activities for really little kids

I am revisiting some books my mom and grandma got for me when Claire was a baby. One is called Baby Days: Activities, Ideas, and Games for Enjoying Daily Life with a Child Under Three by Barbara Rowley. Another is called Attention Games: 101 Fun, Easy Games That Help Kids Learn To Focus by Barbara Sher, and the third book is in the car--I forget the title but Claire loves looking at it because of the full color photos on each page.
Baby days is jam packed with ideas about what to do during each part of the day and includes a rationale for each activity. Many of the ideas work for a wide range of ages. For example: "Smell, see Hear and Touch" take your baby on a magical sensory tour. Suggested ages: birth to 9 months and beyond. prep time: none; messiness quotient: none. Why try it? Stimulating the senses helps baby brains grow, plus it gives you something to talk about-which is handy when conversations are still one sided. How to do it: put your baby in a front-carrier or hold him in your arms and take him on a sensory exploration of his world..."
It goes on to make lots of suggestions. One thing Claire still loves from this is smelling the cinnamon. I show Emily the flowers in the front yard and name each one as she grabs them. Tree hugging is a favorite part of this activity for both girls. You can tap on various things in the house or outdoors and listen to the sound they make and talk about everything you see, hear, touch smell.
Mark picked up a similar book for me today at the library book sale: Child's Play 200 instant crafts and activities for preschoolers (from 1989 so may be hard to find) by Leslie Hamilton.

On Friday, Claire said she wanted to do a craft project so I got out some materials and she played with the rick-rack pretending it was a bandage for her stuffed seal for a good long while then played with the glue. Thus ended the craft project for the day.