A Perfect Fit

I'll admit, my shoes are not organized in the bottom of my closet. Maybe yours are. Either way, you can play a simple game with your toddler.Take out of your closet 6-8 different shoes. Hold up a shoe (say the color or style) and tell your toddler to find the other one and place them in a match on the floor.
Very simple but it is fun to watch them "hunt" for the right shoe.
Can you tell what shoes I love?

Cost: FREE

Color me Happy

Problem: Schmeese needs to learn his colors, has a lot of energy and I need to nurse the new baby.
Answer: Construction paper, scissors, masking tape, marker, walls

Instructions: Get out a piece of paper for each color you want your child to learn. I chose three to start but I will add more soon.
Cut a large square from the paper and label with the word name of the color. Cut the rest of the paper into 3x3 (or so) squares.
Place large squares on different walls or in different areas of your house. I kept them in the same room this first time, but I will make it a little more exhausting next time around.
Put all small squares in a bowl. Roll up masking tape loop and put it on back of square. Hand it to your child and say the name of the color. Schmeese caught onto this so fast that I didn't even have to show him what to do. You may have to demonstrate a couple times for your child however. Have your child return to you every time to get a new color. You don't need to tape loop them all before you start. Just do it as you go.

After about 5 or so of each color make things a bit more difficult. I stuck the colors all over Schmeese's shirt (see first picture). He had a grand time going to each color and checking out his shirt to find all corresponding colors and placing them on the wall.

If you want to use the same squares and start over again, stick all masking taped squares on separate pieces of wax paper for later use.

Cost: Pretty much Free

Variations: More colors. High and low: "Put the blue square HIGH on the wall" "Put the yellow square LOW on the wall". You could do the same activity with shapes, letters, words (for much bigger kids - I am imagining first and second graders categorizing words they read and placing them: foods, animals, household objects, plants.) You could definitely do this outside it the weather permitted. "Run to the red square! Walk backward to the yellow square!"

PS - forgive the cruddy muddy pics. Remember I was nursing?