So it’s no secret…since I have no secrets on this blog…that I have been having a tough time with Will lately. He’s just so..so..TWO! I actually feel like I haven’t been getting the joy out of being his mom that I should be getting lately. And this was worrying me.
Friday night though, mother and son were brought together through PLAY. And play we did. For the first time, we really played together. There was laughing, there were crazy voices from both of us and there were plenty of crashes. If I wasn’t a single parent..there might also have been VIDEO!
We played cars. And it was awesome. And it kick started our weekend in such a positive way. I woke up this morning wishing we had another day and I won’t lie, the last few weekends I’ve been begging for Monday.
I kept thinking ahead to the years of play we have together. This kid who used to be a blob and who I’d cheer for if he so much as smacked a ring on his exersaucer (aka the circle of neglect) can now make hilarious voices and chase cars around. Sooner rather than later, the two of us will be out on the tennis courts!!!
In the meantime, we’ll continue with cars, puzzles and blocks. Speaking of blocks…wanna win some??? I have an awesome Lego Duplo prize pack for a lucky UrbanMoms member. All you need to do is leave me a comment telling me what your favorite playtime activity is with your kids and we’ll pick a winner randomly. The contest runs from now until 5pm November 28th!!! Good luck!
we love to play trains or TREEEENs as my 2 year old loves to scream.
My favorite playtime activity is duplo! I find it’s really creative and fun and QUIET!
My favorite pastime with my children is craft time
My two girls are in their twenties so now I love to read books to my granddaughter.
For me, the most fun is when we “put on a show”. My daughter brings out her chairs from her room and fills them the audience members. Then we each take turns singing, dancing and applauding.
It’s great!
i enjoy getting mucky or fresh air with my girls. In the country there is so much to explore outside. If too cold or too wet..we try to do fun stuff inside arts, play, bake is a fav. idea or just relax and watch a movie
My favorite playtime activity with niece would be either reading a book, finger paints, going to the park, or playing with her puzzles.
Blocks are the best and any Lego. It can be quiet play or more wild.
hmmm
favorite activity with both one now 29 and the other 6
boys,,,was and it weekly time at the library as well as riding bikes.
Quiet time with the oldest was when he played with Lego
Our current favorite playtime activity is building with Play Doh. My daughter spends hours making desserts. I especially like mixing the colours to see what different shades I can make.
We would so love to win a set of Duplo!
My son and I enjoy playdough, crafts and other creative activities. We have a few different Lego sets that we get a lot of use out of. I think I enjoy the Lego just as much as I did when I was a child, and my son loves it. We can learn and be creative with almost any toys we use!
My 2 year old daughter loves to play with any kind of art and creative activities. She spends most of her day cutting papers with scissors, painting and drawing everywhere, playing with play-doh. If she has some spare time left, she plays with her dolls, paper puzzle, and duplo (toys story). I am sure she’s the most busiest girl on earth.
My son and I enjoy all sort of play things! He is just starting to get into playdough and puzzles. Oh and he really loves his search and find books. He recently received alot of lego, and yes, this seems to be climbing up high on his list 🙂
My kids like to play lego with me. They usually use it in different ways, like making “forts” for their stuffed animals and my daughters Littlest Pet Shop toys. They can get really creative with it…and I’ve loved playing with lego since I was a kid.
Whenever we need a couple of belly laughs, I blow up a balloon, and we play a rousing game of “balloney ball”, basically a made up game that involves hitting the balloon back and forth to one another, and the odd random run around the house…great fun. Play doh is great for when we want to tone it down a bit.
I love to play play doh with my little guy who is 3. We just made a huge batch of homemade play doh the other night, to which it gives him endless hours of fun!Not to mention it is very easy and cheap to make.
With my 7.5 months old, our favourite playtime is to dance & move to music. Since we’ve been playing the same 5 songs since he was born, he now lights right up at the first notes!
I love lego, but my husband adores it. My 8 and 3 year old spend hours making them. Last year we bought one of these Duplo theme sets and they adored it – love them
Arts and crafts of any kind, painting, colouring, creating
I am not the mother of young kids anymore. I do a fair amount of babysitting from time to time. We have a couple of sets of the Jenga type blocks. One is plastic and multi coloured. The 2+ year olds love to play the Jenga game. They are taught to be very careful and slow as they pull out the blocks, take turns and judge where they should take the next block from. They also love it when they come tumbling down!! Thanks for all the lovely ideas everyone else!!
my favorite playtime with my 4 children would be fingerpainting!..we have a blast!
My kids all love games and puzzles … lots of Guess Who?, Trouble, Mouse Trap and Uno. We also love to go hiking, picnicking and camping in the summer and play pretend. Usually I’m the sick patient, about to die, lying on the couch; my daughter’s the doc, oldest son is the nurse (because, as we all know, boys can be nurses too!), and my youngest is a sympathetic visitor. Treasured memories for sure!
Lately the girls are totally into and loving the Littlest Pet Shop toys! They love to make lego stairs and have the pets each sit (live) on a step LOL
My 4-year-old son and I love to play games together. His favourites are card games like Go Fish, Crazy Eights and War. We also play lots of other games, like Checkers, Bingo, and Tic-Tac-Toe.
We love getting all mucky and messy in a mound of paper mache. Recently we created a whole community for my daughter’s little people to play in. Lots of fun!
I have 4 children so finding an activity that is good for us all can be a problem sometimes. The one that we normally so is sitting around the table playing board games. It’s fun watching all the kids laugh and enjoy themselves. During the winter months we take the time to go outside in the snow and build snowmen and igloos and then come inside to a hot cup of hot chocolate and a movie.
Hi Sarah. I’m a grandmother of three children ages 2,4 and 6. I am also the parent of four children ages 25, twins 29 and, and a 30 year old. I have LOTS of parenting experience! One of my twins Caroline was my most challenging child. If I drew a line in the sand and said don’t step over it, she’d immediately step over it. What I didn’t know is that Caroline was a gifted child. She’s finishing a PHD in math right now. The terrible twos seem to never end. What works one day doesn’t work the next. Think back over the past week. What time does your child become impossible to deal with. Is it the same time most days. My children were all cranky around 4pm. We made this snack time at our house. The children perked up, were less likely to be fighting and more interested in playing. I did fairly quiet activities at this time as I would also be preparing supper. My favorite was sitting at the kitchen table and playing with home made play doh. I saved plastic placemats so each child had their own to use. I colored the doh for fun. If it was near Christmas we made Christmas figures. We had a great time and we could dry the figures to paint at a later time.
Okay, so I WANNA say tobogganing, but I’m not gunna take the easy route 😉 I think I’ll go with reading. I know, I know, sounds lame, right? But I promise I’m not saying that to be one of THOSE parents…the ones who pretend that everything is always perfect, have NEVER raised their voice to their children, and crayon has never graced a surface other then mommy approved 100% recycled paper! No no, I say reading because at the end of the day, when everyone is tired, I end up with a wonderfully awesome boy snuggled up on each side of me ready for a new adventure in the pages. They make funny voices, ask the most awesomely random questions, and best yet….I get to sit in awe as I watch the progression of their reading progress! Step aside monthly family festivals! You’ve been usurped by the common book, lol!
My son Simon is only 3 months right now but he loves peek-a-boo!
I love questions like this. As a past single mother and a present time”Super Grandmother” (that means I live next door to three of my grandchildren and am on call literally 24 hours a day) I am finally beginning to figure out the really important functions of parenting. Sure I know we have all heard the “quality time versus quantity time” and when I was a young parent that is exactly what I wanted to hear. Now, bullocks! Your kids want you, need you, and must have you!!! Touch them, hug them, kiss them, sing with them, dance with them, tickle them, wrestle with them, cook with them, read with them, pick up toys with them, just be with them. From you they will learn love, joy, faith, empathy, creative analysis, to deal with their hurts and angers in a healthy way, more simply to become loving healthy intelligent adults. That’s your real goal isn’t it? You are the best toy they will ever have. Save your money, buy a few toys to inspire YOU. You inspire your children.
Most fav toy for my child care children is lego and duplo block. I’ve been doing home child care for many years and that is the one toy the kids love doing as they picture an idea in their mind and try to create that object using blocks. I like block as the activity creates alot of interaction between kids and they learn to share as well. The guys seem to really go for Lego/Duplo block just as my sons did when they were young….
My daughter has special needs and any kind of puzzle that moves her mind into creative thinking is a bonus. She is very creative and building things with leggo and even blocks helps her express herself in a constuctrive manner as well as teaches her co ordination.
My favourite playtime activity is “Ten Finger Family” time which is a tickle game my mom used to play with me! Both girls love to be tickled, and even though it’s exhausting, it’s worth it because it’s soooo funny to hear them both giggle and shriek!
I love playing Wii, barbies, lego and trains with the kids!
My favorite thing to do with my youngest granddaughter is play make believe with all her toys such as shrek, fiona, spiderman, gepetto, spaghetti girl and the list goes on. She loves them all and plays with them every single day. We have a ball together and yes she does love it when her and I see how high we can stack her legos before they come tumbling down LOL
My favourite thing to do with my kids is build forts. We have a chair and a half that I will turn upside down, cover in blankets and we hang out underneath it. We don’t have any lego yet but we could build stuff for our forts with it!
My oldest daughter is 2 1/2 and our favorite thing to do together is bake and decorate cookies (Halloween was very fun!) OR Arts and crafts of ANY kind. If there is a glue stick or paint involved she’s happy for HOURS!!!
Our favorite play time activity right now would have to be Play Doh! This does change weekly however.
My favourite playtime activity is doing puzzles or reading books.
Lgo is my child’s favorite activity we like to build shopping malls
All my kids really liked to play with Lego and although my youngest son is a teen now, he still gets out his Lego from time to time. But I really liked to do puzzles with my kids.
My family loves the outdoors my favorite playtime with the kids is at the park running around and playing on the playground!! We also love Lego!! I still have the Lego my brother used to play with as a kid!!
Thanks!!
Well being a mom to 4 boys, lego building is one of things we’ve being doing since they were old enough to play with lego blocks. Having kids gives you an awesome excuse to be young again, and play with toys 😉
We enjoyed doing a lot of painting with water colors.
My favourite play time is scrapbooking. Its amazing how creative and artistic kids can be.
PLAYDOH! Good Times 🙂
My son is 16 now and we have a little one on the way. My son loved to play with lego’s and was very creative.
We have a mixed bag of old Lego parts, but they are not old enough for them yet. The Duplo blocks would be great.
Our newborn is too young for playtime just yet, but Lego and Duplo blocks are #1 on our list for toys. They allow the child to use their imagination, be creative and have fun doing it. I loved Lego as a child and hope to make that a big part of our child’s life.
My daughters and I love to do crafts together. We have made puppets, flowers, etc. They also have some Dora and Diego blocks where I help them make tree houses, etc and we have alot of fun with that. They love being creative so building blocks are a great way to show their creativity. It is also a great way for me to avoid house cleaning as I would rather play then work!! Thanks for the chance to win! 🙂
My son is only 3 months so playtime will be coming soon! We will be reading lots of fun books with him.
When my kids were little we played alphabet go fish and crazy eights and this helped them learn all their letters and numbers. Now we play yachtzee, chess and goblet ( a version of tic tac toe). We all love puzzles.
Puzzles!! 😀 I even find them challenging! LOL
Definitely imagination play! We love making up stories and skits for everything from cars to knights to stuffed animals. It’s so much fun!
My son and I love to read books and play with puzzles. Nothing beats him cuddling up to me first thing in the morning, covering us with his blankie and reading a good story!
My favourite play time activity is baking…my wee folks are just too gosh darn cute when it comes to their baking…my son will add some of the weirdest of concoctions and love every one of them…some look plain eeewww…but to each their own…hehe
I have 2 boys and a girl my youngest is now 10. The older they get the more electronic devices seem to take up all of their time! They sure grow up fast so to all of the Mommies enjoy these precious moments while they are young!! Thankfully I get to babysit my four year old nephew every day , I still LOVE to play!!! He loves anything that involves imagination. I think winning some new Lego blocks would bring a smile to both our faces!! I would have to say my favorite play time activity will always be arts & crafts with the kids or anything that makes them smile!!!
Good luck all ; )
We have 3 boys and we love having building contest with lego. However I wish we could buy just little men and wheels. Seems like the fights are over those little things. lol Thank you.
Favorite playtime activity is playmobil or blocks.
My favorite playtime is with play mobile toys. Its great fun and you have to use a lot of imagination.
i have 3 little ones soon to be 4 and i am having to get after them non stop the only way ican get them to settle is sit and play with them which is increasingly more difficult being pregnant so thet would be a great tool……
We have a dress-up trunk and all of us like playing dress up. Even Dad gets into it. He looks cute with fairy wings on, I have to say 😉
We like to go to the park together. Not only are the slides and swings a big hit but we can imagine we are sailing on a ship or exploring together. Lots of fun.
I love storytime, it helps the child’s imagination as well as a great way to unwind for both parent and child!
I actually love playing all the sports games on her video games with my 6 yr old daughter.We laugh and have fun doing this together-
Dress up was huge for my daughter and her friends. I was constantly searching at second hand stores for things to throw in the trunk. As for my son, we spent hours and hours playing with Lego!! It never got old 🙂
My son & I love to read books, draw pictures, and play with playdough
my son and i love playing catch in the backyard – it’s a daily activity!
spynaert@hotmail.com
In our house, we love to play family-oriented interactive video games. Everyone gets involved and enjoy spending the fun time together.As they grow up, we use the higher levels of the games.
My favorite playtime with my daughter is anything involving crafts. I love searching the internet for toddler crafts and having something new to try on any rainy days we have! We’re now working on making Christmas presents for the Grandparents together =)
My favorite playtime changes as the children go through different stages but the one I love right now is fall leaves. From the youngest to the teens there is something about autumn leaves that gets them every year and makes me remember the magic that comes with each season.
We absolutely love to dress up here. A great treasure trove of old costumes and clothes from another era. Great imagainations!
We love puzzles and board games in my household. It’s our favourite after-dinner activity… and a great way of getting everyone to chip in when cleaning up after our meal… the faster everything gets done, the sooner we can play!
In our house it’s ALL mini sticks – ALL the time.
And circle of neglect?? LOVE IT! Made me laugh out loud!
Our fav playtime activity is patty cake – an oldie but goodie:)
My kids and I absolutely love playing with lego. They have had a certain set for about ten years now..and all three kids love buillding new and imaginative creations. The best part is that each time they play with them they all play well and get along great together…..I love it.
My absolute favourite activity is to bake with my 2 year old grandson. He loves to measure & stir (sample too) & is so proud when he gets to take some of ‘his own’ baking home. We count when we are measuring ingredients, so he is learning too.
Any activity that gets the kids talking is great. Sometimes while playing, that’s where the small details about their day at school come out.
My kids love all of the lego products! We can sit for hours building, tearing it down and starting over again with new ideas.
I recently spent the evening showing my daughter and some of her friends how I spent many evenings back in the 70’s thanks to the Brady Bunch. I showed the kids how to build a house out of cards. It was such fun for all of us. I built the cards up and the kids blew them over. And we did it over and over and over again. I forgot how much fun you could have with a deck of cards before I learned how to play crib or euchre!
blocks of any kind !
both my son & daughter used to love puzzles. I have a spatial disability & they really got a kick out of being better at it than me- all the time.,lol
My daughters favorite past-time is her pink mega blocks fill and dump wagon! i thought she would pull it around but instead it is her beloved car she rides as many times as i will let her in a day, shes 14 months old and she gets on and hands me handle and i pull her around the living room
We have this set of plush blocks which Luka loves, loves, loves to play with. We spend an insane amount of time to meticulously build a wall, only for him to knock it over in one swoop…and it is always followed by a massive belly gafaw.
The other thing he likes to play is golf. We have a plastic set of clubs for him and whenever he is upset at something, all I have to say is “where are your golf clubs” and he is walking over to the toy box to find them.
So glad you had a fun weekend with him, Sara. Makes it all worthwhile…almost 😉