March Treasure Basket - Balls

In January I made a card board box house for my grand daughter 

but she never was comfortable going into it.

I tried poking lights in the top but that didn't interest her

so I thought balls might do the trick.

I spent the past month searching for a variety of balls,

some from my own bins and others from dollar stores.

We set the box on it's side and cut holes for these two big tubes

to fit through.

Then I showed her the balls.

She took each from the basket and showed me her favourites.

Then I took one of the balls and rolled it through the tube.

She copied me.

A couple of balls have lights inside them.

She figured out how to activate them.

I thought they might motivate her to go farther in to the box.

As you see in the video she is stretching into it but I wouldn't say she is

comfortable.

Do you have any suggestions on how to encourage her to go in the box?

Introducing Colours

Colours are all around us and they are fun to introduce.

One of my grand daughter's favourite books is 

"Treasure Hunt Counting Colours"

I like this book because of the big layout.
It's not cluttered but gives a toddler a challenge.
We've followed her lead in showing us what she is interested in on each page.

For example, on the green page, if she points at the frog I say "frog" and introduce the sign.

Then we look to see if there are any other frogs on the page.
Over time I'll add words like big and small
and what sound a frog makes.

On the purple page she was interested in the balloons

so we sign and find all the balloons.

But when she points at the onion we talk about same and different.

Using the signs for each one helps her hear and see that they are different.

At the moment her favourite thing to find on the purple page are the socks.

On the blue page we've introduced "pretend" and pick up the blueberries to eat them.

On the black page it was the truck.

This is because we talk about what her dad drives to work.

We make a sound for truck too (vroom).

On the white page she points to a bear then attempts to sign it.

On the orange page it is the cats.

Then I introduced the sign for tiger and she points to that one too.

Interestingly she rarely spends any time looking at the yellow page

even when I point out things I know she likes.

Whereas brown is my favourite.

Mmmm chocolate, bread, snuggly teddy bears are some of my favourite things.

I think we need to find some easy "I Spy" books for her next.

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Oatmeal Revisited in the Sensory Table

A month ago I introduced a sensory table to my grand daughter.

We used ground oats in it and had fun letting it fall from our fingers to the floor.

You can check out the post here.

 This time we used a smaller amount of the oats plus water.

 I had placed the cup of water in the table for her to pour 

but her first attempt ended up on the floor.

 So I poured some it for her.

Her hand reached in and she tried to pick it up

and it went right into her mouth.

 I discouraged that by giving her the cup of water to pour.

I thought she would squish it through her fingers or swirl it around in the tub

but her first instinct was to eat it.

Oh how I forget what toddlers like to do best - everything in their mouth.

This is a reason why I couldn't try this at StrongStart with so many

hands and mouths.

 Even using the spoon she continued to eat it.

I was conflicted if I should let her.

It's not cooked, would it upset her stomach?

Would she eat enough for that to happen?

It's a sensory experience should I just let her explore?

I waffled back and forth and encouraged her to use the spoon

to fill the can.

What would you have done?

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How Does She Learn?

I love watching my grand daughter play.

I love that I have the time to do it.

When I was a young parent with my own children there was always

so much to do.

Now I really have the time to watch 

and see how she learns.

Today I watched as she tried over and over to put the yellow tube into the black one.

Perseverance?

Determination?

Curiosity?

Patience?

These were all going through my head as I watched.

All traits of a good learner.

 She finally got!

 And immediately pulled it apart to do it over again.

She even switched hands and tried it again.

The cool thing about today is that these tubes were from the recycling bin.

I didn't have to buy it or create it.

Something to remember when we are providing for our little ones.

She looked pretty pleased with herself.

Toddler Puzzle with a Surprise

I like to make things for my grand children

and I like to recycle

so when I saw toddler puzzles for sale on the swap and shop
I grabbed them and made this.

A family photo puzzle.

She lifted the first, hesitated

then pointed at the picture and said 'da'.

I think she was excited to look under the other pieces.

It was easy to make.

I printed out the photo then traced the puzzle piece 

(that it would be under)

around it.

I diluted white glue with water and pasted it on the wood.

Let it dry before you put the puzzle piece back in.

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Book - Doggies

Sandra Boynton is one of our favourite children's authors at the moment.

"Doggies" is one of my granddaughter's go-to books because she loves dogs.

To enhance the book I gathered ten toy dogs and one cat to set up as a play invitation.

My son in-law introduced the toy dogs with the book.

They decided which dogs would make which kind of bark.

If you haven't read the book then each dog has a distinctive bark

from woof to yip to n-n-n and more.

She loved all the dogs and playing with her dad.

Another day we moved them back into the bin with other props

and the play ideas grew.

It has been a fun way to introduce counting, size and build her vocabulary,

such as; big, little, long legs, running, sitting, same, different, etc.