Valentine Cards

Materials:
Paper (folded for cards)
Stickers
Stamps (I would say already inked stamps are the way to go. First because then you don't have to have a constant battle with your toddler over who gets to hold the ink pad and second they don't ink all over little hands as easily)
Crayons
Markers (only if you are brave!)

Pretty self explanatory. Usually if we color we only use crayons or stickers but for this we pulled out everything. My daughter was actually interested in it for a good hour, which I contribute to the variety of things she had to use. We made our cards for Dad and Grandparents.

Flour Power

Materials:
Flour
2-3 bowls
Spoon(s)
Cookie Sheet

Place a handful of flour in a bowl. Show your toddler how to stir the flour and how to transfer it to another bowl with a spoon. Then let them cook up their creation. Another variation is to put flour on a cookie sheet and show them how to draw things in the flour.

This activity is like a miracle in a bowl. I pull it out quite frequently while I'm cooking dinner and it keeps meltdowns to a minimum. So, Hurray for it.

Nature Walk

When we go on walks and M* is not in the stroller she loves to pick things up. babycenter.com had a great idea of taking a basket for your toddler to put things in that they find. Don't let the cold weather scare you off this could be fun bundled up or in the sun. Point out things like sticks, leaves, rocks and acorns. Also, it's been fun to have her show daddy her finds when he gets home.

Feed the Birds

Here is a good thing to do on a nice winter day. We have tons of birds in back of where we live. So we went out and fed them. We didn't even have any birds come near us M* just had tons of fun throwing the bird seed. We've fed bread to ducks too which is kind of fun because they'll come closer.

The picture is not the greatest which is probably good or you would notice her eyebrows are red with spaghetti sauce...awesome.

Flannel Board Stories

Materials:

Sturdy Cardboard (I made my board about 15"x12")

Enough Flannel to Cover Front of Board

Felt or Flannel to Glue on Back of Story Pieces

Story pictures (check out the sites below or if you child can let them draw pictures for the story themselves)


These sites have free content:
http://www.dltk-kids.com/type/felt_board.htm
http://www.archjrc.com/childsplace/felt.html
http://www.preschoolprintables.com/felt/felt.shtml

This site has stories from the Bible, Book of Mormon, and D&C if you're not LDS don't let that turn you off to the site the Bible stories are still the same:
http://www.stums.org/closet/html/flannel.htm

You can buy from these sites:

http://www.feltboardstories.com/

http://www.thefeltsource.com/

Jumping Gym

Materials:
Couch Cushions
Pillows
Blankets
Mattress

You can make this as simple or complicated as you want. Our "gym" consists of our couch cushions stacked on top of each other and some pillows. I think M* likes crawling on the couch without cushions as much as she likes crawling on the cushions with no couch. Variation: Use the same materials to set up an obstacle course for your child to crawl through.

Water Games

(Possible) Materials:
Dish bin
Colander
Cups of all colors and sizes (I think half a stack of nesting cups would be perfect)
Spoons
Towels!!!

Gather materials. Fill dish bin with about 2 inches of warm water. Have at it! Don't leave your little one alone with this as it poses a drowning hazard. Have towels on hand to wipe up spilled water. Obviously everything in the vicinity is going to get soaked so don't put your child in the outfit she is wearing to Aunt Mod's 93rd birthday party that night.

Please try to ignore my mangy dog poking his head in the picture.