Snow Day Survival 6: Blocks and Books

The Bug was lucky enough to get a small set of Mega blocks for his birthday and they are a huge hit!

He put them all into his dump trucks and drives them around before dumping them out...

And he builds with them! (Ok, he's getting there...)

His favorite thing is taking them apart and yes, he's crying in the picture because the "4" block doesn't come apart... It's a whole piece but he didn't quite get that so Mommy was amused!

The Bug has recently gotten REALLY into reading! He got a little Anywhere Chair from Nana and Papa for his birthday and he'll curl up and read for longer than he'll do anything except sleep! He wanted to read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? a bit excessively for a while but we are branching out to the point where he clears the bookshelf to read them all!

Snow Day Survival 5: Pretend Play

The Bug, like all young children, is very much into imitating what Mommy and Daddy do so he got his very own stovetop for his birthday! We had some kitchen utensils and found some nice things at the thrift store and the Bug has his very own Kitchen Box!

He is still mostly into the sounds things make when he bangs them together but we're starting to get into the pouring and flipping (*note- an egg frying pan is the perfect size for a kid!!)

Snow Day Survival 4: Snow!

After being a teacher for years, there are very few things I won't try with my own child despite him not always being "ready". I'm excited to see the growth in projects such as our snow day puffy paint! We used:

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup salt

1/3 cup water 

(you could also add food coloring but we were making snow!) and put it into a squeeze bottle! 

The Bug couldn't quite squeeze the bottle so I got it going and he directed the bottle around and then smooshed some of it to explore!

He was pretty proud and was DELIGHTED to push the microwave buttons (we did 20 seconds on 50% power) to make his paint puffy! He then explored the texture on the paper (we made 3 pieces of art and the one he explored after puffing was destroyed!) but it was a really cool project and kept him engaged because he loved the squeeze bottle!

What snow storm isn't complete without a bucket of real snow? We have had plenty and it's light and fluffy so it's quite fun to play in! The Bug doesn't mind playing outside but does get cold (I mean its been below freezing PLUS wind chill...) so we can't play for long...

He was thrilled to use his shovels and scoops to explore the snow inside! His hands did get cold but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it is outside!

We also collected some fresh snow and made snow cream! We used

4 cups fresh snow

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

We stuck a bowl outside to catch fresh snow and after we'd caught enough, mixed together the non snow ingredients and the Bug got to have his very first snow cream after his nap!!!

Snow Day Survival 3: Creative Expression

Despite the fact that the Bug is still a taster, I like to let him try art experiences. Markers are the one I shy away from the most because he sucks the ink out that its just gross plus markers are the least beneficial because you do not have to put pressure to make marks! We do lots with other writing instruments!

Crayon cakes are a personal favorite BUT the Bug doesn't use enough pressure for many of them. Crayon cakes are what I've done for years with the broken crayon pieces! 

The Bug enjoys getting things out of his buckets so we use them for art supplies!

He also got watercolors in his stocking which he has loved and it's amazing how far he has come! The first piece had 3-4 marks and his more recent ones have lasted MUCH longer!

Snow Day Survival 2: Oatmeal and Washing Dishes

Oats are one of the coolest textures and we love to play with whole oats, ground oats, and water to create lots of textures! Recently, the Bug has been into making shakers- we have lots of containers with lids so he will fill a container, get me to help put the lid on and then shake to his delight! Oats work well for this!

The Bug has recently been going through lots of brain leaps and is beginning to put together processes so we decided to try out washing dishes in the sensory table! He mostly ate the sponge (the soap made me a little weary but I used a drop to make the bubbles) but he did watch me and I caught him trying again a few days later!

Splashing in the water is a favorite pastime so we did lots of that too!

Snow Day Survival 1: Gelatin and Flubber

It's Winter in New England and it looks like we're going to get a lot of snow... Being stuck inside with a newly turned 1 year old who doesn't sit still is even more exhausting than usual! So here is our snow day survival!

Gelatin is such a cool texture. It takes a little bit of time to set but we use the unflavored/unscented stuff and add some food coloring!

This was the first time the Bug got to play with gelatin and he loved it! He did try one bite but spit it out (unflavored gelatin has got to be gross!)

He is using a small scoop (from our formula containers) to explore. It was a great way to do some filling and dumping!

Flubber is another one we discovered thanks to this book and it has quickly become a favorite!

The Bug didn't cut this but he was trying!

This is another amazing recipe that is only in the book linked above but here is the Ultimate Guide to Slimes from Fun At Home With Kids (who wrote the book!)

Introducing Play Dough

There are a million and one recipes for play dough on the Internet! I am not a fan of any that I have too cook but thanks to this AMAZING book I got for Christmas, I have had lots of recipes to try! (You can find some of them HERE!)

I happened to have a banana that was too ripe for us to eat so we made banana play dough! I made sure to pick a taste-safe recipe because the Bug still likes to taste things as part of his exploration.

I also gave the Bug a plastic knife to "cut" the dough with. He got the concept much more than he does with cookie cutters!

The Bug did lots of poking and pinching!

And also did some pulling and squishing!

Despite being not quite 1, the Bug had a blast exploring the play dough (and he did eat some but not much)!