Bath Time Fun

Little Bean loves to have a bath. There's no problem getting him into the bath, but getting him out can be a hassle. Luckily, we have lots of cool things to do to pass the time.

To help keep him safe, I bought him a bath seat. I got this one at Big W in Australia. It has suction cups on the bottom to stick it to the bathtub.

I love this bath thermometer from Canpol. It makes it super easy to get the bath water just right. I got this from Con Cung baby store in Ho Chi Minh City. They have lots of stores across Vietnam and have a delivery service that is free for purchases over 199,000 VND (AUD$10). The delivery fee is only 20,000 VND (AUD$1) for purchases under 199,000 VND.

We use this Aveeno bath soap for Little Bean. It is gentle on his skin and his eczema. They have a great range of bath and skin products that are suitable for eczema sufferers.

 

Little Bean has a lovely Nanna who has given him some great bath toys. She gave me these stick-on stars when he was born. They have suction cups on the bottom and they are textured on top. This made them great for putting on the bottom of his baby bath to sit on so he wouldn't slip. Now that he's older, he likes to stick them on the sides of the bath and the tile wall.

Nanna also gave him these stacking bath cups from Bruin. Little Beans can stack them or use them to scoop up water and watch it dribble through the holes in the bottom. The top cup has a water wheel in it.

This fabulous waterfall toy is from Nanna too. It's from Fisher & Price. You can stick the toys on to the wall in various orders, and pour water through the top. It's a great way to show Little Bean cause and effect. He really likes it when the lobster dumps the water out of the bucket.

These squeaky animal toys are so cute. We usually have a plastic jug in the bath and Little Bean likes to put these toys in and out of it. He also uses a large slotted spoon to scoop them out of the water. I'll add another step soon and get him to scoop them and then put them into the jug.

What we're doing this week

Little Bean is still interested in our previous fine motor skill activities so we have been continuing those tasks. He's getting the hang of putting the lids on and off his milk cans and milk bottle. He hasn't had much progress with the snap on lids though. They're a tighter fit and may be too difficult for him at the moment. The zippers are a work in progress. He can move it a little way but not the whole length yet.

I have some flash cards on a ring that I use with my ESL (English as a Second Language) students. During a tutoring session last week, Little Bean decided that he liked them. He's been playing with them heaps this week, and occasionally chewing on them too. I really hope he stops chewing on everything soon.





At Little Bean's Gymboree class, they have a piano toy that he adores. He saw one in the baby shop last week and wouldn't leave without it. He can either play the keyboard or use the stick to strike the xylophone.

 We had some leftover foam alphabet mats from Little Bean's bed makeover that he has been playing with. He's good at pulling the letters out but getting them back is a bit harder. He can do the simpler letters like I and L, but needs help with ones that are trickier to line up.

 This beach ball was a free gift when we joined Gymboree. It's much lighter than his other balls so he can toss it quite far and high.

Little Bean loves playing with the clothes pegs when I hang out the washing. I peg some on to his t-shirt that he can pull off. I also peg some around the rim of the bowl. Sometimes we makes chains of them. But mostly, he loves just putting them in and out of the ball, especially this week.

This month, Little Bean has started to play make-believe. It's so cute. He'll climb into my bed, hug a pillow and pretend to sleep. Then he'll suddenly jump up, race to the next pillow and do it all again. In his room, he uses his old nappy change mat as a pretend bed. He has had this red pillow for ages but has never shown any interest in it until now. It's filled with tiny polystyrene beads and is super squishy and soft. He loves snuggling up with it when he pretends to sleep.

This week's discovery basket

This week's discovery basket was created by Little Bean. I bought some plastic tubs to store our growing collection of Montessori materials and craft supplies in. While I was tutoring my ESL (English as a Second Language) student, I let Little Bean play with the tubs. He climbed in them, made them scoot across the floor and generally had a great time. Then he wandered off to find stuff to put in them. Before long, he'd raided our recycling bin, the bookshelf, the laundry and the living room for objects of interest. He found toys, clothes pegs, coat hangers, bottles, boxes, comic books and heaps more. Whenever we're downstairs now, he heads straight for the tubs and pulls stuff out, puts in back in and finds more to add to it. I tied the tubs together so he can push and pull them around the floor like a train, which he loves to do.

I'll keep the opening and closing discovery basket in his bedroom for another week also. He is still showing interest in it and is getting the hang of getting the lids on and off his milk can sorting toys.

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.

 

What we're doing this week

This week we've been doing a lot of fine motor skill activities.

This bead maze was a great buy in Australia on my last trip. It has wooden beads that slide along the wires. It also has wooden toys that can be pushed along channels in the base.

I made these sorting toys from recycled baby milk cans, wooden blocks, plastic lids and chew toys. Go here for instructions on how to make your own milk can sorting toys. Little Bean quickly got the hang of it.

This week's "Opening & Closing" discovery basket has practical life items that will help develop fine motor skills. Go here to more details.

 

After Little Bean became very stubborn about pulling tissues and baby wipes from any box he could find, I gave him a box of his own. I filled the box with small muslin clothes that he can pull out and put back in at his leisure.

 We taped some toilet roll tubes to the side of his drawers and taped a bowl to the bottom. He drops the ball in the top and it falls into the bowl. The angled tubes make the ball spin around the bowl as they land.

 We bought this toy from Gymboree. Peek-a-boo is Little Bean's favourite game. It's a sure-fire way to cheer him up and keep him amused.

This week's discovery basket

We've all been sick with a cold these past couple of weeks, so I've been a bit slack about new activities and discovery baskets. Little Bean was too sick to really care anyway. This is the basket we've been using for the past few days.  Little Beans is currently obsessed with taking the the lid of his baby milk bottle and putting it back on again, so I was inspired to create the theme "opening and closing". I gathered up some practical life items with a range of methods for opening and closing.

 

This basket contains a white plastic container with a press on lid, two small blue containers with snap on lids, a baby bottle with a tight fitting snap on lid (Little Bean's current favourite), a textured vinyl purse with a zipper, a pencil case with a zipper and a blue container with a screw on lid. I also added a fabric bag that has a velcro fastening but didn't get a picture of it.