Activity Ideas?

I want to be intentional with my time during the days with Eli. I don't want the day to be over and realize we didn't do much of anything. I also don't want to be activity-crazed and doing so much neither of us can take a breather. Balance.

That to say, I think lately Eli has been ready for more organized activity. I don't know what I'm doing much of the time... this stay-at-home mom thing still catches me off-guard. But I know he's developmentally ready for more than I am giving him.

So to the internet I went! And pinterest. And blog after blog. I'd read about various activities moms or teachers have done with their kids. And honestly, the majority of them are not for 14.5 month-olds. Eli still sticks most everything in his mouth. That sort of eliminates a lot of ideas.

But after a bit of searching I came up with fifteen activities plus a few things I could try with the same supplies. I figure I could try one new idea or activity per day. I was pretty happy with myself, giving myself mental pats on the back.

Day one of new activities involved putting paint inside a plastic zip-loc baggie, then taping it to the glass door so that Eli could "paint with his hands" or make the paint move inside the bag and see it b/c the light coming through. I got it all ready and grabbed my son, assuming he was as excited as I about this purple bag of paint taped on our back door... and then...

He put one finger on the bag and turned around and crawled away completely uninterested. I tried again. No luck. The kid didn't like my activity.

He's supposed to like my activities. That's how this was supposed to work. He learns, laughs, engages, and thoroughly enjoys life with his mother. Humpf.

Lots of lessons here for mom to learn, eh?

All that to say, if you have any marvelous ideas for activities for this 14-15 month-old age, I would love for your suggestions to be added to my list. And if you happen to give me an idea that Eli loves, I will give you ten gold stars.

-Heather