Julia Deering - The Playful Parent - 7 ways to happier, calmer, more creative days with your under-fives

Button-up:I remember a wonderful book made by my sister, for my little sister, of felt – each page had some kind of ‘getting-dressed’ skill to try – like a picture of a shoe with real laces, and a picture of Humpty Dumpty with a real belt with a buckle. The idea below is a little less ambitious, but should capture the attention of your child just as well. What you’ll need to do beforehand: sew about ten colourful large buttons onto a piece of felt or non-fraying fabric just as you like. Then cut out shapes from felt – hearts, triangles, circles for example, and cut a slit through each to make a button hole. The shapes can be attached and removed again and again by your little one – great buttoning practice.

Junk-jewellery box discovery:Have a special-looking jewellery box for your little one to explore. Make sure they know that it’s a real treat to be allowed to look at your special things. Do keep all expensive and delicate stuff out of reach obviously – we’re talking plastic bangles and chunky beaded necklaces here.

Make-a-necklace kit: What you’ll need to do beforehand: into a shoebox or basket put a couple of handfuls of coloured pasta tubes, big chunky beads or cut-up pieces of drinking straws along with a shoe lace or yarn. Wrap a little sticky tape around one end to stop it fraying and tie a big knot at the other end. This kit will keep your little one independently busy, threading and necklace-making while you dress. Do check any beads used are not so small as to pose a choking hazard.

A special bag of books about getting dressed and clothes:Little ones feel very special lying on a grown-up’s bed, and will really enjoying looking at a few picture books in such a luxurious setting.

Some of our favourite books about getting dressed are:

T homas Goes Out – Gunilla Wolde

B are Bear – Miriam Moss and Mary McQuillan

T he Emperor’s New Clothes – Hans Christian Andersen

T he Tale of Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter

T he Smartest Giant in Town – Julia Donaldson

Magnetic dress-up:Dig out those magnetic shapes plus a board – or a metal baking sheet works well. If the magnets have a clothing theme, all the better.

Puppet costumes: What you’ll need to do beforehand: gather a few finger puppets and some small fabric squares. Fold the fabric squares in half and make a small slit in the middle of each, big enough for the puppet’s head to be pushed through. This should start a spot of dramatic puppet play with the chance to change the characters’ costumes.

Exercising with a toddler-in-tow

Whether you are a fitness fanatic, an occasional runner, play competitive sport in a team, love dancing, cycling or swimming, there is no doubt that having small children will have had an impact on the amount of time available to exercise, and your attitude towards it. Whether you’re desperate to continue, get back to it, or start a new regime, you of course have to take into consideration what happens to your little one while you exercise. For some, it’s a matter of dropping them off at the gym’s crèche, or getting childcare while your team plays a match or you go for a run; for others it’s about waiting till the little one is napping, or in bed at night.

For many parents and carers, incorporating exercise into playing with their child is a good way to go. You can read more about ideas for this way to play in the chapter Stay and Play, but if you want to try to get your daily or weekly fix of exercise when you have your child with you, but not necessarily joining in with you, your little one needs to learn to wait while you exercise. With a 10-second set-up or two, you should find they get used to playing independently while you do your thing.

Exercising at home

If you exercise at home – say, doing yoga, Pilates, or dance, for example – and your children are swirling round your legs like puppies but are adamant they don’t want to join in, here are a few 10-second set-ups to distract and happily occupy them until you’ve finished your practice:

Plastic bubble-wrap popping challenge:Few young children can resist the lure of bubble-wrap. Small pieces can be set out like puddles – for leaping and jumping practice; make sure your little one has bare feet and the bubble-wrap is on a non-slip surface or secured to the floor with a little masking tape to keep the fun safe. Larger lengths can be used for marching, crawling, running and rolling practice. The challenge, if required, could be to see if they can pop every single air pocket before you’re finished with your exercise.

Target practice:Challenge your child to scrunch pieces of scrap or newspaper into balls – they’ll need to make at least ten – and then throw them, aiming into an empty waste-paper basket. Of course, the challenge can be made harder by standing further from the target.

Skittles:Sealed plastic bottles, with a little water in them for a bit of weight, make great skittles. Raid your recycling for at least three, and challenge your little one to see how many times they can knock them over and set them up before you’re finished. A small soft sponge ball or beanbag can be the projectile.

Walk the line:Make a couple of masking (painters’) tape lines – one straight, one zigzag, say – on the floor, away from where you’re exercising. That should start up some tight-rope walking, and who knows what else; toys and cars may also become involved. Just let them go with their flow – and you’ll have the space to finish those stretches.

Tracks and runs:If you have a toy train track or a marble run that your little one can make independently, now’s a good time to challenge them to see what they can make by the time you’ve finished your exercise; they’ll love showing you their design when you’re done.

Soft-toy Olympics:While you exercise, challenge your child to find out which of their soft toys is best at running, jumping, rolling, skating and the like, with an athletic competition. Medals could be given at the end – maybe you’ll get one too, for being so good at your particular exercise.

Books about sport or physical activity:Your child may relish a quiet few minutes near you, looking at stories about sport and exertion, while you finish yours. A couple of our favourite picture books with a sporting theme are:

A mbrose goes for Gold – Tor Freeman

T he Tortoise and the Hare – an Aesop fable

Tunnel-time:These cheerfully coloured pop-up tunnels are a good investment – crawling babies love them and toddlers and preschoolers are still drawn to their enclosed, colourful space. They’ll slither and crawl through it again and again, but might also use it as a camp, or involve other toys. Its sudden appearance could intrigue your little one for at least the time you need to exercise, and probably longer.