Cheap Fun for Toddlers and Preschoolers

My husband sometimes accuses me of being a cheapskate. (Every marriage needs one, no?) Lately I've been excited about thrifty homemade fun. Here are some activities we've been enjoying:

Board
I have no idea where this crooked plank even came from, but it's been a major playtime hit. Gray has used it as a bridge (Culligan salt bags make great bridge pillars, in case you're wondering), balance beam, stuffed animal picnic bench, train track, and ramp. 

Corn pool
This brilliant idea came from my sister. $8 gets you a 50-pound bag of corn and countless hours of fun. We poured the kernels into the kids' wading pool and added scoops, dump trucks, and diggers. A tarp underneath helped keep the mess in check.

Water play 
What is it about kids and water? They can't ever resist its draw. I grabbed this big bucket and some funnels on a whim, and now we use it on days that are too chilly for the wading pool.

Nature Collection
Gray collected these treasures during a family hike, and we arranged them on a tray after returning home. I smile every time I see the display; not only are God's creations stunningly beautiful, but the collection reminds me of our slow-paced Sunday evening togetherness. I also love that Gray regularly visits the tray to smell the pinecones, and their kitchen table placement has prompted several mealtime discussions about our adventure. I think collections will become a regular part of our hiking routine!

How about you? What kind of thrifty fun have your kids been enjoying lately? 

Costco Apple Container Art

For the longest time I felt guilty whenever I tossed one of these Costco apple containers into the recycling bin. Not just because they're a giant waste of packaging, but because they're positively bursting with artistic potential. Just look at all those little compartments!    

If you haven't spent time with a toddler lately, I'll remind you that little people are the world's biggest hoarders. They move piles of stuff around, reorganize it in containers, and then relocate their treasures to a new location. 

I decided to play off of Gray's rearranging instincts for this activity. I filled the apple compartments with paint and "found objects" like flowers, leaves, and rocks, and let him have at it. 

 He spent a long time dabbing, mixing, and rearranging. 

Then he took a little break to visit the hens. (And maybe gather some inspiration for his masterpiece?) 

I think he looks like a little monk in a robe! Maybe a punk monk, with that dash of pink in his hair.

Here's one of the finished products. Kind of pretty, no?

I love having a child who's old enough for art projects and young enough to still think Mom's ideas are fun. And I especially love when cheap project ideas arise from unexpected places. Thanks, Costco! 

Gray's First Kayaking Expedition

Gray and I embarked on his maiden kayak journey Labor Day afternoon. Having never taken a two-hour paddle with a two-year-old before, I was a little apprehensive. Would he kick and thrash twenty minutes into the journey, sick of being contained in the small boat? Would he loudly protest the sun in his eyes and life jacket's brace-like restraint around his neck, forcing us to bail and hitchhike home with some old farmer?

Gray's typically hour-long nap had been reduced to a ten-minute catnap on the way, giving me even more reason to be nervous. This wasn't just a kayak trip with a toddler, but a two-hour "bonding experience" with a tired toddler--yikes.

Ten minutes into our journey, we passed Mike along the riverbank. (He had driven downstream to snap our picture.) Gray had already said he was "stuck" (he was somewhat scrunched between my legs), and I was seriously tempted to call it a great first trip and send him home with Daddy. But I summoned my sense of adventure, and we waved and continued on our way.

The afternoon could not have been more perfect for kayaking. We were simultaneously warmed by the sun and cooled by the breeze. Cicadas and grasshoppers sang in the grassy riverbanks, and enormous cloud mountains towered above us, punctuated by the occasional eagle. Three turtles jumped off a log as we passed, their formation mirrored by a cluster of jets in the sky.

Gray narrated the river's every twist and turn and kept exclaiming, "The pyrex is swimming!" (He calls the kayak a pyrex, much to our amusement.) He also sang, "Mare, mare, mare the boat, gently down the stream," in his signature toddler falsetto. (He gets the "merrily, merrily" chorus a little confused with the "row, row" part--ha!)

In Gray's mind, the trip's highlight was pulling our boat to shore and eating our jerky and dried mangoes on a log. (He is all about the food, that boy.)

In Mommy's mind, the trip's highlight was that I kept us afloat and happy for two hours. No tipping! No tantrums!

All too soon, we arrived at the boat landing, and there was Daddy, ready to load our muddy kayak into the freshly vacuumed Caravan.

Gray's first kayak trip was a success, and I'm enjoying it even more in retrospect (as we often do with things that make us a bit nervous!). Can't wait to go again!

Mike kayaked the rest of the river into Red Wing later that afternoon. Here's Gray and Rain,
watching for Daddy to round the Mississippi's big bend and dock at Bay Point Park.

Welcome!

Thanks for stopping by kristina-larson.blogspot.com! I'm Kristina, a Minnesota mom of two who has far more projects than time.

Some of my passions include natural living, play-based learning, thoughtful parenting, and figuring out ways to carve out a simple-ish life in a nonstop world.

I hope this little corner of the blogosphere serves as a place of honesty and inspiration. A place where we can admit we haven't scrubbed the tub in weeks (or was that months?), but also a place where we can inspire one another to put forth our best effort: write in that baby book, make the tortilla recipe that you pinned two months ago, or bundle up the toddler for the five-hundreth time this winter and go outside to hunt for pinecones. 

I'd love if you'd leave me a comment about what you'd love to read about. Visit again soon!