As you know, it is very important to me to find EASY ways to keep my toddler busy and entertained! The other day he was whining, whining, whining so I handed him a few objects from the recycle bin and a bag of pom poms. Besides water play (which always entertains my kids), pom poms are one of my go-to distractions!
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What's more fun than pom poms and egg cartons? (NOTE: You do not want your toddler sticking these in his or her mouth. ALWAYS SUPERVISE.)
Oh, I don't know, perhaps dropping pom poms into toilet paper roll tubes?
But don't feel you are being selfish by enticing your kids to stay entertained without lots of input! Moms who do this get bonus points for:
- Letting their kids engage in free play and exploration of materials;
- Learning about relative size and shape (how many poms will fit in a tube?)
- Encouraging their toddlers to exercise their fine motor skills when they use the pincer grasp to manipulate the pom poms.
Even his older brother wanted in on the action!
P.S. I know the bits of paper left on the TP roll look gross, but for the life of me, I could not get it off. That is some serious glue.
Got a huge bag of pom poms like we do? See more ways to use them:
JDaniel4's Mom says
JDaniel loves tubes and cartons too. Great ideas!
Rashi says
Wow, very creative way to use everyday things in kid's craft. Check out my recent post @ http://blog.memetales.com/2011/03/counting-activities-kids-craft/
Christy says
Ha! You made me laugh about the paper on the tp rolls because I always try to get it all off for photos! Sometimes it's impossible! I also worry about doing crafts with tp rolls at my story hour. I wonder if the parents will think it's gross that we use tp rolls!!! I often bring paper towel rolls instead and have the parents cut them in half. At home, however, we are always crafting and playing with tp rolls!!!
Susie says
Great idea! I'm going to make some yarn pom poms to try this with.
The Activity Mom says
great idea! I need to get some of the larger pom poms for my daughter to try this with. The regular size ones go right into her mouth.
Just tweeted and Fb this idea.
Jen @ lil Mop Top says
great ideas! I will have to try that this week!