What are some inexpensive or free activities to do with your toddler?

Question

My son is 2 and with the cold weather its getting very limited to be able to go to the park, we live in the midwest. Im a stay at home mom and already going stir crazy. I have tried pants puzzles etc but he is 2 and his attention span is short so we are jumping around to everything. I wany some ideas on activities we can do outside the house but indoors. I want them to be free or minimal in price since we are limited income. We tried going to the library but it was a disaster and spent half the time.cleaning up his messes. Any ideas? ...Im also physically handicapp and do.walk with one crutch so bare in mind when giving suggestions. So usually in public I always use a.leash on him as I need to be able to chase him per say.

Thoughts appreciated!

Answer 1

You could go to a bounce house. We have a few of them in the area where I live and they are relatively cheap ($5 for 1 hour of bouncing). We have a play area in the food court of our local mall that all the kids love to play in especially the real little ones. If you have a play area in your mall you could go there. You might want to look into joining your local YMCA if you're not a member already. They have an income-based membership if you are poor. It's called "membership for all" - My family just got a membership to our local YMCA and we only pay $13 a month for a family membership (we have an income-based membership) - its great because anyone in my family can go use the pool whenever they have open swim and my son is doing swim lessons, a KidFit (fitness class), and Zumbatomic (dance class). The classes and swim lessons as well as the open swim are all included in the monthly membership fee so there is no additional cost! The Y is great because they have classes for all ages - they do sports for toddlers like soccer, basketball, t-ball, etc. Your son could do swim lessons. And its all indoors so great for the cold winter weather! :) Also my local YMCA is doing Halloween at the Y on the 26th which is free since I'm a member! Really you should look into what your local Y has to offer :)

Answer 2

You should buy a stroller. An umbrella stroller costs only $15 new or $5 on Craigslist usually.



Many movie theaters have kids' movies for like $2 tickets a couple of times per week. Museums often have kids' days where parents of young children can bring the child for free or a donation of $5 or less. Here, we have an indoor pool that has toddler days on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for $2 admission. Even though you said the library was a disaster, sometimes they have movie days or storytelling performers, which are free.



Check in your local paper. They often have a community events calendar that list things to do in the upcoming week.

Answer 3

You can try finding a mall with a playplace or, if you're willing, go to a fast food place that has one (if they require you to buy something, just buy something from the dollar menu). My son is 18mo, and while the signs say they need to be 3, nobody has said anything so far and he seems fine just standing outside of the tubes and watching the other kids running around. I try and make sure that I go at times when there are other people, and then I make a "friend" with a parent with older kids there so that I can ask their older kid to fetch my son if he gets scared and lost in the tubes. So far, these trips have been successful.



Now, the mall playplace, the one near our house is great. The only problem is the open entrance. It's a circle of seats surrounding the play area, which blocks it off everywhere except the entrance, and my son started taking off out the entrance. I had to use some discipline and other tactics to teach him it wasn't allowed, and once he figuerd it out, we were fine...but this one might be harder for your handicap if it's not closed off.



Mom's group! Check Craigslist and Yahoo Groups to see if there's a mom's group in your area; some groups will post their information on the bulletin boards at churches, coffee shops, and libraries too. We meet once a week for play groups, and sometimes a 2nd or 3rd time during the week for other group activities that people think of. During the winter, our group meets at people's houses, during the summer, we meet at parks. It gives the kids an opportunity to burn some energy and learn to socialize.



Check your local webpages (if your city or county has one). Most towns/cities that are big enough will post information on their websites about what's going on in the neighborhood. They can give you some great ideas on what's going on and what you may be interested in taking your toddler to.

Answer 4

Use a stroller not a leash. He isn't a animal.



Paint

Play doh

Color

Race his little cars

Bubbles

Puzzles

Library story time

Games

Paper air planes

Crafts

Gym class

Dance to music

Movie

Etc....



Buy a nice stroller not umbrella one. Those are to small and short.

Answer 5

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