Today, while out touring around Heidelberg, Miss G and I kept our eyes peeled for pretty winter nature items. As we came across different things, we added them to reusable bag and then continued along our way. Just the fact that things like evergreen branches and winter berries can be found here is a huge treat to our little desert-dwelling lady, so collecting a bagful with the intention of making a winter nature sensory soup was really exciting.
I’m absolutely thrilled to be sharing one of Miss G’s all-time favourite games over at I Can Teach My Child today {one of the very first blogs I ever followed!} We’ve made and played these super simple homemade matching games since Gracen was around 2, and they never get old. Over time, we’ve varied them according to the season and Gracen’s interests and abilities, which makes them perfect for all kinds of munchkins. Pop on over and see the full post here. ☺
Have I mentioned how much I love when fun, unplanned activities just come about naturally during the day? I do! In fact, I often find that they’re some of our very favourites. That’s exactly what happened today with our super simple table top roadway.
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…
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!
♥
For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.
While we’ve done plenty of regular mess-free painting on our sidewalks and fence, today Gracen asked if I’d draw her something to paint. While maybe not as open-ended as I’d usually aim for, I do find that sometimes she prefers having a jumping off point, so I drew an assortment of shapes on the ground using sidewalk chalk. The activity was actually perfect for her new found interest of colouring in the lines, and when the water dried, it left our cement pad covered in beautiful, watercolour-esque shapes. So simple, but she enjoyed so much that she’s already asked to do it again.
♥
For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.
Sometimes, or better yet, many times, it’s the simple things. This afternoon, my freshly napped bubba woke up to discover a new package by our door. She excitedly asked to open it, not caring about which actual item may be inside, but rather which packing material was surrounding the item (both bubble wrap and packing peanuts are huge in our house). To her satisfaction, she found a fresh new sheet of bubble wrap inside, just waiting to be enjoyed.
After a good long time poking at it with her little fingers, I asked, “Are there any other ways we could pop the bubbles?” This is what she came up with…
First came stomping on it with her feet, then she moved to digging her elbows into it and stabbing it with a wooden block…
Next she tried rolling beads on it (which actually worked fabulously when a good amount of pressure was applied) and twisting it forcefully.
Lastly was placing a borrowed book (sorry library!) on top of the bubble wrap and standing on it. The good news is that this didn’t work very well at all, so it was short-lived.
This much fun from a piece of bubble wrap is a wonderful thing. ☺
♥
For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.
This may very well be the easiest activity to throw together ever, but Gracen thoroughly enjoyed it. All you need is a couple of paper plates (ours are made of styrofoam, which I absolutely despise, but they, along with many other party supplies, were in the cupboard when we moved into this house, so I don’t feel quite as badly about using them), 2 large popsicle sticks, some masking tape, and a balloon. To create simple racquets, all you have to do is tape popsicle stick handles onto the bottom sides of the plates… Then you’re ready to play! Partner pass, keep it up, and distance contests are all fun.
This is a perfect activity for a rainy day and great for helping your toddler burn off some energy if getting outside isn’t an option. The other perk is that it is relatively quiet (especially when played independently), so it could make a good quiet activity for an older sibling whose little brother or sister is napping.
♥
For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.
Last weekend, while tidying up the backyard a little bit, I came across a random 2×4 shoved in a corner along the fence. I don’t know if everyone thinks this way, but when I come across an item, the first place my mind goes is how could we use this for play? Of course a long flat wooden board almost begs to be used as a balance beam, so why complicate things, right?
Before we got to using it too much, we pulled out our sidewalk chalk and decorated it a bit. And by ‘we’ I basically mean that I drew while Miss G gave instructions. ☺
To start off, we placed it flat on the ground and Grae carefully walked back and forth a few times.
Then I thought it would be fun to add a little incline. I brought out a thin cement block and propped up one side of the 2×4, but Miss G automatically said, “No – TWO blocks! Then we can make a bridge!” So a bridge it was.
This little set-up is so, so simple, but it’s a lot of fun and it’s great for balance and motor skill development too.
♥
For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.
Today as I was organizing the mess of mason jars in our hallway catchall closet, my curious Miss G spied some old wine gift tubes in the bottom. Naturally, she yanked them out and began drumming on them.
Before long, we’d yanked out all kinds of pots, containers, and bowls out and created an impromptu drum circle for the budding musician in our family.
Maracas, rhythm sticks, wooden spoons, a xylophone, and background music were added in along the way too.
Perhaps not the most neighbour-friendly activity if you live in a small apartment or have basement tenants below you (ours weren’t home), but great fun for a rainy day.
Here’s our little musician jamming out…
♥
For extra fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.
While we had our painter’s tape out for our indoor roadway, we also lined our hallway with this… A little series of jump boxes. Grae adores the jump mats they have at our Strong Start program, so she’s very pleased to be able to jump her way down our hallway now too.
♥
To keep up with all the Mama.Papa.Bubba. fun, like us on Facebook here and find us on Instagram here.
This afternoon as Gracen and I were working on our ribbon wand project, Miss G asked for a “biiiiiiiiiig” piece of painter’s tape. I obliged and asked her what she was going to do with it. Her response was, “Stick it on da floor”. Bright idea, my girl.
I’m not quite sure how it all happened, but before long, we were both sitting on the floor ripping off pieces of tape and creating this little indoor roadway.
As I snipped pieces of tape in half lengthwise and begun adding our lanes, Miss G gathered up her car and tractors.
She started driving her vehicles around on it as soon as she could and we even had a few “races” {and collisions}.
This is such a simple {and inexpensive idea}, yet it brings hours of fun and endless possibilities. Brad came home from work and immediately commented on our dead ends, so there may revamp in our near future.
Of course, when it’s not being used as a roadway for cars, it can aways be used as a roadway for people. ☺
♥