Coloring

Did you know that using crayons, markers, chalk, and other writing instruments helps a child learn how to write? Making marks is the earliest form of writing development so I try to let the Bug have a chance sometimes though it is tough because everything goes in his mouth...

We experiment with different papers/mediums especially with markers since there is no need for you to apply pressure in order to make a mark. 

The Bug doesn't always leave the paper (or aluminum foil) taped down but that's all part of the process. (Oh yeah, until your child can coordinate holding the paper with one hand while drawing with the other (around age 3) it helps to tape it down!!!)

Note the marker all over his face. They're washable but I don't like that he wants to suck the ink out so markers don't get used a lot...

Crayon cakes are one of my very favorite writing instruments. They are cool shapes and take more pressure then the average crayon making them great for all ages! Once the Bug is old enough for us to have a stash of broken crayons, I'll post a tutorial on crayon cakes but until then you'll just have to check mine out!

These are much easier to lay out for "choices" then round crayons. I did buy some triangular crayons during the back to school craze but I'm not sure where they are...

Chalk! Sorry the pictures are blurry, I forgot I needed to take some until he was finishing...

Drawing with chalk on a chalkboard is a great time filler! Add a paintbrush and cup of water to "erase" their art and toddlers will sit still for longer. Actually the Bug might to- wait no, he'd want to drink the water...

The place where I taught didn't allow pencils (colored or other) in the rooms for kids under 3 so while I am willing to try, there's not any reason to start now!

As your child grows, drawing/writing should be encouraged. Try not to draw too much for them (it can in some cases make children feel that they can't do something) but encourage them to trace letters. We used a cool program called Handwriting Without Tears that used a "wet, dry, try" method. An adult writes the letter on a chalkboard. The child then uses a small sponge (think pincer grip here) to "wet" trace the letter. They then use a small piece of paper towel to "dry" trace the letter and lastly use a piece of chalk to "try" writing the letter themselves! 

Fabric-Eggs

Hubby was laughing at the fact that I was amused by the play on words here... (Faberge?) but one of the Bug's favorite things are plastic eggs... so I threw them into his fabric sensory bin and he opened them to discover some other textures inside!

We like to "shake, shake" the eggs. It's his newest trick...

It was great motor skill work to pull the eggs open!

The fun and colorful bin- doesn't it make you want to play?

Oh and inside the eggs were feather and some other ribbons. I debated putting in other textures but nothing was choking hazard free and this is one of his favorite bins so I didn't want to risk it!

Exploring Magnets!

It can be really hard to get anything done with a mobile kiddo who can also be a little clingy at times so I'm constantly looking for things to keep him engaged in the kitchen while I make breakfast, clean the kitchen up, and such.

Playing with Tupperware was great for a while but now the lower oven that slides open is WAY more fun... So I've given him new bowls and spoons every morning and end up almost killing myself tripping over them since he uses them to scoot across the floor...

Enter the magnet board! I thought I'd try this out small scale with just a few magnets before I go crazy. So I grabbed two magnets we had that were large enough not to be choking hazards and set them up. The Bug crawled right over and grabbed them!

He heard the camera click... Such a ham!

He couldn't quite figure out how to get them to stick but in his defense, the board isn't super sticky...

Dry Pasta Sensory Bin

The Bug is the type of kid who likes to be engaged in things. He's willing to explore and play independently with "setup" which is completely normal at this age- anything in a box or basket is way more interesting!

We used "garden" rotini and threw in some bow tie because it's what we had but any dry pasta will work! You can dye it using the recipe here if you wish!

We also included a bug Safari TOOB for something to search for.

New trick- This is his reaction if I clap and say yay!

And of course he tasted it...

Pull and Tug Box

So we have a lot of boxes (if you have a baby, you do too unless you cloth diaper!) so I'm always looking for ways to use them! This is what I call a pull and tug box.

I covered my box with fabric beforehand (I cover all of my diaper boxes). I gathered ribbons I had and a pair of adult scissors- I recommend doing this away from kids!

I poked holes in both sides of the box not necessarily keeping them even (if I had tried, they wouldn't be anyway!) then tied the ribbons with big enough knots that they couldn't be pulled all the way through the box.

This is one side finished. The other side looks similar but the ribbons aren't lined up!

You can somewhat see the criss crossing ribbons here.

The Bug had fun with it but I'm glad it wasn't expensive. He isn't into pulling things (Other than my hair and the cats' fur...) but this would be great for a child who pulls out all the wipes and such!

Pulling Up

The Bug started pulling up around 7 months and went crazy with it a few weeks later. Hubby is extremely creative but in a technical way so upon seeing another families PVC pull up bar, he went downstairs to his shop and created one for the Bug. It got a revamp lowering the bar a bit and adding the ramp (in hindsight we probably did not need to do both but now the Bug's shorter friends can take a turn!)

He crawls up the ramp...

And is too lazy to actually stand...

The next morning (love that milk drunk look...)

And he's got it (Note his feet back on the mat NOT on the ramp)

The reason I wanted the ramp (besides the obvious crawl up factor) was to launch cars off of. The Bug has been obsessed and of course I have no pictures because it all happens too fast but I line cars up at the top of his ramp and we push them down and he cackles with glee...

Considering it's made from leftovers, it isn't half bad! (I'm sorry I cannot give you technical dimensions of anything... It is an H shape on the bottom with the ramp coming down one side. Then the sides that hold the bar come up in the center and there's a bar across at the 12 inch mark...)

Water Play!

Water is one of the easiest sensory bins you can create! All you need is a container and some water! From there you can always add colors (food coloring is best for keeping things edible), small toys, cups or scoops, or for older children- more containers to move the water around!

Cleanup is a breeze- throw a towel on it!

The Bug is pulling up on EVERYTHING... We put our ocean animals TOOB in the water.

The main game with water is always to eat the animals. Octopi are his favorites (he has a tub toy octopus too...)

I encourage him to splash and we talk about what animals he is picking up. The advantage of the Safari TOOBs is they print the animal type on the animal so I can say Hammerhead Shark without question!

I also encouraged the Bug to make waves. He isn't quite old enough yet but talking is a major part of his language introduction so we try hard to have monologues (and occasionally babbling dialogues) with him about things!

He was SOAKED after this activity so be prepared. If you don't have animals or want a safe alternative add warmer water and colored ice cubes! It's a great motor skill practice trying to pick up the ice cubes and you can talk about how the ice is melting and what colors you see at the same time!

Outside with Oatmeal

The Bug just loves to dive into new sensory experiences- he loves to get messy! For this bin, I decided to take him outside and let him go to town.

Oatmeal (uncooked) and bugs- We have a few of the Safari TOOBS. They're not recommended for children this young but I am always watching the Bug closely and we have not had an issue. 

He reached right in to grab a bug because they're delicious!

I kept burying the bugs under the oatmeal so he had to dig but he didn't mind!

Yes, that is oatmeal on his chin...

Then we had fun throwing it up in the air! Oatmeal is great since animals can eat it (there is none left in the yard now...)

Action shot- this is why we went outside!

Cookie Cutter Stamps

I'm always looking for ways to let the Bug explore art without sucking all of the ink out of markers... Let's just say it isn't always easy and it is rarely clean. I'm all for the mess and I'm fine letting him suck the ink out of the markers but not every mom is so we tried cookie cutter stamping!

The first time we tried it was around the 4th of July so naturally we used red and blue paint and star cookie cutters. The Bug actually enjoyed it but didn't quite get the concept (at 5 and a half months) of stamping. We tried again at 7 months and used fall colors with an apple and leaf cutter!

Note- stamping inside the sensory bin isn't the best idea- he basically ate, dropped, and slid the cookie cutters around.

Oh and stamped his belly and legs...

But he did have fun and explored the apple and leaf cookie cutters!

And then he stamped a bit!!

Because I'm silly and love messes, I just tossed him into the tub after a 5 second attempt to wipe him off!

Peek-a-Boo!

What baby doesn't like peek-a-boo? And what toddler doesn't love looking at pictures of themselves? Enter the peek-a-boo sensory bin! You can use just about any material though water wouldn't work quite the same way.

I used contact paper (sold near the shelf liners at most stores) to adhere pictures to the bottom of one of the Bug's sensory bins. I did it on the outside so that the cornmeal we used wouldn't get stuck in the adhesive! Because the Bug isn't quite 8 months, I showed him the pictures before I hid them.

He dove right in as always picking up handfuls of the cornmeal.

 He swept the cornmeal around with his hands and thought it was HILARIOUS.

This is when I regret throwing him how to throw things...

When he got close, I started saying, "Who's that?" and "Peek-a-boo" which was a big hit!

When he found people he knew (the pictures were all of him with people he knows), he got excited.

Here's a view of the box- the pictures were just printed on our printer- they don't have to be high quality- just good enough to be able to tell who the person is. These were wallet size so I could fit 3 on the box.

Sensory Bottles

One of my very favorite things to do both as a teacher and now as a mom has been to use things around my house to create fun sensory experiences for the kids. The Bug does not disappoint- he is a sensory LOVER!

In an attempt to get the Bug's friends involved, we hosted a sensory party where moms all brought stuff from around their houses and we created toys for our munchkins. I already had a set of sensory bottles for the Bug but they got a reboot and became Rainbow Sensory Bottles!

The Bug dressed as Superman for our party. There were 6 kiddos ranging from 6 months to 20 months. It got a little crazy!

I, of course, don't have any good before pictures so instead you get an overview. Start with empty bottles- these are all the smaller bottles of water/soda since the Bug is still small enough that a 20 ounce soda bottle is pretty heavy. Each of them has a "base" ingredient- oats, beans, popcorn kernels, water, and rice are what I used and they work well. They all make slightly different sounds- pony beads also work well!

The stuff the other moms brought was a fantastic addition to the insane amount of stuff I always have around. We took turns creating sensory bottles (and ziplock bags- another day!) for the kids and playing with the crazy ones! I had tried to set up a few activities and of course had snacks and coffee.

So I went with the rainbow theme and reused the bottles I had started. I went through the things we had collected and pulled out things in each color- feathers, pom poms, ribbons, paper straws, pipe cleaners, glitter/sequins, foam stickers, foam letters, and so much more! Once I was done, I secured the lids with hot glue so that the Bug can't accidentally unscrew the lids!

There is an extra bottle on the left that is multiple colors! But this is how they looked after the party. Then I got to thinking about how the Bug can't experience any of the things inside the sensory bottles and the gears started turning... One of the other moms had glued a googly eye to the lid of her son's bottle- so I added textures for the Bug to feel on the outside as well! This was a first for me- it's definitely good to get together with other moms! We got so many other ideas!!!

Red has a foam A, Orange has felt, Yellow has ribbons, Green has googly eyes, Blue has paper straws, Purple has velcro! The Bug seems to really like the ribbons!