Toddler Time, Slowing Down

Toddlers are fab and it’s such a beautiful & busy age, It’s a wonderful stage full of exploration & discovery of the world around them as they take wonder in the simplest of things…splashing in puddles, finding worms, climbing into dens made under the kitchen table.

A time of learning through play at a slow speed & boundless energies & bucket loads of curiosities in tow.

But this all passes in the blink of an eye & before you know it you’re helping them into school clothes, loosening the grip on their hand & watching them as they adventure off into nursery school as you’re left wondering where those toddler years disappeared too.

So here’s our easy guide on ways to slow down & make the most of those pre nursery toddler times with some easy activities & mini adventuring that will help you make the most of every second you spend together.

By far the most important thing is to slow down, let them lead, get down to their level and try to see the world through their eyes. Take pleasure in the simplest of things and move at their pace….which quite often is excruciatingly slow & repetitive but will bring you the most rewards.
You’ll start to see everyday things that are often overlooked by our need to get things down.

*MINI ADVENTURING*
Outdoor hunts are great for turning a walk into an adventure! Make some easily identifiable lists of things to find, here’s some ideas..

BUGS
*A worm
*A snail
*A spider
*A wood louse
Take a jar with you to put your bugs in, toddlers love filling things and will have fab fun filling it with twigs and grass….don’t forget to put a few holes in the top for your bugs to breath.

THINGS THAT MOVE
*An aeroplane
*A bus
*A train
*A bird

You could even go on a train ride or the bus!

SPRING TIME HUNT
*Snow drops
*A feather
*Duck
*Pinecones
*Lambs

Take a bag and bring home some of the things you find to make a picture.

BIRD SPOTTING
*A Robin
*A Magpie
*A duck
*A Seagull

Don’t forget to write your lists with permanent marker pens on a piece of cardboard to make them hard wearing or laminate them to use again and again. You could also make some binoculars with toilet roll tubes and string.

*HOMELY IMPROVEMENTS*
Let them help with the laundry, they’ll take pleasure in being helpful, they can carry some of your load to the machine, they’ll take joy stuffing it into the drum or pulling it out when the cycles finishes.
Make a low washing line for them with string and let them peg out the socks.

Get them helping with the dustpan & brush, it may mean that the dirt you sweep is quite often brushed around the room and has to be recollected but the enjoyment they’ll take far outweighs the efforts it will take to do the job again yourself.
Make up a spring cleaning tray for them, fill it with dusters, spray bottles filled with water (if you’re brave!), rubber gloves & cheaply bought dustpans & brushes.
Pound stores are great for supplies.

Let them help with dinner, toddlers love to put the vegetables you’ve chopped up into pans!
Set out a tub of soapy water, a towel & some plastic dinnerware and watch them have a wail of a time washing up!

Give them a bucket of soapy water and a sponge and let them clean there toys in a toy wash station or bike/car wash in the garden.

*RAINY DAY WALKING*
A puddle suit is a great investment, it means you can head out in the rain and jump, splash, wade and even sit in puddles and keep dry!

Take out some empty margarine tubs to use as sailboats in puddles or make boats with corks & elastic bands.

If it’s windy you can take a carrier bag tied to a piece of string for some carrier bag kite flying.

Searching for elastic bands that the postman has dropped is often fruitful.

*MAKE DENS*
An old sheet draped over the table can make for hours of fun, picnicking underneath in a den filled with cushions & a torch!

But don’t stop there! Head out to the woods with your old sheets and a packet of pegs and make some outdoor dens.

It really is that simple! All you need is time and the realisation that that time is played out in slow motion for a toddler and cherishing it is easy if we slow down with them, after all you’ll soon be wondering how that time passed by so quickly and wishing you had a rewind or a pause button….