Occupying the time between drop-off and pickup doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult. Simple, free fun is only as limited as your imagination. From infants activities to toddlers crafts and games for preschoolers, there are plenty of ways to fill the days during all the child development stages. Parents — these are great family ideas, too!

Crawl

Purpose: To keep little ones busy and content while their parents are away.
Play: Research shows that babies thrive by being held, talked to, and involved in daily activities. Because of separation anxiety, babies at this age are best kept busy. If other kids are in the child care setting, be sure to include infants in the fun, even when they’re too young to actively participate in hands-on activities. For example, a normal baby can sit in a highchair and watch as older kids complete a craft project, work a puzzle, or squish Play Doh. Whenever possible, provide a baby-friendly alternative so young ones aren’t forever on the sidelines. 
Plus: Busy-baby toys don’t have to cost a lot of money. Look in kitchen cupboards for safe sorting and stacking materials such as plastic bowls, lids, and cups. Add a thick-handled wooden spoon to turn the containers into drums. Another approach is to pull a glossy magazine from the recycling pile and let little ones do what’s usually taboo: rip it up! Most babies delight in the sensation of tearing and crumpling paper — just make sure the sensory session doesn’t include tasting!

Walk

Purpose: To cultivate kids’ active imaginations and teach positive social behavior.
Play: Better than any electronic game or elaborate toy, attention from an adult is a child’s ideal plaything. The time you spend hunched over Go Fish or engaged in make-believe is free — but priceless. Consider building up a supply of dress-up clothes by throwing old robes, scarves, and adult-sized shirts in a box. You’ll be amazed by how much mileage kids can get out of threadbare castoffs.
Plus: Give kids choices — but limit them to two or three, says Michigan Better Kid Care’s Kendra Moyses: “If you’re doing an art project, ask the child if she wants to use markers or crayons. Don’t offer everything in the craft closet because it’s overwhelming. But choosing from a few options gives kids control and helps them learn to make decisions.”

Run

Purpose: To engage kids’ minds and make sure that they learn through play.
Play: Winter doesn’t have to mean staying cooped up indoors. Take advantage of every season with outside activities. Michigan Better Kid Care suggests the following cold-weather fun:

  • Fill spray bottles with water and a few drops of food coloring, then take them outside to paint snow graffiti.
  • Build a snow igloo or fort. Use sandbox buckets to mold “bricks.” Build walls up to about one-foot high, but never sculpt tunnels, which can collapse and trap children.
  • Create snow people who look like each of you to greet mom or dad at pickup time.
  • Look for tracks in the snow and try to guess which animal walked through.
  • Make homemade ice cream: Stir together 1 cup milk, ½ cup sugar, and ½ teaspoon vanilla until sugar is completely dissolved, then slowly add 5 cups of new-fallen, clean snow. Talk about how snow ice cream is the same or different from store-bought.
  • For a lesson in how water can go from solid to liquid, take a snowball inside and keep track of how long it takes to melt.

Plus: Surf the Web for tried-and-true ideas. Sites such as EnchantedLearning.com offer free and easy lesson plans based on themes from the alphabet to zoo animals, including printable activity pages.