101 things to do with a preschooler

My friend Kendra over at Southern Disposition  has had trouble finding things to do online that meet her requirements for things to do with her preschooler.

Here is her Amazingly Awesome Things to Do with a Preschooler

Sometimes my mommy brain needs a little creative prodding (does yours?). I want to do fun things with Sadie, but when I'm dry on ideas, we pop in a DVD. Don't judge me...you do it too. I recently went looking for a list of good activities that met some or all of the following criteria:

- rainy day activities

- sunny day activities

- activities that teach a life skill

- activities that teach basic kindergarten readiness

- activities that are free (or nearly free)

- activities that require interaction

- activities that spark curiosity

I found a few good ideas, but mostly, I saw a lot of "go outside and play" or "stay inside and play" type suggestions. While those are indeed excellent suggestions, I decided to make my own list so that other mommies who are potentially struggling with the "what should I do with my kid today" rut will have a few fresh ideas!

Here's Kendra's handy-dandy list of 101 Amazingly Awesome Things to do with Your Preschooler. (ok, some of them aren'tamazingly awesome, but "awesome" is my favorite word and "amazingly" is an under-appreciated adverb.)

1. Pick dandelions and sort them by blossom size - they get "flowers" and you get free weeding! Put them in a little glass of water on the dining room table.

2. Cook spaghetti together. Let your child pour in the sauce, pour water (from a pitcher) into the pot, and break the noodles.

3. Paint on a canvas.

4. Open a blank document and let them type words that you spell for them (or their name) on your computer.

5. Lie outside on a blanket and point out shapes in the clouds.

6. Take a plastic baggie on a nature walk, and ask your child to find ten different things. Lay out the collection of found nature objects and compare their shapes, colors, textures, and smells.

7. Make sidewalk chalk art. Teach your child how to play hopscotch!

8. Dye eggs. (Who says you have to wait for Easter?)

9. Play "I Spy" with letters of the alphabet and/or household objects ("I spy something that starts with the letter 'W'" or "I spy something that plugs in,")

10. Sort something by color together (clothes, toys, books, etc).

11. Go to a hardware store and pick out a bunch of paint chip strips. Cut out the squares and glue pairs of them back-to-back on a length of string to make a paint chip garland (the string should be between the back-to-back paint chip pieces when you glue them together).

12. Play "Follow the leader."

13. Look at old photos and point out friends and family members. Talk about how they are different now.

14. Eat a spoonful of peanut butter. Or Nutella. Or something else that should probably be forbidden to be eaten by the spoonful. Pretend it's an extra special amazing treat and you're only giving it to them because you're the best mom (or dad) ever.

15. Move the living room furniture, put blankets and pillows on the floor, pop popcorn, and watch a movie.

Find the rest here