It may be cold outside but there’s no need for toddlers to hibernate this winter with Growingupmilkinfo’s fun guide of things to do with your little one. The team from the toddler nutrition website are back with a list of must-do activities toddlers should have ticked off before spring has sprung.
From building a den to getting messy in the kitchen, the list has been created using suggestions from parents nationwide and experts, including children’s play expert Adrian Voce OBE and Growingupmilkinfo.com nutritionist Leanne Olivier. The list is made up of 24 activities, one for each day of the weekend, to keep toddlers entertained and topped-up with essential nutrients throughout the winter.
The Winter Potty List is not only a celebration of fun things that parents can do with their little ones, it also includes ways to ensure your toddler gets the hard to get nutrients they need, especially the ‘sunshine vitamin’, vitamin D, which children often lack in the winter time.
Let’s face it, spring is quite ready yet, so I still have time to get some of these “must do” activities – done!!
- Build a den with the biggest cardboard box you can find (Done)
- Find lots of mummy’s funny clothes and play dress up (Still to do)
- Make music in the kitchen using your plate, pans, and a wooden spoon (Done – Noah does this on a daily basis)
- Walk through a pile of leaves as big as you (Noah did, he loved playing in the autumn leaves)
- Play chef for a day and design funny faces for Fisherman’s Jackets (jacket potato with yummy tuna) or yummy fish cakes. Not only is it fun but it’s a good source of vitamin D too (Still to do)
- Make a warm drink and snuggle up in front of a Christmas movie (We did this lots at Christmas)
- Host a teddy bears’ picnic, tucking into nutritious snacks and a beaker of Growing Up Milk, while mum sits back with a cuppa (Noah & Isla do this with their pretend kitchen, Noah makes everyone a cuppa – its lovely)
- Touch, Smell and Taste game: Try it with healthy foods, like tinned salmon, crunchy carrots and Growing Up Milk (Still to do)
- Get your hands messy in the kitchen and make festive fruit flapjacks or fruit scones (Daddy loves cooking with Noah)
- Make a rain catcher (Still to do)
- Decorate your room with handmade snowflakes (We didnt need to this year, we have had plenty of real snowflakes)
- Build a snowman (or a snowdog, if there isn’t enough snow!) (We did this in the Christmas snow)
- Decorate a gingerbread house (Still to do)
- Play musical statues (We do this alot in the house, but to Noah its just dancing around and then stopping suddenly, he doesn’t get the statue bit)
- Dance in the rain (We did this on a big walk with the doggies over the Winter and got soaked)
- Hold a treasure hunt around the house (Still to do – we are going an Easter Treasure hunt this weekend)
- Put on a Christmas concert (We didnt get around to this, but definitely something to do next year)
- Get creative and make Christmas wrapping paper and gift tags (We did this!)
- Make salt dough prints of your hands and feet (Still to do)
- Make a snow angel (We did this, a lot!)
- Visit Santa and his little elves (We did this too and Noah cried)
- Camp out in the lounge using a bed sheet for a tent (We love making camps… Noah likes destroying them)
- Pop on your wellington boots and jump in the mud (Always doing this!)
- Take a walk in the woodlands (We love going for family walks in the woods)
