In order to get through our move, Miss G spent a lot of time playing independently, which is difficult when the majority of your things are packed and life as you know it is being turned upside-down in front of your eyes. In order to make things a little bit easier for her, each day that we spent packing, I’d set out a couple of very simple invitations to play with whatever was around at the time. I have to say, she handled the situation very well and even created a few fun activities of her own. Here’s some of what our little lady did last week…
Category Archives: child’s play
Fresh Mint Sensory Play
The last few days have been hectic. With only 5 days to pack up our entire house and prepare for our first of two upcoming moves, Brad and I have been working at full steam sorting through things, preparing boxes of items we’ll need for August, boxes that will go straight to Kuwait, and boxes that will go into storage until we return home to Canada in a few years. Sort of sadly, that leaves our little lady to play independently almost all day long most days. As a result, I’ve been pulling together all kinds of random, super simple activities with whichever everyday materials are nearby at the moment. Luckily for me, this morning as I popped on the internet for a brief moment, there was a discussion on different ways to use fresh mint going on in one of the awesome blogger networks I belong to (if you’re not already one of the 68 000 people that follow our Pinterest board, you certainly should be!) We have loads of mint growing in our backyard, so I took a bunch of the suggestions, mashed them together and created this fresh mint soup station for Miss G to explore.
To start out, I set out a big bunch of fresh mint, a pair of Gracen’s scissors, and few plastic bowls and spoons. Grae began smelling and cutting and ripping the mint and the amazing scent of fresh mint filled our house. She dished out bowls of ‘salad’ and delivered them to us as we worked.
Before long, I sensed that something would have to be added to the mix in order to keep Grae engaged in her play, so I grabbed a small container of green glitter and a jug filled with water and a couple drops of green food colouring and quietly added them to the bin. (Slowly adding elements to sensory bins as play progresses is one of my favourite tips for keeping munchkins engaged in their play.)
In no time at all, bowls of sparkly green soup were rolling out of Gracen’s fresh mint kitchen.
Looks delicious, right?
This was such a simple set-up, but Grae enjoyed it so much that I just tidied it up to make it look inviting again, and I’m leaving it out overnight for Miss G to enjoy again tomorrow. We’ll see how the mint lasts!
♥
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A {Pretend Play} Popcorn Shop
Our makeshift puppet theatre got LOTs of play and it was {well past} time to switch things up in our little Ikea SKYLTA Market Stand. Because we’re amidst our 5 days dedicated to packing our entire house, it had to be something super quick and easy to set-up, but highly engaging in order to keep Miss G happily {and independently} playing for as long as possible.
To get things started, I made a little ‘Popcorn Shop’ sign that took less than a minute to make, and popped it into the structure’s sign slot.
Then Grae and I made a big bowl of plain stove-top popcorn (in coconut oil of course) and she grabbed a measuring cup to act as her scoop while I grabbed an old salt shaker that works terribly (it barely lets anything out, and in this case that’s perfect) and put a little sea salt inside.
While I’ve seen really cute old-fashioned popcorn bags at our local dollar store, I’m a big fan of using what you have on hand if you can, so I grabbed some paper bags I’d used at a recent craft market and quickly wrote ‘POPCORN’ across the front of each one. Together we decided that the small white ones would be the shop’s personal size and the bigger brown ones would be family-sized.
After retrieving an apron, Miss G opened her popcorn shop for business.
She took orders, asking us about our size and salt preferences, and carefully scooped popcorn into bags. When an order was ready, she’d deliver it to us wherever we were working in the house, then check back in a few minutes later to see if we needed a free refill… Now that’s what I call service!
Our popcorn shop was a total hit with Grae and my guess is that she’d continue dishing out bags of popcorn as long as I’d continue filling the bowl.
This inexpensive cardboard contraption has brought us a ton of fun already and I fully plan to take advantage of it for the last few weeks before we move. ☺
To see the other ways we’ve used our cardboard market stand, click here.
♥
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Floating Flowers… Fun for Pools, Baths, & Sensory Bins
When we went to pick up a pool noodle for Gracen’s marble run water slide, she originally fell in love with a flower-shaped noodle. While I knew it wouldn’t be the best fit for our marble run, at $1.25, I knew we would eventually figure out a way to put it to good use.
It was my first time seeing this sort of pool noodle, and all I knew was that I wanted to slice it up to create tons of little individual flower shapes.
So that’s just what I did. Just like when slicing a pool noodle in half vertically, I found that using a sharp, serrated knife and a sawing motion worked best. I sliced ours about an inch thick, but you could do them any thickness you like – even varying thicknesses would be fun!
As I chopped, Miss G ran the ready flowers over to her blow up pool and tossed them in!
It’s such a simple thing, but they looked so pretty and inviting dancing around on the water’s surface. (I’m already picturing them in bath tubs and sensory bins too!)
I think Miss G agreed, because she immediately jumped in {despite the freezing cold water} and started splashing around like mad!
When the splashing had subsided a little bit, Grandma Charlotte showed Grae how the flowers could be used as building blocks.
It’s definitely easier in still-ish water, but it’s equally fun when in or out of the pool. Towers can be built…
Pyramids can be built…
And ‘trains’ can be built too! Of course, the possibilities are really endless when it comes to building structures – even when they’re floating ones.
Now the only question is how I’m going to convince Brad that heaps of pool noodle flowers are a Kuwait necessity… I mean with the heat and the amount of time we spend in and around water there, they are, aren’t they? ☺
Frozen SCENTED Sidewalk Chalk Popsicles
When I saw this post from Reading Confetti, I immediately fell in love. We’ve made our own sidewalk chalk paint for a long while now and I’d seen many frozen versions, but never had I seen them made in popsicle moulds before! After sharing the idea on our Facebook page and pinning it on several Pinterest boards, I made a mental note to pick up some more cornstarch the next time I was out so we could get the project under way.
Well luckily for me, not only did I remember to pick up cornstarch during our next grocery shop, but I also ran into these Duncan Hines Frosting Creations packets for the first time ever. Immediately, I knew our frozen chalk pops would be scented. A few days later, Miss G and I gathered up our materials and got to work.
Using our tried and true sidewalk chalk paint method, we mixed 2 cups of warm water with 1 cup of cornstarch in our blender for a minute or so. Then we collected our popsicle moulds, our Frosting Creation packets, some gel food colouring (liquid will work too, but the colours won’t be nearly as intense), and several popsicle sticks.
Next up, I used the popsicle sticks to scoop a small amount of gel food colouring into each popsicle mould, and Miss G selected a Frostings Creation packet to coordinate with each colour before we added a small amount (maybe 1/8th of the packet) to each slot. (If you’re making this at home and can’t find the frosting flavour packets, you could always use unsweetened Kool-Aid or Jell-O powder instead.)
With our food colouring and powdered scent ready, we filled each popsicle mould about 2/3rds full of our cornstarch/water combo and Gracen stirred them well.
Then we topped them up with a little bit more cornstarch/water and Grae gently stirred them a little more.
At that point, all that was left to do was put our plastic handles in and freeze the chalk pops overnight.
The next day, they looked like this. The colours were vibrant, the texture was smooth and creamy, and they smelled absolutely delicious.
The blue one smelled like cotton candy, the green one was mint chocolate, the red was strawberry shortcake, and the orange was orange creme… YUM. The only potentially bad news is that because they do look so real and smell so wonderfully, some munchkins may be tempted to try eating them (yuck!) That being said, because they’re made strictly of kitchen ingredients, they are technically safe to consume. So though they may taste chalky and gross, they certainly wouldn’t harm a curious little monkey who snuck a lick.
With our fun new chalk pops in hand, we headed into the backyard to test them out. The verdict? They’re really awesome!
When they’re melting and drippy, they go on much like their liquid counterpart does, only via a wand of sorts instead of a paintbrush. When they’re not melting, they go on much like regular sidewalk chalk does – dry and colourful with a little bit of pressure. When dry, the colours are super vibrant and to me, they look very much like they’ve been made with regular sidewalk chalk.
By the time our chalk pops had melted, our cement pad was fully covered in bright swirls, drawings, drips, and letters. And the great news is that it all washed away really easily without any fuss – much easier than our sidewalk chalk paint normally does for some reason.
I can’t wait to pull this activity out again in Kuwait where the temperatures soar and our courtyard is made completely of cement.
♥
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{Simple Fun} Sink Play
I forgot how trying and time consuming this whole Kuwait documentation process is… We’re currently in the throws of police clearances, medical tests, notarizations, and phone calls, which isn’t all that fun. Add in a very busy, wanting-to-be-on-the-go toddler, and it’s that much more difficult. Today, between Embassy calls and trips to the police station and medical lab, I pulled out one of my favourite tried and true ways to keep Miss G happily engaged while we got a few things done – a sink full of water. It’s a super simple invitation to play and is a hit every single time. Today it involved a couple of drops of blue/green food colouring, a couple of rocks, some glass gems, and a bowl of plastic creepy crawlies. That’s it. We set it up together, she pulled her little Ikea stool up to the bathroom sink, and the play began.
The best part is that it’s not at all limited to a bug swamp. In fact, the possibilities are endless! Here are a few of our favourite sink play ideas…
1. Baby bath – Grab a plastic doll, a wash cloth and/or sponge, some watered down shampoo or bubble bath,and a small towel and the baby doll will be cleaner than ever. For extra fun, add in a toothbrush and hairbrush for when bath time is done.
2. Ocean – Add a couple of drops of blue food colouring to the water, then add some rocks, seashells, driftwood pieces and plastic ocean creatures. Instant fun!
3. Floating building station – Place several pool noodle pieces (sliced about an inch thick) in the sink and let your little one experiment with building floating structures – towers, pyramids, ‘trains’ – anything goes!
♥
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Building Sugar Cube Structures
Upon returning from my first ever weekend (and overnight, actually) away from Miss G, she immediately asked if we could open the last of her activity bags. She explained that she had already opened all of the other bags, but had saved the ‘bonus bag’ to do with me once I returned home.
She pulled the items out one by one and this is what we found inside… A box of sugar cubes, some white glue, and several pieces of thick cardboard. The note inside explained that the materials were for building structures, and Gracen wasted no time getting started.
First up, she told me she was going to build ‘biiiiig’ towers. ‘Big, big, big, big, biiiiiig ones’. And that she did. Layering a little squeeze of glue between each sugar cube allowed her to create several tall towers.
When her towers reached the height that satisfied her expectations, she asked for help with making a ‘rectangle’. I squeezed the glue out onto the cardboard in a rectangular shape, and she place the cubes along the path. We continued this pattern several times and finished off with a top layer that made the structure look castle-like.
With our sugar cube box running low, we decided we had enough left for one last structure. Grae decided on a pyramid with a fence around it (the fence was very important) and so that’s what we did.
I really love this activity because it can be very open-ended – the possibilities are endless! Grae loved it so much that she was quite disappointed when the sugar cubes were gone, so we’ll definitely be trying it again soon!
♥
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Marble Run Water Slide
When I found this huge jar of marbles sitting in the closet of Brad’s childhood bedroom, I knew they had to be used for something fun. I immediately thought of these two posts and knew that Miss G would love exploring a marble run.
While Grandma Charlotte’s pool noodles didn’t have holes down the centres and every shop in the village she lives in appeared to be anxiously waiting the same pool noodle shipment, my hometown not far away had pool noodles aplenty! In fact, one of the local dollar stores had huge bins full for $1.25 a piece! With a pool noodle in hand, I began building our marble run during G’s nap. The first step was saw the noodle in half vertically with a serrated knife. Slow and steady was the key to this one.
It was a bit tricky to cut perfectly down the centre of the noodle the entire time, but it really doesn’t have to be perfect.
Next up, I inserted several toothpicks along the side of one of the noodle halves, then carefully connected the other half.
With the main structure built and plenty of nap time to spare, I decided to focus on the details. While I’m sure the usual race track theme would have gone over wonderfully, I decided to switch things up a little and gear the activity to one of Gracen’s recent interests… water slides! Using some bamboo skewers I shortened a little, I threw together a ‘WATER SLIDE’ sign and a few buntings and stuck them onto the slide structure. Then I propped the top of the slide up on a couple of vintage apple crates and put a small bin filled with sparkly blue water at the bottom. Gracen was delighted to wake up from her nap and see it!
The activity really needed no explanation. She recruited Grandma Charlotte, they each selected a marble, and on ‘ready, set, go!’ they released them.
It was a close one!
I kind of wondered if she’d always want someone playing with her during this activity, but that wasn’t the case. She just as happily played on her own.
And after doing several races, things got a little creative… She tried putting multiple marbles in a track before releasing them, raced small marbles against large marbles, and tried sending Nerfuls down too.
Our little pool noodle water slide has already brought a ton of fun and I can’t wait for us experiment with it some more in the coming weeks… I’m thinking ping pong balls would be neat because they’d float in the pool at the bottom and maybe we’ll try racing water itself?
♥
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A Messy Play Date {& Some Messy Play Date Tips}
Today was the highly anticipated day of our {backyard} messy play date…finally! Gracen and I got everything ready yesterday afternoon and had it all sitting by the backyard to make our early start time a little easier this morning. During our prep, Grae was so excited she could barely contain herself. She gathered sensory bin items and assembled them like it was her job and this morning she was up bright and early eager for her friends to arrive.
When we do these sorts of play dates, I try to have a variety of different kinds of open-ended activities spread out throughout the backyard. This means that there is something for everyone and not all of the kids are always crowded in the same area like little sardines. Today’s sensory activities included our bird bin, an ocean bin filled with water beads, a construction bin filled with pea gravel, a cloud dough bin filled with different moulds and scoops, a gardening station directly in our garden {as we didn’t plant this year due to our upcoming move}, and a sparkly slime tray. For kiddos looking for a bit more action, we had our inexpensive and easy backyard balance beam, a sandbox filled with dinosaur bones and shovels for digging, a pool filled with cups, scoops, and nets {because it was too cool to actually swim}, and bubble chasing courtesy of a couple of bubble machines. For our little art lovers, we had out a big moon painting station and a bucket of sidewalk chalk with some water for dipping, and for those looking for a little bit of downtime, we had our 5 minute teepee with some puzzles inside, a beading station, and a tunnel hideout.
Sounds fun, right? Strangely enough, after all of the build-up, Miss G was quite clingy and whiny throughout. I think it was a combination of feeling slightly smothered by a very affectionate friend and just being a little overwhelmed. Though I think she still had fun, I was a little surprised that it didn’t go over a bit better than it did… But what can you do? I’m pretty sure the other kids enjoyed themselves, and after a lot of messy play, we all sat down to a laid-back picnic lunch of sandwiches, fruits and veggies, nuts, crackers, cookie dough boys, and homemade iced tea and lemonade. After saying goodbye to our friends {and passing out play dough and play putty favours – all Miss G’s idea}, we found ourselves in a backyard that looked like a tornado had run through it… A true sign of messy play date success, I’d say!
Here are some photos from our morning…
After hosting a couple of these play dates, here are a few things I’ve learned along the way…
1. Include activities of varying messiness. Not all kiddos love getting filthy.
2. Spread play stations out as much as possible. Not only does it allow the munchkins lots of space to play and explore, but it also helps keep the play materials separate (though we did end up with slime, sand, and cloud dough in our pool this time around!)
3. Expect your play materials to get trashed. While water beads, slime, and doughs may last several months when enjoyed by just your child(ren), many children may be experiencing these play materials for the first time. Water beads will be smushed, dirt will be added to the slime, and buckets of water will be dumped into cloud dough, so be prepared to throw everything out and start fresh.
4. Slime and concrete don’t mix. Being used to my very careful, rule-bound little lady, I thought nothing of putting a big tray of slime out on a table on our concrete pad. Needless to say, by the end of the play date, it was everywhere and Brad and I spent a couple of hours picking, peeling, spraying, scrubbing, and sweeping it all up – pretty rockin’ Friday night, no? All in the name of fun! ☺
5. Include a hand washing station. Kids are going to want to wash their hands between activities and having a spot to do it outside not only makes it easier for them, but it also minimizes traffic in and out of the house. We use a drink dispenser filled with warm water with a basin below and some soap and a hand towel nearby and not only does it get the job done, but it’s also a lot of fun.
♥
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A SIMPLE Puppet Theatre
With our fruit and veggie market being a huge hit for a solid week or so, today we decided to switch things up a little. Given a few options, Miss G confidently chose to convert our cardboard market stand into a simple puppet theatre this time around.
And when I say simple, I mean simple! Because our designated market builder seemed to miss a couple of steps in the process (*ahem* not me!) we have a couple of open slots near the top of the stand that were perfect for slipping a lightweight cotton scarf through to give the feel of a curtain. If we would have had a long, thin dowel, I would have attempted to fashion a working curtain, but no such luck. Of course, Miss G doesn’t seem to mind in the least.
The other small step we took to transform our market stand into a puppet theatre is to create a super simple welcome sign. We simply slid it into the poster holder in front of the fruit and veggie shop one and we were good to go.
All that was left was retrieving a few puppets, and luckily, Miss G had that covered.
These guys were up for some exercise and ended up jumping and ‘practicing falling’.
After playing with her traditional puppets a while, she pulled out her homemade wooden spoon puppets to switch things up a little. They talked about their favourite colours, decided to go to the park, and ended up finishing the play date with a kiss! ☺
Next up was the finger puppet crew. These guys did their usual performance – 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed.
So far, this little cardboard market has brought about a ton of fun and I know there’s a lot more in store!
To see our fruit and veggie market, click here.
♥
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{Pretend Play} Fruit and Veggie Market
Several weeks ago, while slowly making our way through the children’s section of Ikea, I spotted this cardboard play market. Now it’s not like me to purchase play things on a whim (we sort of operate on a minimal toys basis in our house), but with all of the all of the possibilities and a $12.99 price tag ($14.99 in the US), I couldn’t pass it up.
For the last little while, it’s been Grae’s Fruit & Veggie Market, where she sells all sort of {felt} fruits and vegetables for ridiculously low prices (and she even throws in a free reusable bag with your purchase!)
One of Gracen’s very favourite pretend play games is ‘store’, so it goes without saying that this has been a total hit, plus I love the fact that it encourages all kinds of communication, manners, and role play.
Next up, our cardboard market is being put to use as a puppet theatre!
♥
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Building Beaded Pattern Sticks
The other day while picking up a few craft supplies, Miss G absolutely fell in love with these heart-shaped pony beads. Next to them, we found tiny little wooden dowels that the beads fit onto perfectly. At the time, I really had no idea what we’d do with the pair, but I knew we’d figure something out.
Turns out, the answer was play with patterns! I was quite surprised by how early on Miss G grasped the concept of patterns… I remember being in the kitchen cooking dinner one night long ago and hearing Brad ask Grae about a pattern out in the living room. I thought to myself, ‘she’s way too young to know what he’s talking about’, but sure enough she proved me wrong on the spot. So since we really haven’t explored them all that much, I decided our beads and dowels would be perfect for it. While Miss G napped today, I spent a little bit of time catching up on my RSS feed while colouring pattern stripes on the dowels with markers. This time around, I chose to pattern the entire dowel, but next time around I’d probably just start the patterns in order to let her complete them on her own.
With my patterned sticks complete, I knew I wanted to stand them upright somehow. Out came some homemade lemony play dough and the little pots we used for our flower garden yogurt parfaits, and voila. Mission accomplished.
When Gracen woke up, she immediately saw the little station I’d set out and was thrilled. After a squeal and cheer, the first thing’Mama, I want you to tell me what to do’, but when I asked if she really wanted me to tell her what to do or if she wanted to just play, she decided she was happy to just play.
Of course she immediately realized that the colours on the dowels coordinated with the bead colours and began matching them up. (Just look at that little face… Makes me melt!)
Shortly after beginning the activity, I realized that the dough-filled pots allowed the dowels to sink down as she added beads, so I changed things up a little bit and just used a play dough pancake to hold the sticks up instead. She realized that the stripes in fact made patterns, and ‘read’ each one out to me.
Not only has this activity been fun and great for discussing colours and patterns, but it’s also great fine motor practice too! Fitting the tiny beads onto the tiny dowels requires some serious concentration.
This activity has been out for several days now, is still out currently (dried up play dough and all), and gets some decent attention each day… A hit in my books. ☺
♥
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iPhoneography // Simple Rice Tray Play
This morning I had a little bit of housework to do and Miss G suggested that she’d play with some freshly coloured rice I’d made while I got my clean on. It’d been a quite a while since she’d last opted to play with a rice bin or tray, so I was happy to hear that she was still excited about such a simple sensory activity. While I put the rice into small containers, she picked out items she wanted to use while playing with it. She gathered up a divided plate, heart-shaped ice cube tray, cup, scoop, bowl, and funnel and we laid everything down on a large blanket in the living room.
She got to playing right away and immediately mixed the different colours in the bowl while using the funnel. Watching the individual colours mix into speckled sea of rainbow colours is always so much fun (and so is crazy bed head ☺).
There was a lot of mixing, dumping, and pouring, but the favourite of the morning was definitely this little scoop paired with the funnel. She quickly learned that using the two together was a great way to fill the little heart-shaped ice moulds and we later on we even experimented with extending our funnel using a bubble tea straw.
After she was through playing, we scooped up the rice, added it to the bin of coloured rice we keep in the solarium, and shook the remaining grains off of the blanket outside. Easy, simple fun.
To see how we make our coloured rice, click here.
♥
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{Pretend Play} Bubble Tea Shop
Ever since the very first time we played with water beads, I’ve had a pretend play bubble tea station on my mind. I just can’t help it… It may be that we live in a city that has a bubble tea shop every couple of blocks, but the squishy, shiny beads make me think of tapioca pearls every time I see them.
Finally, almost a year after dreaming up the idea, my wee one and I put together our first pretend bubble tea shop. And it couldn’t have been better timing as Miss G is really into pretend play (in particular, store games where an exchange of some sort takes place) right now.
While I often set up invitations to play or create while she’s sleeping, this time around Gracen helped me. Together, we gathered up a few things we had around the house and a couple of inexpensive things we purchased especially for this activity. Included in the set-up were some tall plastic cups, a few containers of water beads with small scoops (our tapioca pearls), a couple of small pitchers of coloured water (our tea / fruit juice), a small spouted container of water coloured white with cornstarch (our condensed milk), and a jar full of colourful bubble tea straws (purchased at our local Japanese dollar store). Though I really don’t mind a mess in the name of great play, I also included tray on the pouring area of the table to catch little spills and prevent a slippery wooden floor.
To complete the set-up, we popped over to the computer to create a quick shop sign. I told her how to spell ‘bubble tea’ and Miss G carefully located and pressed each key, which was a fun activity in itself. Afterwards, I selected a good, bold outline font and she chose the image and the drink price. We printed it off, coloured it together, and used some washi tape to hang it on the wall.
With our shop complete, it was time to get down to business and Gracen couldn’t have been more excited. While she’s never tried bubble tea herself, she’s seen people walking down the street with it plenty, so she had a very good idea of what she wanted to do.
At this point I should say that Miss G is well out of the putting things in her mouth stage and because she is such a rule follower, I was not worried in the least that she would attempt to drink her creations (she wouldn’t even consider it). Of course, if you suspect that your little one would be tempted to drink the pretend bubble tea or if you’re unable to supervise the play the entire time, this activity is not for you as water beads are {obviously} not edible.
I invited her to get started without giving her any instructions (as I usually do), and this is how she put together her creation… Pearls first, then juice, then a straw and some milk – a pretty solid method I’d say!
She made drink after drink, each time talking about the person she was making for. This particular one was for Grandma Sue because Grandma Sue loves pink and therefore she’d pick pink pearls and pink juice. The process went on and on until she could no longer think of another person she knew. Then it was on to making them for people’s pets!
Here are a few of her bubble tea creations. Pretty, aren’t they?
Because the station was such a hit, I set up a bowl with a strainer in it so she could pour out her drinks and refill her containers when she’d run out of supplies (well, she was in charge of refilling her water bead containers and I poured the water from the bowl back into the pitchers). This allowed the fun to continue on and on without having to waste water or make trips back and forth to the kitchen.
Gracen enjoyed this activity so much that it stayed out for nearly a week, getting lots of action each day. We’ll definitely be doing it again in the near future, and while it was great inside, I can’t wait to set it up outside in the backyard on a warm day too!
Again, water beads are not edible and should never be consumed. This activity should always be supervised and is not intended for munchkins prone to tasting play materials or putting things in their mouths.
♥
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Super Simple 5 Minute Backyard Teepee
First off, I have to say that my Baba is hands down one of the most amazing, wonderful women I know. She’s one of those ladies who can truly do anything… From sewing to cooking to running a farm, fixing things, painting, gardening, building things, and entertaining – she excels at all. Oh, and at 70 something years old, having never used a computer or the internet, she bought herself an iPad and taught herself how to use it too. Amazing, right? (Hi Baba! Love you!) ☺
Growing up, my little brother and I would spend a week or two at my Baba’s house each summer. Our days out at the farm were wonderful. We spent nearly all of our time outdoors… We herded cattle, carried huge buckets of grain out each morning, and watched calves being born. We roamed through massive gardens with freedom to pick and eat as much as we pleased. We devoured fresh peas off the vine, ate up buckets of raspberries, and wandered around with long stalks of rhubarb with little glass bowls of dipping sugar. Baba taught us how to use the ride-on mower, make pedaheh from scratch, and draw with artists’ pencils and shading sticks – all of the things childhoods should be made of.
But above all other adventures and activities that took place on that farm, the one that stands out most in my mind – the one that was most anticipated each year – was building a backyard teepee. Baba would take us out into the forest, small saw in hand, and we’d cut down the trees that would form the structure of our new home. We’d drag them back, position them and tie them up, then drape them in sheets until our teepee was fully enclosed. Perhaps the very best part was furnishing it afterwards. We’d carefully separate the space in half, position our mattresses and end tables (Baba doesn’t mess around), then stock it up with blankets, flashlights, snacks, books, and activities. I can’t even describe how cool it all seemed as a child.
Recently, I introduced the magic of backyard teepees to Miss G. Nothing that could rival one of the ones my Baba used to make, but a teepee none the less. Our first one was a completely impromptu build, but it was so quick and easy that we’ve made them the same way each time since. Here’s how we put together our super simple backyard teepee in no longer than five minutes…
First up, the materials… We use 6 6-foot tall bamboo stakes (purchased at any store that has a decent gardening section), a king-sized sheet, some jute, and 10 – 12 clothespins.
To start out, I push the stakes into the ground just an inch or two to form a circle with an open front. (As you can see, G likes to stand in the middle and have me build around her. ☺)
Next, I gather up the top of the stakes in one hand (there really isn’t a right way to do this – I just grab them and how they come together is how they come together) and use the other hand to wrap the jute around. One thing I try to do while wrapping the jute is to weave it in and out of the stakes – this gives it some better holding power. When the jute seems secure, I tie it off in a bow so it’s easy to undo later.
With the structure built, it’s time to enclose it with the sheet. To do this, I simply drape the sheet around the stakes horizontally with the ends being at the front opening. To hold it in place temporarily, I bring the two sides of the sheet together at the top and secure it using a clothespin and add another two at the base of the two front stakes.
Next up, it’s time fix the positioning a little, smooth everything out, tuck in the extra fabric, and secure it all. I like to start at the front, making sure that both of the front stakes are fully covered and each side has a flap of extra fabric that can be used to close up the teepee completely if desired. To do this, I just tug and adjust until it’s the way I want it. With the sheet positioned properly, I move to the top and add several clothes pins to secure the sheet to the stakes. I usually use four, but you could put one on each of the 6 stakes if you wanted to. Then I go to the bottom and add a pin to each of the stakes, tucking under the extra fabric along the way if needed.
And that’s it – the basic teepee is complete. Super simple, right?
To make ours extra cozy, we always add a blanket in the bottom and a few throw cushions along the sides.
One of Gracen’s favourite parts is selecting an activity to bring into her teepee with her. Most often, it’s a stack of books to read, but today it was a stack of puzzles instead.
When we’re done playing for the day, we normally take down the sheet and bring everything inside, but leave the bamboo stake structure up, which makes for an even faster set up the next time and the time after that and the time after that…
♥
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