- Draw or color. I LOVE Crayola Color Wonder markers. They don’t get ink all over their hands, faces, and clothes, and the markers don’t get peeled and broken into pieces like crayons. (Do avoid the Color Wonder finger paints, however. Obviously not good for the stroller, but even at home they are very oily and will stain your expensive windbreaker.)
- Read books. Younger kids just look at the pictures, but when you are not running near traffic, you can actually read the pages to them – especially books that you’ve already memorized.
- Look for animals. When you see geese, HONK! When you see dogs, BARK! When you see birds, CHIRP! My kids do a mean seagull! Very convincing ;)
- Eat. Quickly, some good stroller snacks are a dry bagel, peeled and cored apple, string cheese or snack mix with things like Cheerios, raisins and pretzels. Bad stroller snacks are things like dry instant oatmeal, American cheese slices, anything with cream cheese, or chewy granola bars which crumble apart and are STILL sticky.
- Music. We’ve always sung as we ran along, but this winter, we’ve sunk to a new low: kid headphones. We’ve commandeered my husband’s iPod shuffle, loaded it with kid songs, and bought a splitter and two pairs of headphones designed for use by children. I am very careful to keep the volume low to protect their young ears. Plus they keep the kids’ ears warm.
The novelty of the headphones seems to have negated the undesirable weather for my little passengers. In the spring, I’ll share our version of “Stroller Bingo”.
- What is the best or worst stroller snack you've tried?
3 comments:
Though I hate to admit it...and some think these are a bit dangerous...I sometimes use little dum-dum lollipops to get my girls IN the stroller and keep them happy for a few minutes.
Worst was strawberries. Messy and mushy.
We used to play "I Spy," or if it was the least bit dark, I'd give him a flashlight and blinking lights to play with.
As for food, last week my boy (nearly 3) ate his bowl of cereal with milk and a spoon while I ran. I was THAT desperate for a run - he did well.
I'll give the kids cheese cubes, pretzels, pb&j sandwiches.
As far as music: I bought speakers designed to be attached to a stroller and hook my iPod to them. Sometimes we listen to "Mommy Music" but most of the time we listen to a great mix of "Kids' Music" that I put together of the boys' favorite KidStuff Radio tunes. The tunes are all things that we love to sing together, so it doesn't bother me at all. And as long as it keeps the boys from fussing, who cares!
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