Staying at home can turn into a never-ending cycle of the same day, and for me that just doesn't work. I start to feel stuck. So how do I change it up? Fun activities, of course!
This week's big activity was washing rocks — as you saw in my previous post. But what do you do after the rocks are washed? Throw them back out into the wild? Not in this house. We paint them. Now I have beautiful hand-painted rocks scattered around as décor, and honestly I love them.
This activity works great because I almost always have paint and brushes on hand. No paint? Markers work just as well — we've done that before too. With my toddler, I try to weave some learning into every activity. He's not the type to sit down and write, and at his age, sitting still and focusing is a challenge in itself.
The learning opportunities are endless. We count how many rocks we're going to paint, name the colors, and figure out how many we'll use. If your kiddo is older or a little more advanced, mixing colors is a great add-on — we actually tried that today. It was his first introduction to color mixing, and he was way more interested in the mess than the actual result. Which honestly tracks.
Ben's Version
This activity isn't quite right for Ben just yet. He would eat the paint, and the rocks would absolutely become projectiles. Instead, I set him up with a bowl of water, some sponges, and a few paintbrushes — plus one car thrown in, because of course. It's a simple setup, but it works on fine motor skills through squeezing the sponge and introduces cause and effect in a way he can explore on his own.
When kids are little they really are like sponges themselves — full of curiosity and ready to soak everything in. Any open-ended activity where they can explore freely helps them learn a lot, even when it doesn't look like much from the outside.
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