Art activity trays for toddlers

Little Bean went to his first Gymboree art class last week and loved it. The kids got to play with play dough and make collages. The first collage was a flower with seeds glued in the centre with colourful paper and foam pieces on the petals. They then drew around the flower with some really cool, soft, silky crayons from Crayola. I can't recall the product name but will find out and update this post later. Then the kids made a cone hat, covered it in glue and rolled it across a tray of feathers and pom poms. This class will definitely be a weekly activity for us.

I recently read online somewhere (I really must start taking better notes of where I find things online) about making up trays for art activities. It suggested putting the drawing paper in a tray so that your little one can not draw off the page and on to the table. Brilliant idea! So this week, I have made up several trays for Little Bean using crayons and stamps. The stamps were a bit hit. It also gave him ample opportunity to practice his latest word "Ewww". Whenever he got ink on his hand or the table, he'd point to it and say "Ewww" and ask for a wet wipe to clean it up.

Little Bean continues to be very ambidextrous. He was stamping with both hands at the same time.

Little Bean got very enthusiastic and had the tray sliding all over the place, so I would recommend placing  piece of rubber non-slip mat under the tray like we did. It worked a treat.

We will continue with the art trays for other activities such as painting and collages. We will also use the trays for play dough.

DIY activity board for toddlers

I have seen so many great activity boards on Pinterest, especially latch boards. I understand the theory behind latch boards and see the great opportunity to work on fine motor skills. However, I'm not sure I want my toddler knowing how to open, unlock and unlatch the very things that keep him safe around our home. I came up with this alternative activity board instead.

I used a laminated shelf that I kept from a cupboard we recently threw out. This made it easy as I didn't have to do any drilling. I was able to screw everything in by hand. Little Bean is obsessed with light switches at the moment so it was a given that one of those be included. There are also hooks to  hang washers on, eye hooks to thread string through, a pocket for a postcard, a pouch for dolly pegs and two trolley wheels that spin and swivel.

DIY hand washing station

Little Bean is getting the hang of washing his hands at the bathroom basin with a little help from me and he just loves the child size basin at his Gymboree class. So, I thought it was time to give him his own hand washing station. Vietnamese bathrooms usually have a tap on the wall for filling buckets so it was really easy to do.

My first step was the DIY hand washing basin. Then I added a cute non-slip bath mat, soap dish, hand towel and vanity mirror. I couldn't find any small bars of soap (hotel soap is perfect) so I cut an ordinary bar of soap into thirds with a meat cleaver. I put a piece at my basin too so that Little Bean will see me washing my hands the same way that he does. The mirror has a place to store toothbrushes, toothpaste and other small items. I'm not storing his toothbrush here yet as he kept running off with it. I keep it with mine and give it to him when we brush our teeth every morning and night. These days, he really likes brushing his teeth and will happily let me finish the job for him. This is a far cry from several months ago when he all but kicked and screamed if I tried to help. Then, three months ago, he started that phase where they want to copy what Mummy and Daddy do. From then on out, he wanted to brush whenever I did and even let me help him to do it properly. Yay, victory. Some days, especially on the hard days, it really is about the small victories.

While I would love to have added a little porcelain basin to our bathroom, it hardly seemed worth the expense since we're building our new house soon. I plan to put a child size ensuite bathroom off Little Bean's bedroom in the new house though. For this project, I bought a tiny plastic stool and two plastic bowls the same size. I simply used silicone to glue one bowl to the top of the stool. The other bowl nests inside it. Little Bean can turn on the tap and put water in the bowl and when he's finished, I can lift the top bowl out and empty it into the basin. By using two nested bowls, it's sturdy and can't get knocked over. 

I'm still helping him wash his hands but he does most of it himself. He needs a little prompting sometimes to help him remember all the steps. I think that I'll make some laminated picture cards showing each of the steps and put them on the wall above the basin. Now I just have to get him to co-operate long enough to take photos next time he washes his hands. Wish me luck.

How to make a chopstick threading activity

I made this simple chopstick threading activity in a few minutes, but it's sure to keep Little Bean amused for much longer.

You will need:

A cylindrical container with a plastic lid, e.g. Pringles
5 chopsticks
A hole punch, craft knife or box cutter

Punch or cut holes in the plastic lid.
Fit lid to container.
Thread chopsticks through holes.

I originally planned to use plastic drinking straws for this. I ended up using chopsticks because LB is chewing on everything at the moment and I didn't think that straws would last very long.

I love this scrapbooking tool kit from Making Memories. It includes several hole punches and blades that are great for projects like this.

Little Bean's big boy bed

Little Bean loves to climb, almost as must as he loves to get his own way. When the two loves combine forces, trouble usually follows. As soon as Little Bean learned to climb, I turned his cot around so that the horizontal bars were against the wall. Last week, I found out that that wasn't enough. I put him in his cot while I was tidying up and he wanted out. Being as clever as he is, he propped his iPad against the side of his cot and used it as a step to climb out. What he didn't count on was the drop down the other side. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and turned just in time to see him mid-somersault. I freaked. I found him laying on the floor having a little sook. I tried to keep him still while I checked him over, all whilst thinking the worst and hoping for the best. He quickly stopped crying and then got annoyed with me. He just wanted to go back to playing. I guess babies are tougher than they look.

This incident prompted me to get out the tools and immediately give his bed a makeover. I sawed the legs off, flush with the base. One side had a section that slid down to make it easier to lift your baby out. I removed the top section. I left the bottom section on as Little Bean rolls around in his sleep a lot. I often find him smooshed up against the side of the cot. He must like it because most of the time, if I move him away, he instantly moves back again.

I added some cute alphabet theme foam matting under the bed. Little Bean likes to play with the mats and take out the letters and put them back in. I had some leftover mats, so I taped them into a stack and put it next to the bed as a step for him.

How to make your own sorting toys

These sorting toys are really quick and easy to make.

You'll need:
Baby milk cans with plastic resealable lids
Eucalyptus oil
Stanley trimmer (box cutter) or similar blade
Pencil or marker pen
Items for sorting (I used wooden blocks, plastic lids and plastic chew toys.)
Wrapping paper, adhesive contact or coloured packing tape (optional)

Make sure that your baby milk cans are the kind with no sharp edges. Clean any sticky label residue off with eucalyptus oil. Wash and dry the cans thoroughly.

Trace the shape of the toy on to the plastic can lid. Put the lid on the can and cut out the shape with your Stanley knife.

If you want your sorting cans to be more decorative, cover the outside with wrapping paper, adhesive contact or coloured packing tap.

 

How to make a discovery basket

A discovery basket is a basket, box or tub filled with carefully selected items that your child can play with and explore. I've also heard them called treasure baskets. Items can be tactile, interesting or thematic. I usually choose a theme based on Little Bean's current interests and go from there. They are a great way to stimulate the senses, introduce new concepts and to practice skills.

I have a big box filled with loads of interesting items for discovery baskets. It's actually getting a little crazy. I have so many ideas that I'm going to have to get a bigger box soon. Maybe even a room.

Recently we've had discovery baskets for the following themes:
Round
Soft
Things that roll or can be pushed along
Sound sensory bottles - go here for instructions on how to make them

Round - metal sieve, metal baby food jar lid, sauce dipping bowls,
plastic lid with embossed stars, flexible clear plastic lid,
plastic jar lid with grooved edges.

Sound sensory bottles containing plastic straws, rice, chickpeas,
mung beans & lentils, kidney beans and bells.

Roll or push - sensory ball, plastic balls with bells inside,
velvet ball, small wooden balls, plastic rattle, plastic cylinders
with bells inside, plastic truck and lots of wooden cars.

Some other themes I'd like to try in the near future are:
Shiny and smooth
Metal
Spin or turn
Kitchen tools
Opening and closing
Rough or smooth
Wood

Here are some of the items I have put aside for future use:

Beautiful sea shells

Wooden chopsticks and
bamboo placemat

Metal sieve, silicon cupcake pans, plastic juicer, metal beaters,
metal ladle, textured plastic rice spoon, plastic curry puff press.

Sometime you can make the basket itself an interesting
feature. I like using plastic sieves and baskets
with different textures.

Texture - vinyl coin purse, shower loofah, woven handbag,
scrubbing brush.

A variety of scarves and shawls

How to make sound sensory bottles

I made some sound sensory bottles for Little Bean using cheap items that I already had around the house. I wanted a range of tones so I used dried foods in various sizes, ranging from grains of rice up to dried chickpeas, plus some other items that made interesting sounds.

There are a lot of activities that you can do with these bottles. For babies, you could just let them play with the bottles on their own. They can explore the tactile feel of the bottles, develop their movement and co-ordination, and be stimulated by the different sizes, shapes, colours and sounds of the bottle contents. For toddlers and older children, you could do sorting activities. You could sort them in order from lowest tone to highest tone, quietest to loudest, least liked sound to favourite sound, or by the size of the contents.

You'll need:
6 x small plastic bottles (I used 375ml soft drink bottles)
6 x plastic drinking straws
2 x small bells (I used bells for cat collars as they fit through the bottle neck)
1/4 cup each of 4 dried foods (I used rice, chickpeas, kidney beans & lentil/mung bean)
Scissors
Super glue
Plastic funnel with a wide spout

If you wanted to use non-food contents for your bottles, you could try wooden or plastic beads, buttons, nuts and bolts, metal washers, small shells, fish tank pebbles, etc. The list is only limited by your imagination.

Cut the straws into 2 cm lengths and put into one bottle.
Put the bells in the next bottle.
Use the funnel to pour the dried food into the remaining four bottles.
Doing one bottle and lid at a time, put super glue on the inside edges of the bottle lids.
Make sure you get it into the lid grooves and quickly screw it on to the bottle.
Repeat for the rest of the bottles.
Leave them overnight so that the glue can fully cure and reach maximum strength.
Give the bottles to your child and be prepared for lots of noisy fun.