Screen time

Literally anything. Kids lately do not know how to be bored and feel okay with being bored. Their imagination is fried because of the constant flow of content and stimulation coming from a screen that never really ends until it’s turned off. What then? The constant flow stopped it’s the end of the world!… that’s how your little is going to feel until they get over it. Try to refrain from giving in, you put them back at square 1 and their feelings get horribly hurt all over when it’s gone again. The dirt sticks pebbles and fallen leaves used to be more than enough for me and others when I was little, imagination went crazyyy. Now that it’s warmer I recommend looking up summer water sensory bins for outdoors on TikTok !

Bubbles! And one of those toys that project things (likes stars) onto the ceiling. Those were a core part of every daycare I have worked at lol

Make sensory bags or let them play with taste-safe sensory stuff outside of a bag. Playing with water is always great, just get things that float or have different textures to put in it.

Do some educational things with them. Like helping sort items by color, cut a hole in a shoebox and let baby put an item in and out of it, build a tower with disposable cups and let them knock it down and "help" you rebuild it. Even something as simple as rolling a ball back and forth works their brain.

Also, just go places if you can. Petting zoos are cheap, museums usually have a free day every week, go to the library (they usually have a play area), see if the library is having a read aloud soon, take baby to a pet store to look at the animals like a free mini zoo, walk arohnd the mall the change your scenery, go to a coffee shop to actually hang out there and see if a friend will go with you... theres lots that you can do.

Yeah it’s so many places but I just moved to Cali and I have some anxiety about going to far but sometimes I’ll walk a little bit out of the apartment complex and kind of push my limits !

Oh geez, yeah Id feel the same way. Just take baby steps! Or see if someone will walk with you a here and there to explore farther together.

playing music, reading books, talking to baby while you're doing the dishes, toys that they hit and something happens.
the days are long!! we get it