aka how Haley is able to drink her coffee. and do her routines. and stick to her skincare. and and and.
but let me first start off with a few disclaimers:
you know your baby/taby/toddler better than anyone. some things that work well for KK may not work for you, either because it doesn’t interest your child or it’s something you’re not comfortable with. that’s okay! again, i’m just sharing what works for us.
when we suffered our pregnancy loss, one of the things I did while healing is I researched toddler activities like a maniac. m-a-n-i-a-c. i poured all my energy into it. and I made a few (okay, a lot) of what brett affectionately coined “grief purchases.” so know that some of these things we only have because of less-than-ideal circumstances.
that said, a lot of this would make great holiday/birthday gift inspiration. and i get asked this a lot: i keep a running wishlist of things I would love to receive for KK. read more about this - and the other ways we simplify holidays - here.
we also have a small “kk” line in our budget - mainly to cover basic expenses like diapers and swim lessons, etc, but it’s also a nice wiggle room for when I want to buy her something for an activity, or a new book. when that happens, I check the aforementioned wishlist. i also keep an eye on the wishlist since sometimes things go on deeeep sale, and when that happens I use our “KK” budget.
you can read a round-up of alllllll my baby/toddler-related posts here.
our favorite toys, tools, and activities:
our kitchen set-up
this post lists out our favorite things we have in our kitchen. things KK loves to use to eat, things that cause our mealtimes to be so stress-free, things that keep her 1000% entertained while I cook, things she loves to play with, etc. it’s one of my absolute favorite posts.
in other words, sometimes I completely and utterly rely on our kitchen and our mealtimes to entertain (and wear out) KK. this part of our home is a TOOL in our toolbox and I treat it as such. the linked post goes into more detail!
our Nuggets + other gross motor favorites
I’ve said in past baby favorites blogposts that our two Nuggets are the best ever, and it continues to be true. now that KK is so active - and I mean, like, she’s climbing the walls - our two Nuggets are godsends. up until now I kept the two Nuggets separate, but now I use them together and pile them up high to create more intricate climbing set-ups for KK.
I usually have some sort of toy or play invitation also on top of the Nugget so that she has to climb to get to her activities. it wears her out more. (and she sleeps so deeply, so I stand by this.)
to create even more challenging/intriguing set-ups, I’ll also involve our Wobble Balance Board and/or our Little Climber.
a Google search explains the benefits of Pikler Triangles better than I ever could, and there are lots of Pikler Triangle options out there. some brands are taller, but I didn’t want something massively tall since our play area is tile- and we like the one we chose since it collapses for storage.
in our play area, we usually rotate between having our sensory table (more on this in a second) out and our Little Climber out.
at one point I felt silly for eventually wanting at least one more Nugget, but now I 10000% feel that it would be an amazing investment for us.
just buy it. this was a first birthday gift that sat untouched for a while. until one day kk decided she loved it. and it’s been used every day since.
contact paper wall
I put a square of contact paper up (sticky side out) and secure it with painters tape. then I usually put a basket and a jar of some sort at the base, one empty and the other with one (or two) type of the following materials. that way, kk can either stick the materials up on the contact wall and take them down. or she can transfer the materials between the basket and the jar. or she can listen to the sound of the material dropping into the jar. etc etc etc.
i also usually put her contact paper wall above her pile of Nuggets so that she has some climbing, some kneeling, and some standing involved. wears her out more. :)
this is something I don’t have out all the time - but when I do put it out, she loves it.
things we like to put on our contact paper wall (…or things we like to transfer between containers):
old cards: gift cards, membership cards, credit cards, etc.
pom poms
yarn
cotton balls
ribbon
containers, jars, and canisters, oh my!
have you noticed yet? we have a solid collection of containers/jars/canisters/etc. both because KK loves posting and transferring things, but also it makes for a clearer play invitation. we have:
old canisters (like right now, we use empty canisters that were previously my collagen powder container and my fiber powder container)
these plastic jars (yes, you could use food jars, but I didn’t have any at the time and I love having this set)
old egg carton
old tissue box
old food containers: anything real life that KK can open, close, shake, and explore are huge hits. right now her favorite thing is an empty strawberry container (with a play strawberry or cantaloupe slice in it), an old drinkable yogurt container with a little bit of water in it, an old canister with a scoop of rice in it, an old kiwi container with a chip bag clip inside, and an empty cardboard box of crackers, etc. i’m also currently washing out an old spreadable butter tub for her.
our grapat pieces
we have the grapat nins carla set. yes, it’s pricey. but WE LOVE THIS SET SO, SO MUCH. (there are also plenty of dupes + similar options out there that you could definitely do the following activities with.)
if anything, I love using them in our sensory table. and I love that I can easily make a seasonal activity by picking and choosing which color grapat pieces to use. want a christmas activity? grab the green and red pieces. bam! done.
this blogpost is my go-to reference for activity ideas with these loose wooden pieces. but here are individual ideas + inspiration:
putting them on a mug tree (i have this tree)
etc etc etc
we also have the mates to go with our above set
kk likes taking the nins and placing them in and out of a mate. (in plain english, kk likes taking the wooden peg dolls - the “nins” - and placing them in and out of the little cups - the “mate.”)
we have the lola set, but I don’t let KK have access to the smaller pieces yet.
aaaand we have the nesting bowls.
right now kk loves stacking these, but I love how these will grow with her, just like her other grapat pieces.
our sensory tables + our sensory play + our seasonal play invitations
kk’s favorite, hands-down! see full post here.
(I link our full list of our favorite small shops we love to support in this post, too.)
toy rotation + independent play + no playroom
we do not have a playroom, we keep a small number of kk’s playthings and activities immersed into our den (hence why I like to have things in our decor colors whenever possible), and we do a toy rotation.
follow my dear friend Kelly - she’s taught me everything I know. but know that we do a toy rotation, we practice independent play every single day, and both concepts are huge favorites over here, all thanks to her teachings.
another favorite? not having a traditional playroom. (kelly does this, too!) we instead immerse KK’s things into the main area of our home so that she can independently play while I do whatever I need to do nearby. this may not work for everyone, but for us, not having a separate playroom is BLISS. like, right now, my favorite time of day is right after KK’s afternoon nap - I cook dinner and she plays nearby.
our child friendly home post shares where we store toys that aren’t currently out.
her diy lego table
I made a Lego table. we turned an old Ikea table (they don’t sell it anymore, but this blogpost is a great, similar example of what we did!) into “KK and Daddy’s Lego Table.” It lives in Brett’s home office and it’s their special toy.
I glued four of these lego mats on top, stuck a basket of Duplos below, and KK (and Brett) love wheeling this table into the den for Saturday morning Legos while I swim. I particularly love that we used a wheeled table, because I love how mobile it makes this thing.
please note I got white lego mats to go on my white cart. like I’ve said time and time again, I buy things in my decor color scheme whenever possible.
various other activities KK enjoys
plastic jar + various toys for posting
she lovessss to drop things into a container, repeat until it’s full, dump everything out, and repeat the whole process over.
a basket full of old cards next to an empty jar/container/canister was another one of her favorite activities. i kid you not.
like expired credit cards, empty gift cards, etc. while kk loved feeling the different cards and mouthing them, she LOVED dropping them into the empty canister and hearing the sound it made.
silks + old baby wipes container or empty tissue box
we have a few of these silks
we have these easter eggs
filling bags and emptying purses and fiddling with fasteners
we have this bottle drying rack and these straws
sticky tape challenge (or here)
we have this set of washi tape
favorite toys:
BALLS. put a few balls in a basket and she’s HAPPY. she loves feeling them, rolling them, mouthing them, dumping them from the basket, repacking the basket, handing a ball to us, putting the balls in her table, chasing after the balls, rolling them down her balance board, etc. involve some balls with her sensory table, her climber, her nuggets? she’s THRILLED.
here are a few of her favorites.
magnatiles: we have these + kk is getting this for christmas
this was the blogpost that convinced me to get a set, even with KK being young
another Facebook Marketplace find from a few years back, this is one of the few pieces that stays out in our den. i keep it next to our bookshelf and several times a day she interacts with it in some way. i have it against our couch and next to our baby bookshelf, so when she gets bored of it, I just turn it to another side.
these suction kupz + pipsquigz combo pack
definitely a favorite. i stick them on our back window and she loves taking them down.
also magical in the bath.
photo puzzles
my sister and I put photos of loved ones (and our dogs!) in this puzzle and this puzzle, using this tutorial.
pricey, but worth it for us. especially since we hope KK is our first of three or four kids. regardless, 95% of the toys we have received have become KK’s favorites. they’re that good. she still uses toys that she received from past boxes. brett loves that each box comes with a whole book on activities to do with the toys and why.
her books
since one of my big priorities is to have my children see me read, I love to buy tangible books and physical magazines. so that KK also feels apart of that, we have a bookshelf of tangible books for her in our den and always incorporate books into holiday/birthday gifts. (like our Mr. Valentine baskets and Easter baskets!)
kk’s bookshelf of monthly themed books
see this post here for KK’s tiny bookshelf we keep in our den and my month-by-month list of books. each month has a theme - makes the year so exciting. :)
aka what I use it to hold a few extra books
i keep the dishrack in her kallax cube unit, and stick a few books on it. she loves pulling books off of here (and playing with the dishrack itself.) I have a photo of this in my childfriendly home blogpost and my how we store and display our books blogpost.
our custom board books
we had a few board books custom made (I use the “baby board book” section of this website - this link should give you a discount) of various important people (or important topics) in our lives. like, we have several on aunts and uncles, one on mama, one on daddy, one on kk’s favorite puppy, one on grill and chill, and one on our some of our favorite family traditions and rituals. kk loves flipping through these and looking at the photos.
kk’s magazines
we also love asking for magazine subscriptions for birthday/holiday gifts - Ranger Rick Cub, Highlights Hello, and BabyBug are what we have right now.
kk’s stool (+ montessori practices)
we purchased a kitchen helper from this small shop and had them paint it white. I wanted a twin version so that future friends/siblings/cousins could use it, so our stool is extra wide, which I love. and I love that this one in particular had various heights from which to choose. so ours will be able to fit under our counter. YAY!
here’s a DIY version I liked, but also a good google search will yield tonssss of these types of Kitchen Helper stools if you are looking for something different.
see this post for our other toddler favorites for the kitchen and for mealtime. like our favorite plates, what we keep on hand for easy snacks, and what we do when KK doesn’t like a food.
she lovesssss being able to crawl up her stool to be with us while we prepare dinner. she’ll play with the real life things she finds on the counter (so I have to be mindful of what’s on the counter - but that’s a small price I’m willing to pay) or she’ll usually try whatever food samples I place in front of her.
as KK gets older, we’ll also incorporate a few things into our kitchen that allow KK to contribute and participate, but I’ll add that in later when we know more.
our baby gates
baby gates I love love love are being built by Brett because I’m incredibly snotty and hate those typical, expandable baby gates. I want custom-built baby gates to be attached to the doorways of two sections of our home, I want the baby gates to match my decor, and I want the baby gates to be sturdy enough to endure the reign of our babies, yet beautiful enough that I don’t mind them staring me in the face during the aforementioned reign. (a long, long reign, I might add.) also handy for when we have a new puppy again. so Handyman Brett to the rescue.
brett announced, “turns out, I’m not a carpenter,” so we bought the gates instead. THEY’RE AMAZING. but, we were originally going to use these DIY plans, if that’s helpful for you!
a random assortment of other favorites:
her wardrobe + her hair goodies
our favorite pieces that make up KK’s simplified capsule-ish wardrobe.
while we have this for our beach trips, we love having it for at-home pool play…but also for tonsssss of other possible activities, as explained by Queen Busy Toddler.
this tablet/phone mount for the car
sometimes in the eleventh hour you need sesame street to survive that car ride, you know.
carwash subscription
i cannot recommend enough getting a carwash subscription to somewhere with a good drive-thru carwash and a plethora of vacuums/sprays/potions to DIY a good car detail.
(if you’re local, we have a monthly subscription to here.)
because yeah, having a clean car is such a pleasure and - let’s be real - my car can always benefit from a clean thanks to KK. but also? it’s one of the best ways to spend some of KK’s awake time. we get out of the house, she’s thoroughly entertained, it isn’t expensive, and she sees me taking good care of one of our greatest investments. win, win, win.
our wagon + our stroller + our baby/toddler carrier
aka how we survive leaving the house. these three things are also crazy-levels of durable, indestructible, and comfortable/convenient/smooth/easy. BLESS.
swimming
this girl loves being in water. (so does her momma.) my summer essentials post has all our favorites - my favorite swimsuits for me, my favorite swimsuits for her, my favorite sunscreen, my favorite beach things, etc.
side note: whenever we go to the pool (aka all the freaking time), I’m SO happy I invested in pieces I feel good in. that summer essentials blogpost links my current favorite pool things.
the beach
see my full post of beach favorites here.
this post has a full list of all the things we did to our home and our household to make parenthood a teensy bit easier and more enjoyable.
a daily rhythm
I need this just as much as KK does. take a peek into our day-to-day here.
Want to see our favorites from other ages?
Here’s a full list of kk’s favorite toys, activities, and things from birth until now!
Have you seen what we’re up to today? See my Instagram stories!
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