Floyd: Activities to keep your toddler happy
It’s time to go out and discover the amazing activities available in the Lowcountry for you and your little ones.
Local parks are great, and the beach is right there, but guess what? It rains or it gets cold. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with giving your kids a treat every now and then. Here are some places and organizied activities that my toddler Charlie and I like. They also give us the chance to meet other mommies, daddies and kids, make friends and add to Charlie’s birthday party list.
Sandbox Museum
18A Pope Ave, Hilton Head Island
(843) 842-7645 www.thesandbox.org
When Charlie walks in the front door, I might not see her again for an hour. Arts, toys, a pirate ship, an airplane and train systems upstairs fills this little house. I feel comfortable experimenting with glue, pipe cleaners and paint in the art room while we sit at the short tables on our kid-sized chairs. It was at the Sandbox that Charlie learned how to climb a rope ladder, and it was here she built her first sand castle, or should I say shantie, while leaning over the lip of the pedestal sand box with her toes barely touching the step stool beneath her.
Story Time
Hilton Head or Bluffton Library
Hilton Head Library 11 Beach City Rd., Bluffton Library 120 Palmetto Way, Bluffton
The first time we went to a Story Time, Charlie did not handle it well. She shied away from the other kids and hid in my lap for at least half of the allotted hour. She warmed up on later trips, and now we love our weekly trips to the library for books, songs, dancing, friends, crafts and playtime. Being surrounded by other kids mesmerizes Charlie. With day after day of just me and her dad, she can forget that people come in her size, too.
Jungle Jump
70 Pennington Dr, #12, Bluffton
(843) 706-9500
See their reviews on Yelp.com
Depending on the size of your little one, this could be relaxing or exhausting for you. Charlie is so little, that I have to follow her through the blow ups and help her climb the ladders and have tiny heart attacks as her little body bounces down the slides. But I’ve seen other moms, dads, grandparents relax, stand and cheer while their older kids bounce all over the place, pinging off the inflatable walls into each other to their heart’s content.
The Kazoo Factory
12 John Galt Rd, Beaufort, SC 29906 (843) 982-6387
The drive there was filled with tears, but the drive home was filled with happy humming music - or noise. The Kazoo factory houses all the kazoo parts and you get to come and help assemble them. Charlie had trouble sitting through the introduction video and staying behind the yellow caution line, but participated beautifully in assembling her very own kazoo. She knew after a few tries just how to get it to sing. Little buzzings and toots on the horn followed us home that day.
Kids Drop In Adventure
55 Matthews Dr, Unit 190 Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
(843) 715-4871
A MOMS Club event brought me to the Kids Drop In, so I was there with Charlie as well as all the other moms and their own kids. I wouldn’t say I am a helicopter parent, but when Charlie throws herself into a new situation or place, I try my best to keep my eye on her and run over to help her up or down. But everything was just easy enough for me to sit and chat yet hard enough for her to feel daring. It’s a haven for parents and kids alike.
Katelyn Floyd is the mother of a toddler who lives in Bluffton. She can be reached at katelyn.j.floyd@gmail.com.
This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 10:49 AM with the headline "Floyd: Activities to keep your toddler happy."