Three Outdoor Activities For $35

It's difficult sheltering in place with little ones. They have tons of energy  that they take out on my furniture and don't really understand why we rarely leave the house these days. Yall this shelter in place has definitely challenged my mom game. I have to learn how to balance giving them opportunities to be active while allowing time to work on my projects, doing house duties, wife duties, etc. It’s a lot to balance when normally in the summer I take the kids to various outdoors festivals and activities around town where other kiddos play and then we come home ready for nap. Now I’m a 3rd playmate and referee. How do I run even a small fraction of all the energy that the #2livecrew has without draining my battery too?!? Now that it's consistently warm outside, I needed some activities to do with the kiddos. So I had to make a trip to Target. They have pick up services which I typically use but for this visit my mom just wanted to walk in and get the items. So here are the 3 outdoor activities I came up with from Target.

Chalk is best enjoyed when its all over your outfit

1.Sidewalk Chalk

I purchased a box of sidewalk chalk for $10. I thought this would be a good idea to practice writing their names and drawing. They actually only draw with the chalk chalk (what my toddlers call it).  Chalk Chalk is the activity of playing with the chalk. The verb for playing with the chalk for 5 minutes and then smearing it on your clothes to ultimately play with sticks in the dirt.

I can play kickball and draw on the sidewalk at the same time

2. Balls

I also purchased two cartoon themed balls for the kids from target for $4.00 each. Beanie enjoys kicking the ball. I think she was a soccer player in her former lifetime since no one in the family on either side played soccer. Buster enjoys throwing the ball like a basketball. However the balls got in the way of collecting mulch in the yard, so they set them down next to mom for safekeeping after 5 minutes of play.

We are busy- we don’t have time to stop and smile for a picture

3. Kiddie Pool

I also purchased a pool from Target for $10. I also purchased a funnel toy ($3 each x 2)  which when you pour water down the funnel it makes the wheels spin. I also bought shovels ($1 eachx2) that are typically for sandcastles. They used them to scoop the water into the funnels. This is the activity that kept the kids entertained the longest.

At the end of the day, I only spent $35 for three activities. It only keeps them occupied for a short amount of time before the dirt takes over. Maybe other parents may have better luck with this. At least I didn’t break the bank for it.🤷🏾‍♀️

What outdoor activities that have you tried with your toddlers?