let's go! GRAND summer fun! (week four) let's play, learn, build & explore!
- Our Grand Lives
- Jun 26
- 11 min read
Updated: Jul 10
Thursday, June 26, 2025
HELLO!
We are so glad you’re here!
If this is your first visit to our site, WELCOME
AND
if you are a returning reader, THANK YOU!
We’ve been having such fun this summer
brainstorming and sharing our ideas
for keeping the Littles in our lives
entertained and engaged!
Whether you are a GRAND (like us)
or someone else who spends summer days with Littles,
this series is for YOU!
Most Thursdays during the summer,
we’re sharing a new post that highlights 3-4 varied activities.
Together - or on their own - these activities
are each easy to put together with supplies you’d find around your home!
These are the kind of activities WE love to offer our Littles
and we hope you agree!
Then, last Thursday, we published our ideas for Week Three
(which happened to be our 4th of July edition).
Today, we’re back with Week Four and this brand new post
filled with GRAND Summer Fun!
We know that the 4th of July holiday is right around the corner.
Last week, we shared 4 specific ideas
that would be great fun as you celebrate all things red, white and blue.
However, we also know that the upcoming summer holiday
might also mean
that you’ll be spending extended time with Littles!
So, keeping that in mind,
today’s post focuses on ideas that you can do with multiple Littles
of differing ages
AND
do so over an extended period of time, too!
This week’s featured ideas are…
LET’S PLAY! - Grand Stuffie Fun!
LET’S LEARN! - A Family Tree!
LET’S BUILD! - Big Box Drive-In!
LET’S EXPLORE! - Animal Rescue!
EXTRA! EXTRA!
Last week, in addition to the advertised activities,
we also shared several past Instagram posts, too!
Looking through our archives, we rounded up a few more of our favorite ideas
and you’ll find those below!
HERE WE GO!
Whether you’ll be spending time with Littles
at their home OR if they’ll be visiting you
- for a day, an overnight or even a weekend of fun -
these activities are bound to become favorites!
All you need is a stuffed animal or two and some of the ideas we’re sharing…
and you’ll be all set for hours of GRAND stuffie fun!
Last year Laura’s Littles had such fun at an annual Cousin Weekend!
Each Little was invited to bring a favorite stuffie
and after we’d all introduced our own stuffies to each other,
the fun began!
We had relay races and then a tea party with stuffies as the guests of honor!
Here’s a few more of our favorite activities from the weekend!
❤️ Stuffed Animal Bobsleds!
This was super fun, took little preparation
and provided lots of giggles from everyone involved!
HONESTLY…
it's hard to tell, but these serious Littles were giggling moments later!
WOW!
Our Little L has grown up SO MUCH since last summer!!!
This activity requires a staircase OR if one is not available, you can build a ramp with a large piece of cardboard or a large board that's been propped up. (You’d want to set up this ramp ahead of time.)
DID I HAPPEN TO MENTION? THIS IS SO SIMPLE! You get a lot of bang for your buck with this activity! I can’t wait to give it a try once again this summer now that our Littles are all a year older!
We used the lid of a large plastic container - this acted as the “sled” portion of the bobsled. Our stuffed animals sat in a smaller plastic bin - or you could use a shoe box as another option. Using painter’s or masking tape, we attached the bottom of the bin/shoe box to the larger lid.
Now your Littles are ready for some bobsledding action!
From the top of the stairs, your Littles can take turns
letting go of the bobsled
as you all watch it go down the stairs!
❤️ Stuffed Animal Trampoline!
Using a towel to do so, create a trampoline for your stuffed animal friends! You’ll need a bath towel and two sets of hands to play! Hold the towel as shown and put the stuffed animal on the towel! Working together, you and your Little will help the stuffie bounce on the makeshift trampoline (the towel)! Variations include counting how many times your stuffie bounces OR seeing how high the stuffed friend can go up and come down safely OR adding additional stuffed friends to your trampoline at the same time!
Your Littles will love this one and get ready for the giggles that will come as you work together to keep the stuffed animals on the towel!
❤️ Who Is It? OR Which One Am I Thinking Of?
These two ideas are great options when you are looking to calm things down a bit or as a quiet time activity!
Put your Littles' stuffed animals in a basket. For younger Littles, use 2-3 stuffies and increase the number for older Littles! For Activity 1 (Who Is It?), if your Little is comfortable doing so, blindfold him/her. Have your Little grab a friend from the basket and see if he/she can identify the stuffie without looking! For Activity 2 (Which One Am I Thinking Of?) you can give clues about a specific animal. Your Little then decides which animal you’re thinking about! For older Littles add the challenge of giving them 5-10 seconds to make their guess OR ask them to provide the clues!
You can also play Who's Missing? by taking away an animal - toddlers love this!
Increase the challenge by switching it up...
In What's Different Now? have Littles hide their eyes
and then actually switch two of the animals... can your Little spot the difference?
When in doubt... Hide and Seek is always a winner!
In July 2023, we had two Instagram posts that celebrated our stuffies!
Both involved ways to surprise your Littles - big and small!
OUR FIRST IDEA would happen when Littles come to visit you! Hopefully you have some of your own special stuffies that you keep at your house and that your Littles have “met” before. Set them up in a front window or near the door so that when your Littles arrive, they see these special friends waiting for them! You could even get creative and dress the stuffies up some times!
OUR SECOND IDEA would work well for older elementary or even preteen Littles who are heading off to camp or a weekend of fun. Let them know how much their favorite stuffed animal misses them OR what they've been up to while your Little is gone
Take a series of photos of your LIttle's stuffie and narrate what they are doing (either by recording your voice or in words)! Save this for when your Little gets home or send the message in a letter to camp! For example, Brownie played with his friends while you were gone. He played on the swing, went to soccer practice and even took a short tropical trip of his own!
Your Little will feel so special and find this hilarious, too!
Here’s a unique and fun way for Littles to learn more
about their family and its history!
Laurie’s daughter’s mother-in-law has a fun idea for us all
and a family gathering would be the perfect time to begin this project!
It’s always rewarding to watch our Littles as they figure out the patterns of our family. My daughter’s mother-in-law made this cute project - a family tree - with three-year-old Little D this past spring! She made the project very engaging by using photos of family members! One side of the chart highlights photos of people from my daughter’s side of the family (do you see me?) and the other side includes people from my son-in-law’s family!.
The best part?
Listening to our Littles name everyone - pets up to great-grandparents!
❤️ ❤️ ❤️
The idea above reminded us of another activity Laurie put together when Little D was only 18 months old - A Picture Ring!
We all know how much Littles love to look at themselves AND the people they love!. Simply print pictures of your Little and the people (and pets!) who are important to them. Punch a hole in the corner of each photo and put them on a ring. If you have Littles that put things in their mouths or you want to maintain the quality of your photos (i.e. free from kissing and occasional bending) you can laminate them first.
Both of these activities promote great language development in young Littles as they become familiar with the names of loved ones in their lives!
This activity was so successful,
that my Daughter A brought these cards on Little D’s first plane trip!
The picture cards kept her busy!
Laurie and her Littles participated in this memorable activity
during a recent visit to their local library!
It would be a cinch to recreate at home with your own Littles
and would be the impetus for a memorable activity indeed!
TO PREP!
You need a box large enough for your Little to fit in. In fact, you’ll want one large box for each Little, so plan ahead!
The library supplied paper plates for wheels and a steering wheel, paper cups or muffin liners for lights and a photocopied license plate for us. However, you could use whatever materials you like. You’ll also want to provide the typical craft supplies - scissors, glue or glue sticks, crayons or markers! (Older Littles would love having paint and aluminum foil available, too!)
TO BUILD!
This is a great time for your Littles to let their creative juices flow! Support and help as needed - we recommend taking direction from your Littles and their visions!
TO PLAY!
When your Littles’ cars are done, it’s time for them to hop in! At this point, you can serve a snack and turn on a movie to watch. At the library, we watched the video of the children’s book, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems.
Of course, don’t be surprised if you get persuaded to “push” your Littles around so they can practice their driving skills!
Imagine how much fun your Littles can have in the cars they’ve built! In addition to a drive-in movie, they could also set up a Drive-In Restaurant with trays and play food and they can take turns being the customers or the carhop! Here’s another fun way to extend the activity - listen to/sing along to Driving in My Car by Ralph’s World. Here’s a version from Youtube:
(This song is also available on Spotify and Apple Music!)
Here’s another way
to provide simple and inexpensive fun with your Littles!
Have you ever come home from the liquor store with your purchases packed in a box, with slotted cardboard inside to keep the bottles from hitting each other? Laurie’s husband took that box and cut the sides off and set it out for their Littles to enjoy.
Our Little D (two-years-old at the time) used the box as a castle for her princesses and Little People, carefully finding “a room” for each figure.
Days later I set it in front of Little P (then 8-months- old) and filled the slots with plastic animals and other little objects that were safe for her. She LOVED pulling them out and putting them back in.
CHEAP & SIMPLE ENTERTAINMENT AT ITS BEST!
This box would also be perfect to use as a garage for toy cars and trucks
OR as a pet store or zoo for plastic animals.
You can find our original Instagram post here!
Who knew that ice cube trays could be so versatile!
Laurie (and her sister) did!
Check out this fun twist - using frozen ice cubes!
A few years ago, when my sister was caring for her 3-year-old grandson,
I put together this activity for them to do together!
According to my sister, it was a huge success…
In fact, it was the longest her Little had ever been engaged
in a single activity with her!
TO PREP!
Find smaller objects that fit in ice cube tray compartments.. We used plastic animals because our Little LOVED animals. Then fill the ice cube tray with water and freeze overnight. Pop the ice cubes out and put them on a tray (a cookie sheet works well) to keep the melting water contained.
Feel free to customize the ice cube trays to your Little! Instead of Animals Rescue create a tray filled with princesses or dinosaurs or legos or ???? Create one ice cube tray for each Little!
TIME TO EXPLORE!
Give your Little(s) squirt bottles, spray bottles, eye droppers, basters, etc. that have been filled with warm water.
Encourage your Littles to use these tools to melt the ice cubes in order to...
RESCUE THE ANIMALS FROM THE ICEBERGS!
TRY THIS VERSION WITH OLDER LITTLES!
To provide a bit more of a challenge for school-age Littles, provide them with tools like a small, light hammer and a mini screwdriver. They can chip away at and then chisel the items out of the ice. Competitive Littles can even have a race to see who can free an item first!
Make sure your Little’s skill level is safely ready for this
AND
for an extra layer of safety, if available,
offer each Little a pair of safety glasses before they begin.
Our hope is that the ideas we’re sharing this summer
will provide fun for GRANDS like us,
as well as others (parents, caregivers) AND the Littles we love and adore!
Our motto holds true as always…
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AND
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We’ll be back early next week with our review of the past month!
Please join us then!
As we savor these waning days of June, remember…
SPECIAL THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING SITES FOR FEATURING OUR POST!
Monday Morning Blog Club from Sticky Mud & Belly Laughs
Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot from Scratch Made Food for Hungry People
A Morning Cup of Joe from The Cottage Market
Thank you for featuring this post on your sites!
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The Stuffy Camp is adorable! :) I love, love, love the family tree idea. In my work as a photo-preserving and memory-keeping guide, I've done plenty of reading over the last two decades about how good it is for all of us, but especially Littles, to make connections with ancestors. It builds resiliency and all sorts of other benefits! Thanks for sharing this post at our month-long Will Blog for Comments #65 linkup. We'll be back to our regular schedule now, so #66 opens Monday morning. Hope to see you there.
All these fun activities, I just love them. They make me think back on all the activities my daughters enjoyed at that age. Learning can be so fun! Thank you for sharing with us at The Crazy Little Lovebirds link party.
Steph@CrazyLittleLovebirds
So many beautiful activities! I love the stuffie ideas, how cute!
I remember making cars and having a drive-in movie day for my boys. They really enjoyed it.
I love the Princess Castle too. Never overlook the power of a cardboard box! Haha.
Have a lovely week, ladies. :)
Aww! What fab ideas! The stuffie fun is just adorable and I love the Drive-In idea!
These are incredible ideas! This is such a resource for parents and grandparents! Hope you have a wonderful day!