Hours of entertainment for less than $25!

Hi everyone,

My little monster is almost 22 months now and he absolutely loves doing new and exciting activities.  I've been feeling like he's ready to start learning new things rather than just playing most of the time.  So off I went to visit The Activity Mom, and I had a browse through the activities for 1 and 2 year olds.

There are some great ideas on this sight, and after just a quick look through (I'll definitely have to go back for a closer look as there are so many wonderful ideas on this site), off the little monster and I went to gather supplies from our local cheap shop.

We bought all this for LESS than $25 

and I know we are going to get hours of fun out of all this stuff :)

In case you have trouble seeing what is in the photo above, I've listed the items we bought below:

• metal backing tray
• yellow watering can (toddler size)
• silicone mould (this one has a transport theme - even though its pink :P)
• pompoms
• pipe-cleaners
• water colour paints
• double ended textas (one end is a stamp and the other is a regular texta)
• 4 pack of little white plastic baskets 
• 8 pack of coloured bulldog clips
• 38 pack of pegs (this packet was actually purchased at our local Woolworths - next door to the cheap shop)  

See, so much stuff and hours of potential fun to be had :)

Ok, here is the 1st quick and extremely easy activity I'm going to share - Make Your Own Peg Matching Game.

You will need:

• Pegs (in 2 colours to begin with - but make sure you have 4 colour options available)
• 4 x permanent markers (the same colours as the pegs you are going to use)
• A small box (I've used an old gift pack box from Kikki K, but you can use an empty shoe box or something similar - just cover it in white paper)

I made this activity for the little monster about 4 months ago (with only 2 colours), but he needs a challenge as the activity became too easy for him, so I have added in 2 more colours to bring the total to 4 colours - and now it is much more challenging :)

Ok, here is how you can make your own peg matching game :

1. Take your box (covered in white paper, if its not white)
2. Using your colour coordinating permanent markers draw circles (and fill them in) around the top edge of the box. 
3. Make sure you evenly space the circles, so that the pegs fit comfortably.

And your done!

Ask your little monster to match up the coloured pegs with the circles you have drawn on your box.

As your little one learns to open and close the pegs, and place them on the correct spaces they will be developing their fine and gross motor skills and learning about colours :)

And when your finished playing the game, it is extremely easy to pack up too...just place the pegs inside the box and put the lid on box.

I can't wait to see what we dream up next :)

Emma