Creating Experiences

I fell into a rut for a few weeks and I found that we were watching a few too many Dora the Explorer and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes. It was the only way I could get things done. Shower, cook, clean, and so on. I am sure all moms (and dads!) have experienced this at some point. I live in a small house and since we are in New England it's a tad bit cold to get outdoors all the time. Although, I will not complain about the winter we have been having.

 I will complain about the Patriots losing the Superbowl though! Ugh! We were so ready for a win! Even Liza was excited...

Ah, well. There's always baseball. Go Red Sox! Liza's cute headband is from my friend's Etsy shop. Check her out at HeadsOrTailsBoutique. Pssst...I also have an Etsy shop :)

Anyway, sometimes I just have to stop and think about what kind of experiences I can create for my 19 month old. This morning I threw together a little sensory tray. It took me 3 seconds to put together and it kept her busy for a good chunk of time. I dumped out some glass beads I had in a vase and created a mini Valentine's Day sensory experience. She scooped the beads, transfered them into the mini heart ice cube tray, put them into the mini mailbox, and dumped them out. They are a little small so I had to watch that she didn't put anything in her mouth.

Since she loved it so much, I decided to put a little more effort in and create her something a little bit better. I grabbed her water table from the basement, dyed some rice, and added a few more gems from the Dollar Spot at Target. Here's what we ended up with.

With her post-nap hair she is having a wonderful time dumping the rice on the ground (this is why I put a plastic table cloth under the water table/sensory table), transfering it from bowl to bowl, and scooping with different spoons.

Scooping

How do you like my hair?!

I hope that this post helped to spark a few of your own ideas. There are TONS of simple and easy experiences that you can create for your toddler and I look forward to sharing with you some of the activities that I do with Liza.

In the meantime, know that I am not a photographer in any sense of the word so you will have to excuse my simple, unedited pictures :-)

xoxo Sarah


You can visit my Etsy shop here.