Chocolate soup

This is an activity I did with Calvin when he was a bit shy of 2 years.  He's now well into his 3rd year and he still requests the "balls with the water and spoons."

All you need is the wiffle type balls with holes, a towel, a strainer or spoon, and then a collander or other bowl.  A young child has a pretty fantastic time stirring the balls and working on the coordination skills needed to scoop them out.  An older child will do that, and then he'll make chocolate soup out of the whole concoction - adding salt and pepper and asking you to do a taste test. All in all, a great activity the first time we did it & it continues to be a good thing to pull out every now and then.

Car Garage

Made from a cereal box and toilet paper rolls, this has been a fun little toy for us this week. I've had the supplies to make this for, hmmm, over 2 months? But I only just sat down and glued it together right before Christmas. The TP rolls are covered in craft paper and all parts were hot glued.

One interesting observation (from my house): I really like to set up little play areas and arrange things in a way that is creatively appealing. When I first set this toy out, I did not do this; I just put it on the living room rug and it didn't get much attention. Then, my son moved it to a little toy chest in his room, and that is where it has been ever since. Since he moved it, I've seen cars arranged on it daily, cars on the window seal, cars on the air vents . . . so cute, he set up this little play area all on his own. But I think it is a good reminder that a cluttered environment can be hard to play in (especially if your child leans toward the tidy side). This toy has now lasted a lot longer than expected, and, since it was free and took 10 minutes, that makes me happy!

Where's Mouse?

We're going on a trip and I made this little felt game for the airplane. We use this on a larger scale every week at the Library's storytime, and the toddlers & preschoolers LOVE it. You hide the mouse secretly behind a house, then you say, "Little mouse, are you behind the orange house?" You keep going until you find the little mouse.

This particular set is small - slighly smaller than a sheet of regular computer paper. I made all the houses out of cut paper, laminated them, and then placed small velocro tabs on the back. The blue background is stiff craft felt and a pocket was attached to the back to store the pieces. I'm super excited to see Calvin's reaction to this! I predict he'll love it.

Marble run

Another idea from my fav blog Made by Joel. It's made from a cereal box (actually two since it is handy to have some extra pieces for the bottom part). Calvin loves any kind of toy involving rolling, a ramp, a relay, etc. This was his 1st introduction to marbles, too. I was very cautious at first, but he's only been rolling them through this & through paper towell rolls, so I think we're safe. If you make one, notice the bottom of it; a piece of the 2nd cereal box was cut out and folded over so that it props the box back ever so slightly - this keeps the marbles rolling and keeps them in the box.

Squeezing Oranges

We love oranges at our house, & I thought it would be fun to do a little OJ squeezin' with Calvin. It was slightly harder for his little hands to adequately squeeze the orange than I thought it would be, so I think we'll try this again in a few months. We did get to drink some delicious juice, though!