Parenthood and motherhood bring in a lot of changes both expected and quite often unexpected. By and by we get to learn the nuances of motherhood and parenthood. Motherhood is an intimidating task. In this task as a mother you can never give up, but you have to improve your skills day by day.

As a new mother each day I am learn something new. Everyday seems to be challenging because I have to come up with new ideas on how to make my baby entertained and happy. Ideas on how to feed nutritious food to a toddler and at the same time food which looks appetizing and scrumptious are some of the challenges I face. Apart from this keeping my toddler engaged and happy is quite a task I tell you. Like numerous other babies her age my baby has a short attention span. Every activity has to be fun filled, new, exciting, and lots of jumping and hoping around is a must.

I have come up with my own list of activities that I do with my toddler and ensure that she enjoys being a part of these activities.

• Make it a daily ritual, a part of your daily routine to take your tiny member out for a walk. It could be early morning, mid-morning, or in the evening, choice is yours. I prefer evening walks since there are other tiny tots in the play area to mingle with mine. If you choose the early morning strolls, even better cause your little one will be exposed to sunlight, which is a free source of vitamin D.
• Exercise should be a core activity of your kid’s play time. Exercise in the form of dance suits my tot fine. Play your baby’s favorite music and see how your tot dances to the tunes. After all we all know dancing is the best form of exercise.
• Instead of buying any and many toys for your baby, try looking for age appropriate toys, such as building blocks, dolls, or cars, soft toys if your tot like them. Toys like nesting toys, and stacking toys help your little one to practice hand eye coordination. Watch out for any choking hazard though while selecting toys.
• Instead of using the word ‘no’ make your house a little more toddler friendly, a little place for him/her to play and move about freely. I usually get a carton filled with lots of soft toys, squeaky toys in the form of animals, fruits, and vegetables. This will help your child to get familiar with vegetables, fruits, and animals. This will help her add on to her fast growing vocabulary.
• Always praise your child if she or he does something noteworthy. I have observed that my tot finds it very encouraging if I put my hands together to indicate that she has done something right and encourage her on repeating her action. At the same time I reproof her if she does something which I don’t expect her to do. She gets the message and immediately stops.  After all affirmative and negative actions should be taught from the very beginning to inculcate the right behavior in a kid.
• Take time out to indulge in little games with you baby. Peek-a-boo, is a famous game that always enthralls kids and babies alike.
• If your baby, like mine, is interested in playing with vessels and containers, allow her to do so, instead of buying expensive toy kitchen set, using the existing kitchen items can prove beneficial and will not make a hole in your pocket.
• Involve your husband/partner in the little games you play to foster father-daughter or father-son bonding.  Allow and encourage your spouse to feed your little one once in a while. This can give you a much awaited break.
• Last but not the least, try to plan your day to day activities around your toddler so as to clue him/her in your goings-on and at the same time you can remain clued into to his/her activities. Talk to your little one as you indulge in any task so that she learns how to communicate.

This is what I have learned so far, do share your ideas on how you keep you little one glued on to any activity, it will really be helpful.

• Written by Mousumi Ghosh.
• In category Parenting and Child Development.
• 10 years ago.

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