60 Ways to Keep Little Kids Happy (B)

Games to Play with a Ball 

31. Knock it across the room with a kitchen utensil. Grab a spoon or a strainer with a handle.

32. Roll with it. Facing your child with legs spread apart, roll a ball to each other, alternating between using your left hand and right hand.

33. Bounce it into a hula hoop. Hold the hoop and have her try to toss the ball so it lands in the center. Move back to make the game more challenging.

34. Design spin art. Dip a small ball, such as a golf ball, into nontoxic washable paint, then put it in a salad spinner (or a plastic container) along with a few coffee filters. Put the cover on and spin! (You can use your salad spinner again after you put it in the dishwasher.)

35. Go bowling. Knock over some empty water bottles or soda cans.

36. Size them up. Give your child an assortment of balls -- tennis, golf, Ping-Pong -- and an empty muffin tin. She'll have fun putting a ball in each compartment, dumping them out, and starting all over again.

37. Play air ball. Take turns hitting a beach ball up toward the ceiling, trying not to let it hit the ground.

38. Sing a silly ball song. Have him run around the room holding a ball, while belting out "The Ball on the Bus Goes Round and Round."

39. Toss it up a slide. She'll love watching it roll down.

40. Pass it through a "human" tunnel. Both parents and the child stand in a row, one behind the other, with legs spread wide. The first person bends over and tries to get the ball through the three sets of legs.

Rainy Day Ideas

41. Create a sunny scene. "My kids draw on the windows with washable window markers," says Stacey Marshall, of Charlotte, North Carolina.

42. Splash in a couple of puddles. If the rain is light, you can look for worms along the way.

43. Pop in a yoga tape. Have her follow your poses.

44. Measure the place. "My 2-year-old daughter, Meredith, loves to play with a plastic tape measure," says Heather Gillespie, of West Harrison, New York. "We see how big all our furniture is."

45. Bake cookies with care. Give her a lesson in altruism by baking cookies for an elderly neighbor or to send to the troops in Iraq. Let her sneak a couple.

46. Plant seeds. Try lima beans, marigolds, and zinnias in a variety of mini pots, clear plastic cups, or an egg carton.

47. Play tag. Make it more fun with Playskool's Tag Tails ($15). Each player wears a detachable animal tail, which you try to pull off.

48. Create an obstacle course. Jump on pillows, crawl under chairs, and burrow through a blanket-covered tunnel.

49. Hunt for under-the-sea treasure. Run a bubble bath, then have your child sit inside or outside the tub and feel around for objects you've "buried."

50. Practice math. "Change the words of 'If You're Happy and You Know It' to 'If You're Happy and You Know It ... clap one time or jump three times and hop two times,'" says Jackie Silberg, author of 500 Five-Minute Games. Keep changing the activity and the number of repetitions.

Ways to Make Every Car Ride Rock

51. Take along a cookie sheet and magnetic letters and numbers. You can count and sing the ABCs as she arranges them in proper order, says Trish Kuffner, author of The Toddler's Busy Book.

52. Entertain her with a dancing bear. "When I'm in the passenger seat, I hold a stuffed animal on my head and have it perform," says Lisa Depew, of Ashburn, Virginia.

53. Pack a Travel Go 'N Doodle. No worries about ink stains on the seats with this version of the Aquadoodle mat.

54. Burn a favorite-songs CD. Make sure you like a few of them!

55. Try the shopping game. Name a store your child knows well (supermarket or toy store), then on the word "Go" see how many things your child can name in that store.

56. Bring a storybook on CD. These sets signal when it's time to turn the page in the corresponding book, so nonreaders can follow along too.

57. Take pictures of the trip. With a child-friendly digital camera, such as Fisher-Price's Kid-Tough Digital Camera, he can snap (deletable) pictures through the window and view his shots as often as he'd like.

58. Play "Who Am I?" Offer clues about an animal or a community helper, and ask your child to solve the riddle, says Kuffner.

59. Pretend with a doctor's kit. Ask her to examine a couple of her dolls or stuffed animals.

60. Let him steer like you. A toy with a steering wheel can help your child feel in control. Try Tiny Love's Wonder Wheel.