Activities that stimulate and develop your toddler's senses, imagination, coordination, and other skills can be great fun — for dads and your child. Try the following:
- Camp in your living room. Set up a tent in your living room and fill it with pillows, toys, and sleeping bags. Snuggle up, watch some fun movies, and eat some snack food. If you don't have a tent, organize a large cardboard box (supermarkets, retail stores, or furniture shops may be able to provide you with one) and make a little house out of it.
- Make a roll-around bottle together. Cut two big plastic drink bottles in half and use the top end of both of them. Put some interesting shapes inside and thread a shoelace through the bottle tops on either end. Seal the middle with tape. Knot the shoelaces together to make a line that your toddler can drag around.
- Create an obstacle course. Make tunnels by placing a blanket over the tops of two chairs with their backs facing each other. Add other elements with low tables to crawl under, stairs to climb, and boxes to climb over.
- Play chase. Toddlers love being chased, peeking through curtains, and a bit of rough and tumble when they're caught.
- Make lunch. Toddlers love to help and seem especially drawn to helping out in the kitchen. Get your toddler his own stool or box to stand on so he can reach the countertop and help with simple tasks, such as peeling boiled eggs. He can move on to using a knife (with your supervision, of course) to cut up firm fruit and vegetables like cucumbers and zucchini.
