Let’s be honest here… Who really has the patience to sit for ages making perler bead creations?? I wish I did. Miss G and I made a few little things the other day and had fun, but truth be told, what we really wanted to do was run our fingers through them – hah! That, or use them for something completely different {and less fine motor skill intensive} than what they’re intended for – like making a simple shake and search I spy bottle.
Since a home recycling service doesn’t exist here in Kuwait, I save all sorts of food packing items, hoping to find them some sort of second purpose before they end up in the bin. My hoarding usually serves me well and I’m almost always able to help out when fellow community members put out calls for recyclables to use in their classrooms, but sometimes my stash just gets out of control. Such is the current situation with my egg carton stash. It’s out of control, which means that there will most likely be many egg carton projects and activities in our near future, the first of which is a super simple egg carton letter sound sort.
Miss G and I had all sorts of fun this morning! After an early morning coffee shop date and creating our family portrait embroidery hoop, we put together a little beginning sounds sorting game that was both fun and simple.
After seeing Jackie’s post about pairing mirrors with glass gems and dry erase markers on Happy Hooligans recently, I knew we had to try it. Mirror play is something I’ve wanted to explore with Miss G for a long while now, and seeing that post gave me the push I needed to go out and pick up a mirror dedicated solely to play.
Since returning home from vacation last week, we’ve been in a bit of a ‘getting back on track’ mode… While we’re pretty good at maintaining Gracen’s overall schedule while away, some things are harder to control. While on vacation, the time Grae’s left to find and engage in activities on her own is minimal – and for good reason as there are cousins and grandparents to play with! The trouble is, mix the lack of time to practice independence with a whole lot more media exposure (I’m learning that our television is on for, perhaps, an abnormally small fraction of the day), and by the time we return home, I’ve got a stage five clinger on my hands. And don’t get me wrong – I love having my little sidekick right next to me most of the time… But sometimes a mama has just got to do something on her own, without a little pair of hands in the mix. Not to mention that I think independent play is a very important skill for kids to learn.
So tonight, as I was whipping together some dinner, I thought of a little game that would allow Miss G (my purple dinosaur) to be right there in the kitchen with me, while allowing me a wee bit of space. Flipping some chicken using tongs caused me to remember the mini tongs we’d put in Grae’s Christmas stocking. I added two bowls and some shell pasta to the mix, and we had a game on our hands.
The goal? Simply using the tongs to pick up the shells from one bowl and transfer them to the other bowl.
Now this may sound ridiculously easy, but for a toddler who’s had minimal experience with tongs and whose motor skills are not yet fully developed, it’s quite a challenge at first.
But not for long. After successfully transferring all of the pasta pieces twice, Gracen asked for something new. I quickly scanned our kitchen and came up these honey mandarins.
I could already see that her tong transferring skills had improved this time around.
After a couple of rounds with the oranges, Miss G wanted to try something new again, so we dug these bells out of a craft box to use.
It is such a simple activity, but this little ‘game’ certainly kept my clingy monkey happily engaged until dinner was ready. And sometimes that’s just what a mama needs.
♥
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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 is the SIMPLEST little game ever, but Miss G loves it. And we’re talking loves it so much that she squeals and shrieks the entire time we play and shouts “More pillow pass, Mama!” whenever she thinks the game is going to end.
Basically, all we do is toss a pillow back and forth. Seriously, that’s it. A pillow is easier to catch than a ball, it’s as soft as can be (even when you get whacked in the head repeatedly), and apparently throwing a pillow around is hilarious.
♥
As I was preparing dinner late this afternoon, Grae came into the kitchen and sweetly asked for hangers. I immediately knew what she wanted to do – she wanted to hang them on her crib railing as I do when setting out her outfit choices in the morning. I retrieved a great big handful of hangers from the top of her closet, handed them over, and she was pleased as punch. I was back at my cooking when she came in a requested more hangers, to which I suggested she take down the ones she had and put them back up afterwards. Off she went. A couple of minutes later, I sneakily poked my head around the corner to find this…
My little work bee always has to keep busy, even if it involves creating jobs for herself, undoing them, and redoing them again. ♥
This has become an after nap time ritual in our house… These three wooden puzzles perfectly in line, the pieces strewn upon the floor, some chill music, and a very determined little puzzle master at work. Oh ya – some serious bed head is also necessary.
