule wiped clean, I have been trying my best to keep her occupied and happy at home. But with a 10month old baby who naps 2x a day, we needed a few quiet-time activities to do while he was sleeping too. Here is what we have loved doing so far - in case you need some fresh ideas!
educational
I found these workbooks from Modern Kid Press, and they are really cute and simple with sweet illustrations to colour, which I like. Lauren is showing a big interest right now in learning her letters and numbers, and has been working hard at learning to draw them lately too - so these books have been a nice way for us to sit down and work on that together. Netflix also has a few LeapFrog shows that highlight letters/numbers/phonics and she has been enjoying those as well. We don’t have any Ipads so unfortunately I don’t have any cool educational apps to recommend!
active play/outdoor
So in early April I splurged and bought this bounce house - but apparently SO DID EVERYONE because it seems to be sold out pretty much everywhere! But if it does come back in stock - trust me, it’s a worth-while purchase because without free play at the gymnastics gym, Lauren is literally bouncing off the walls! This is a lifesaver. We have it in our basement for now, but we’ll enjoy it in the backyard this summer too. We try to get outside for a walk/bike/scooter everyday as well. Lauren is getting fast on her balance bike, so we are trying to get her a pedal bike ASAP!
quiet play/indoor
Puzzles, board games and play dough are our go-to quiet time activities for when Ethan is sleeping. Our favourite puzzles are these MudPuppy ones because they are sturdy, interlock well for little hands and come in the cutest canvas bags - which is about 1000x better than a cardboard box getting ruined and losing all the pieces. We also love boardgames - and the ones we have (linked below) are all still fun to play with only two people (since it’s just her and I playing most of the time!).
I like having a few activity bins ready to go as well. One idea that requires little supplies is rubber-band-spikey-balls (see photos below). I just grabbed a few of the spikey balls and colourful rubber bands from the dollar store and it is an activity that she (and I!) will sit and do for at least 30mins! It’s great for fine motor skills, pattern recognition, colour sorting, etc. Another fun thing to put together are play dough kits! I bought a few of these containers, and gather up various open-ended sensory and creative items to play with. I change out the theme - but so far I’ve made Valentine’s Day, unicorn and construction site ones! (Full post on Play dough kits coming soon!)
activities/crafts
If you follow me on Instagram you know that we love doing crafts together! You can find 12 of our favourite crafts and more details and ideas on this post. PSA - do yourself a favour and buy the “ultra-clean” washable crayola markers - they literally wash/rinse off of any surface with no soap! I’m usually pretty stocked with basic craft supplies that I find are pretty applicable to any activity we want to do - I’ve linked some of my go-to general craft supplies below! I find that preparing the craft the night before (any cutting prep, printing, gathering supplies, etc) helps to keep the activity organized and on-task. It’s also nice to just sit down and have everything ready to go as soon as baby is napping so we can maximize our one-on-one time together!
I also gave her an old hardcover journal I had on hand a few weeks ago and she has kept busy filling it with ideas and drawings and it was nice to have all her artwork in book instead of on loose papers that were really starting to pile up! I like to keep a bin (I have these ones) full of stickers, construction paper, glue, beads, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, pom poms, markers, crayons and scissors for her to take out and have open-ended craft time as well when we don’t have a specific activity planned.
