Entertaining Little Ones

# empty water bottle, put in some coins, close very tightly, and voilà -- a brand-new rattle. (Just don't leave her alone with it!)

# Create instant bathtime fun: Hand over your turkey baster as a squirt toy; add plastic funnels for scoop-and-pour games.

# Shake, rattle, and roll. Fill a few small plastic bottles half full of water and put the caps on tightly. While you check e-mail, let your child shake 'em up -- she'll love all the splashing.

# Go for color: Give your child a medicine dropper and an ice-cube tray filled with water. Add food coloring. Let him squeeze, squirt, and mix!

# A good high-chair activity while you're cooking: Take an empty tissue box, throw in a few small objects -- a washcloth, a leaf, a toy car -- and let your child reach in and feel them. Then dump them out and put in a few different things.

Toddlers on up


Share

# Start a pickup game: Put crayons or markers in a small pile. Kids can try to remove one at a time without disturbing the others.

# Jazz up coloring: Print out Keith Haring's imaginative artwork

# Boost ABC fun: Print out adorable alphabet coloring pages

Toddlers on up


Share

# Decorate balloons. Rub one until it has a static charge. Supply your child with pieces of tissue or string to put on it, and let him see what else sticks. (Just be sure to watch him.)

# Sew fun! Punch holes in an egg carton with a pen, tape on a string of yarn, and let your child thread it through the openings.

# Stay cool with ice hockey. Tip over a small wastebasket in your driveway, toss some ice cubes on the ground, and use broomsticks to see who can score the most before the ice melts

# Leaf-peep from home. Gather fall leaves from your yard, put a piece of double-sided tape on each, and let your kid stick them on the windows.

# Start a nature scrapbook. Grab a small photo album or notebook where your child can store finds like leaves and feathers.

# Grab cookie cutters and...
- Use them for stencils
- Turn melon into stars
- Cut play dough into cool shapes.

# Stamp it. Give your child things from around the house -- blocks, a wire strainer, doll's feet -- to make impressions on play dough.

# Celebrate Easter: Lay a basket on its side, line up some plastic eggs, hand your child a broom, and play huevos hockey.

# Do 3-D painting. Save up the foam blocks from your packages for your child to paint. Kids love the odd shapes.

# Make a splash! Show your child how to soak up water from one bowl with a sponge and squeeze it into another -- silly fun in the kitchen or the backyard.

# Create a love map. Draw a big heart on paper, and ask your child what's in her heart. Jot down what she says for a great Father's Day gift.

# Toss a ball in running water -- from the hose, in a shallow stream, in the ocean. Show your child how to use a small net or strainer to catch it, then throw it back and start again!

# Make a perfect valentine stamp. Slice an apple in half, then cut a "V" shape at the bottom of one of the pieces. Have your child paint the flat surface red and stamp it onto cards.

# A quick hide-and-seek game: Stick rows of Post-it notes on a piece of paper, put a sticker under one, and let your child guess where the sticker is. Then hide another!

# Declare your floors "hot lava." Your child can move around the house only by hopping on "islands" (paper taped to the floor).

# Liven up a springtime walk. Give your child a colorful lightweight scarf to hold out of the stroller and fly like a streamer in the wind.

# Make pizza cookies. Give your child lumps of cold pizza dough so she can flatten them with a potato masher. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top, bake, and serve.

# Play mix and match. Give him a few empty plastic bottles or jars and their caps, and let him figure out which go together (just keep an eye on him)

# Have a race: Use chalk to draw a curvy course on your sidewalk for an instant trike path.

# Play laundry basketball. While you sort, hand your kids rolled-up socks and an empty trash can, and promise a kiss for every "point" they make.

# Make "movies." Create a flip book

Preschoolers and up


Share

# Launch far-out fun. Let your child play Shuttle Tac Toe, Space Bounce, and other games at NASA Kids' Club

# Keep car trips fun:
- How high can your kids count before the next traffic light?
- Decide who'll listen for the words "new" and "old" on the radio. Whoever counts ten of her word first wins!

# Test her memory. While you do laundry, log your child on to Playkidsgames.com -- she'll have a blast clicking on lights on the turtle's shell as they come up.

# Get in the St. Paddy's Day spirit: Cover a piece of shamrock-shaped cardboard with double-sided tape. Have your child stick on green paper, leaves, and other stuff.

# Print out a Dr. Seuss game from Seussville.com

# Kick off a buggy summer! Your child can design a cool virtual insect with wings and antennae at Build-a-Bug

# Engage in fowl play. Turn an orange into a turkey: Use toothpicks to attach a cherry tomato head, raisin eyes, a baby-carrot beak, and lettuce feathers.