By: Rachel Paxton
My husband and I have been blessed with twin boys. Our boys
are 18 months old now, and I often tell my husband that God
must have a sense of humor to give someone twin toddler boys.
Some days it doesn't seem very funny!
Yesterday, during the same 15 minute phone call, one son
decided to crawl up onto a chair and then the dining room table,
and I found the other one in his bedroom where he had pulled
out all of his dresser drawers, climbed up the drawers, and was
standing on top of his dresser looking down into his fish tank.
There is never a dull moment in our home.
During the past few months I have discovered what my boys
most love to do and what keeps them busy for even short
periods of time. I have geared my ideas toward boys because
they normally have higher activity levels, but I'm sure these
ideas would work great for girls too!
It is well known that kids love to play with everything except their
toys, and I have definitely found this to be true with my boys.
Many of their favorite activities are inexpensive or even free.
Toddlers love music. Many babies will begin to dance to music
before they're even a year old. There are many great CD's out
there for toddlers. A couple of our favorites are Wee Sing Silly
Songs and Veggie Tales. Nursery rhymes are always great too.
We have found many CD's at yard sales or half price at stores
that sell used CD's. My boys enjoy dancing to music during the
day, and like to have it playing softly in the background while
they go to sleep. Make sure to put your CD player up out of their
reach. I have to get a shelf to put mine up on the wall because
my boys can now climb up to anywhere else I have found to put
it. They have become very fascinated with taking CD's in and
out of it and pushing all of the buttons!
My boys love to play with water. I bought them a wading pool this
year but they were hardly interested in it at all. They much
preferred playing in a little sprinkler in the shape of a turtle. Bath
time is also a favorite time. They hardly play with any of the bath
toys I bought them. Their favorite bath toys are small
Tupperware containers and plastic measuring cups. The
store-bought bath toys they do enjoy, however, are little plastic
cups that have holes in the bottom so that the water runs
through them. They also love going to the river and throwing
rocks in the water. Just don't let them out of your sight for a
second, or they will quite suddenly decide to go for a swim.
Swimming lessons seem to have done a great job of eliminating
their fear of water! The boys also spend hours playing in a small
water fountain we have in our back yard.
Books are great for even the most active boys. We bought many
board books for our boys and read to them for months before
they really showed an interest in them. When they were about
15 months old they began to bring us books to read to them.
One of our boys is obsessed with cars, trucks, and tractors, and
the other one loves animals. After seeing these images over and
over in books they now are pointing them out to us when we
drive around town. One of our sons goes nuts every time we
drive by an excavator or back hoe. One word of caution,
however. Whoever said board books are indestructible didn't
know what they were talking about. Our boys have destroyed
several of their board books by ripping the pictures off the
cardboard. Most of the damage is done when they are reading
to themselves in bed, so these books need adult supervision
just like any other book.
Make sure you take your boys outside at least once a day.
Every morning I take the boys for a walk around the
neighborhood in their double stroller. If you are a working mom,
take your boys out for some fresh air in the evenings or on the
weekend. The boys enjoy the ride and mom gets some exercise
too. One of my sons points out all the airplanes that fly
overhead, and that is one of the highlights of his day. I also
found the boys a play golf set at Walmart (for about $5). They
love to run around the yard trying to hit the plastic golf balls, and
it is great for improving their coordination.
My boys' favorite toys are their cars, trucks, and tractors. They
love pushing them around on the floor and making motor noises.
You can easily find inexpensive toy cars at yard sales and thrift
stores that will give your toddler boys hours of fun.
To fully interact with and engage your toddler, you have to
figure out their personality. One of my boys loves to help mom
and do whatever I'm doing. Whenever I ask him to help me do
something he gives me a big smile and pitches right in. My other
son has no interest whatsoever in helping me...boring!! He has
too many other exciting things to explore. To get his attention I
ask him to show me what he is doing and participate in whatever
is interesting him at the moment. He loves to point at things and
have me tell him what they are.
Don't forget that your boys love to play with mom and dad and
need lots of love and affection. They love it when you play cars
with them or read to them. Some of our favorite moments have
been spent lying on the floor with two toddlers crawling all over
us giving us lots of big hugs and kisses.
are 18 months old now, and I often tell my husband that God
must have a sense of humor to give someone twin toddler boys.
Some days it doesn't seem very funny!
Yesterday, during the same 15 minute phone call, one son
decided to crawl up onto a chair and then the dining room table,
and I found the other one in his bedroom where he had pulled
out all of his dresser drawers, climbed up the drawers, and was
standing on top of his dresser looking down into his fish tank.
There is never a dull moment in our home.
During the past few months I have discovered what my boys
most love to do and what keeps them busy for even short
periods of time. I have geared my ideas toward boys because
they normally have higher activity levels, but I'm sure these
ideas would work great for girls too!
It is well known that kids love to play with everything except their
toys, and I have definitely found this to be true with my boys.
Many of their favorite activities are inexpensive or even free.
Toddlers love music. Many babies will begin to dance to music
before they're even a year old. There are many great CD's out
there for toddlers. A couple of our favorites are Wee Sing Silly
Songs and Veggie Tales. Nursery rhymes are always great too.
We have found many CD's at yard sales or half price at stores
that sell used CD's. My boys enjoy dancing to music during the
day, and like to have it playing softly in the background while
they go to sleep. Make sure to put your CD player up out of their
reach. I have to get a shelf to put mine up on the wall because
my boys can now climb up to anywhere else I have found to put
it. They have become very fascinated with taking CD's in and
out of it and pushing all of the buttons!
My boys love to play with water. I bought them a wading pool this
year but they were hardly interested in it at all. They much
preferred playing in a little sprinkler in the shape of a turtle. Bath
time is also a favorite time. They hardly play with any of the bath
toys I bought them. Their favorite bath toys are small
Tupperware containers and plastic measuring cups. The
store-bought bath toys they do enjoy, however, are little plastic
cups that have holes in the bottom so that the water runs
through them. They also love going to the river and throwing
rocks in the water. Just don't let them out of your sight for a
second, or they will quite suddenly decide to go for a swim.
Swimming lessons seem to have done a great job of eliminating
their fear of water! The boys also spend hours playing in a small
water fountain we have in our back yard.
Books are great for even the most active boys. We bought many
board books for our boys and read to them for months before
they really showed an interest in them. When they were about
15 months old they began to bring us books to read to them.
One of our boys is obsessed with cars, trucks, and tractors, and
the other one loves animals. After seeing these images over and
over in books they now are pointing them out to us when we
drive around town. One of our sons goes nuts every time we
drive by an excavator or back hoe. One word of caution,
however. Whoever said board books are indestructible didn't
know what they were talking about. Our boys have destroyed
several of their board books by ripping the pictures off the
cardboard. Most of the damage is done when they are reading
to themselves in bed, so these books need adult supervision
just like any other book.
Make sure you take your boys outside at least once a day.
Every morning I take the boys for a walk around the
neighborhood in their double stroller. If you are a working mom,
take your boys out for some fresh air in the evenings or on the
weekend. The boys enjoy the ride and mom gets some exercise
too. One of my sons points out all the airplanes that fly
overhead, and that is one of the highlights of his day. I also
found the boys a play golf set at Walmart (for about $5). They
love to run around the yard trying to hit the plastic golf balls, and
it is great for improving their coordination.
My boys' favorite toys are their cars, trucks, and tractors. They
love pushing them around on the floor and making motor noises.
You can easily find inexpensive toy cars at yard sales and thrift
stores that will give your toddler boys hours of fun.
To fully interact with and engage your toddler, you have to
figure out their personality. One of my boys loves to help mom
and do whatever I'm doing. Whenever I ask him to help me do
something he gives me a big smile and pitches right in. My other
son has no interest whatsoever in helping me...boring!! He has
too many other exciting things to explore. To get his attention I
ask him to show me what he is doing and participate in whatever
is interesting him at the moment. He loves to point at things and
have me tell him what they are.
Don't forget that your boys love to play with mom and dad and
need lots of love and affection. They love it when you play cars
with them or read to them. Some of our favorite moments have
been spent lying on the floor with two toddlers crawling all over
us giving us lots of big hugs and kisses.
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Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author
of What's for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250
quick easy dinner ideas. For more recipes, organizing tips,
home decorating, crafts, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative
Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rachel_Paxton
of What's for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250
quick easy dinner ideas. For more recipes, organizing tips,
home decorating, crafts, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative
Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rachel_Paxton
Activities for Active Toddler Boys
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