How to Keep My Little One Busy?

The Problem: Bubba is bored
I have been noticing for a few weeks now that our Bubba, almost 20 months old, seems to be getting bored during the day. With how crazy our lives have been after the arrival of his baby sister 6 months ago and dealing with her reflux and severe food intolerances, any kind of organized activities have been out of the picture. A couple of weeks ago, I sat down to brainstorm what exactly I was wanting to do. And I came up with a "plan"!

Easy fix, right? Wrong.
As I began my research and brainstorming, I immediately became overwhelmed. I looked for a toddler curriculum that I could purchase that would provide me with the lesson plans and activities in an easy to follow format. I couldn't find anything that seemed easy to follow and was as broad as what I'm wanting - something that covers reading, science, numbers, colors... everything! If I did find such a curriculum, it was definitely out of our price range.

So, I thought to come up with my own lesson plans - and again became very overwhelmed. There is SO much information out there! How would I ever able to pare it all down to something that was manageable for me? With two little ones, I definitely don't have hours and hours each week to put into planning and organizing activities and lessons for our Bubba.

What I'm wanting
I don't want to say that we are necessarily starting school with Bubba, but I do want to start giving him a more rounded experience in our reading and in the activities we do so that he can be learning new things. I want to make his days interesting and open his eyes to more of the world. He is a quick learner and has a great memory and really seems to enjoy new challenges. I also want to start working with him more consistently with his shapes, colors, and numbers.

And I want all of this to be easy for me to plan and prepare, without having to put a lot of time into it.

What I found
After several hours of searching the internet and reading the books that we have here and the ones that I had checked out from the library, I decided to come up with something on my own.

What I Plan To Do:
Each Monday, I plan to post my themes for the week. Right now, those will include:

- A Letter for the week
- A Color for the week
- A Number for the week
- A Shape for the week
- A Bible verse for the week
- A Theme for each day of the week

Then each day, I will post what my plan for the day is to incorporate books and activities along the themes I have chosen. You will have to bear with me as I am new at all of this, too! This blog will be a tool I can use for myself, too - to keep me from getting overwhelmed with all the great ideas I'm coming across!

Are you feeling overwhelmed too?
I want to share what I'm trying to do with other moms who also might feel overwhelmed with the prospect of teaching and entertaining their toddlers! The beauty of my plan (or what I think to be a beauty of it!) is that it can be used over and over each year with differently aged toddlers and preschoolers. I provide the framework and it can be customized as necessary.

Where to Find More Info:
Click on the Domestic Contessa topics: Weekly Themes, Lesson Plans, and Learning