Summer Activities for You and Your Toddler

I work as a teacher and I am so happy to say that I am able to spend the whole summer with my 2 year old son. By this summer he will be 2 and a half. What an exciting age for us. He will be able to do so much more than last summer. I found myself trying to find activities to keep him busy. As a one and a half year old it wasn't easy to keep him busy. I work all year long looking forward to spending this quality time with him. Now I just needed to figure out what we were going to do. It can be a very long summer if you don't have any activities planned for you and your little one.

Here is a list of things that I came up with last summer. Not all of these ideas are going to work for you. Some will be better than other s depending on your child's age. I happen to live on the Eastern end of long island, New York so some of these ideas might not be feasible depending on where you live. You can adapt them to what you have available to you.

McDonald's or Burger King - You can pretty much find a fast food restaurant that will have an indoor (for rainy days) or an outdoor (for sunny days) playground. You can call your local fast food chain and ask them where your one is and if they have a playground. This first time I took my son to the McDonald's with the playground he was so excited. We decided to go every Monday with a neighbor and her little boy for dinner. They would have their Happy Meals, desert, and then play on the playground. They even got a free toy with the Happy Meal!

Chuck E Cheese - If you haven't heard of this place it is an indoor play arcade for children. I took my son and his little pal over the summer and they had a blast. They have rides of all different kinds. You can play with the arcade machines and get tokens to go on the rides. This is geared for children a little bit older than my son but he still had a great time. You can have lunch there too. It is also a great place to have a birthday party. When you first walk in the door they stamp your hand and your child's hand with an invisible number. Before you leave they put your hand under a light to make sure it matches the number on your child's hand. What a great security feature. I felt so safe when we were there.