Splish Splash!

As a full-time mom, I confess that I often struggle to think of fun new things to do with Iwan.  We've become pretty permanent fixtures at the playground, library, and various community playgroups.  But sometimes I get the feeling that we're just making the rounds, and I get the urge to mix it up a bit.  But this where I often come up against a brick wall.  I love crafts, but Iwan's still a bit too young.  Playdough would be fun, but he'd probably eat most of it before I could roll out my first snake.  He loves to read books and sing songs, but we already spend half the day doing that.

He does get more fun every day, though.  I can tell the next few months are really going to be a blast, as he masters new skills and we can do new activities.  It's a far cry from when he was a newborn.  Sure he was cute and sweet, but newborns don't really do anything.  As much as I cherish those early days, I have clear memories of exhausting my newborn baby entertaining repertoire, and finally looking at him with an "I've got nothin', sorry kid."  He was cool with it, though, because although newborn babies don't do much, they also don't tend to get bored.  He was happy to chill in his bouncy chair watching a patch of light on the wall.

Not so much anymore.  Which is why I've been racking my brain (and google) for novel fun things to do with an almost-one-year-old.  The other day a friend mentioned how her two boys love to play outside with their water table.  A water table, what a great idea!  Iwan would love that!  Problem is, said friend lives in sunny California, not North Wales.  It's not really outside water table weather here yet.  No problem.  Tiled kitchen floor?  Check!  Wash bowl?  Check!  We could make this happen.  And we did.

It was a fun change.  Yes he got soaked, and so did the floor, but the reality is that he wipes dry and my floor can always use a wash.  I had toyed with the idea of stripping Iwan to his nappy, but the idea of sitting barelegged on a cold tile floor didn't seem too appealing to either of us.  He didn't mind his clothes getting wet, and he had a blast scooping, splashing, and pouring. It beat the afternoon doldrums and tired him out for his nap.  All in all, a good rainy day activity.

What are some of your go-to activities for the littles in your life?  No really, I could use the ideas!