Craft time with L is oh so much fun! It should be called messy time bc those are my favorite projects to do...and of course they are the most fun for him! I don't really mind the mess either. It takes no time at all to run some paper towels over a few things and sweep up the floor. I encourage all moms to get over the fear of the mess and let your kids be kids!
I don't do elaborate things EVERYDAY and sometimes we don't even get to craft time, but I try my hardest to MAKE TIME! We've done a few fun things within the last week.
I took shaving cream and combined it with different colors of children's washable fingerpaint. After the colors are mixed, it almost looks good enough to eat! L loved dipping his fingers in the different colors and swirrling it around! It was very messy, and lots of fun! His big brother J even joined in!
One of L's favorite things to do is "cook." He's always loved being in the kitchen with me while i'm cooking. I've talked to him about cooking since he was itty bitty! And so recently i've been giving him pots and pans and rice and oatmeal to play with...which he just loves! However, I was at the store and started thinking about this more. So I bought lots of different kinds of dry beans for him to "cook" with.
The first thing I did was get a plastic container with dividers. I put all the different things into their own divider. I then gave lawson his usual variety of bowls, spoons, etc. I try to get metal, glass, and plastic containers so when the objects drop into them, they make different sounds.
L completely LOVED this! This took up a good hour of time with total interest on his part! We used this activity to practice counting, colors, sizes, sorting, cooking concepts, and of course fine motor skills! This has become one of our favorite activities!
On a different day I did something else with the beans. A gluing activity! What kid doesnt like to glue?! I taped easle paper to his craft table, and then squirted glue all over it. I then gave him a paint brush to paint with the glue. When the glue was spread around the entire piece of paper, I gave him the beans to glue on. It was funny to watch him, because sometimes he was very meticulous about putting the beans on, and other times he would take handfuls and throw it on! This was a good 20 minute activity that ended quickly when he dumped the container of beans onto the paper! A bath quickly followed! lol
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love your list! i cant wait to try all of them with my 21 month old. wondering if whipping cream will render a similar effect as shaving cream, and we could eat it!?
ReplyDeletep.s. found you thru a post on pintrest. so glad!
Only problem I see with this is that bean can get poked down ones ears or up ones nose. I know this from personal experience with my son 31 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI love your site!!! So many wonderful ideas and activities, I have a 2 and 4 year old and we have tried many of your ideas....thank you so much!!! And yeah, the comment about beans and getting stuck in noses, anything can be stuck in noses, you just have to watch your babies, play with them, dont just throw stuff at them and hope they have a good time.
ReplyDeleteIf you do these activities you must make sure that your child is old enough to not put stuff in their mouth. The shaving cream could make them sick if put in the mouth and they can choke on the beans ..... use these ideas with caution.
ReplyDeleteAll these previous comments make me laugh. These activities look like so much fun! Yes, beans are a choking hazard, shaving cream can make you sick, yada yada blah blah. WATCH YOUR KIDS! Unless you're trying to do this activity with 3 or 4 young kids at a time (which is not being suggested) then you shouldn't have a problem! If you get hands on with your kids, watch them, and play WITH them then you will have absolutely zero problems. If you're so worried about the beans, switch out different pastas for the beans (maybe even dye them fun colors). If you're concerned with shaving cream, use whipped cream and food coloring (instead of paint). Think people!! Love your ideas and you sound like an awesome mom! Keep it up :)
ReplyDeleteWell said! ;)
DeleteThis sounds so fun! I'd love to know at what age you tried these activities. Sometimes I'm not sure if my 13 month old is ready for certain things or not and the prep effort is wasted when he's just a little too young. Just curious. Thanks for sharing your fun ideas!
ReplyDeleteIs your son's name Lawson? I only ask because that is my son's name! Not very common :) I love the activities you post- thank you!
ReplyDeleteYes, his name is Lawson! It is very uncommon, as we've not come across another yet. It's a family name. Lawson was my husband's mother's maiden name :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting! My Great Uncle's name was Lawson! It is now the middle name for my daughter (Piper Lawson) I just love that name!
ReplyDeleteLove your blog by the way! Great ideas! Thanks!
I have just spent a very happy 1/2 hour going through all your activities - love love love all of them. Absolutely brilliant - thank you!
ReplyDeleteI just came across your blog from someone else's from a pinterest post. Lol. Anyway! I LOVE all of your wonderful activities! What a great mom you are to take the time/effort to do all of these fun things with your kids.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to say my first thought when I started reading through the list of activities was "Eh! So much mess and time and clean up and... I don't want to do these." Then as I started reading the posts and seeing how much fun L was having and remembering how much fun it is to see your own kids having that much fun...I thought "I'm doing these!"
I have 3 & 1 year old boys and we've gotten into such a boring movies, tv, games, books, same old toys rut. I guess I kind of forgot about being creative, even if it is messy. We live where it gets SUPER hot in the summer (right now) and it's great to have some ideas for fun when we can't go to the park or play outside.
Thank you again for your posts and your example in being a fun, creative mama.
Try mixing elmers glue with shaving cream in equal parts. Use paper plates, fill them up, smooth them over then push things onto them - they dry puffy. It takes awhile but it is tons of fun. We've made polar bears and snowmen out of it.
ReplyDeleteShaving cream is so fun. As a preschool teacher we have the children do this directly on the plastic tabletop. Tables are sparkling clean afterwards! Just don't use menthol shaving cream because it can burn their eyes. Lots of fun!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking... you could set up the project in a kiddie wading pool in the middle of the room to keep the mess contained and then take outside to rinse off.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking this myself! Except bringing it outside as well. I thought my Nemo would like to play n our kiddie pool with shaving cream and paint instead of plain old boring water lol :-)
DeleteQuick question- do you save the sensory beans for future activities?
ReplyDeleteYes, I always save our sensory materials for future activities. I store dry materials in big gallon size baggies.
ReplyDeleteDo you sort the sensory activities after they get mixed up? Love these ideas!
ReplyDeleteUsually I don't, and I just use them a different way next time, but if they stay somewhat separated, i'll try to sort it out if it's not too much trouble.
ReplyDeleteLove your list! To extend his helping cook, you could actually measure proper amounts out for a bean soup, or the dry ingredients for cookies to have him help. :)
ReplyDeleteI adore your blog. I plan on trying a few of these this summer. I also want to tell you that the color of the week idea is borderline genius! I will be trying this with my son, Nemo (age 2), very soon.
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