Containing the Mess - Painting in the bath with babies and toddlers

 

There are so many parents who find messy play at home a nightmare, they want to create beautiful artwork with their babies and toddlers but they don’t want their home destroyed in the process. I was the same, I’m not overly house proud really, and mess actually doesn’t bother me too much but it is definitely easier if it can be contained.

We found a solution. The bath. Easy wipe clean surfaces, containment, water friendly. Perfect.

 

We have been using the bathroom as our art workshop ever since. All I do is tape up a piece of paper or a canvas onto the tiles at the back of the bath, strip off L and put her in the bath with various brushes and paint in pots. L has fun and can pretty much do whatever she wants. Often she’ll paint the bath and the tiles as well as the picture. Once she’s finished I peel the pictures from the tiles and put them somewhere to dry. Then I turn on the shower over our bath, if you don’t have one, just start running your bath.

 

Our sensory play then continues with water play in the bath while L also gets clean. Win-win in my opinion.

Tape Resist Snowflake Craft

 

Here’s another amazingly easy winter craft for you. Last year L and I made these beautiful tape resist snowflake pictures. It takes almost no prep time but can get a bit messy.

I cut out 4 small squares of paper and stuck masking tape onto them in the shape of a snowflake. At the time I put L in her highchair for this craft but with older toddlers you could use the bath tub (if your mess averse) or just your usual crafting space.

I taped the paper down and gave L a few different shades of blue paint and some white. All had silver glitter mixed in with them to add winter ice sparkle.

L had fun painting the paper and once she had finished one picture, I stuck another one down.

 

The result was some very unique art to display for the festive season and an occupied toddler J

You could of course make any image you want with tape, and use any colours, have a play around and see what you could come up with, a few suggestions just to get you started; Christmas trees, snowmen, stars. You also can change this activity for any time of the year.

 

Please feel free to leave some pictures of your own tape-resist artwork in the comments for inspiration to others.

 

xoxo

 

Christmas Bauble Suncatcher Decorations

Christmas is a great time to get crafty with your little ones, there’s so much you can do with children of all ages. This week L and I made some Christmas bauble sun catchers. They were really easy and fun to do.

What you’ll need:

·         Different coloured tissue paper

·         Sticky backing plastic

·         Card

·         Pens/scissors

I drew and cut the templates for the bauble and then stuck them down on the plastic leaving the sticky side exposed for L to add the bauble decoration.

The tissue paper was cut into small pieces and L was simply told to stick them into the circles to decorate the baubles. Once all the tissue paper was used we stopped.

 

I then stuck another layer of sticky plastic to the back of the baubles (sticky side to sticky side) to seal the decoration. All that was left to do then was to cut the baubles out and stick them to the window, we used blutack, but you could also use a ribbon with a plastic window sticker. You can also make extra of these to give to family.

 

For more Christmas craft ideas follow us on Pinterest and Facebook.

 

xoxo

Ice-Cavation – Ice age themed sensory tub

 

Sensory bins are always fun and L loves to play with ice and water. This one was really easy to set up and takes almost no prep time at all, the only thing you have to wait for is for the water to freeze.

I froze small toy animals in small tupperware tubs filled with water. I also made normal ice cubes but added some glitter to them.

I put blue and clear glass pebbles in the tub as the ‘sea’ and also added in some whiskey rocks (frozen rocks used as ice cubes with whiskey).

 

The theme for this tub was Ice Age. L had to melt the large ice blocks to rescue the animals frozen inside. L used a small sippy beaker to drip/pour warm water onto the ice blocks. We used a different tools to try to break into the ice and rescue the animals.

 

It took time, this was an all afternoon activity with many breaks. L kept going back to the tub and playing more. The large ice blocks melted at different rates so the animals were released at different times. L’s face each time an animal was rescued was amazing, she was so happy with herself, she kept saying ‘I did it, I saved him’ and we had lots of high fives.

 

 

What we learnt while playing - Ice is cold. Warm water will melt ice. Basic thermodynamics. History, we talked about how a long time ago the world got cold and was covered with ice, and how lots of animals were frozen just like ours are now.

Motor skills development – we built towers with the whiskey blocks improving hand eye coordination and learning about balancing objects. We used tools, a chopstick, a plastic knife and fork and a paintbrush, improving hand dexterity and strength and working on our tripod pencil grip.

Imaginative play – we became super animal rescuers! We also added other animal to the mix later including a penguin and a whale who swam in sea with L making up little voices for them.  

We had great fun with this tub and will definitely do it again.

 

Always play with your kids :)

xoxo

 

Stamp Painting with Plastic Shot Glasses

 

This is a super simple messy play idea with a twist. Today we did a beautiful painting using plastic shot glasses as our painting tool of choice.

Using the shot glasses as a stamp rather than using a brush creates a different experience for your little one not to mention getting a unique piece of art for your house.

 

We used:

·         A small canvas (I almost always like to use a canvas because you never know when you’ll get a really lovely piece that you want to hang- plus you can always give your child’s creations as gifts for family at Christmas and birthdays)

·         8 plastic shot glasses

·         3 plastic plates for our paint

·         6 different paint colours and white added to each plate

 

 

L really enjoyed todays painting, she stamped lots and also rolled the glasses across the canvas and then got her hands involved mixing the colours together. Inevitably our end product has no sign of any circle stamping but that was never really the point J

 

The finished product

 

Some close-ups to show the beauty :)

 

 

Don't forget to play!

xoxo

Sparkly Silky Slimy Goop

This was by far our messiest messy play to date. There was carnage, proceed with caution. That said it was a lovely sensory recipe, and L thoroughly enjoyed herself, I suspect the amount of uncontained mess came from her age and her immense pleasure in seeing how far she could get the goop to travel when she flapped her hands around like a crazed toddler (as they do).

Commence Hand Flapping!

 

The recipe was simple enough, I used 4 ingredients in total but two of them are optional.

1.       Corn flour

2.       Hair conditioner (we used coconut scented to add to the sensory experience)

3.       Red food dye

4.       Gold glitter

You make this how you like it, I used 2 bottles of conditioner (Alberto Balsam) and a generous amount of corn flour. I added the flour one heaped tablespoon full at a time until I reached the consistency I wanted, gloopy and sticky and so that it ran slowly (slime like) when dripped. You really can’t do oobleck type recipes wrong, it’s a case of trial and error to find what you particularly like.

This recipe is lovely, it’s very silky and smelt amazing thanks to the scented conditioner (my hands smelt like holidays all day). Adding glitter and food dye just added to the sensory experience.

 

L was instantly interested in this because of the glitter on the top, she’s very interested in anything sparkly at the minute. She started by just swirling her fingers and mixing the glitter into the Goop. She then started to put her whole hands into it, stretching out her fingers and squeezing it.

 

Next came the small splats, she would grab handfuls and watch the goop drip into the tray, then she flapped her hands accidentally…and wow, this stuff really splats! L found this to be the best bit of the whole experience, in went her hands only for them to be lifted out and for her to run wildly round the room flapping her little hands with as much energy as she could find all the while giggling her head off. She threw herself wholeheartedly into this activity and repeated it over and over splattering myself, her aunty and everything in the room! When I say this was messy, I really do mean it, there was goop everywhere!

My wonderful sister who just popped round for a cuppa!

 

I personally do not mind a bit of mess (in the end everything cleans), but wow this was something else. I would not discourage anyone from using this recipe or trying similar ooblecks but perhaps do so with caution if you’re not the biggest fan of mess, or perhaps play with this recipe in the bath (but beware of slipping). I put most of this mess down to L’s age, she does not yet have the brain maturity to understand that she shouldn’t destroy her house, especially when she’s having that much fun. I would expect older children, say 3+, would probably not act in the same way as L, but do not take my word for it, it’s your house, and most likely you who will have to clean up. It will be easier if you have hard flooring and not carpet like me L

 

 

As always, Have fun with your kids

xoxo

Top 10 Sensory Play Ideas For Your New-born

 

Your new little squishy is here, you’ve mastered nappy changing, feeding and adjusting to sleep disturbed nights. Your baby is starting to become more alert during the day, napping less and you’re wondering what you can do together. Here are my top 10 ways to interact and play with your baby, this list is by no means exhaustive and I welcome you to share your ideas with me and other readers in the comments.

1.       Black and white pictures (sight)

Babies can see high contrast images much better than anything else, so black and white images will get their attention and aid their visual development.

Do a google search for black and white images or easily make your own on a computer, you could even draw them if you wanted, there’s also free downloadable images at this blog.

Once you have your images printed you can place them on a wall near baby, hang them from a mobile or a baby gym, or simply hold them out in front of your little one.

 

2.       Water play- bath time (touch/sound/sight)

Water is always a winner for sensory play and is one of the easiest. There are many ways to play with your baby using water but the most obvious is to have a bath, you can either use a baby bath or fill your own bath and take baby in with you (make sure the water is not too hot by using a thermometer – remember babies skin is super sensitive). Trickle water over different parts of you baby using a sponge or small cup, make splashing noises, let/help your baby splash, rub a wet sponge or cloth over their skin, there’s loads you can do.

3.       Tummy time  (touch)

Allowing your baby to lie on their belly is always a good idea as its great for their muscle development but you can add to the sensory experience. You can lay your baby on a soft, fluffy blanket, you can lie them on something that’s noisy like an emergency blanket, and you can rock/roll your baby using an exercise ball. You could introduce smells by using scented sprays on the blanket.

 

4.       Baby massage  (touch/smell)

Touch is one of the easiest senses to develop with your baby, and using baby massage is great for bonding. Massage can also help your baby to feel relaxed, aid trapped wind and help babies to sleep better. There are loads of free classes for baby massage that you could do to learn more, or just simply use a little pure oil, like olive oil or coconut oil, and rub your baby’s feet, hands, arms etc. You can choose to use a pure essential oil within your oil base but please be sure that it is safe for babies and do a spot test a day before to check for a potential allergy.

5.       Making faces  (sight)

 

Right from birth babies are social creatures and you are instrumental in helping to develop their social skills. As early as 1 month old babies start experimenting with their facial features and they will love watching your face and trying to mimic you. By 2 months old your little one will be smiling and will start initiating ‘conversations’ with you by flashing you a  smile, join the conversation and pull as many faces as you can.

6.       Singing  (sound)

Even if you think you can’t sing I can guarantee that your baby loves the sound of your voice, and will love the rhyming tones when you sing. Studies have shown that babies remain calmer for longer when you have sang to them than when you simply talk. I can personally attest to this as my lg would only be calm in the car while I was singing to her. We attend many baby/toddler groups that encourage singing, the repetition is really great for speech and language development. If you’re not confident with your nursery rhymes you could buy a children’s cd like this one ,or just sing whatever’s on your radio, it really doesn’t matter.

7.       Read to them  (sound/sight/touch)

Just the same as singing this encourages speech and language development and your baby is never too young to start good reading practice. At first your baby will just like listening to the sound of your voice but as they get older, they will remember the stories and it will encourage their imagination. There are loads of really fantastic books out there for babies and toddlers and if you have an actual story book with you that will also stimulate their sight and touch senses too, especially if the book is a touch and feel book like the Usborne Thats Not My... Books

8.       Baby games (movement/sound/sight/touch)

You can play with your newborn! Just because they don’t ‘do’ an awful lot at the moment doesn’t mean that they won’t enjoy you playing baby games with them, and again repetition is great for brain development. You could try; ‘Round and round the garden’ played on hands, feet and belly; ‘This little piggy’ is great for feet stimulation; blowing raspberries is great for hearing and touch, play peek-a-boo and encourage your baby to join in (my lg loves this game); bicycle legs is good for muscle development too. If you think of any more, please leave a comment at the bottom for inspiration to others J

9.       Naked time (touch)

When you’re little one is naked they will experience the world in a very different way, when they are lying wriggling around they are learning what air on their belly feels like exposed to the air, and how their body interacts with the ground (touch and pressure). All this floor time lays the foundation for motor development such as rolling over, sitting up and eventually walking. You can further encourage sensory development during this time too, you can stroke your baby’s skin, caress them with feathers and different materials, and gently blow across them.

I would also encourage you to have some naked time too, skin to skin contact with your baby at any time (not just straight after birth) is great and will calm your baby. Cuddling without clothes on feels very different, allowing your baby to feel your skin, your warmth and to hear your heart beat are all great sensory experiences.

There are a few things that should be considered when having naked time. Babies pee and poop wherever, whenever and you should take this into consideration when planning your naked time. A puppy training pad underneath your baby will absorb any ‘accidents’ and if you lay your baby to one side of the pad, once they’ve had one wee you can simply move them across to the other side of the pad to keep playing. You can also have a small flannel or muslin cloth available to ‘catch’ any upright wee’s when your baby is on their back (particularly with little boys). You should also make sure the room is warm enough for a naked baby and that they are lying on something comfortable and not too hard.

10.   Kisses and cuddle (Everything!)

This sensory experience is the one I would encourage the most, you should kiss and cuddle your baby anytime, anywhere and as often as possible. Love and touch stimulate the release of oxytocin in both you and your baby, not only is this a lovely feel-good hormone but it also develops healthy pathways in your babies brain and encourages neurone development, and who doesn’t love that!

Kisses and cuddles stimulate every sense, your baby sees you, they can smell you, they can hear your heart and breathing, they can touch you and they can even taste you on their lips.

 

These 10 things are just a guide to get you started, you can combine most of them for example, while having tummy time you can sing, while doing baby massage you can pull faces. Have a go and see how your baby reacts, which was their favourite? Which was yours? If you have a favourite thing to do with your new-born that I haven’t mentioned please leave me a comment below and share with my other readers.

And finally, none of these suggestions lose their worth as your baby gets older, they simply grow with you and your child, as they have the ability to do more, develop the activity i.e. encourage dancing with singing, encourage pouring activities in water.

 

Always Have Fun

xoxo

The Best No-Cook Playdough Recipe

This is my first post for sensory seekers, and I wanted it to be special and simple. I thought about it for a while but it was my little girl who made the decision for me. It had to be Playdough as it is by far her favourite.

Playdough is truly an amazing sensory recipe. It’s very easy to make with things that are usually in your cupboard and are cheap to buy. You can change it to almost any colour you want with dye. You can change the smell using ground spices, herbs or essences. Its baby safe with no toxic ingredients and you can do so much with it.

 

I’ve tried a few different methods for making playdough including on the hob and in the microwave but for me the easiest and fastest method is a no-cook method using boiled water from the kettle.

So here's what you'll need:

2 cups of Plain flour

½ cup salt (I use cooking Salt)

2 tbsp of oil (any edible oil will do, vegetable, olive and coconut are all great)

2 tbsp Cream of Tartare (not strictly necessary, it helps give the playdough elasticity but you can make it without)

1 ½ cups Boiling water

*Variable ingredients – food dye, herbs, spices, essence

 

Add everything to a big mixing bowl and stir with a spoon as the water will make it very hot for a few minutes. I usually then add flour until I reach the consistency desired as it can be a little sticky.

If you want to add food dye you can either add it with the water before it’s all mixed, or if you want to make more than one colour then separate your dough, make a small well in each and add a few drops of dye. I have found that gel dyes give a more vibrant colour and you might want to get some latex gloves (mine are actually self-tanning gloves bought from boots) unless you want dye on your hands. I rinse, dry and re-use my gloves.

 For this dough I added orange dye and ground nutmeg for scent (going with an autumn feel).

 

 So now you've got your dough, what can you do with it?

·         Use cookie cutters to make shapes.
·         Make pretend food and play cafes.
·         Make little people.
·         Encourage the senses by asking your child how it smells, is it stretchy? Can you bend it? Can you cut it? Etc
·         There’s a whole host of tools that can be used with dough like rolling pins and cutting wheels, there's a great starter set on amazon….here
·         Let your child have independent play and see where their imagination takes them.

 For more ideas check out this blog post 

Please feel free to comment if you use and like this recipe, let me know how it went for you, what you did and if you and your child enjoyed it.

Thanks and have fun  :)