Summer Ideas for Pre-Toddlers

Last year Little man had mastered crawling, pulling up on things, and coasting from furniture to furniture, however, he hadn't quite learned to walk yet. Just a few months shy of his first birthday (which is early September), I was very excited about him experiencing his first summer. I scoured Pinterest for ideas, but came up (almost) empty. He was too mobile for the baby ideas, but not mobile enough for the toddler ideas. It was time for me to get creative, and now I'm here to share things I did with you! Happy summer!

Water Fun

All you need is a large plastic container or bowl, fill halfway with water, and throw in baby's bath or swim toys, and watch the fun (doesn't have to be bath toys, but just things that won't get damaged or rust)! 

I like this idea because it's cheap, cool, and most importantly fun! Warning: Child may dump entire container out at some point! He/she will probably still enjoy splashing and playing in the puddles. 

Bubbles

You can't go wrong with this! And at this point, they don't want to blow the bubbles themselves, so you can go get a few of the 94 cent long wand ones at Walmart. Little man likes to blow and dip the wand himself, so mess and design of the bottle has to be considered now before purchase(so he doesn't dump it out in the first two minutes of playing!).
It out. 

Interactive Museums

Yes, your Pre-Toddler can enjoy museums! We took Little Man to one when he was 10 months, and he loved interacting with the different exhibits. Obviously, he couldn't do everything or appreciate everything, but he still had a great time. Most of the time babies and toddlers 2 and under are free, so it's relatively inexpensive. If you have older kids it's a great thing to do as a family, as kids of all ages enjoy interactive museums

Sensory Play

I have a love hate relationship with this notion. If you look up things for babies and toddlers to do, you will find pins upon pins of sensory play ideas. For me, the less mess the better, so I put some of Little man's teething toys in the freezer, and put it in a container with other mess free items, and he could enjoy cool, low mess fun. Colored foam, indoor sand, colored cool whip...nope! Not for me! I am now a bit more adventurous in the mess making category, but I still like it to be contained, and one thing at a time. 

Other Sensory Play I've done:

Pot and pans with big spoons. 

Stacking containers

I've also put items in plastic water bottles. All time favorite for littles!

Other ideas:

The Park

Swimming 

Walks

Swinging

All of these are perhaps 'no-brainers', however, I love summer bucket lists, and wanted to make one available to you. Soon I would like to post about things for Toddlers to do during the summer. 

What would you add to the list? I would love to hear!