Hallway Ball

Supplies Required:
Ball
A hallway

"Hallway ball" was one of our family's favorite activities when W was between 5 months and 10 months old because it was something that he loved to watch us do (before he could really participate) and was something that he loved to do himself when he was old enough to throw the ball.  We typically use a beach ball for hallway ball because it's light, fun to throw and hit, and it's not hard enough to hurt if someone gets whacked in the face (which almost always happens at some point during the game).  E stands or sits at one end of the hallway, and I sit or stand at the other end.  Before W could crawl, I would sit him in front of me and help him participate.  We basically throw, hit, or even kick the ball as hard as we want to because there is nothing to knock over or break in the hallway.  It's fun to watch the ball bounce off the walls (and sometimes the ceiling).  This activity always leads to lots of giggles. 

Pretend Picnic

Supplies Required:
Play food
A blanket
Stuffed animals and/or dolls
Picnic basket or other container (optional)

When E was two, one of her favorite things to do was have a pretend picnic with her stuffed animals, and it's still an activity we do once in awhile.  We set out a blanket on the living room floor (we have an awesome one that my grandmother made that is a perfect picnic blanket), and then we arrange all of her animals in a circle around the edges of the blanket.  Some of them need to be propped up with a pillow or little bench or something else so they can sit up.  Ella then gets out her play food and distributes it to the animals, who eat.  After the picnic, they sometimes go "hiking" on our fireplace.  Or they line up in front of the TV to play games.  When W was a baby, he even became part of the picnic.  It was a good tummy time activity, and I'm sure being surrounded by animals made tummy time slightly more interesting.