This book contains 365 activities (one for each day of the year) for one-and-a-half to three-year-olds using things found around the home. It shows parents and day-care providers how to:

• Prevent boredom during the longest stretches of indoor weather with ideas for indoor play, kitchen activities, and arts and crafts projects.

• Stimulate a child's natural curiosity with entertaining math, language, and motor-skills activities.

• Encourage a child's physical, mental, and emotional growth with ideas for fun music, food, water, and outdoor activities.

• Keep toddlers occupied during long car trips or cross-town errands.

The Toddler's Busy Book is written with warmth and sprinkled with humor and insight. It should be required reading for anyone raising or teaching toddlers.

The toddler age is the most mystical age for child and parent - you'll never again have such a rich opportunity to entertain your children with ordinary items and activities!

Kuffner gives us an enormous number of ideas for fun things to do with our children. This is an arts and crafts type of book, and she does something I haven't seen in other activity books. She spends a chapter telling you how to organize for a toddler. She also provides a list of items to buy and old household items to save (dried magic markers, for example).

The rest of the book is laid out equally well. There are chapters on rainy day play, water play, kitchen activities, outdoor adventures, how to entertain the kids when you're on errands or travel, nursery rhymes, learning activities, music, arts & crafts, and even birthday/holiday activities. The appendix lists craft recipes, "crazy can" activities, and best toys/books for toddlers. Very comprehensive and varied.

Reading through this book makes me want to do most of the activities myself if my toddler doesn't want to!

My husband tends toward other fun activities rather than arts and crafts when he entertains the kids. But even he flipped through the book and got interested in some of the activities.


Great for new AND veteran moms alike   July 26, 2001
 157 out of 160 found this review helpful

Parents know that it doesn't take expensive toys and gadgets to entertain a toddler. Any old box or wad of tissue paper will do!

When Trish Kuffner put together "The Toddler's Busy Book", she was keenly aware of this fact, being a mother of five herself. Within the over 500 pages, you will find a multitude of ideas for keeping your little darlings busy and entertained, without spending a fortune. In fact, many of the items used in this great book can be found lying around the house.

Ms. Kuffner includes sections on organizing for a toddler, how to plan your activities, what to keep on hand for quick crafting fun, and even ideas for a weekly activity planner. Chapters include topics such as rainy day play, kids in the kitchen, water play, outdoor adventures, and ideas for keeping kids busy on long car rides. You'll also find a large array of favorite nursery rhymes and finger plays, and great ideas to help develop a love for music in your child.

There's an entire section dedicated to crafts and activities, another for birthdays and holidays, and a useful section containing recipes for all types of homemade play doughs, clays, paints, and more. Many of the ideas in this book are so simple, you may find yourself saying "Why didn't I think of that!". Kudos to Ms. Kuffner on creating an excellent resource for parents of busy little toddlers!


Handy Ideas for "Quality Time" with Toddlers & Preschoolers   June 14, 2003
 107 out of 109 found this review helpful

In the USA we generally refer to a child as being a "toddler" between the ages of 18 months and 3 years of age. However, my 5-year-old "preschooler" enjoys many of the activities in this book as well as his almost 2-year-old sister. I have learned that the best "gift" a parent can give a child is his/her undivided attention for a period of time. I have personally found that by spending one-on-one time with each of my children, even if only for 5-10 minutes one or two times a day, there is a positive change in the daily demeanor and degree of cooperation I get. They look forward to it. It's not that I can't think of things to do with my children, but on one of those really difficult days (I'm sure you know what I mean), it's a big help to glance quickly at some creative simple ideas to choose from. Also, this book comes in handy when a play-date becomes boring or unfriendly. When I am able to redirect the unhappy kids to the kitchen table for a "mommy supervised activity" from this book, the enthusiastic smiles almost always instantly return. When my daughter was born, and big brother's jealousy was on the rise, I used many ideas in this book for the much appreciated one-on-one time... "mommy/big brother time" -- without baby sister. Along with "The Toddler Busy Book", I also recommend another helpful little book filled with positive discipline suggestions for parents of 2-5 year-olds called "The Pocket Parent." I like the easy reference A-Z format of this trouble-shooting guide that addresses many of the most annoying behaviors that too often challenge my sanity. These two books have brought more peace to our family, more cooperation from our children, and more ways for us to enjoy one another.


a blessing for caretakers of young, energetic children   February 14, 2003
 58 out of 59 found this review helpful

I was home with a sick toddler and a cranky youngster the day this book arrived, and it saved me. The first page I flipped to had an idea for a simple game that I put together in two minutes and had us all laughing for twenty. Bless you, Trish Kuffner!

This book is nicely organized. A chapter of introduction helps you plan, supply and mentally prepare for those long days when you are running out of ideas. The author writes with humor and affection. Subsequent chapters are organized into Rainy Day Play, Kids in the Kitchen, Water Play, Outdoor Adventures, Out and About, Nursery Rhymes and Finger Plays, Early Learning Fun, Music and Movement, Arts and Crafts, and Holidays. Most activities are simple to set up, generally using about three or four household items. Appendices list recipes for basic paints, doughs, glues and clay; a list of activities for a Crazy Can (a random drawing of activities that aren't messy and need little supervisoin so you can, for example, get dinner ready); best toys for babies and toddlers; best books for same; and resources. The index lists projects (but not materials, which would be helpful in later editions).

The book subtitle, 365 Creative Games and Activities to Keep Your 1-1/2- to 3-Year-Old Busy, sells the book short, as I've used these ideas successfully with older children as well.

For those of us who are not good at dreaming up artsy fun things-to-do, this book is a wonderful resource. For those of you who *are* good, you will probably still find some fun ideas in this well-organized, friendly guide.


OK but you have to be "crafty" and have a big house   July 28, 2003
 47 out of 58 found this review helpful

I got this book when my daughter was 1 yr in anticipation of toddlerhood. When I read it I was really excited about all of the good ideas in it, but many didn't work out, or required better craft skills/ supplies/ more setup time than I have. For example Kuffner suggests making nesting cups out of old tin cans--I have yet to find a tin can without a SHARP inside edge. She recommends making shakers out of old containers filled with beans or stones...my daughter got all the glued-on lids off,except the screw on ones, leadng to a big choking hazard. (you're supposed to use a glue gun,which I don't have) So you have to have your own good judgment on safety, and supervise closely. Also, lots of the ideas take up space, so if you live in a 2 bedroom apartment as I do they're tough. And, many kept my daughter's attention for about 30 seconds, after taking 10 times that to set up.

That being said, I'm still using it-alot of ideas work better now that my daughter is three. But I'm not buying Kuffner's preschooler book, I'm going to shop around and see if I can find something that better meets my needs.