Glow sticks and a bath

On winter nights, when it gets dark early, and the kids are crazy because it's winter, get some glow sticks, run a bath and turn off the lights. Oh, and toss the kids in.
Michaels has containers of 15 braclet glow sticks for buck! What a deal! The kids just love those things. West spent 45 minutes in the tub last night just playing with the glow sticks. Stick them between his toes, puting them in containers, waiving them around etc etc. Truely cheap, clean fun!
I couldn't get any good pictures of this activity.

Pom poms and tongs and containers, oh my

I bought a variety of sizes of pom poms Michaels.  These big ones are the safest with Lula around and are the easiest to pick up with tongs.

Lula loves the texture and transfering them from container to container.

With how much fun they had, I'm sure we'll be doing this a lot this winter.

Lula likes to get in and kick around.

West thought it looked like fun.

A large kitchen ladle was fun too.

pulling apart cotton balls

Of course, watch your child closely to make sure nothing ends up in their mouth.

Cotton balls have an interesting texture. 

As you can see from the look on her face, she kind of didn't like the way they felt. But she got over it quickly and started using her pincer grip to pull the cotton balls apart.

This is a great activity for using and perfecting fine motor skills.

Surprise box

This is a stationary box that I hot glued ribbons and a plastic mirror to. The shapes on the ends are two pieces of felt with the ribbon hot glued in between. Lula enjoys pulling each shape out and looking at herself in the mirror.

homemade puzzle

Cardstock, contact paper and velcro.

Make shapes, numbers, letters, etc etc.

 Make a matching game with animals and their homes.

Use patterned paper to make a matching puzzle.

The options are limitless and the cost is basically nothing.

Glass mosaic tiles for the light table

New light table materials.

I found these flat marbles and tiles at Michaels today. The tiles are great to stack or line up and the flat marbles have a cool swirl of color in the middle. We had fun sorting, counting and stacking these today. Lula had to be kept far from us though, as these pose a choking hazard.

Pom poms and toilet paper rolls

I gave West some large pom poms and he decided that they'd be fun to blow across the floor. Great idea! He also liked to kick and throw them. It's important to find safe things like these for toddlers to kick and throw.

A scarf and a toilet paper roll. I let Lula pull it through and stuff it in.

Pom poms and a toilet paper roll. She loved to pull out the pom poms. This is great for problem solving and fine motor skills.

Sensory quilt

This project is a lot more involved and potentially more expensive than the rest of my activity ideas, but I thought I should include it in my blog.

This is a sensory quilt I made from scraps of fabric I happened to have. I sew a lot. There are many different visual and physical textures as well as a zipper, a button and button hole, tassles, ribbons sewn on and a velcro panel.

If you want to make one, you don't need as many fabrics as I used. It can be as simple as 4 different fabrics.

Lula likes exploring it.

How to make a rain stick

I used the sturdy cardboard tubes from the glow sticks we get at Michaels. They have nice plastic caps on the ends

I pushed in nails in a spiral pattern following the seam in the cardboard (see first picture as well). Next time I would use longer nails. Also, I would use a larger tube, this one is very small.

I hot glued the bottom cap into place and added dried black beans. Then I hot glued the other end on and put several layers of packing tape around the whole thing. I only let the kids play with this while closely supervised. I can't imagine them getting it open, but stranger things have happened.

Ribbon pulling

Lula loves to pull diaper wipes out of the container, so I knew she'd love this! I used a large, sturdy plastic container and drilled holes in the bottom (because it is more sturdy than the lid.) Then, I cut ribbon into about 2 foot lengths and fed them through the holes. I tied knots on either end so the ribbons couldn't be pulled out. I left about 2 inches of ribbon for her to pull above the knot, as you can see in the picture below.

I have been having an issue with the picture uploader not orienting the pictures properly even though I turned it the right way before uploading.... But you get the idea.

Velcro play tray

I found this small wood tray at Michaels along with some wooden people. The trees were from another toy we had. The soft side of the velcro goes on the tray and the hook side goes on the people/trees/whatever. You can use any kind of small toy instead of the wooden figures. I painted the people and tray too. This will be great for traveling. The wooden people are choking hazard size, so use caution if you choose to use them.

indoor sandbox

Have a sand and water table or a sandbox?

Bring it inside for the winter! Add rice, beans, dried corn etc.

We used about 25 pounds of rice.

A shower curtain taped to the floor and wall make clean up easy.

Don't have the space for an indoor sandbox? Use an enclosed shower stall and tape off the drain.

Favorite rhymes and finger plays

Homes
A nest is a home for a bird. (cup hands to form a nest.)

A hive is a home for a bee. (turn cupped hands over.)

A hole is a home for a rabbit. (make a hole with hands.)

And a house is a home for me. (Peaked hands like roof.)

Good Morning

Good morning world, I’ve had my rest (Stretch and rub eyes)

Cardinal’s waking in her nest (cup hands to form nest)

Bees wake up and fly away (flutter fingers up)

Bunny’s hopping out to play (hop hand on the ground)

One, Two, Three, Four, Five

West loves the anticipation of the fish biting his finger.

One, two, three, four, five, (hold up fingers one by one, while counting)
Once I caught a fish alive. (put hands together and wiggle like a fish)
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, (hold up fingers one by one, while counting)
Then I threw it back again. (make throwing motion)

Why did you let it go? (hold hands out asking why)
Because it bit my finger so. (shake hand, as if hurt)
Which finger did it bite? (hold hands out asking why)
This little finger on my right. (wiggle pinky finger)

Roll Your Hands

West gets such a kick out of going slow then fast.

 Roll your hands so slowly, (roll hands)
As slowly as can be.
Roll your hands so slowly,
Then fold them just like me.

Roll your hands so quickly,
As quickly as can be.
Roll your hands so quickly,
Then fold them just like me.

Clap your hands so softly, (clap hands)
Softly as can be.
Clap your hands so softly,
Then fold them just like me.

Clap your hands so loudly,
Loudly as can be.
Clap your hands so loudly,
Then fold them just like me.

 

 

Where is Thumbkin?

Where is Thumbkin? (put both hands behind back)
Where is Thumbkin?
Here I am. (bring one thumb out front)
Here I am. (bring other thumb out front)

How are you today sir? (bend one thumb as if talking to the other)
Very well I thank you. (bend other thumb as if talking back)
Run away. (put first thumb behind back)
Run away. (Put other thumb behind back)

Repeat with: Pointer, Tall Man, Ring Man, Small Man.

 

 

The Nobel Duke of York

(sing to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell) We do this one as a 'knee ride'. I sit on the floor with my legs straight out and one of the kids sits on my knees then I bounce my knees up and down to the song.

The noble duke of York

He had ten thousand men

He marched them up to the top of the hill

Then marched them down again

And when you’re up you’re up

And when you’re down you’re down

And when you’re only half way up

You’re neither up nor down

Striking a Pose

(I couldn't get this picture to upload facing the right way, but you get the idea)

West has been very into copying people in pictures, striking a pose, if you will. So I went through some magazines and found people in interesting poses and glued them to some cards. It's great watching him try to figure them out, some of them are difficult.

Story cards

This 'deck' of cards is for story telling.

I cut out pictures from magazines and glued them to some card stock that I cut into cards. The story starts when you draw the first card and goes on and on as you draw more cards. You can have many story formats: one sentence per card, each person playing takes turns drawing cards and adding to the story, randomly choose 5 and make a story from only those cards, etc etc.