Being outdoors absolutely provides the best activity outlets to kids when it comes to learning and fun! There’s just so much for them to explore and enjoy out in the open, thanks to the unending wonders of nature. At times, however, your little ones may not get to revel in the fun that they usually do outdoors. Whether it’s due to the scorching summer heat or the fact that you and your partner are both busy running some errands, there are days when your kids have to remain within the confines of your house. It’s during moments like these that you must involve your little ones in activities that not only keep them busy, but also help contribute to their overall development.
Tag Archives: play
Toddler Apps to Keep Your Child Entertained
Toddler Apps Can Be Very Helpful Distraction
Let’s face it, we all take risks when it comes to our little people. When we’re out and about and it is nearly nap time, we know when we make the next stop there could be a meltdown, but we take that risk anyway. Sometimes it can’t be helped, things need to get done and you only have so many hours in the day to get it done in. That’s why I have a handful of apps, on my iPhone and iPad that are learning apps. They are engaging, and I truly believe that there have been some circumstances where Emmett’s learned new things from them.
So when that first whine starts to escape from your child’s mouth, take a second, pull out your phone (or other electronic device) and let them have at it for a short time. I promise, it won’t harm them!
Here’s a list of my toddler approved apps:
1. Peekaboo Toy Box – This is Emmett’s absolute favorite toddler app! He’s played it over and over again and NEVER grows tired of it. (I’m glad too!) The graphics are adorable, and it is highly interactive – a box appears on the screen, and when it’s tapped it slowly rattles and shakes and eventually pops open to reveal the surprise inside. You can also, tap on the screen and different little items pop up. Adorable! This app is $1.99, but is well worth that cost.
2. Talking ABC – Another HUGE favorite! Emmett loves watching the clay shapes move from letter to animal by just tapping on the screen. He also loves touching the animals, and having them repeat what they are. Plus the alphabet song that they sing is very different than the typical ABCs, and it’s adorable. My personal favorite with the app, is that if you talk and the screen, and then let it sit a few seconds, it will repeat what you just said, but in the animals voice. Emmett LOVES that they animals will say his name. There are also some name matching games, but we haven’t gotten to those yet, but definitely soon! This one is $2.99, but again WELL worth it!
3. Laugh & Learn Learning Letters Monkey App – Another total winner! Fisher-Price has a boatload of apps available, but this is definitely our favorite. You have 3 different options when it comes to playing with the app – You have the alphabet and items that start with that letter, shapes and colors, and then songs. When Emmett was first learning how to use the iPhone, he loved the letters and shapes, but now he loves listening and humming along to the songs. This is a freebie, so download it now!
4. Fire Safety App: Sparky’s Birthday Surprise – This one is a little advanced for Emmett right now, but when he’s calm and wants to listen to a story, this app is great. It will read a story, but the screens are interactive. You click on the different parts of the building and you can open windows, or ring the fire bell. He loves that part!
5. Kindle – I know this one is pretty basic, but it has saved us loads of times. Between books for Emmett to just flip through, or books for me to read to him. It is tied to Amazon so it has an amazing selection!
Those are our favorites, but as Emmett gets older and into different apps, I’ll be sure to share them with you. This way you can give them a try too!
Your turn!
Let’s share! What are some of your favorite toddler apps?
Family Fun Weekend
We had some serious family fun, this weekend!
Fair warning, this will be a picture heavy post. 🙂
Every September, The National Museum of Play (or The Strong), provides free admission to anyone who works at my company. Seamus and I had gone when we were newly dating and it was pretty neat, but obviously since it is very kid-centric we didn’t spend a lot of time playing. Now, 6-ish years later, we went back with Emmett and had SO much fun!
We had been planning this trip for a couple weeks. We knew that admission would be free in September, we had some pretty busy weekends all month long, but were able to keep this (the last weekend of September) free and I’m really glad we did. Our original goal was to leave the house early, go to the museum, then get lunch at Dinosaur BBQ, and end with a trip to Trader Joe’s, but it didn’t quite work out that way.
Once Emmett was awake, we all had some breakfast and caught an episode of Bob the Builder. I did want to get the museum early but I really love our leisurely weekends, since weekdays tend to be such a rush. We sat and cuddled and just enjoyed each other’s company, and a little TV. I eventually got Emmett dressed and I threw on some shlubby (I just made this word up!) clothes and we headed to the farmer’s market for some of the last yummy fruits of the summer. I got some great tomatoes that are just amazing and I want to eat them on EVERYTHING!
Emmett fell asleep on our way home from the market, so I put him down for a nap and then jumped in the shower. Seamus got home from the gym and showered and then we waited for Baby Doodah to wake up, then we almost immediately headed out the door. Since it was already noon, we decided we’d go to lunch first and then to the museum and Trader Joe’s.
This was everyone’s very first time at Dinosaur BBQ, man was it delicious! I had some sort of jerk chicken sandwich, that was out of this world! Seamus had some form of a rack of ribs, I don’t know ribs so I have no idea what size or what cut, but he loved them. We ordered Emmett chicken fingers which might seem like a silly thing to order at a BBQ joint BUT they were hand breaded with their own breadcrumbs, and they were really really good. I, of course, had to try a bite. I’m glad we went with those because we know they’re something he’d eat AND they ended up being delicious!
Mommy – Baby Selfie
After lunch it was time for PLAY! Oh my goodness, readers, we had such a blast. From the moment I pulled into the parking of The Strong, I was giddy like a school girl. Ha! There was so much to see, even before you walk in the door. We checked in, got our wristbands and a map and then made a pit stop for a bathroom break and diaper change. The bathrooms are really nice, spacious and both the men’s and women’s have places to change a diaper PLUS they have a family changing area, which is always a bonus. I know to some readers this might seem like a silly thing to mention, but I assure you that for parents (or any adult with a child in diapers), knowing this, is of utmost importance!
Alright, enough about the bathrooms, onto the fun! We first went into the Field of Play. This was pretty neat, they had all sorts of interactive things to do, some were a little above Emmett’s skill set but we still found plenty to do. He opened and closed a bunch of little doors with stuffed animals in them, that were named alliteratively. I don’t think he knew what was in there, other than it was colorful and cute but he had fun opening and closing the doors. There was also an area to race cars and a perspective room. Throughout the entire exhibit there were areas that books sat out that pertained to the activities in the exhibit. I loved this! If Emmett were a little older, and had a higher attention span, we definitely would have utilized this.
We made a quick stop at Sesame Street! It is almost an exact replica of the famous Sesame Street stoop. We got some pretty cute pictures of Emmett here, unfortunately they didn’t come out great. We just couldn’t get the lighting in the room and our flash figured out.
Our next stop was to the Wegmans kids grocery shopping center. Holy cow, is this AWESOME! It is obviously sponsored by Wegmans, but the whole thing is set up to look exactly like a Wegmans grocery store. They have little baby carts and then they have carts that are slightly taller for the older kids, you walk around and grocery shop. You’re allowed 5 items at a time (because you have to re-shelve them yourself), once you’ve shopped you take them to the check-out and literally scan each item, like you would at the store. They have miniature conveyor belts, a working scanner and some sort of mechanism that collects what you “purchased” and prints out a legit receipt, like you just shopped at a real Wegmans. We didn’t spend a lot of time in this area, because it was mobbed and any time I went to grab something, Emmett would grab and knock everything over. Playing in this area when I was a kid, would have been a dream, I always wanted a cash register. I also didn’t get a lot of pics because Emmett grabbed his cart and was a speed demon, Seamus watched us from outside the store and said seeing him with the cart was adorable. He ran into a few kids, but overall he did pretty well with it.
The newest exhibit at the museum is what they call Little Builders. It had just opened yesterday and once again, it was pretty mobbed. Emmett did a really good job of maneuvering around everyone and finding things to do. There are all sorts of activities where you build things and each station has a different type of block, then you have the hammering station, the crane station and all sorts of other activities. We spent the majority of our time in here because there was just so much to do and Emmett was having a blast. Check him out in the little orange construction vest! Isn’t he THE cutest?
Pooped after all that play!
After that we wandered to a few different other areas, nothing really specific and we didn’t even make it upstairs. It was getting late and we still needed to make a quick stop at Trader Joe’s and make it home by 7. On our way out, we swung by the gift shop, this left a lot to be desired. It is full of toys, but very little (like a tiny section) are logo’d items. Seamus and I have a rule, you can get a souvenir when we go on trips like these (as long as we can afford it), but it has to be a logo’d item. The other toys might be fun, but you can likely get them somewhere else for much cheaper, but you can’t get a t-shirt that says Strong Museum of Play. Seamus said this is how his parents did it when he was a kid and I absolutely love it, so we’re stealing and using it! Anyhow, we ended up finding Emmett a cute tie-dye t-shirt (his Aunt Bridget will love it!) and I got myself a nylon draw string bag that I will be able to use on my bike rides.
The final thing we did before we left is find this bench in the gardens. When Seamus and I came here as a new couple we sat a good long while on this bench, and just talked (like you do when you’re new to each other). We took a picture that day (the one that sits on my desk, if you work with me) and we wanted to replicate it today. We got a couple with Emmett and a couple without, such great memories!
We left shortly after that, made the quick drive to Trader Joe’s and then hit the road for Buffalo. Emmett slept the entire way, he was so perfect all day and seemed to really enjoy everything. We will absolutely take him again, as he gets older he will find more and more value out of all the fun things they have to offer.
If you live in Rochester or the surrounding areas, I really recommend that you visit The Strong Museum of Play. It has so much to offer, and I promise that your kids will be exhausted by the time they get home. Emmett was, even after napping the whole way home.
Your turn
What family fun did you have this weekend?
And just for the fun of it, be sure to check out My Finds Friday from this week, visit the links and link-up any finds you might have!
Happy Fourth of July!
Happy fourth of July everyone!! I hope you had as great of a day as we did!
Dear Emmett
10 months!? 10 whole months old! Insane!
This month’s post is a little late because your baby cousin and her family were in town to celebrate her first birthday, so we were busy visiting.
Don’t worry, Emmett doesn’t normally ride in the front seat. He was only here because he had just finished nursing.
In last month’s post, I shared that you were still army crawling, it was literally the day after you turned 9 months that you started really crawling. I was in the other room and your dad yelled for me because (as he said it), “Your boy is crawling!” I ran in but you were already back on your belly but within no time, I got to witness you crawling. What a big boy! Here’s a funny story, I was picking you up from day care one day and I asked your teachers whether they had seen you do your big boy crawl yet, both girls said no. As if on cue, you stopped playing with your toy, got on your hands and knees and crawled over to me. It was adorable! Both teachers were very excited for you, and I can’t say I blame them. I am endlessly proud of you!
We celebrated my first Mother’s Day. You and daddy got me such nice and thoughtful gifts, a beautiful new charm bead for my Pandora bracelet and a gift certificate to my favorite salon, to be used for a massage or in another pampering way. Daddy also took us out for breakfast, it was a buffet and the food was really good. You weren’t really into anything, except for the french toast and a small piece of bacon. Then we went down to your Grammy’s house to spend the afternoon with her. It was a perfect first Mother’s Day!! I can’t wait for every year to come. 🙂
Remember last month when I said you were getting better at standing up and were slowly starting to coast? Well, you are now a pro at pulling yourself up and moving along, whether it be your crib, the pack and play or our couches. You grab, pull up and MOVE! Your dad and I have had to be much more careful about what we put places since you’re able to reach things now. Pretty soon, the coffee table will be completely empty because you’ll be able to reach all the way across.
Last month I also mentioned how we had started placing you at your motorcycle and how you’d take a couple steps and then fall down. Not any more, now you stand up behind the motorcycle and take it clear across the house. Your dad or I will follow behind you because when you bump into something you don’t yet understand how to back up or turn, so we help you readjust but you’re doing so well. I wonder if by next month’s Dear Emmett, you’ll be walking independently??? I think the reason you’ve excelled so quickly with walking with support is because of day care. They have a bunch of different toys for the babies to stand and walk with, so you get loads of practice.
You continue to be breastfed but we’ve reduced the amount that we send you to day care with. Instead of 3-six ounce bottles, we’ve been sending you with 3-five ounce bottles and it seems to be working out well. You are still a pretty good eater! Some days you don’t feel like eating a lot but for the most part, you are willing to try anything. You love grilled cheese sandwiches and also peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, when we can’t get you to try anything else, you will usually eat either of those two.
We also experienced your first ear infection. But we never would have known you had an ear infection if we hadn’t had your 9 month appointment. You were never cranky and your mood never changed, so it was very surprising when the doctor looked in your ear and said you had one. You were on amoxicillian for 10 days and loved the taste of it. I’m glad the ear infection didn’t cause you any pain, but I am also glad that your doctor caught it when he did.
Speaking of your 9 month doctor’s appointment, you weighed in at 23 lbs 2 ounces and 27 inches long! Big boy! You fell into the 95th percentile for both height and weight for a 9 month old. You’re even beginning to wear 12 month clothes because 9 month stuff is getting too small. Your dad and I are in for it!!
I think you’re teething again because you’ve been drooling like crazy, shoving even more stuff into your mouth and you’ve had a pretty bad diaper rash (which I’ve heard is an indication of teething). I wonder which are growing in?
We think you are learning the sign for ‘more,’ but it’s hard to tell if it is that or you clapping because they are so similar. We just keep doing the ‘more’ sign hoping that you will catch on. You also say a lot of mamamamam’s and dadadadada’s but we’re not sure if they actually mean momma and dada yet, but each time you say one or the other we repeat it and point to the correct person.
You unfortunately also got your first black eye this month. 🙁 I got a call from the director of your day care while I was at work, letting me know that you had fallen and bumped your eye and it had bruised pretty badly but that you were perfectly fine and seemed very happy. When I got to you at the end of the day, I couldn’t believe how dark and big the bruise was, poor guy! I guess what happened, was that you were pulling yourself up on one of the bookshelves and you went to grab a toy and let go at the same time and fell and slammed your head. It took nearly a month for those bruises to heal but you are finally back to normal.
As each month passes and we get closer and closer to a year, I am amazed at what you are able to do. You seem so inquisitive and curious, I can’t wait to teach you everything and more.