You asked and you shall now receive. It’s only fair for us to share all of this stored up knowledge about a toddlers and what happens when they start toddling (and talking)! We now will answer, in a very public forum, all of those burning questions about children in their second year. Each Wednesday, we will tackle a commonly-asked-question from the point of view of a parent with a toddler. Chiming in to give her feedback will be three women who have been there and done that: an expert (you know someone who does this for a living), a mom from our community (for the “best” friend advice you need) and a babybites’ team member (someone who will promise to give you the REAL deal and no fluff). Earmark, share and add your own input to today’s question; it’s good karma.
What are some fun outdoor activities to do with my toddler in the winter months?
Expert: Marsha Greenberg
The key to winter fun is dressing warmly like your toddler so you can enjoy the time you spend outside. Once you have done that try some of these fun activities: Fill plastic bottles with colored water and let your toddler squirt away. Freeze some small bowls of colored water in your freezer with some plastic animals inside- then bring them out and let your toddler use his/her wooden hammer to chip away. If your toddler is lollipop licking age boil some maple syrup to soft boil stage and then drop a big blob in a pile of fresh white snow- pick up what you have dropped and let your toddler lick away; it freezes right away.
Mom: Katie Gilbert
We have two very active toddlers in our house and they both LOVE to be outside! We believe in bundling them up from head and toe, and getting outside even in the winter. Even in cold weather, we still play in the back yard on the slide and in the playhouse. When it rains, we put on rain boots and raincoats, I let them use the umbrellas, and we all jump around the puddles; our 16 month old gets such a thrill out of this! And snow of course means snowmen! Even if we can only be outside for short time before we are all cold, we always warm up inside with a nice cup of warm chocolate.
Mommybites’ team: Laura Deutsch
I am always cold. I pump my heat up to 75 degrees every day just to be chastised by my husband when he gets home from work because our heating bill is through the roof. So as you can imagine, outdoor activities in the winter don’t happen for me. I prefer some good INDOOR activities such as baking, building forts, freeze dance, moondough and Jenga!
About our team:
Marsha Greenberg M.S., M.S. W
Marsha is a therapist in New York City. She is the author of the newly released book, Raising Your Toddler, by Globe Pequot Press. She has masters degrees in Child and Family Development and Social Work from the University of Michigan. As the Director of the Health Systems Child Care Program for over 14 years, she was responsible for over 250 children between the ages of 6 weeks and 6 years of age. Marsha teaches in the Early Childhood Special Education department at NYU and has a private psychotherapy practice in NYC. Marsha is the mother of three grown sons and has three grandsons (aged 4 and 18 months and 4 months) with a new grandchild on the way.
Katie Gilbert
Katie is a stay-at-home mom of two girls, 3 years old and 16 month old, and she is due in June with a little boy! She has found herself to be more organized and more efficient with two at home, than when she just had one child. Hopefully this will hold true with 3!
Laura Deutsch
Laura Deutsch is the original founder and creator of Mommybites. Since first starting Mommybites (formerly known as babybites) in 2006 by handing out post cards to fellow moms on the streets of Manhattan, Laura has continued to use her business savvy, dedication and creativity to cultivate and grow Mommybites in its flagship city of Manhattan. Prior to founding Mommybites, Laura worked as a middle school math teacher at The Dwight School in Manhattan. Laura holds her BA from Binghamton University and her MA in Early Childhood Education from Hunter College. She currently resides in Summit, NJ, with her husband, Brian, daughter, Ava, and son, Jacob.
