Stone-Throwing Time

Toddler ages: 27 months, 27 months, 3.5 years

Materials you'll need:
-a body of water
-stones

Self-explanatory...



If you're just in diapers, the neighbors might look at you funny...



...but that won't matter, because if you're lucky, you will see a cow on the way home...

Webcam Time

Toddler ages: 26 months, 26 months, 3.5 years

Materials you'll need:
-a webcam

The 15-year-old girl came up with this idea and I love her for it. The pictures will explain...

And here are some of our favorites...

Thanks for listening!

Honeysuckle Time

Toddler ages: 26 months, 26 months, 3.5 years

Materials you'll need:
-a honeysuckle vine

I wish you could smell this...

My mother's entryway is covered with vines of honeysuckle and the 8-year-old girl and I thought it would be fun to teach the twins how to such the honey off the stamens (is that what they're called?).

First, we showed them the plucked honeysuckle...

Then we showed them how to pull out the stamen with the drop of honey...

...and suck off the drop of honey...

Twin B never could quite figure out how to tenderly suck off the honey. He just tried to obliterate the flowers from the stems...

....and expectantly waited for us to give him more...

Sucking honeysuckles is great, but be careful, because all that close contact with pollen can make your nose itch...

Hope your toddlers love this, too!

Pet Shop Time

Toddler ages: 26 months, 26 months, 3.5 years

Materials you'll need:
-a pet shop

Self-explanatory...

I hope there's a pet store near you!

More Gardening Time

Toddler ages: 26 months, 26 months, 3.5 years

Materials you'll need:
-one small shovel per toddler
-potting soil
-six-packs of transplants

Same activity...different flowers...

Helping With Lunch Time

Toddler ages: 26 months, 26 months, 3.5 years

Materials you'll need:
-the ingredients for a simple meal

Cooking with toddlers is something I've posted about before, but it's always nice to have a reminder. The 3-year-old and I made a simple mac 'n' cheese lunch with sweet potatoes on the side. Here's how it went...

One of the things the 3-year-old is best at is stirring, in this case, the macaroni and cheese sauce...

I then opened up the sweet potato cans and he poured them into the pot...

However, the pot we chose was too small, so we had to transfer to a bigger pot...

Ah, just right.

After the lunch was made, it was clean-up time, and the 3-year-old had so much fun wiping the island, that he sang as he went...

Don't you forget to include your kids in meal preparation, too! It's not always the quickest, easiest, neatest way, but the rewards are worth it. Thanks for listening.