If you find yourself at home all summer while school is out of session and you just don’t know what to do with those sweet littles all day every day for two months straight, this is the page for you! Below you’ll find theme-based activities in art, basic academics and sensory play for kids age 1-5 that you can do to have fun all summer long!
Ice Cream, Ice Cream: Play for Toddlers
Lets be honest- for a toddler, pretty much every mealtime is sensory play! So why not bust out the ice cream and let your kiddo have fun feeling the cold temperature, the smooth texture and enjoying the yummy taste! Below you’ll find instructions for doing just that, along with other ice cream themed sensory play…
Splish, Splash- Water (and Sunshine!) Based Sensory Play
I think almost every toddle baby loves to play in the water, so this week we did some super fun (and soggy) water play activities! Don’t forget the sun block! -Bunch O Balloons: I am obsessed with these things! They come with 3 bunches of 35 water balloons that you just slap on your hose…
4th of July Boredom Busters
It’s almost the 4th of July and that means sensory play filled with red, white and blue glitter, star confetti and EXPLOSIONS (kid friendly safe ones of course!). I’m so excited to share these plans with you centering around the great ideals our nation has on freedom and fairness for all (such important concepts to…
Bring the Disney Magic Home
Even though they’ve been closed for a few months, Disney has done so much to bring their brand of magic home to us while we’re staying away from all the germs. They’re scheduled to reopen with restrictions this coming Saturday, but we won’t be heading to the parks any time soon, so we decided to…
Staying “Buzzy” this Summer
It’s summertime, flowers are in full bloom and busy bees are buzzing everywhere gathering nectar and spreading pollen- so I figured why not do some activities celebrating these tiny but important creatures! -Flying bee balloon: Blow up a yellow balloon and use a black sharpie to decorate it like a bee (or have your little…
Sand and Sun
Since it’s summer and the beach is the ultimate sensory experience (the crash of the waves, the salty smelling air, the sand between your toes, the warm sun and cool water on your skin!) we decided to bring the beach home for our learning this week! Turn on some Caribbean steal drum music (Alexa will…
Accio Toddler Activities
Welcome to a magical week of wizard themed learning and play! Since Harry Potter’s birthday is on July 31st, I conjured up some Hogwarts themed toddler activities I know your little is going to love! I mean, it’s never to early to foster a love of all things Potter- am I right?! -Sorting hat play:…
Snow and Ice
The weather is hot, but this week we’re choosing to “let it go” and dive into some Frozen inspired sensory play and art! My toddler hasn’t seen Frozen yet, but he loves listening to the story book we have featuring Anna, Elsa and their crew of do-gooders. For the first time in forever, we had…
Baby Shark Dodo Dodo Dodo
Since Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” is scheduled to begin on Sunday, I thought this would be a perfect week to dive into some shark themed activities with the littles! Now turn on some “Baby Shark” and let’s go make a splash! -Eatable ocean sensory play: This one is super easy to set up and the…
Two Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
Get ready for aaaall the monkey crafts, snacks, and fun activities this week! Our theme is the jungle and my little monkeys certainly had a blast swinging through one last summery theme before “school” officially starts! -“5 Little Monkeys” with puppets: Back before Covid, our amazing local librarian Miss Sue used to do a toddler…
Aloha Summer!
My preschooler was totally in to Moana as a two year old- I mean, to the point where he would correct me if I called him by his name by saying, “No Mama, I Maui!” He even had the Maui scowl down…and Maui’s giant hook…which he slept with! hahaha My current toddler hasn’t seen Moana…
Treasure Chests and Mermaid Tails
Ever since Disney released “The Little Mermaid” when I was 8 I’ve been hooked…and my littles love to play pirates so I knew with summer coming up a “pirates and mermaids” theme was a must-do in our house! Dive in with us this week as we hunt for treasure and find mermaid magic under the…
Rockets, Disney and Fun in the Sun
Florida is the number 1 state for vacationing and it’s so easy to see why! From beautiful sandy beaches to the awe inspiring Kennedy Space Center to the natural beauty of the everglades and the man made magic of Disney World there is just SO much to see and do! Even if Florida isn’t on…
Sunshine and Lollipops
Popsicles, watermelon, ice cream, and the 4th of July- summer is upon us and this week we’re diving in to all the summer themed activities! If you’d like to focus in more on the 4th of July this week, you can check out my blog from last year “4th of July Boredom Busters” for lots…
Super Kids
If your little loves super heroes you’ve landed in the right spot! I feel like there are so many heroes out there nowadays, littles of all ages usually end up into one or another at some point! For these plans I mostly stuck to generic super heroes with a few specific ones like PJ Masks…
Little Builders
My youngest has been into building with any and every type of block for about a year now! His all time favorite are Magnetiles, but he loves traditional blocks and of course Lego Duplos too! This week I thought it would be fun for us to do all the activities surrounding these versatile giant Lego…
Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy
My littles both love to fish (which makes sense seeing as my husband loves the sport so much he has a whole cupboard full of lures and too many poles to count!) so I thought it would be fun to do a fishing themed week of learning! Come dive in with us as we learn…
Little Champions
The Olympics are finally here! I’m so excited to watch them on TV and teach my littles all about the world coming together for some fun and friendly competition! To get your littles excited about the games, here are some fun crafts and learning ideas that are centered around the Summer Olympics! Go for the…
Rainbow Fish
Sharing, kindness, inclusion, friendship, honesty. These are the ideals taught in Marcus Pfister’s “The Rainbow Fish” books- and who doesn’t want their toddler to be a kind, inclusive friend who is honest and shares well? Dive into these books with us this week as we explore and learn through rainbow and fish themed activities that…
Popcorn and PJs
Lights, camera, ACTION! Get ready for some fun movie and popcorn themed activities with your little this week! Also, this will be my very last toddler post- my youngest is turning 3 and has moved away from toddler exploration and more towards working on preschool skills like letter recognition and counting. If you have a…
littlelovesandlearning.com 