It’s been a week since Beloved’s semester finished, and he’s been home with the boys almost full time.
It’s hard for me, being in my cube and knowing they are off playing somewhere together without me, but I think it’s a lot harder on Beloved. He’s getting a little twitchy, and I can see just a little bit too much of the whites of his eyes. It’s not that he doesn’t enjoy being with the boys, it’s just that the anti-sleep conspiracy coupled with Simon’s relentless mischeviousness would tire even Super Nanny. On evenings and weekends, we tag team rather effectively, but when the day begins at 5 am, finding enough stuff to keep them occupied is an ongoing challenge.
I have lots of holiday time this summer – being in my 16th year with the government has its advantages – and I’m taking my first of three weeks off at the end of this month, so they only have to get through another couple of weeks on their own.
What do you do to keep your kids occupied in the summer? Beloved is just getting comfortable with bringing them both to the library or the mall, but anything that requires intense supervision (i.e. a wading pool) might be a bit much. They all love going to the “new bookstore” to play with the train tables, and the grocery store has a little play zone where you can drop your kids for an hour of supervised play for free, so long as you stay in the store. (I wonder if taking a nap on the hammock display in the garden centre counts as staying in the store?)
I suggested the sprinkler, and our little inflatable kiddie pool with ten centimetres of water in it. We have an annual pass to three museums in town, including the science and technology museum and the experimental farm – both favourites of the boys. I just found out you can get free passes to some of the other museums in the city through the library, and we spent this past Saturday morning discovering the absolutely fabulous Children’s Museum in town. (Can you tell I’m a road-trip kind of mother? I hate staying in the house when I’m home with the boys. Beloved is the opposite – he’d rather stay in, but acknowledges the boys get a little squirrelly if they spend too much time in the house. Just like their mother, they are.)
So bloggy friends, help preserve Beloved’s tenuous grip on his sanity. What’s your favourite summertime distraction for the preschool set?
Do you have an Ontario Early Years Centre with a Stay and Play drop-in near by? A lot of dads come to gain their sanity. Kids play with peers and dads vent to moms.
“Gardening” is a favourite here. Diggins earth worms, trampling my daisies. Although I’ve only got one and I’m not sure how much more stressful it is with two.
Bonne chance Beloved!
Yeah, I was goign to say “gardening” too. It’s been a big hit with Frances so far. She loves to dig holes with her little trowel, and water things, and rip up weeds and the occasional handful of grass, and hold the worms from teh composter, and pick a few flowers. Loves it. As long as I don’t expect her “help” to be in any way productive, she has a great time and I can be outside getting stuff done in the yard and she gets to believe that she is “helping.” And if hte boys like the experimental farm, maybe they would like trying to grow their own tomato plant or something? Something that can put up with a fair bit of abuse and neglect and still produce something edible at the end of the season. A lot of plants at the garden centres are going on sale now.
Frances also likes our birdfeeders. We have three (soon to be four) with different kinds of seed for different kinds of birds. It’s fun to watch for them and talk about them when they come. I am planning on putting up a birdfeeder tutorial as part of the Green Toddler thing later this week, if you’re interested.
Maybe a mini-basketball hoop or some sidewalk chalk? Frances loves her chalk, and loves it even more when I draw her a hopscotch. You could probably draw a fairly elaborate playing field of some kind on the driveway and the boys could run themselves ragged on it.
Of course you probably do all this already….
A summer fave for us is going to see the musical ride. It is gone after Canada Day so check the schedule and get there plenty early so you have lots of time to stop in the stables and see the horses!
We do alot of picnics. Kids help make the food, most times the day before, and then go explore different areas. The Arboredum(?) is great and there are some great spots on Manotic too. That reminds me,I am heading to Ottawa this weeked, must stop at Sucre Sale for the best croissants around!
There are also some great splash parks around.
Enjoy your summer!
Can you get a “daddy’s helper”, a neighbourhood teenager for a few hours here and there to entertain the boys? I used such a teenager last summer which allowed me a few hours to catch up on odds and ends around the house or run an errand ALONE.
Apart from swimming and biking and chalk work we’ll do those messy artsy projects outdoors like painting.
Go for an ice cream somewhere
Tons of little daytrips around the city if he feels brave enough, heck tell him moms of twins do it 😉
Apart from all the usual museums:
cosmic adventure or the one in Kanata
gymboree
brewers’ park
petrie island
mooney’s bay
little rascals
saunders farm
storyland
valleyview farm
strawberry picking (coming up soon)
cumberland museum 😉
bowling
train to wakefield
amigo karts
changing of the guard
canal rideau locks
boat ride along the canal or ottawa river
aboriginalexperiences.com
drive to a park in another neighbourhood with a picnic
natioanl gallery has tots mornings with little workshops, check their website
lots of local parks have programs set by the city with morning activities (check their website) and free too
that’s all I can think of right now
(keeping this list for my own use)
Park tour. Yes, we get a little ‘tired’ of our closest park around the corner and will actually drive around to find other new parks. Fun actually!
Go OUT for ice cream – daily if needed. Heck, the kids need dairy & calcium, as do we, DAILY.
Buckets of water, hose, and more buckets of water…let them put their cars, toys, little people, rescue heroes, anything in the water, they love it.
Ummm…just a few for now. twinmom seems to have the list of all lists.
oh yeah, and washing teh family vehicle: kids in bathing suits, a bucket, water, a little soap, sponges, stepping stools and let them go for it
like nancy said, we also have “car” washing days (their own cars) and line them up to dry in the sun and any other water compatible toys 😉
I am taking notes, too!
My staple things to do list includes: playgrounds (obviously), local farms that have petting zoos, children’s museum, regular zoo, indoor playgrounds (for rainy days), miniature golf (but probably not advisable with only one adult), bubble play, water play, chalk drawing, “gardening,” nature walks.
Good luck, Beloved!
Playdates, baby, playdates! Your kids might be old enough now that Beloved can leave them at another kids’ house & go run some errands — then swap on another day.
My parents gave us a sandbox and the kids were entertained for an entire week just assembling it. It arrived as pieces of lumber, which they played with in various ways; then we assembled it in the house & they played with it as a fort; then we moved it outside and they threw balls into it; and finally we filled it with sand. My son loves loves loves to build. If he could actually build a real, useful thing then he’d be in heaven. Maybe your kids too?
We also only have one two year old but some ideas for keeping your two busy are:
* making playdough at home with the kids help and then trying out all kinds of odd things that can mash and squash it (empty water bottles, garden tools, flatware, cookie cutters, rocks)
* monster bubbles (just add glycerine to your favourite storebought or homemade recipes for more durable bubbles) and make “wands” from straws and yarn
* painting outside on a large roll of craft paper (available at most decorating/paint stores) with alternate “brushes” – a favourite of ours is heavy treaded toy vehicles.
* photography – give the kids a quick lesson on how to point and shoot on a disposable camera and then go for a walk in the neighbourhood or to the ex. farm and let the kids take pictures. The printing costs are so cheap these days and toddlers love the resulting pictures.
Hope that helps! We’re looking forward to a long summer of enjoying the outdoors with our son as well!
Ottawa is great in that there are a lot of free things to do during the summer months. Museums are great and all, but the $$$ does add up. If you have passes this is a different story. 🙂
We spend a lot of time at the wading pool. We have a lot of picnics. We live close to a few nice parks as well as a beach (all reachable by walking) and we load up the wagon with a blanket and frozen juice-boxes and a prepared lunch. We eat, they run around, and I scribble in my notebook/sketchbook. It all works out great.
oh, just thought of something else we did last summer: got a hand-me down tent and pitched in the backyard. kept them busy playing house, brought flashlights out when got dark, etc.
Now, can’t keep teh tent for too long cuz the grass will die underneath and Dani the lawnkeeper won’t be too happy 😉
What great ideas! Air kisses to everyone – MWAH!
Miche, we have an EYC right around the corner, and I love it, but Beloved is not quite such a social creature as the rest of his brethern.
Andrea, all excellent ideas, many of which you are right, we do already. But eek, let those three loose in my garden without me to supervise?? (Ha, more like, I WISH I could get them to do some of the work!)
Jenn, best croissants? Gotta hunt those down! And splash parks are great – I just realized the one in our neighbourhood is already open.
Nancy, I love the park tour idea, but I know Beloved will love the ice cream suggestion. Except, we’ll have to save that for the evenings, because bad enough I can’t come along to play but there’s no way I’m letting them go for a DQ run without me!
Twinmomplusone, wow! All the suggestions are great, but instead I’m just going to give Beloved your phone number and tell him to call you!! You should open your own day camp!!! (Gee, you’d almost think you’d had a tonne of experience being trapped in the house with two preschoolers for long stretches!)
Thanks again for *all* the excellent ideas, and welcome Kirsten – I don’t think I’ve seen you commenting before.
xo Dani
We park toured yesterday afternoon, the park we tried wasn’t so hot, but the caterpillar nest sure was – we played with caterpillars for an hour!
WOW…I’m taking notes. I get a nutty around here. TM I’m taking you and your kids and following you around.
What a hoot!
The science museum in Ottawa is great fun. The wave pool in Kanata. I also take my kids to IKEA to play. Do they have a play place in the IKEA in Ottawa?