What's in the Tub Tuesday?

We continued, this week, using the pasta and tubes.

 The tubes were stuck in a box at different angles.

 This week they knew what to do without any prompts.

Some of the pasta was still in the cans so I added them to the play.

She figured out how to turn the can over and shake the pasta out.

 As the play progressed they moved the box away from the tub and became more interested in the tubes.

They noticed that the tubes could slide in and out.

Each took a turn figuring out how to pull a tube out and the banging began.

Homemade Fun

What can I make with an empty box and plastic lids?

A new toy for my 13 month old grand daughter.

The toy is made from an empty Kleenex box and the lids from these puree packs.

At first she stood and shook the box.

Then she heard something inside so she sat down and looked inside.

It's natural, when you see something inside, to reach in and try to grab it.

But she had wrapped her hand in a fist around one of the caps

and it would no longer fit through the opening.

She tried to shake it off but that didn't work.

She took her hand out and I stretched the plastic a bit.

That let her grab the caps and pull them out with little difficulty.

She kept at it until she couldn't hear or see anymore inside.

Together we put them back in.

And she started pulling them out again.

SaveSave

Balls and Box is All you Need

I was given a bag of plastic balls for free.

I used one of our old boxes (it was our old pretend washing machine)

and cut a few new holes in it.

The basket worked great for collecting the balls

and carrying them around.

The holes on the sides allowed more than one child to play

and it challenged the children to bend, peek and stretch

to get the balls out.

The big hole on the top makes a great target for tossing the balls.

One morning I saw a family had incorporated these coloured bowls

into their play to sort the balls.

It inspired me to encourage others to try it.

This child discovered a different way to use the bowls with the balls.

He put one inside then held the bowls together and shook it.

Love how a simple toy can inspire a variety of play,

even peaceful moments.

Bat Cave

Right after Halloween I had a family visit and the child was carrying

a paper bat.

The mother shared that the child was quite interested in bats.

It inspired me to change our cardboard box horse barn to a bat cave.

After repainting the box I made short slits around the top

and we strung thick yarn across like a web.

We talked about how bats hang upside down

but the question came of how to hang our bats.

One family suggested clips so we brought out some clothes pegs to do the job.

The children worked to figure out how to open the clothes peg 

and attach it to the bat.

Now we have a little hide away.