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Summary: Some great ideas
Review: This book has many neat ideas for things to do with your toddler. I'm very impressed! Even some of the simple ones (dance around with scarves) is, well, simple, but I don't know if I would have thought of it on my own. Well organized with materials needed for each activity clearly listed. Activities are easy to understand, descriptions are short (who has time to read with a toddler around??) and the information on nurturing a toddler was great.
Rating:
Summary: Great Resource
Review: This book is FULL of ideas that you can do with your toddler. Many of these use simple supplies that you have around the house. Some of these ideas take a little bit of planning. However, most of these ideas are easy and cheap to set up and fun to do. A lot of these ideas are things that once you have demonstrated how to do the activity, your toddler will not need your help. Some of these ideas are meant to be mother/father interacting with the child. My only thought would be that if you are a fairly creative person, many of these things you can come up with on your own. For example, freezing colored water and putting the ice cubes in a plastic bag to melt. One thing I particularly liked was that the activities were geared to a variety of the sences. Some activities were smell oriented for example. Some activities were directed towards the other sences of taste, touch etc. Other activities worked on small motor skills and others dealt with large motor skills. If you want a wealth of ideas that are easy to impliment, fun to do, and fairly cheap to make this book would be a great resource.
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Summary: Have fun with ordinary things around the house!
Review: This is a great book for anyone on a budget or who just likes to re-use ordinary things from around your house. The activities are fun, yet simple. It includes a great list of things you should stock in your "craft cupboard", so, you'll always have needed items on hand. Don't throw away that toilet paper roll or those plastic milk caps! I will buy this book as a gift for the next time someone I know has an infant about to become a toddler!
Rating: 
Summary: I feel better knowing I have this book!
Review: This is a great book full of helpful ideas. Though some are obvious, more than not are creative and can add a lot of variety to your toddler's day. If nothing else, I feel better knowing I have a "way out" if my daughter and I get totally bored and I don't have the energy to come up with something to do myself. Great for the times you are tending other people's children or have kids over to play, as well! It is nice to feel like a fun, creative parent! This book definitely leads the way for that to happen.
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Summary: Wonderful book packed full of fun ideas!
Review: This is a great book to help keep those little ones busy. As a stay-at-home mom of a 19-month-old, we often run out of ideas of fun and original things to do. Not anymore! This book covers it all--from rainy days to outside play--it's all in here. Best of all, there are not a lot of things that you need to go out and buy to do the craft projects. Most of the things you need are things you hav in the house. This book is well worth the money!
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Summary: A great resource, even if you have plenty of activity books
Review: Trish Kuffner writes, "Toddlerhood is a precious stage in the life of both parent and child, and one which can be enjoyed immensely if you are prepared to slow down a little, sit on the floor a lot, and worry about picking up the toys only when your child goes to bed at night." The toddler age is the most mystical age for child and parent - you'll never again have such a rich opportunity to entertain your children with ordinary items and activities! Kuffner gives us an enormous number of ideas for fun things to do with our children. This is an arts and crafts type of book, and she does something I haven't seen in other activity books. She spends a chapter telling you how to organize for a toddler. She also provides a list of items to buy and old household items to save (dried magic markers, for example). The rest of the book is laid out equally well. There are chapters on rainy day play, water play, kitchen activities, outdoor adventures, how to entertain the kids when you're on errands or travel, nursery rhymes, learning activities, music, arts & crafts, and even birthday/holiday activities. The appendix lists craft recipes, "crazy can" activities, and best toys/books for toddlers. Very comprehensive and varied. Reading through this book makes me want to do most of the activities myself if my toddler doesn't want to! My husband tends toward other fun activities rather than arts and crafts when he entertains the kids. But even he flipped through the book and got interested in some of the activities.
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Summary: Get Creative
Review: Want to get your creative juices flowing? But this book and it will start you thinking of many very fun (and practically free!) activity ideas for you and your toddler. Want to play with play dough? It's twice as fun to make it at home. Also included are recipes for paint, clay and mysterious concoctions like "magic mud". Don't throw away that cardboard box! Use it to make a toss game or fort. Build castles with blocks of paper bags stuffed with newspaper or make a noodle necklace. Your toddler doesn't like the game right now? Who cares, these projects cost pennies to make! Toss it and try again in a few months when you child's interests and abilities have changed. It's much better than throwing your money away on cheap, ugly toys from a store and what a great way to help your child learn to use his or her imagination and discover their own power to create wonderful things.
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Summary: Inspiration to Moms
Review: We all wonder, are we doing enough with our kids? Trish Kuffner answers this question for us in the intro--she is very encouraging to us moms and others caring for young children, saying that just from being with us day to day, they're learning. That said, she then gives 365 ideas of things to do instead of watching TV. These ideas are easy to implement and I have several that I can't wait for my 19 month old to try.
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Summary: Great book to stash in the glove compartment of the car
Review: We keep THE TODDLER'S BUSY BOOK in the glove compartment of our car in case we find ourselves running out of ideas of things to do when we are visiting out-of-town relatives. It's compact enough to fit in there, and because most of the craft projects in book involve items that people are likely to have on hand (e.g., string, crayons, other basic craft supplies) or that we can pick up really quickly at a convenience store, it's a good book to have with us on the road. I also highly recommend PLAY AND LEARN by Parents Magazine for great "on the go" activities, as well as the terrific play chapter in THE MOTHER OF ALL TODDLER BOOKS by Ann Douglas for a range of different activities (arts and crafts, beginner science projects, music play, active play, and more). THINGS TO DO WITH TODDLERS AND TWOS by Karen Miller is another book that has also gotten a lot of use at our house, thanks to the fabulous activity ideas. You'll probably find that you want to have more than one activity book on hand. Toddlers are busy people, after all!
Rating:
Summary: The best of the toddler activity books
Review: Well structured and chock-a-block with ideas. I have bought and borrowed over 10 similar books and I think that this book is the stand-out of the genre. The ideas for busy little people range from the "can do it on the spur of the moment" to those that require preparation and advance planning. For the latter, a wonderful list of "what to save" is included to help parents start their own resource centre for toddler activities. The rainy day ideas, busy box concept and travel bag have been sanity savers. Most activities teach toddlers something interesting while they have fun. Quite a few of the activities are also suitable for (or can be modified to suit)older babies. This has been a wonderful resource for our family. We dip into it regularly and it has helped us plan some great party and playdate afternoons too. Very highly recommended.
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