fun for all ages

May 19, 2008 11:32 AM

What are some of your favorite things that a 2 1/2 and almost 5yr old can do together.

It can be quite challenging finding activities that are age applicable for both of them at this age. The park/running around outside is a given, but I'm looking for activities that are both challenging enough for a 5yr old yet have components easy enough that a 2 1/2yr old can get involved.

Bonus points if Dad can sneak in a quick crossword puzzle while the nippers play contentedly coo-ing and giggling in the background :)

posted by zeoslap to sports, hobbies, & recreation (10 comments total)

Coloring or other crafts. Candyland or other extremely simple board games. Dancing to a kids' CD or playing with toy instruments. Dress up. Try to convince the 5 year old that it would be fun to help out the little brother/sister.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 12:03 PM on May 19, 2008

My suggestions are from a combination of being the last one out of my immediate play-date peers to have a kid, so we do a lot of multi-age playdates, and from the multi-age playgroup/parenting classes in my area.

*Painting--set up a distinct area for both (this is a good outside activity) the five-year-old can use an old muffin tin with a wide selection of colors and a brush, the 2 1/2 year old can use a paper plate with a puddle of paint and a couple of halved fruits/vegetables (like a potato or orange) to make prints.
*Bubbles
*Offer a big selection of fabric scraps (you can find at goodwill, or from a sewing person). These offer, strangely enough, a lot of open-ended imaginative play.
*Get a out a couple of very large cardboard boxes, maybe some things to decorate them with like stickers and markers.
*Set up a tent in the living room or backyard. Alternately, offer a large sheet and use of the living room furniture.
*Make a "chef's station." With those muffin tins again, put different, edible items in each tin around a theme (like "tacos") and offer utensils and other foodstuffs (like toritillas) for kids to make and serve lunch.
*Let them price all the items in your pantry with stickers or markers, give them a calculator, and let them play "store" in the kitchen.
*Sidewalk chalk.
*Get a few lengths of butcher paper, or tape together paper grocery bags and have them trace each other's bodies (2 1/2 year old might need a bit of help) and then decorate the outlines.
*Play dough or clay.
*Give them a digital camera you don't mind them potentially hurting--even the little one will take lots of funny pictures.
*Bring them outside with you to help with weeding and digging. Tiny hands are excellent for gardening.

I'll be watching this thread!
posted by rumposinc at 12:11 PM on May 19, 2008

A sandbox.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:58 PM on May 19, 2008

All good suggestions guys. I really like the tent and playing store ideas. I could have them set up a store inside a tent where they can sell art made with sidewalk chalk... Should keep them occupied for a good ten minutes or so!
posted by zeoslap at 1:43 PM on May 19, 2008

Building toys! Definitely building toys!

The age difference between me and my younger brother is 3 and a half years. We were incredibly fond of our wooden blocks (we had a set almost identical to this one...maybe fewer parts). Little bro really liked hotwheels, so always wanted me to build him ramps and parking garages. It was challenging for me to design things that were functional and cool looking, and it was fun for the little bro to come up with ideas for what to build, as well as hand me each block. Then, when all the building work was done, we could play with it together. (And destroy it together!) Legos work equally well, though you may want to wait until the youngin' has stopped putting things in his mouth. We also (during the lego years) had playmobil toys, and set up huge societies of people, which is something we also got along well doing.

Now, don't get me wrong, my brother and I fought like dogs until well into our teens, but building things together was one of the few things where we actually cooperated, had fun, and didn't need our parents to supervise us doing.

Definitely a nice set of blocks. (A bit of an investment, but they will play with them for years and years.)
posted by phunniemee at 2:21 PM on May 19, 2008

That card memory game where you try to find a pair, eg., two red queens. If you guess wrong, you turn the cards face down again and try to remember their location. When my daughter was very young (about three, I think) she could beat her extremely smart six year-old brother and me combined as a team.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 2:37 PM on May 19, 2008

Dress-up -- you can buy lots of cool costume parts (hats, gloves, wigs, glasses, shoes, etc.) from Goodwill for very little money, and the kids can dress up and fire up their imaginations for ages

Bath time -- with bubbles, foam letters/numbers to stick to the bath tub wall, colored soap for drawing -- this is my favorite way to get a few minutes to myself

Old wrapping paper, ribbons, & bows -- save these from birthdays & holidays, and they've got free, colorful, shiny etc. things to play with for hours, and you don't care if they're completely destroyed

Kid yoga DVDs -- no matter that one's better than the other. They both are hilarious making alligators and dogs and butterflies with their bodies
posted by Capri at 8:23 PM on May 19, 2008

Your kids are exactly the same age as mine - and Legos are the greatest things in the world. Equally absorbing to all three of us - we can just sit on my boy's floor and play with them all day.
posted by jbickers at 3:44 AM on May 20, 2008

My kids are exactly that age as well. They don't get to watch any regular TV at all, but they love watching movies together. They fixate on one movie for a period of several months, and that's all they want to watch. Cars (the movie) was their first fixation. Right now it's Alvin and the Chipmunks. If I really need an hour to myself to do something, that does it every time. It is totally a together activity- they get up and dance together during musical scenes, they do play acting with their respective animal pals, and they usually share some kid of snack.

Bubbles are another, but since they are outside it kind of limits what you can do (need to keep the bubble thing filled when they inevitably spill it or run out).

The sandbox works great too, but usually only for 20 minutes or so.

A tent works sometimes, but it worked better when my oldest was 4. Now that he's pushing 5 he gets bored with it pretty quickly.

Scavenger hunts or hide-and-seek can work.

A absolute slam-dunk is a wading pool half full of water and a few water toys. My boys would happily play in that from sunrise to sunset.
posted by Patapsco Mike at 5:28 AM on May 20, 2008

My girls are 2 and 11, and they spent hours for three days in a row this last very warm weekend playing in the sprinkler. Granted, this age difference is both easier and harder than your's-harder because my 11 year old is even less interested than a 5 year old would be in playing toddler games, but easier because she can be trusted to supervise and manage activities a little bit (though she's incredibly bossy and things can escalate fast if I don't keep a handle on them). Anyway, I find activities involving playing with water seem generally successful-and I was able to sit in a lawnchair with a book and a glass of wine for much of the time. Just noticed the wading pool comment above; yep, that sort of thing is slam dunk. A big hit this weekend was trickling the hose down the little tykes slide into a wading pool and sliding for hours. YMMV-I have a very high tolerance for some slipping and falling with my kids; if that stresses you out, I'd give it a miss.

Other successes:
-building block towers with the express purpose of knocking them down and making noise-as opposed to my eldest building something gorgeous that she wants to preserve; that always ends badly.
-helping me bake and making individual projects out of, say, bread dough.
-nthing stickers, and those washable markers. playing music.
posted by purenitrous at 10:56 PM on May 20, 2008