Organizing Shoes & Toddler Matching Game

I recently decided to tackle the shoe disaster that was happening on my closet floor. At our old place, the space I had necessitated that the shoes be low and flat on the floor. In this closet, the available space is more vertical. SO I bought some clear shoe boxes (you'll find the link below) and was thrilled....EXCEPT finding the right shoes was a disaster. Even though the boxes were clear, it was so hard to see what was in them. I got out my camera and took photos of all the shoes and got them printed when Snapfish was running a 99 prints for 99 cents deal. Really, it was a lot less effort than it sounds!

Here's where the toddler part comes in. I placed all the photos out on the ground. One at a time I would open a shoe box and have Ethan find the corresponding photo. Once he did, he was responsible for placing the photo in the box, putting on the lid, and stacking the box in the closet. He LOVED it. Seriously, it was great.

I bet it would be fun to do a scavenger hunt using the same method. Take photos of simple items and match the photo to the corresponding item. Maybe the next time prints go on sale....?

Scooping Dried Pinto Beans

I've been meaning to do something like this for awhile, but Saturday when we were at the grocery store, Ethan and I picked up two bags of dried pinto beans. Just to give you an idea, I paid just under $4 for two large bags. I told him that they were not for eating, but that we were going to do something special with them. Intrigued by the idea, he insisted on holding them for the remainder of the shopping trip, as well as in the car on the way home (Blast, I totally should have gotten a picture!)

That being said, I didn't have a whole lot of time to get things together when we got home (notice how he's still wearing his jacket!) I grabbed a serving spoon, some plastic measuring cups, a large bowl, a shallow tray, and an empty plastic sugar container. He really had a good time scooping and pouring the beans--an activity we duplicated the next day, at his request.

I'd give this activity a solid A. 

Collecting Petals

I was given a lovely bouquet of sunflowers as a housewarming gift. So pretty, but now they are past their prime. Ethan however, was not impressed that I was throwing them away. From there, collecting petals was born.

We took them outside where I gave him a plastic bag and let him collect the petals. Believe me when I say, it was a serious hit. Like many toddlers, he really enjoys collecting, dumping and pouring. After the petals were collected he carried them around proudly in his baggie. He talked about how he was going to save them to show to his grandparents and uncle. He was so proud.

What did we do then?

• We counted them (some of them)
• Looked at how some petals were yellow and some were orange
• Piled them high on the table
• Looked at them closely
• Carried them around proudly
• Took them in and out of the bag multiple times
• Learned the words "petal" and "stem"

The whole experience was a great tactile one and a good science related project. 

Ethan liked the project so much that the next morning he begged to have the petals off of our one remaining sunflower, and brought his bag of petals to daycare to show his teachers and share with his friends. Long story short, toddler life is rough, and Ethan was told he could get more petals when he got home. But we had no more petals. SO after much lamenting the lost petals, we went to the grocery story and bought a few BOGO flower bunches from the scratch and dent floral section. Really though, I shouldn't have had to pay for them at all..they were in ROUGH shape. Regardless, he thought they were wonderful and spent yet another night picking and
organizing petals.

Round two. He thought it was funny that I was taking a picture of "the mess."

It was nice to see the flowers enjoyed for one last time. Being such an important part of a toddlers day is a great last hurrah for a flower,
don't you think?

I'd love to use the petals to make a craft. Iron them between wax paper or put them between contact paper sheets, but he insists that their purpose is to be in the bag--fine by me! 

Just a warning, you could be in danger of creating a flower petal removing monster...proceed with caution (and fun)!

Toddler Paper Plate Obstacle Course

Toddler obstacle courses are great for gross motor skill development and also for practicing problem solving skills. This weekend I made a quick obstacle course for Ethan using a stack of paper plates as the base for the course. 

I placed them in the yard and wove them around some upside down sand pails and some plastic cones (left over from our Construction birthday party). I showed him to follow the plates, stepping on each one along the way. I put a hula hoop on the ground at the end of the plates and instructed Ethan to jump into it and jump back out. Also part of the course was his climber (the starting point) and a tunnel made out of a small slide and a blanket (a blanket over a chair would work great too). 

The highlight for Ethan was stepping on the plates and following the plate trail. He loved that. After he jumped into the hoop, he decided that he'd wear it on his next lap around the course. Way to go! He also moved the blanket to another location on his climber where he preferred to have the tunnel. It was a lot of fun, although we didn't really get to play for long before the heat and bugs brought the course to a natural end.

We saved the paper plates so we can play again later. Maybe next time we'll create a crawl tube using a cardboard box.

Have you had any experience with toddler obstacle courses? Any other good obstacle ideas for our next course??

Toddler Bike Wash (Small Space Edition)

Bike washes aren't unique. I washed my bike when I was a kid, and if you look on Pinterest, you'll probably see a ton of bike washes. 

Washing a bike is a great summertime activity, and a good excuse to play in some water and soap suds.

We did this bike wash activity at our old house where our space was limited and we didn't really have an outdoor hose. I filled up a container with water and a touch of dish soap (not having a driveway, we didn't have any car wash solution). Gave Ethan a sponge and a towel and let him go to town. We sang "This is the way we wash our bike" to the tune of "Here we go round the mulberry bush" which he thought was hysterical.

Instead of a hose, we rinsed off the bike using a squirt bottle. Just be careful, leaving soap on the bike could cause it to rust, so make sure you rinse well. The spray bottle is a great solution if you lived in an apartment, town home, or other small area like we did, or if you'd rather stay clear of the hose that day (yup, I can understand that...)

We had fun..and since our bike was a yard sale score, it was nice to see it all clean and looking "like new."

Do you bike wash? 

Thanks Dad for taking a great photo while my hands were wet! :)

PS- At our new house Ethan has found he loves to help wash the car too. What kid doesn't like to be in control of the hose?!

Playing with Rhythm Sticks (or straws!)

My son takes classes at The Little Gym every week and one of the activites that he's always enjoyed is using rhythm sticks to practice motor skills and hand-eye coordination. It also helps reinforce body part names (and even some letters). And of course, you can also practice music and rhythm. It's also a great opportunity for toddlers to listen and mimic.

The activity can be done with both babies and toddlers. Babies who are unable to hold the sticks and sit in your lap while you tap this sticks, or you can help them hold the sticks while you tap them. I remember Ethan enjoying this activity even when he was only a few months old.

Daddy helping

We actually have a pair of rhythm sticks at home...they are relatively inexpensive. But what if you don't have a pair?

Enter Daddy's great idea to use straws! The straws are great because I can leave them accessible in the toy box. They also don't hurt as much if the tapping gets a little crazy! Of course, they don't make the same great sound that the rhythm stick do!

Sorry for the photo quality here- I had a camera attacker on my hands!

Here are some of the activities we do:

• Drum them on the floor
• Tap on your...toes, knees, belly, hand
• Put them on your head like bunny ears
• Make letters...T, X, L, V
• Roll them between your hands...under your hands...under your feet
• Tap them together
• Tap your stick on my stick. Now I tap yours.
• Tap one like you're hammering a nail
  

Rolling on his leg

Of course, I'm sure you can come up with more--maybe even your little one will add to the list!

Pouring Practice

"Ethan do it."  

Yup, we're in the thick of the "I do it" stage. In most cases, I welcome the desire for independence. With a little patience, it can actually be very helpful. One independent task I don't always embrace is pouring liquids. Practice is important, but practicing with the gallon of milk is not my favorite idea!

Here's the situation: We recently had one of those days where the little guy was so excited to put out the pool that he could hardly wait for us to inflate it and lug the water out of the house a gallon jug at a time (No hose! Ugh!) Don't get me wrong- I really don't mind getting out the pool, but this was one of those days where all excitement was lost after two glorious minutes of water time. Bummer!

Thinking quick, I ran into the house and grabbed two plastic cups and suggested that we have pouring practice. It was an absolute hit. We started with me holding the empty cup and Ethan pouring the water. Then we would trade cups-- I'd give him the full cup and he'd give me his now empty cup. It was also a good opportunity to practice the opposites "empty" and "full," and also learn the word "trade." The pool made such a great place to practice...but of course, the bathtub would be great too!

The end result was fun and great practice. I'm still not ready to let him pour the milk, but we'll work on it. :)

Dancing with Jack Vettriano

Inspiration from art

Source: Wikipedia

I always enjoy "The Singing Butler" by Jack Vettriano. I welcome it's romantic spirit coupled with a sense of curiosity. I have a print hanging in our powder room. This weekend we were washing hands and my toddler pointed to the painting and asked to look at the people dancing. 

I asked if he wanted to dance with me, and of course he approved of the idea. He thought it was really funny when I held his hand and lifted his arm in the air. He wanted to see us dancing in the mirror and I decided that was a decent time to snap a photo (from the hip of course). Sorry the photo is a bit lack luster...we were dancing, not taking photos!

Fun activity for a special Mommy and Baby day. Hope today grants you with the luxury of time to dance!

Coupon Clipping

Part of our Sunday morning routine is pulling the paper off the front porch (unless of course it landed in the flower bed) and clipping coupons. Ethan was about 8 months old when he started to "help" me with the weekly chore.

Playing with the Ads

Don't underestimate how fun it is for a little one (baby or toddler) to play with the glossy ad inserts--it's a blast! He'd look at them, throw them, tear them, and overall just have a good time. The best part is that it kept Ethan busy while I was clipping. :)

Playing "coupon"

Now a toddler, Ethan prefers to play with the clipped coupons. Every week I clip out some extra coupons for him and he throws them around. He likes to throw them from up high (usually climbing up two or three stairs) and with a bit of awe and excitement, watches the effect of gravity and air resistance on the little scraps of paper. After a few weeks, I got smart and stashed away his old coupons in a ziploc bad so I didn't have to cut him quite so many every week. I've since given him a small plastic accordion folder to keep them in like Mommy does. The folder has been a big win! A lot of times he asks me to cut out pictures from the advertisements--a dog from the pet store ad or a photo of a favorite toy. To him, they are ALL coupons, and they all contain a little secret piece of joy.

As always--it's the simple things...

(PS- I got a new comment plug-in to make commenting easier and better for you--let's try it out!)

Cookie Time Magnets

I've seen cookie sheets used as magnet playboards in a number of different ways. It's really easy to print clip art or photos, cut them out, laminate them (clear contact paper on both sides works great too), and stick a magnet to the back. In the past I've made them with letters, number, animals (shapes would be good too!)

Then I got to thinking- it is a cookie sheet after all. Maybe I should make cookies.

So I found what I thought was the perfect chocolate chip cookie clip art and printed out 10 cookies. As a toddler who loves cookies, he thought it was pretty cool to have cookies for on his cookie sheet. It also makes a great addition to his play food. He plays. We can count the cookies as he places them on the tray. Can you tell he likes them?!

Toddlers love magnets, they're inexpensive, and can be a great learning tool. What creative ways have you found to use cookie sheet magnets?

Paint like Pollock

The idea of painting with water on cement outside seemed to me to be a
no-brainer great activity for my little guy. 

Outside play+ water+ painting= awesomeness. 

I got out a basin of water and a foam paint brush (get them at the hardware store for less that a quarter) and showed him to dip the brush and "paint" the sidewalk. He started by painting the sidewalk, and even painting the daffodils. 

I love presenting creative activities to kids--I think the most interesting part of the activity is seeing them bring their own creativity to the table.

Ethan decided to use the brush to paint Jackson Pollock style. They key here is having a foam brush because it holds more water than a regular paint brush. He'd dip the brush and fling the water all over the sidewalk. It made a great sound as it splattered, and he was overjoyed to watch the water fly though the air and splat on the ground.

Sometimes, it's the little things!

Seriously, THIS is happiness.

Have you had a good experience "painting" with water??

Young Toddler Matching Game

It was a chilly, windy, winter day and we had a toddler in the house who was clearly bored until Daddy had the great idea to play Memory- toddler style.

Not only is the game great for entertainment, but the ability to see similarities and differences in objects practices classification, an early math skill.

We worked through a number of different ways to play until we found the one we thought worked best.

What you need:

Cards from a Memory game, 4-6 pairs seemed to work best. Or create your own- print out pairs of clip art images or even family photos and cut into squares.

How to play:

Mix the cards, picture side up on the floor and encourage your toddler to match like pairs. 

"Here's a lion. Can you find another lion?" or "Can you find me two owls?"

Repeat until all of the card matches have been made.

Play again. :)

Do you have a similar matching game that you play?

Top 5 Favorite Young Children's Books

"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go!" ~Dr. Seuss, "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!"

Today (March 2nd) is Read Across America Day and March is National Reading Month.

Ethan's been enjoying reading since he was just a wee little thing!

Reading is a very important at our house, and Ethan constantly has board books spread out all over the floor. Now that he's a little older, it's fun that Ethan likes to read to us too!

These are 18 month old Ethan's top 5 favorites:

1. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? - Bill Martin Jr./ Eric Carle

2. Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? - Dr. Seuss

3. Go Dogs Go - P.D. Eastman

4. Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown

5. The Water Hole - Graeme Base

What are your children's favorite books?? 

Tissue box and Pom-Pom Fill and Spill Game

Filling and Spilling is a favorite activity for toddlers and is a great way to develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Many children begin being interested in fill and spill activities around age one.

The best thing about fill and spill activities is that you can make them on the cheap. 

I am always looking for new "games" to make. They're especially great when Ethan needs to refocus his energy on a quiet activity that will hold his attention.

What you need:

• An empty square tissue box (remove the clear plastic from around the opening)
• Some pom-poms (I had some on hand that I had purchased for $1)
• Plastic spoons (optional: usage dependent on skill level)

The Game:

Version 1- Pour pom-poms all over the floor. Fill the box. Dump. Repeat. You can also try calling out the names of the colors as you play.

Version 2- Toddler rules. Let them make up their own game. Ethan created a game where he'd put the pom-pom on the edge of the box and nudge them in. Works for me.

Version 3- Balance a pom-pom on a spoon and use the spoon to dump the pom-pom into the box. This is a great way to add an extra level of challenge to the game, as well as work on spoon skills. It was difficult for Ethan at first, but after I showed him to keep the spoon flat, he did have some success (and more and more with practice), and was proud of his accomplishment.

Version 4- You hold the spoon. Toddler places the pom-pom on the spoon and helps you dump it into the box. Not as difficult as version 3, but still requires some extra fine motor skills. Ethan made up this version as well.

What versions of the game can you come up with?
Enjoy, and keep playing :)

Tissue Collage, Bead Necklace Game, and Mardi Gras

Tissue paper collage
This project is out of my archives, but it was a really enjoyable, and I never got around to posting it. I also think a pretty vibrant tissue collage like this is perfect for Mardi Gras!

What you need:

Glue stick

Construction or other paper (or use Contact Paper and no glue)

Tissue paper (think leftover from gift bags)

We made this collage when Ethan was 7 months old. I smeared glue stick all over the paper to make it sticky and sat it in front of Ethan. Then I gave him a variety of different tissue paper pieces, showed him how to tear the paper, and then just let him play. As the tissue pieces would fall to the paper, they would stick to the glue, and eventually, a collage was made! Playing with the tissue paper was a big hit, and the collage was bright and colorful when it was done. You could also do the same thing using Contact paper instead of paper and glue. For an infant, the glue worked great, although it would be much more messy if you were making a tissue collage with a toddler! We used Contact paper when we made our Heart Collage.

Playing with Beads/ Bead Game

Last year we Played with Beaded Necklaces on Fat Tuesday (again, this is an activity that definitely requires adult supervision). I think we'll do the same this evening, but make it more fun for a toddler by dropping the beaded necklaces into a wide-mouthed water bottle similar to playing the Pin Drop Game. I guarantee the noise of the beads falling into the bottle will be sure to impress a little person, and is great for refining fine motor skills. (Sorry for not playing this all out ahead of time, but I think you get the idea!)  

And of course, to make Fat Tuesday official, we'll have donut holes for desert. :)

How are you celebrating Fat Tuesday and Mardi Gras with your infant or toddler?


Update 3/6/12: We had fun playing with the beads, but my suggestion is to cut the strands of beads so they are just a strand and no longer a necklace. Not only does it make the game easier, but it makes it safer too! :)

Fine Motor Skill Game- Make it for free!

This game is super easy to make, and it kept my little one occupied for hours this weekend. Yes, you hear that correctly, HOURS.

Reuse a snack can (I used an empty cashew container, but a reusing a toddler snack container would be great too!) Wash it out and punch holes in the top. Cut some straws into small pieces (I found thirds worked really well). 8 straws cut into 24 pieces sees to be a good number (We started with 16 straws, but he seemed to go though them too quickly). I had actually seen this project done on Pinterest, and they placed paper reinforcements around the holes. I tried it, and after about a half hour of playing, the reinforcements were falling down through the holes (possibly because my holes were not punched with precision, aka I stabbed them with scissors, so no-precision-at-all). I wanted the reinforcements to work not only because they cleaned up the look of the activity, but they also made the holes easier to locate. So instead, I took some sticker labels, cut them into squares, and used a hole punch to make a hole in the middle of each square.

This solution has worked much better, even after a week of Ethan poking his little fingers into the holes! To pretty it up, I turned the label inside out (it would be real cool to color it too- but that's for another weekend) and colored in the label squares. The colored labels, that match the colors on the straws, make for a great discussion about color. "Can you put the yellow straw in the yellow hole?" "I see you're putting the blue straw in the green hole." Great game, free and easy to make. Perfect!

We also make the Pin Drop Game out of cloths pins and a water bottle last spring. It's still a hit in our house (although my crafty toddler has since disassembled the pins and now plays the game with pin halves)

We LOVE these types of games at our house, do YOU have a fine motor skill game to share? I'd love ideas!

Christmas on the Farm

If the farm is going to be the centerpiece in our living room, it might as well be festive!!!

He really wanted to tree to be IN the farm...

Favorite is the wreath on the barn door and around the cow's neck!

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!!

Can You Help Tom Turkey Find His Feathers?!

I was inspired by Parenting Magazine to do a feather hunt (a la Easter egg hunt) for my little person on Thanksgiving morning. They suggested using the collected feathers to create a headdress. Good idea, but not something that my little guy would really understand.

What he does understand is "turkey."

I made a little turkey out of two styrofoam balls, some paint, googly eyes, construction paper, and cardboard. It didn't take very long to make an assemble, or making him would have never fit into my schedule! A few tips: Make sure the feet are large enough to keep the turkey from falling forward. Also, use a toothpick (or piece of a toothpick) between the two balls to ensure that they stay together! An alternate craft would be to draw a turkey and glue the feathers on!

So tomorrow Ethan will be hunting for hidden feathers. As he finds them, we'll put them back on Tom Turkey. I'm not quite sure how it will go, but sure sounds fun enough to me :)

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Make a Free Fill and Spill Sorting Game

Beginning at around 6 months of age, babies begin to enjoy playing "fill and spill" as they are learning to place objects inside containers and dump them out.

Fill and spill containers are easy enough to come by around the house. An empty baby snack container or other food storage container with a lid, or even a plastic bowl or cup works just great. Experiment with different containers.

You an fill the containers with just about anything. We've found that all those lots-of-links we have laying around the house, or clean baby food jar lids seem to work best. They are "small" objects, but not so small that they are a choking hazard. The baby jar lids are great, not only because they're free, but also they make a nice clanking noise. The lids sound even better when used in an old baby snack container with a metal bottom!!

Try not only filling and spilling, but moving the items from one container to another!

Infant Swim Lessons

This spring (I know, that seems so long ago!!) we took infant swim lessons though our local Recreation Center. I know sometimes swim lessons for infants can be controversial-- I'm not going to join this debate. If you have any doubts, wait until you child is over one year old to start swim lessons and proceed only with activities with which you are comfortable.

I made the decision to enroll in the class for three reasons:
1. Ethan loves playing in the bathwater
2. Ethan is always in need of some good entertainment
3. Heck, it sounded like fun, and I'm always looking for fun activities to do together!

First and foremost, Ethan really enjoyed the classes, and I was able to see growth and development in the pool, even over the course of only six weeks.

Possibly my favorite activity we learned is to toss a floating object out for baby to reach for (we use his small rubber duckie) and encourage them to reach for the object. You hold them "floating" on their bellies and help propel them towards the object, teaching them to reach and stretch with their arms. It's incredible how this naturally progresses into the baby cuing you to move forward by leaning forward into a "swimming" position, and adding the kicking of the legs.

The best result however, was a confidence for both of us in the water, making our summer pool trips significantly safer. I mean, let's face it...It's scary to hold your squirming infant in 4 feet of water (and they're scared too!) But now I know things like how to get into the pool safely and we are both more comfortable in the pool together.

Unfortunately for us, our local public lessons are not held year round, however, I am certain that we will be taking lessons again the next time they are available!

Have you ever had success with baby swim lessons? What water games do you play with your baby or toddler in the pool?