Taming Your Toddler: 4 Activities That Toddlers Will Enjoy

The Princess is 28 months old, but we are still in for more patience-testing interesting encounters with this little one. I can’t say that we have mastered the Terrible Twos, but I’d like to share a few things we’ve tried to somehow control the little girl.

While we enjoy having a little chikadora (talkative girl) in the house, it gets annoying sometimes–especially when she uses her words to whine non-stop. And, when ignored, there are times when she steps her performance up and turns her whines into an Emmy-worthy temper tantrum… in a public place. I’m not going to lie. It feels embarrassing, right? Especially when people start staring and shaking their heads as your little one mops the mall floor clean while crying her lungs out.

There was a point when Daddy A and I decided to stop taking the kids out totally just so all their tantrums are contained in our house. Little did we know that this “containment” thing we were doing caused more harm than good.

I am not an expert, but upon observation, it seems that temper tantrums are linked to the lack of activities. Without activities, kids get bored and restless, which then triggers a crying fit. What stopped these fits, at least in our experience, were walks and play time in our garage. But, I also noticed one other thing with our toddler. She doesn’t like the same activity every single day. That’s why we try to mix it up a bit.

4 Activities That Toddlers Will Enjoy

  1. Play classes with other toddlers — Last week, we enrolled The Princess in a class in Gymboree. Her first class didn’t go so well since all she wanted to do was play (she didn’t want to listen to the lesson itself). She was also very shy. But, on our second week, we already noticed big changes. She sat when she was told to. She listened to the lesson and participated!
  2. Activities That Toddlers Will LoveFishing — Since Daddy A is currently assigned in a fishing and farming community, we took advantage of our proximity to nature-focused recreational areas by taking the kids to fishing trips. The Princess really enjoyed this one and came home with three fishies for dinner after a whole afternoon of fishing.
  3. Arts — If there is one thing kids really love doing, that would be making a mess–a colorful mess, to be more specific. That’s why we let our toddler get creative and messy with crayons and paint. You can even join the fun painting your little one’s face and playing pretend after. Here’s a recipe of edible paint I found from another blog.
  4. Museum and Zoo Trips — Field trips are fun for kids (ok- parents too!), but note that you may need to set a certain amount for transportation and entrance fees. We like doing this once in a while so our little ones will see what we teach them: parts of the body, animals, plants, etc.

These are just some of our tried-and-tested activities that toddlers will enjoy. Other activities we would like to try in the future are swimming lessons, hiking and teaching them good old Filipino games (Enough with the gadgets! Take your kids out and play!). I’m sure other parents have fun activity ideas as well! So…

What activity does your child enjoy doing?

Kimberley Reyes

Kimberley Reyes is an Online Business Manager for entrepreneurs who are ready to get off the hamster wheel and step into their CEO shoes. On top of helping her clients get organized and scale their businesses, she is also happily busy raising her five kids with her firefighter husband.

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