Keeping it Real: working from home with a young child is not an easy task. Even in the best of circumstances, you may find yourself needing something for your toddler to do while you take calls or get some things done. It can be an overwhelming task, and easily solved by screen time. If your kid is anything like mine, Screen Time will only go so far, and is accompanied with mom guilt. So today, I threw some drops of food coloring in muffin tins with some baking soda and put some vinegar in a squeeze bottle. I threw it all in the bathtub with him in his diaper and let him go to town. We ran out of vinegar early on, but I just filled up the squeeze bottles with water, and he stayed engaged long after my meeting was over. My advice? The bathtub is your new best friend. You can set your kid in it with his favorite figures, balls, or balloons with the tub empty, for a change in scenery. Or fill it with water for sensory play with bubbles, large legos, or other washable toys. Stay safe my friends!
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Anyone else find that the second you step into the kitchen, your little one becomes a stage five clinger? 🙋🏻♀️ Just me? I’m always trying to find ways to encourage G to do what I’m doing in a way, but with knives 🔪 and other dangerous things in the kitchen 🔥 it can be tough to keep him engaged. I had a 💡 moment where I though, what could he safely play with or eat that would keep him curious? Enter: spices and herbs. I put out this messy mat, an ice cube tray, and a variety of whatever spices I had. He LOVED it! He stayed engaged long enough for me to prep dinner, and took a huge taste too! 😋😆 This spontaneous learning moment involved only things I could quickly find, and would be easy to change up to sustain engagement (different spices, fresh herbs, different tools). Happy cooking, friends!
Sensory play is all about a multidimensional approach to learning. The sounds, smells, feel, sight, and YEP even taste for those littlest ones. It’s important to provide sensory bases that are non-choking hazards and taste safe—that doesn’t mean its snack time but it’s okay if your little one takes a taste or two. It’s totally normal for your little one to put things in their mouth—there are so many nerve endings in the tongue and mouth, it makes sense your little one wants to put things in there! Our weather in Dayton this week is rainy and dreary, so we needed something inside to fill G’s sensory diet. Enter: popcorn kernels. To be honest, G was really excited about throwing the popcorn in the dining room, so I reduced the amount available and added some recycled egg cartons and applesauce cups to guide his play a bit. Keep the broom handy—and be sure to supervise while your little one explores!
For more on Sensory Play ideas, and the awesome messy mat pictured here, check out our pal at KidsPlayTricks discover roots, rocks, and weeds through the eyes of your child This will make some squirm, but there’s so much learning that happens in the dirt! We have a planter box in our back yard that we haven’t planted in just yet, and G loves to explore in it. This was all with me following his lead, providing some tools to help him explore along the way.
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He likes to grab fistfuls of dirt (he shouts “ball” as he throws the clumps) and crumble it into tiny pieces. He also likes to pull up the old roots and weeds that he finds, excitedly showing them to me as he goes. It’s a great, easy way to connect with nature. The birds were chirping, the dogs were nearby, and G was fully immersed in what he was doing. If you don’t have a big planter box like we do, or landscaping you are comfortable with your kiddo digging around in, you can use any plastic pot or old hanging basket if you have it around. We add weeds we pulled from the garden regularly, so there’s all sorts of stuff growing for G to discover. If you’re not into the big clean-up, make sure your little one is wearing older clothes that you can hose down when you’re done. Pro Tip: tuck in the shirt so dirt doesn’t fall down into the pants! embrace the warmer weather without the full commitment of a pool Looking for an outdoor activity that involves water, but don’t want the commitment of a lot of equipment? This was an accidental activity in our backyard, that G came up with all on his own. We had some caps and buckets left outside, and he decided to scoop water out of our birdbath, walk across the patio, and pour the water into the tin.
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You could easily do this using bowls from your kitchen, or any empty plastic containers like those from yogurt, peanut butter, or carry out boxes made of plastic. Bonus points if you put a lot of distance between the two containers—more walking means more excited toddler energy is burned, all while having fun! This activity has so much learning involved—problem solving, gross motor development, and fine motor development. It takes a lot of effort and concentration to coordinate all the steps here, without a lot of hands-on guidance from a parent! You can also support language development by naming the steps, such as “scoop,” “careful,” and “pour.” This activity definitely left his t-shirt damp, so it would be great for a warm summer day! Looking for a fun and easy water play activity? This one is great in the warmer sunnier weather! This can be done as a great way to jazz up tummy time, or for bigger babes too! All you need is water, a rimmed cookie sheet or plastic bin, some old CDs, and that’s it! We kept some towels nearby to prop up G and dry up any spills. Bonus if you have sunlight and can check out the rainbow reflections. Be sure to supervise the play as water can be a hazard for tiny humans. For older kiddos, you can use the same materials in deeper water, such as in a sensory bin, water table, or pool in the backyard. Happy Playing!
so EXCITED to share with you all our first activity idea! we call them "FreePlayIT Activity Tips" based on ideas we use in our playgroup. FreePlayIT at Home helps inspire you to keep the play going from our group to your home. all the things to help keep you sane at home, all while teaching your little one all sorts of skills!
This was one of our favorites! With just a few materials and little set up, you can create a fun learning activity to promote problem solving, creative thinking, and language development. You’ll need:
You can present this activity in a variety of ways. I used an old box from Costco, with a slit in the bottom. I folded the flaps in so the bottom was open, and the slit served as the “mailbox.” I tucked some index cards in the envelopes, and placed the stack of envelopes on the ground next to the box. G was very interested in putting the mail through the slit and pulling it back out. You can also lift the box up to reveal the mail on the floor, open the envelopes to take the cards out or put more cards in, and talk about what is happening. I started by showing G how to put the envelope in the slit, then let him play independently while I cooked dinner. For older kiddos, you can make this a matching activity with colors, letters, or numbers on the cards or envelopes. For younger kiddos, you can find a larger box to work on pulling to a stand, or make sure the opening is big enough to look into. Such simple materials, with so many possibilities! You've got Mail! |
AuthorAmy here, sharing tips, tricks, and ideas about using the materials we have in playgroup to inspire you at home. ArchivesCategories |