Activities to keep your Toddler Occupied
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Gardening is a wonderful activity for children and adults alike. It can be difficult, however, to keep a toddler entertained while doing this activity. The first order of business is to make sure that the environment is safe for your toddler. You do not want him or her to be able to run into the street or touch a bush with thorns, for instance. Once you have ensured your child’s safety, keep your toddler entertained with the following strategies.
Helping Hand
Even toddlers can help with simple gardening such as picking light weeds or placing twigs into garbage bags. Encourage a love of nature and the outdoors by giving your toddler age-appropriate gardening activities. Buy your toddler gloves and a small child’s gardening set. Of course, this will not work for all toddlers, but some will love to join in.
Crafts and Creative Activities
Your toddler can enjoy nature-themed crafts and other creative activities while you are gardening. You can bring a chair and tray table out. Young toddlers could do something simple such as coloring pictures of flowers and plants. Older toddlers can take flowers and press them into paper or make construction paper flowers.
Outdoor Toys
There are many outdoor toys to keep your child entertained while you are gardening. You can get a set of chalk and let him or her decorate the sidewalk and driveway. Draw out hopscotch and let him or her jump around. If you have a lot of space, you can let him or her ride on a tricycle. Of course, make sure that all toys are age appropriate.
Playground
If you do a lot of gardening, you might want to consider a playground or larger climb-on toys to keep your toddler entertained. These can keep a toddler entertained for hours. Other ideas include a trampoline or sprinkler set for the warmer months. This would work especially well if you were gardening in the backyard and had a fenced-in area to keep your toddler safe. You can also bring out a temporary fence or even a playpen if your toddler is young enough and would stay entertained while you garden.
No matter what, make sure that you always supervise your toddler while you are gardening. Toddlers don’t have long attention spans so they may end up doing many of the above activities to keep them occupied. You can also take breaks from gardening to show your child the plants and birds.