Winter is coming fast and what better way to entertain your Little than by slowly spoiling them with treats! Advent calendar is just that. However, you don’t need to worry about the amount of sweets or spend fortune on fulfilling all their material wishes - instead give them quality time and memories to cherish through the whole year! And with some luck, you might find your new favourite shared activity!

Cuddles

Quite self-explanatory - cuddles are a classic of bonding activities. Even if it’s part of your daily routine already, there is never too much cuddles! You can try to make it special for your Little - for example make it longer than usual or make some atmosphere - dim the lights, add cosy blanket to the mix or a favourite cartoon/audiobook playing in the background. It can be a morning wake-up cuddle, nap-time one or just one during a day - any time and almost any place will work.

Spoon-Feeding

Turn any meal into a pleasant activity - instead of letting your Little eat themselves, simply spoon-feed them ! The food types that can be mushy works best, but any meal will do - you can even cut down pizza into small chunks and feed them to your Little one.

Swaddling

Swaddling is when you wrap a baby in cloth in a way that restricts movements and calms them down. Guess what - the same can be done with your Little! Think of human burrito, but with blanket instead of tortilla. You can either find tutorials online on how to ‘properly’ swaddle or improvise - wrapping your AB in a blanket/duvet (or few of them) and you can also use weighted blanket on top (if you have one). When you’re into a little more kinky play - it’s much easier to fully tie a swaddled human with ropes or straps ;)

Bottle-only day

You probably have a bottle or two (or 17) already, so why not make a good use of it? Instead of preparing normal meals, feed your Little with only the bottle for a day. For the meals, you can find a ready-to-serve liquid meals in most supermarkets, buy them online (for example YFood, Saturo, Soylent) or get them in a pharmacy (they are often sold in small 200-250ml bottles - ideal for a single feeding!). If you feel fancy, you can find “liquid diet meal” recipes online or - the simplest - go for thinned-down baby food, purees, oatmeals etc (note: making a balanced liquid diet is tricky and if you want to do it for longer period of time make sure to read up or consult a dietetician or doctor! However, a not-perfect diet for a day should not hurt your Little if they don’t have some preexisting illness, but if you have any doubts - don’t, there are many other things to do together instead)

Go for a walk

Sometimes it’s hard to find a time in a day to just relax, breathe some air and catch a cuddle or twenty. All you need here is some time - 30 minutes, an hour or two - however long you want to make it. Dress your Little nicely, make sure they will be warm and cosy in the winter day and go hand in hand enjoy the surroundings! Bonus points for spotting wild animals, tracing their trails, identifying trees and plants or finding a new spot/path you have never noticed before! Don’t forget warm cocoa when you’re back!

Diaper day

Your Little might be already using diapers occasionally, maybe at night or maybe has never tried. In any of those cases, how about a full day in diapers? They can be grabbed in all different sizes and bulkiness, but the most comfortable ones will be the ones you can get in a pharmacy. If you don’t feel like cleaning up a messy diaper, you can ask your Little to do the #2 in the bathroom. Even if #1 is too much, just the act of calling you to help them off and then to put the diaper back on is going to be great bonding experience.

If your Little is already in diapers 24/7, maybe try something different? Cloth instead of disposable ones, different style or just the extra touch of powder after change.

Crawling day

Littles can run around while on sugar crush, but they are more adorable on they all fours. Ask your little to crawl for entire day. You can also help your dear one with special booties, ballett boots or some simple restraints or ropes.

Trip to museum/activity center

Staying at home with all the toys and cuddles might be the perfect day for your Little, but once in awhile some change won’t hurt and can be fun!

There are lots of options to choose from - museums (you get bonus points for the interactive ones) and galleries are probably somewhere in your neighbourhood.

But the fun does not need to end there - you can make the trip itself a memorable experience! Maybe take a more scenic route or go by train and on the way back treat your Little with some comfort food on the go or order them hot cocoa while you get your well deserved coffee.

No hands / mittens day

Littles are always up to something, but there is one easy way to tame their mischiefs - thumbless mittens! As an added bonus they are not able to do anything by themselves so they need your help even more than usual. Recipe for a perfect bonding time!

Bedtime stories afternoon

Who ever said that bedtime stories are only for bedtime? Ok, they might be, but reading books and telling stories does not need to be reserved just for bedtime. Tuck your Little cosily with a bottle of warm milk, dim the lights and grab Little’s favourite book or let your imagination run wild!

„Always ask the Big one” day

Littles should obey some rules from Big one, but they usually entertain some freedom.

Well, not today - today Little has to ask about every decision they make and everything they want to do. After all Big ones know better!

And after all, you might want to reconsider some of the freedoms Little had for the long term as well ;)

Whole day in PJs

Nothing to add - PJs (ideally fluffy footed ones) stay on, big clothes stay off - for the whole day.

Try something new

Spending time with your Little in your favourite way is fantastic, but trying new things from time to time is also great! It doesn’t have to be anything big - new bottle formula, new diaper brand, new path for walking around - but it definitely can be more substantial - new kink, a fantasy Little mentioned you a while ago or an idea you had or read about. Really, sky is the limit here - happy experimentation!

New rules (priviledge + responsibility)

Chances are your Little already has rules they need to follow and maybe some priviledges they enjoy. If so - just add new one to the list! If not, why not start now? :)

For responsibilities you can think of how Littles can help you more around the house - maybe new house chore, maybe something you want them to learn or stricter expectations for something they already do.

Don’t forget to balance it with some priviledges as well! Maybe 30 minutes longer screen time on weekends or they get to choose their PJs or next storybook for the bedtime!

Watching cartoons

Sometimes the Big ones also need some time for themselves and this is a great way to get it. Tuck your Little in warm blankets with bottle, paci and some snacks and make your very own cartoons movie afternoon.

If you want to catch up with Caretaker of other Little, this is probably the simplest play-date plan ever!

Discipline day

It’s no secret that Littles need rules and discipline in their lives. Sometimes just the rules are enough to make your dear one very docile and doing their best with chores. However even then a preemptive discipline session can do wonders to deter any bad behaviours in future.

Discipline day is not about punishing specific behaviour but rather teaching Little a lesson that it’s not worth even trying to break the rules. It’s also useful to find the limits of what actually is a punishment. Start by explaining what will happen. If they have been very good let them choose the type of punishment or implement for administering it. You might want to apply some restraints. Then proceed to administering the punishment as you previously communicated. If you’re looking for ideas, spanking and general corporal punishment usually works best. Electric stimulation can be an interesting option as well as well as heavy restraints or predicament bondage. Remember not to listen to pleas and cries and never stop before administering the amount you intended initially. It will hurt - likely both of you - but it’s for the better. And never forget the most important part of any discipline session - aftercare.

Pampering and bath play

Who doesn’t like a good long warm bath. Just add some foam-making bath salts or the ones that make the whole bath into a slime, add one Little and couple of bath toys and you have a perfect mix for cute and playful afternoon.

Baby-cooking together

Need to do some cooking but also keep your Little from doing any mischief? It’s very simple - just cook together! If you have a high chair it works best - Little one can try the dishes, prepare some ingredients or knead the dough while safely sitting next to you. If you don’t have one then don’t worry - a table with chair would work just as well.

Bonus points for Letting Little try things with their fingers!

School day

There are plenty of things that your Little can learn - new crafts (sewing, knitting or crotcheting for example), some theoretical knowledge (telling apart birds, plants, mushrooms or animal trails gives great opportunity for follow up nature trip), practice foreign language, handwriting or anything that will come in handy for their new responsibilities at home (like taking care of furniture, cleaning, folding clothes) ;) And of course learning happens at kindergardens and schools.

Prepare the needed materials beforehand, find resources (a book, printouts or even a video tutorial would work), plan the knowledge check (for example a quiz by the end of day or a practical test - works great for things like cleaning and other house chores!). You can also take a role of a teacher if you’d like to teach something to your Little more directly.

Make sure to outline the expectations at the beginning and explain the grading scale - whether it’s in kisses, tickler or spanks ;) Sit your pupil at the desk, give them the resources and start the learnings. It can also take more than one day if you want or you can even make it a part of your routines!

If you want to take the experience one step further you can find a cute dress or suit to be used just for the school.

Favourite meal

Your Little certainly has a dish or two that is their favourite one. Make sure to prepare it fresh (or order it from their favourite take-away place), put on the fluffiest and largest bib and help them feed themselves on the feast :)

Coffee and hot chocolate in caffe

Sometimes all one needs is a short walk to nearby caffe for a cup of warm drink. As you are enjoying your drink, make sure to order something suitable for your Little - a camomile tea, hot cocoa or warm milk.

Baby food day

Littles should not eat unhealthy, snacks or spicy food - even though they sometimes do. But not today - today they will eat a healthy and balanced meals (and - ideally - spoon-fed). A very useful tool to get the meals ready will be blender / food processor.

You can look into many recipies available online, but heare are few quick and easy ideas:

• porridge
• soup, creamed
• pureed steamed vegetables
• pureed fruits

Needles to say, a bib and spoon-feeding go hand-in-hand with those :)

If you don’t feel like cooking, you can also go for prepared baby meals in jars from your local grocery store. Some medical stores will also have liquid food intended for feeding tubes - those work great with bottles!

Sensory deprivation/total dependence day

This is a very powerful bonding exercise but one that puts a lot of responsibility on the Big one. Various senses are how your Little (and everyone else) navigates the world around us. You can selectively block them and make them really dependent on you.

There is no one recipe how to do it and it will depend on how comfortable your Little feels. You can pick one of the ideas or mix few (or all) of them. For eyesight, blindfolds and eye patches work great - walking requires either being on all four or a helping hand for safety. A protective helmet and knee/elbow protectors are not a bad idea as well. Hearing can be decreased with high quality ear muffs, noise-cancelling headphones and ear plugs; white noise combined with noise cancellation and ear plugs work great lengths to make your Little feel very helpless. For touching/grabbing any sort of thick thumbless mittens work great.

Remember to never let go of your Little’s hand when they are so vulnerable and cuddle and encourage them often.

Plan a Little day or activity together

The ideas above are just that - ideas. Your Little is one and unique and they might not be applicable. If you’re ever wondering - just ask! Your Little will be more than happy to tell you about their fantasies, ideas and what they would consider a quality bonding time. You will never get wrong with those.