Shredded paper

One of my favourite sensory play activities when I worked at a Children's Centre was a tray filled with shredded paper! The babies & toddlers loved it! So, here I am at the end of exams with lots of paper to recycle so I thought we could create our own shredded paper box, Monnie wasn't that interested in ripping the paper but I was and I must say it was very satisfying ripping those study notes up! 

Green Smoothie

At 20 months I have finally been able to drop Monnie's breastfeed before her lunchtime nap so now we make a green smoothie to share before I pop her down as she prefers lunch afterwards. Today's creation is spinach, peaches and banana. As you can see it gets the smile of approval! 

Foam!

A friend suggested this so thought I'd give it a try, making foam! 

I popped 1/4 cup of dishwashing liquid and 1/2 cup of water into my mixer (could use a food processor) and whizzed it up until foam was created. Monnie loved watching the bubbles form! I then transferred the foam into pans, added spoons, small toys, cup cake holders (basically what I had around me in kitchen) for Monnie to play with while exploring the foam. 

She even took to finger-painting with it on the dishwasher and then attempted to wipe it clean! 

This is a messy play winner as it also makes things clean unless you decide to make it even more fun and add a drop of food colouring! 

Baking is Messy Play!

Today we made Chelsea Winter's Crazy Italian Chocolate Cake. This little toddler gets so excited when her baking apron comes out, she gets to help measure the ingredients and pour them into the bowl, mix the ingredients up using both her hands and a spoon, watch the ingredients get mixed together to form a batter and the best part -  lick the mixing spoon at the end! It's messier in the kitchen with a toddler in tow but so much learning is occurring (basic maths, science, cooking skills to name a few), it is worth it! 

Recipe credit: http://chelseawinter.co.nz/egg-free-chocolate-cake/

Paint & Glitter

I have always said to parents, "if you don't like the mess of paint and glitter, then leave this activity to when your child is at daycare or playgroup!" But after visiting a friend I was inspired to try this at home myself, I have been a bit reluctant until now as was waiting for Monnie's need to taste everything to pass (which lessens from around 15 months). 

This morning we had a great time with paint and glitter and I must admit the clean up wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! Bottom right photo is Monnie using baby sign to ask for more! She loved it!

Recycle Cards

Today we practiced sticking so I cut pictures out of old birthday cards and Monnie tried to use the glue and stick the picture to her paper!

I used the hand over hand teaching approach to help her put the glue on the picture, she loves to pat the picture down to make her masterpiece! 

Ice Balls

Further on from yesterday's post I made ice balls. I filled balloons with water and froze overnight. They worked great! Little hands explored the cold ice and we we added water and watched them melt. They enjoyed trying to pick up the treasure inside. 

Highly recommend for these warm weather days to cool down! 

Ice Eggs

Today I filled two balloons up with water and added a few blueberries for Monnie to discover inside. 

I froze the balloon balls for a few hours (as a bit of an experiment so they would be hard on outside but soft in middle, like an egg). Monnie then played with the balloon balls and was able to pop them, giving her a surprise of ice cold water and blueberries inside to reveal the egg. She quickly scooped up each blueberry to eat and then played with the ice egg until we turned the game into water play adding more water and toys. I'm going to try this again and let the balls freeze overnight for a slower melt but the element of surprise made it fun today! 

Ice Search

We started by adding ice to the bowl, then milk bottle tops, some large wooden beads and pegs. Our toddler stirred the items to make a soup, then it turned into a game with our 5yr old. We asked questions like, "can you find the blue bead?" The coldness of the ice made it a fun surprising sensation as she searched for the item. Our toddler continued to put her hands in and look for items too. We would then talk about the colour, shape and size of item before having another turn. 

This activity helps to develop fine motor skills and teach shapes and colours. It also entertained us on a rainy morning!

Coloured Rice Play

It's a rainy Friday so we are making coloured rice! Distribute rice into small snap lock bags, add 1tsp white vinegar & choice of food colouring to each bag, snap lock and let little hands help to mix the rice and colour for the start of a sensory experience. 

We are now waiting for the rice to dry on newspaper to play with it later today! 

After a couple of hours, the rice is dry and ready:

Posting Play

We used several different size shapes (milk bottle tops, pasta shapes and lids), we then posted into different size containers. This activity assists with brain development through cross patterning and transferring of objects, and through learning about size and space. Music was made as objects were tipped out and shaked. As the objects were picked up and dropped the fine muscles of the fingers developed and the little mind was entertained! 

Feathers - a cleaner messy play!

You can find colourful feathers at your local craft/sewing type shop and with the furry tickly texture these are a fantastic sensory experience for little hands. 

We used different containers to put (and tip out) them in, we blew kisses off our hands with the feathers, covered different body parts in feathers and Monnie generally carried them around with her while playing. As feathers fall they move slowly so excellent for developing eye tracking skills and as little hands pick the feathers up fine motor skills are developing, so essentially feathers help build the foundations for reading and writing!

Snow!

We are coming into a NZ summer, but the otherside of the world is coming into winter, so you can use this activity to teach what the snow might be like in all those Christmas Carols! 

Pour baking soda into a tray, add shaving cream slowly as you mix the two ingredients together (I made up ratio but probably used about 200g baking soda to 1/4 cup shaving cream). Check consistency to be crumbly and "snow like." 

We then sprinkled the snow, built a snowman, played with ping pong balls in snow and sang "Let it Snow." We did this indoors as raining outside today but it did make quite a mess which the vacuum cleaner soon dealt with!

Shaving Foam Messy Play

Monnie at 14 months didn't really like the texture (or taste!) of shaving foam. She preferred to use the utensils and cups to play, but when we added colour it made it a more magical experience for her and one I definitely recommend for you to take outside! 

Next time I'm going to add Baking Soda to the shaving foam to make snow! 

Skittles

Inspired by some friends who went ten-pin bowling recently we jazzed up toilet rolls with wrapping paper before setting them up as skittles and rolling the ball to knock them over! 

However the reality with a 14 month old was she preferred to play with them and eat them over a game of bowling but she did try picking them up, threw the ball a couple of times and then she wore them as a necklace (the skittles made for a threading activity too). We will try this game again soon and eventually she will learn how it goes! 

Lavender Playdough

Inspired by my sister-in-law & niece this week, they have chopped up some gorgeous lavender and sprinkled it into their playdough mixture. A fantastic way for the senses to explore. Playing will be an even more relaxing experience as the smell of lavender is released as you roll and move the playdough about. 

Adding lavender flowers to the playdough has made a lovely arrangement, it looks so pretty!

Can't wait to try this with Monnie!

Messy Play Options

Monnie has cloud dough, water play & small ball play to choose from, this allows her sense of curiosity to develop as she chooses what she would like to play with. For me, I sit back and observe! 

By the end of the session she has combined all three plays together and I've been able to sit back and relax! In order to do this you need to trust your child to play without interfering. It's been incredible to see Monnie use some of the play we have done together but extend her own learning. For example she has got in and out of the water (without sitting down), stirred and poured the water, posted balls in the jug and then back into the water, picked up the cloud dough and sprinkled it into the water, and she has also come over to me, take my hat on and off before heading back to play!  

Milk Bottle Top Lei (Manawatu Lei)

My Mum inspired this recycled toy. 

Start collecting your milk bottle tops, ask friends for theirs! Drill a hole in each milk bottle top and then thread onto a ribbon or shoe lace. (You may need to burn the ends slightly to stop fraying and this will also make the end of ribbon easier for threading). 

The Milk Bottle Top Lei makes a musical instrument as the bottle tops shake about, is excellent for fine motor development as the milk bottle tops are pulled off the ribbon (and as your child develops their fine motors skills further they can try threading the bottle tops back on to the ribbon). It is also fun for your toddler to try and put over their head and wear as a necklace, in our house this is known as Monnie's Manawatu Lei (being from a dairy farm, the name stuck). 

Ball Drop - Our Creation

My turn to make a Ball Drop. I started out by cutting and pasting (with a Royal theme) but Monnie's Dad was the real talent behind this creation. 

He used a coffee cup, coffee cup holder, toilet rolls, a paper towel roll and a drink bottle to make this! So far so good with some giggles (from Monnie) as the ball drops, the wider cup at top makes posting easier for her too! 

Ball Drop

I love it when a friend shows me her creative play idea, so I just had to share! Using a box as the base, tape on some toilet rolls and then let a ball drop (or any small object) from the top! This has been taped to a window for support, it probably took less than a few mins to make but can be played with for hours!