Today after our visit to The Bow and lunch at a trendy pizza and wine restaurant downtown, we decided that we needed to get the kids out somewhere where they could run and let off some steam. We headed to Big Hills Springs Park, a provincial park not far from where my brother and sister-in-law live.
This morning I woke up to this post from Kiwi Crate in my inbox, which turned out to be a perfect afternoon activity for Miss G. The moment I nonchalantly mentioned a ‘sticker matching game’, she was ready to go.
Luckily, this little activity takes very little prep work. Miss G helped me gather some paper, some dot stickers, a Sharpie, and some scissors.
To get started, I folded a green sheet of construction paper in half, and cut out a tree shape freehand.
Next, I used the Sharpie to draw 15 unique shapes onto the dot stickers (the original post uses letters instead of shapes, but I thought this would be a better starting point for Miss G).
Next, I drew matching shapes on the tree. And that was it. The game was ready.
Then I let Miss G go. All I said was “Do you want to try this sticker matching game?” and she started peeling stickers off of the backing. I wasn’t sure what she’d do, but she automatically placed the polka dotted circle sticker on top of the polka dotted circle drawn on the paper. Smart little cookie! ☺
And from there, she powered through the rest of the stickers.
Let me tell you, Miss G adores matching games. Mix in stickers, which she also adores, and this game couldn’t be more perfect for her.
Done!
Of course, the second she finished her tree she tilted her head to the side and said, “Grae Grae does anover sticker matching game, Mama?” And really, how can you say no to that? This time, we went with something a little different… I cut out a quick gingerbread person and used the stickers as body parts and decorations.
She loved this one too and pleaded for another.
This time I decided to try the letter idea.
I wasn’t sure if it would be too much for her, but off she went and carefully started making matches.
It definitely took her a little more time, but she happily worked on it on her own as I tidied the house.
“Mama, Mama! All done!!!”
This was such a fun and simple activity that we’ll definitely be doing it again soon (VERY soon – as in tomorrow – if it’s up to Miss G).
♥
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This afternoon, Gracen and I had the absolute pleasure of attending a launch event at the Robson Street location of Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics.
When we first got the invite, I was really excited for two reasons. First off, because I’ve been a longtime Lush fan and seeing, touching, and trying a brand new product before the general public is always fun, and second, because the event was munchkin-friendly and Gracen was more than welcome to come along!
When we arrived, the Lush team was extremely helpful, sweet, and friendly. They helped us find a spot to park our stroller, offered us all kinds of delicious treats and beverages, and invited Gracen to play with the newest Lush innovation, ‘Fun’. Of course she had already spotted the play table on the way in and was more than ready to sink her little hands into the mouldable material.
As she played, I learned all about Fun. What it is basically, is a mouldable {delicious smelling} soap that can be used in four different ways. First off (and most importantly ☺), it can be played with. It has a texture between play dough and plastercine and can easily be cut, shaped, and rolled. The best part is that since it’s a soap, clean up is a breeze – both when it comes to cleaning your table and cleaning your kid. When used in the bathroom, it can be rubbed and used as a soap (we’ve already used it at the sink for washing hands and in the bathtub as a body bar), lathered and used as a shampoo, or placed under some running water as a bubble bath. So cool, right? I’m pretty sure some pre-bath time “play dough” sessions are in our very near future…
After playing with Fun for a good, long time, Miss G decided it would be a good time to have her face painted. Having seen {and immediately fallen in love with} a stack of pumpkin-shaped soap on the way by, a little jack-o-lantern on her cheek it was.
With a freshly-painted cheek, it was off to explore the rest of the store. There were all kinds of goodies out and Gracen very happily chose a bag of popcorn to munch on while I helped myself to a little bag of goodies at the candy bar. We explored the products, learning about them and trying them out along the way, which was a lot of fun. These were two of our favourites. I really loved the slightly shimmery Bubblebeard bubble wand because it made incredible bubbles with just small swishes in a bowlful of water, and Grae really loved the Calacas shower jelly, mostly because it was really fun to poke and squish.
We stopped to see a few other things, mingle with some other mamas and kiddos, and snack on our goodies, but more than anything, Grae wanted to get back to the Fun table to play.
Before heading home for dinner, bath, and bed time, we got to watch a fresh batch of Fun being made, and then play with it immediately afterwards. When fresh made like this, Fun is still pretty soft and sticky compared to the finished product, but Gracen didn’t mind one bit. It made for a great mess and lots of fun swishing it all of in a bowl of warm water afterwards.
To top off a fun-filled afternoon, Lush very generously sent us home with a bag full of goodies that Grae immediately called her ‘present’ and insisted on carrying on her own despite the fact that it was heavy and bulky.
When we got home and opened it, she was thrilled to find several rolls of Fun inside, but even more thrilled to see a Jacko bath fizzer. We chopped him up to spread the excitement up over a few nights, and before long, our pumpkin pie scented little lady was tucked into bed.
♥
One of Gracen’s new things is booting her babies out of their bassinet and claiming the space as her own (luckily it doesn’t really rock). Today she climbed in there with her cup of nuts, had a good 10 minutes of ‘Grae time’, and when she had polished off her entire snack, called me for some help with getting out. What a little monkey we have!
