Happy First Father's Day, Handsome Man!

Dear Jesse,

It's been a year since I gave you this tiny pink outfit two days after we found out we were having a girl.
(It's been hanging in her closet awaiting this very day!)

What a beautiful year it has been!

To watch you go from a young guy with no baby experience to becoming a dad who is so natural that no one believes you had never changed a diaper before our sweet girl came along.

The first time you held her, it was love at first sight.  And watching that love grow has been one of my greatest blessings this year.

She is Daddy's Girl, no doubt about it.  My heart swells with joy to see how much she loves you.

I pray that she always wants to be like her daddy.  I can't imagine a more loving, selfless model for her.

Happy 1st Father's Day, Handsome Man.  I can't wait to celebrate many more with you!

♥ B

Summer Sensory Fun: Shaving Cream

It's the last day of my Summer Sensory Fun Series!

If you've missed any of the fun activities, check them out :)

Monday--Creating a Summer Sensory Fun Box

Tuesday--Having Fun with Ball Art

Wednesday--Tactile Learning through Contact Paper

Thursday--Making Discovery Bottles

Friday--How to Make Colored Rice

I thought it would be fun to end the series with something dad-themed since tomorrow is Father's Day.

Enter Shaving Cream!

Stop worrying.  Yes, shaving cream is messy--but that's why kids love it!

And as long as you use my #1 clean-up tip, the mess won't be that bad :)

What can you do with a 99 cent can of shaving cream?

You can shake it, spray it, and fill your Summer Sensory Fun box with white fluffy foam.  Add a couple drops of food coloring, and a few pairs of little hands, and let them play away.

Let them swirl the colors together...

Or blend two colors to make a new one...

Want to know how to modify this activity for babies?  Use a ziplock bag!

Take a strip of packing tape and cover the top of the bag so that your munchkin can't get into the bag.  Put it on the floor, and let her blend colors and play with shaving cream just like her big brothers and sisters.  If your tot still puts things in her mouth, this is the way to keep her from trying out a mouthful of  Barbasol.  (I know, yum!)

There's something magical and soothing about playing with shaving cream.  On rainy days when my preschool students were fidgety and stir-crazy, I would spray a can of shaving cream all over one of my classroom tables, roll their sleeves up, and let them swirl and swipe until they were smiling again.  I loved the peace that this activity would bring to a crowd of preschoolers!

At home, I'm not about to put shaving cream on my antique dining table.  The sensory bin works perfectly as a place to play with shaving cream and contain the mess.

And my #1 clean-up tip?  Don't use water.

We all know how shaving cream works.  It lathers up with water to keep a nice thick foam going.  The more water you add, the farther the foam spreads.  So if this is on your kitchen counter or your kids' plastic picnic table in the backyard, don't use water.  Use a spatula or other utensil to scoop and throw away all of the used shaving cream at the end of the activity time, and then use dry paper towels or a cloth to clean up the surface until all it needs is a quick spritz of cleaner and another wipe-down.  It sounds like a big job, but it really isn't.  (At least, not as long as you carefully instruct your kiddos to march straight to the sink to wash their hands and not to touch anything on their way there!!!)

Thank you so much for joining me this week!

I've had a blast getting back into my teacher-mode and sharing some of my favorite activities with you.  I hope that the adaptations I've included will give you ideas for ways to modify these activities for your own kids.  Encouraging your little ones through sensory play is one of the best ways you can help their early development.  There are so many fun sensory activities out there, and I hope some of these ideas have inspired you to be on the lookout for other opportunities in the future!

Next week, I will have a link-up on Friday for you to share your experiences with sensory fun.  Want to post pictures of your little ones trying out some of the activities I've shared with you this week?  I would love it!  Want to show us some of your other favorite sensory activities?  I can't wait to see!!!

Remember to come back on Friday to link up!  I'm excited!

Summer Sensory Fun: Colored Rice

Welcome to Day 5 of the Summer Sensory Series!  

I've been having so much fun, and I'm glad to see so many of you enjoying yourselves, too.

If you've missed some of the other posts from this week, go check out:

Monday--Creating a Summer Sensory Fun Box

Tuesday--Having Fun with Ball Art

Wednesday--Tactile Learning through Contact Paper

Thursday--Making Discovery Bottles

Making colored rice is probably easier than you're thinking, and the result is something that is bright, gorgeous, and irresistible to kids.

This stuff is so much fun.  It can be used for craft projects, sound makers, filler for discovery bottles, sensory table play, and even practicing the alphabet.

And even though regular white rice can do all that, bright colors make it so much cooler ;-)

Start out with white rice.  The whiter the rice, the brighter the colors will be.

I used about 1/2 a cup of rice for each color.

Add just enough water to cover the rice, then drop in 9-15 drops of food coloring

Let it sit in the mixture for 5-10 minutes (use your judgement and wait for the color you like)

Then pour out the excess water and spread the rice thinly out on two layers of paper towels

Allow it to dry, and then see how many fun ways you can use it!

Why Kids Love This:

What's not to love about something this bright and brilliantly colored which makes such a great noise?  Kids love it!  Here are some ways you can adapt it to their ages and abilities:

Babies: Add rice to a sturdy clear plastic bottle to make a Discovery Bottle.  Babies will love being able to hold the bottle and shake it up and down.  They will be mesmerized by the beautiful colors, and the fun sound that the rice makes will keep them shaking it, and shaking it, and shaking it...

Preschoolers and Toddlers who are past the oral fixation stage will love being able to touch the rice and move it around between their fingers.  Since rice is very small, it's perfect for fine motor development and will keep those tiny fingers working.  They can practice writing the alphabet, making pictures, sorting the colors, and even making mosaics on contact paper.  

Older kids can try fun challenges like using tweezers or chopsticks to move the rice from one container to another.  Since their fine motor skills are already in tact as far as their ability to pick things up with their fingers, using a new tool will be a great challenge for them and further their fine motor development.  You can also give older kids some recyclable cardboard (cereal boxes, paper towel tubes) and have them create funnels and scoops to play with.

Why You Should Love This:

Allowing your children to play with a free-form art like colored rice encourages their creativity while stimulating many of their senses.  The colors stimulate their eyes, the sound moving rice makes wakes up their ears, and the way the tiny pieces feel in their hands keeps them grabbing for more.  We can leave the sense of "taste" out of this one, since they already know what rice tastes like, and uncooked rice is bad for their teeth.  What about the sense of smell?  Sure!  It would be easy to add scent to rice.  During the soaking step, just add a few drops of any essential oil (think lavender, eucalyptus, lemon) or raid your baking cabinet for vanilla, peppermint, or cherry extract.  You will love their reactions to the scents :)

You're also doing your children a huge favor when you invite them to play with materials that encourage fine motor skill development.  Simply picking up tiny pieces of rice will encourage little fingers to become more dexterous and confident, and you can have fun finding ways to adapt this for your older kids with utensils.

Keep it in the sensory bin, and clean up is easy!

What's your favorite way to use colored rice?

Summer Sensory Fun Series: Discovery Bottles

It's Day 4 of my Summer Sensory Fun Series!

If you've missed any of the fun activities, check them out :)

Monday--Creating a Summer Sensory Fun Box

Tuesday--Having Fun with Ball Art

Wednesday--Tactile Learning through Contact Paper

Friday--How to Make Colored Rice

Today, I'm going to share with you one of my favorite sensory play activities:

Discovery Bottles are just about one of the best things that you can give to a little one to play with.  The various sounds, sights, and feels that come from holding them and shaking them will make your munchkin squeal with delight.  My favorite thing about Discovery Bottles is that there are so many different things that you can put in them!

First, hunt around the house for some plastic bottles.  You can use 2 liter bottles for older kids, or smaller sport drink bottles for babies.  Find something that your child can pick up and hold on his own.  Good, sturdy bottles (such as Gatorade) are better to use than one of the newer, more flimsy Eco-Friendly bottles which might crack or burst with too much rough play.

*Important* Have your hot glue gun plugged in at the ready so that as soon as you make these bottles, you can put a thick ring of hot glue inside the cap and screw it on tight.  This way, you don't have to worry about clever little fingers finding ways to open these bottles and spill the contents on your living room carpet--or worse, swallow anything.  

Next, fill them up!

Here is what I put in mine:

{1} Bouncy Balls & Shampoo--I used a bottle of baby shampoo that Kayleigh was allergic to (talk about repurposing!), but dish soap, detergent, oil, or corn syrup would all work, too.  Using thicker liquids is a great way to show children how different liquids flow at various rates--if Older Brother or Sister is around, you could even start talking about viscosity!  If the liquid is too thick--like my shampoo was--dilute it with water until you get a solution that is fun to watch.

{2} Bouncy Balls & Water--Using the same bouncy balls in water gives your little one two fun bottles to compare.  Babies will enjoy watching the balls, and your older ones will probably be asking you lots of Why? questions.  Talk with them and encourage their curiosity!

{3} Stars & Sequins in Gatorade--Yes, Gatorade!  I ran out of empty bottles and decided that instead of putting colored water in this bottle, I would just keep the blue Gatorade and toss in some sparkly sequins.  It works, and it gives them a pretty color to look at.

{4} Colored Rice--Want to make your own?  Learn how from the tutorial in my Playroom!  Kids love the way it looks and sounds.  There are so many bright, pretty colors to look at, and your munchkin will love the sound it makes when they shake it.  Be sure to leave some space in the bottle for the rice to move around!

{5} Pom Poms--There's not much to this one, just grab some pom poms and stuff them in :)  Babies will like the bright colors and different sizes, and you can ask your preschoolers to name the colors they see and tell you why pom poms don't make as much noise as the rice does.

Why Kids Love These:

Babies are excellent observers and delight in being part of new experiences.  They absorb more information than we often give them credit for.  Bottles like these give them exciting new experiences to watch and take part in.  They love the sounds the bottles make, the colors and motions, and the way the bottles feel in their hands.  

Toddlers, Preschoolers and beyond like these bottles for the cause/effect side of things.  They like to see what happens when they shake the bottles, they like to think about what makes the noise, and they like being able to shake and roll these without fear of getting in trouble!

Why You Should Love These:

When you use activities like this with your baby, you are introducing her to the wonderful world of senses in a safe, mess-free way.  Since babies love to put anything and everything in their mouths, Discovery Bottles are great ways to show them small things that are fun to look at without having to worry that those little pieces might be swallowed.  The bottles roll across the floor, which is great fun for little crawlers--Kayleigh has been chasing them all over the place!  I love it!

These bottles can be a real conversation starter with your verbal little ones.  There are endless questions you can ask them--"Can you describe that sound?"  "What do you think it feels like?"  "Why does this one move slowly/quickly when you shake it?"  "How do you think we could make this bottle a little bit different?"  You can even invite your older children to help you make Discovery Bottles for their younger siblings.  Let them think about things that might be fun to see/hear/feel.  Jingle bells?  Mini Legos?  Flour?  Encourage their creativity and make them feel like they are important contributors in this activity!  There are endless possibilities, and it only takes a little bit of creativity for a whole lot of fun :)

Summer Sensory Fun: Contact Paper

Welcome to Day 3 of our Summer Sensory Fun Series!  

If you've missed any of the fun activities, check them out :)

Monday--Creating a Summer Sensory Fun Box

Tuesday--Having Fun with Ball Art

Wednesday--Tactile Learning through Contact Paper

Thursday--Making Discovery Bottles

Friday--How to Make Colored Rice

Today, I'm going to show you how to entertain your kiddos with contact paper.

"Contact paper?  What?"

Absolutely!  Here's why:

Kids love tactile activities.  They love touching things that give them new and different experiences, and sticky is definitely a fun and new experience!  Little ones will giggle with delight when their fingers stick to the clear plastic, and older kids will quickly get into the challenge of seeing what patterns they can create and finding a variety of materials that they can use.

Back in my preschool teaching days, contact paper was one of our favorite mediums.  It cuts out the need for glue, and trust me, when you have 22 two-year-olds in your classroom, you are going to try to find ways to avoid washing good ol' Elmers off of 44 little hands!  (and noses...and shirts...and elbows...and shoes...and hair...)

One of the best parts about contact paper is that since it's clear, you have a great way to display their artwork--from the non-sticky side.  I used to have my students decorate contact paper with pretty tissue paper colors and then I would stick the contact paper to the windows--instant stained glass!  It looks so pretty and festive from the outside, and brings in gorgeous brightly colored light to cheer up a room.  During holidays, you can use holiday-themed colors, or make collages from themed magazines, or have the kids make mosaic images using construction paper...let your creativity go wild!

You can use just about any mostly-flat material you can think of.  For mine, I just used things that were in my Summer Sensory Fun Box, such as tissue paper, sequins, and rice.  Kayleigh is too young to help out with an activity like this, but it is ideal for toddlers/preschoolers who no longer put things in their mouths.  Even though Kayleigh wasn't able to make it with me, it has still provided her with hours of entertainment--she loves to look at hers, touch the pretty colors, and pull herself up to be near it.  

The easiest way to do this activity is to cut a piece of contact paper to your chosen size (I cut about about an 18 inch strip) peel the paper backing off, and tape it to the ground or a table sticky-side up.  Provide your kid with the chosen materials, and encourage them to leave about a 1 inch border all the way around so that you can use the border to mount their artwork later.  Once your child has decorated to his heart's desire, take the contact paper and press it sticky-side down to a wall or window.  Now it's time to stand back and admire! (And don't worry, the contact paper should come off of the wall/window smoothly and easily.  It's not made to be as sticky as it used to be).

Why Kids Love This:

Babies will love the stimulating colors and enjoy touching the completed project.  It gives them something exciting to focus on, and you can point to colors and shapes and begin teaching them.

Toddlers will love the sticky texture and the freedom that they can do this all by themselves.  They don't have to wait for you to glue things down for them, and as long as you've prepared ahead of time and cut all of the tissue squares or set out anything else that they will need, you can give them free rein on this one.  You can also turn this into an educational opportunity and show them what happens when you overlap a piece of blue tissue paper with a piece of yellow tissue paper.  You can encourage them to try to make shape patterns (square, square, star) or color patterns (blue, red, green).  They can also make shape pictures and do simple images such as a house, boat, or tree.

Older Kids can really get into this!  They can create intricate patterns with the paper and design beautiful stained glass windows that will be a pleasure to display.  You can give them a pair of scissors and have them cut out their own shapes, and also give them more freedom in choosing what they put on their contact paper.  Ask them what kinds of materials will stick well.  Could they try a nature scene  by using leaves, grass, and petals?  Could they use fabric and make a quilt?  Could they try colored sand or crayon shavings?  It is so much fun to see what they come up with!

Why You Should Love This:

Maybe you can tell by now that I am all about no-mess projects :)  Cutting out the need for glue is a huge plus with this activity, and watching your kids have a blast with this new texture will be enough to seal the deal for you with this one.  Adapting this project for each age group is so simple that you can turn this activity into a family affair.  Encourage your older children to help the younger ones--you can even put them in charge of cutting the paper for their siblings.  At the end of craft time, challenge the kids to see how many pieces of paper/rice/sequins/whatever you used they can pick up in under 2 minutes.  Look at that!  The kids had fun making the project AND cleaning up :)

Summer Sensory Fun Series: Ball Art

Welcome to Day 2 of my Summer Sensory Fun Series!  If you missed yesterday's post,  read about how to create a Summer Sensory Fun Box of your own.  Thanks to so many of you for pinning yesterday's post!  It was so exciting to see it all over Pinterest yesterday.  Thank you!!! And...keep it up :)  Pinterest is one of the best ways to get the word out about this happy little blog.  Thanks for sharing it with your friends!  It totally makes my day :)

Ok, now for the fun stuff...

Back during my preschool teaching days, ball art was one of my favorite go-to art projects.  Kids love watching the balls swirl around in the paint, creating different patterns. The best part: since it's done by tilting and moving the box from side to side, it can be completely mess-free!

Empty out your Summer Sensory Fun Box and put all of the contents on its lid out of reach from your little ones.  Place a piece of paper in the bottom of the sensory bin and drop some washable paint on it.  Add some balls, and shake, shake, shake!  This is something an older child can do, something a toddler can help you do, and something a baby will love to watch!

Encourage your older kids to help you find balls of different sizes and textures and see what results you get.  Spikey balls like the ones I used create a cool dot effect, but marbles, golf balls, bouncy balls, and even baseballs will each do something different.  Ask them questions while they play.  See what they are learning!

Why Kids Love This:

Ball Art gives kids fun control over a situation.  

Older kids will be processing questions such as, What will happen if I add two colors?  What will happen if I add 4 colors?  What does it look like if I shake it fast?  Slow?  Can I go in circles?  They learn how to experiment and create different effects while they play.  

Toddlers will be thrilled to be able to participate in something "big" and exciting like this.  You can help them hold onto the box and shake it side to side (hold on tight to prevent them from flinging painted balls everywhere!)  They will be excited to identify new colors they see ("Look!  Now it's making green!") and you can talk about how mixing colors makes new colors.  

Babies will enjoy watching the balls move around swiftly through the clear plastic sides.  The bright paint colors are mentally stimulating, and following the movements of the balls will encourage their eyes to learn how to track moving objects.

Why You Should Love This:

How many other ways can you let your kids paint without making a mess?  Have I said enough to win you over?  ;-)

This is such a quick and easy project to set up and clean up.  The mess is all contained in the box, so all it takes to clean up is a quick rinse in the sink.  If your family decides that this activity is enough fun to do regularly, you can designate an old cardboard box and a set of messy balls and not even worry about cleanup.  As a preschool teacher, I always used a cardboard box.  With Kayleigh, I used the sensory bin, and it was no trouble to rinse it clean.

     You have total control during this activity.  You can give your child as much freedom as you feel is appropriate, but ultimately, it's up to Mom!  If you feel that your child is old enough, you can let him pour paint drops onto the paper, choose the balls, and shake the box by himself.  If your child is a little too young, you can let her choose the paint, hold it/pour it with her, and then hold the box with her to guide her movements.  A baby doesn't even need to touch at all--you can do the whole project and she will be just as thrilled to watch!  

     Take advantage of the questions that you can ask while doing this activity with your kids.  Which ball's pattern do you like the best?  What colors do you see?  Would it change the way the painting looked if we only had one ball?  What about if we added more paint?  Do you like the way the box feels when you shake it?

Once the ball art painting is dry, you can hang it as a piece of art on its own, or you can let your older kids cut shapes out of it and make pretty collages.  You'll get some really great textures with this project.  See what your kids can think of to do with it!

Summer Sensory Fun Box

Monday--Creating a Summer Sensory Fun Box

Tuesday--Having Fun with Ball Art

Wednesday--Tactile Learning through Contact Paper

Thursday--Making Discovery Bottles

Friday--How to Make Colored Rice
Saturday--Fun with Shaving Cream

What a fun week we have ahead of us!  Today through Saturday, I'll be letting my former preschool/elementary teacher side out and sharing with you some of my favorite sensory activities for babies and toddlers.  Encouraging little ones to explore through sensory play is something that I am passionate about, and I hope these suggestions will inspire some fun learning time for you with your sweet munchkins at home!

With summertime just around the corner, I'd like to help you get ready for lots of good, messy fun!  Are you ready?  Let's create a Summer Sensory Fun Box!  The goal of this box is for you to have just about everything you'll need for exploratory play nicely contained in one place.

What goes into our Summer Sensory Fun Box?   Here's a list of things I included in mine:

♥ Shaving Cream
♥ Food Coloring (or Color Splash!--this stuff makes my teacher heart go pitter-pat, but I'm holding off until Kayleigh is a little older and will be able to use it herself)
♥ Empty plastic large-mouth bottles (I used Gatorade)
♥ Pom Poms
♥ Bouncy Balls
♥ Glitter/Sequins
♥ Dish Soap
♥ Colored Tissue Paper
♥ Colored Rice (don't worry, I'll show you how!)
♥ Washable Paints
♥ Sidewalk Chalk
♥ Jell-O (to make this playdough)
♥ Sweetened Condensed Milk (to make this edible finger paint)
♥ Ziplock bags
♥ Clear Contact Paper

There are so many activities you can do with these supplies.   Let the fun begin!

The plastic container serves two functions--as a way to store your items, and as a nice cheap sensory bin. Preschools and lower elementary classrooms always have sensory bins, but theirs cost anywhere from $20-$500! So, let's skip that and just run to Target instead, shall we? :) I used a small bin for my sweet girl, but if you have two or more kids, you might want to try an under-the-bed box for a large, flat play area with lots of elbow room.

The beauty of this Summer Sensory Fun Box is that most of these items are things that you already have at home.  If you're missing a few items, it won't take more than a run to the dollar store or Target to pick up a few things that will provide hours of fun.

There are so many fun activities that you can create for your child using just these items.  The possibilities really are endless!  If you're looking for some inspiration, remember to come back every day this week to see what I've got in store. (Check out my Playroom to see what activity I'll be featuring each day this week. Pin them as we go, or return to the Playroom at any time to see the activities again)

I had so much fun reliving my teacher days and choosing my favorite sensory activities to put into this box.  I have so many sweet memories of my little students experiencing the thrill of playing with colored shaving cream for the first time, creating fun ball art, splashing in a sensory bin full of sudsy water, or shaking bottles filled with various noise-making and visually stimulating objects.

Sensory learning is such an important part of a child's growth and development.  By getting down on the floor with your kids and giving them new things to touch, see,  hear, smell, and taste, you are helping your children learn--and experience--the world around them.

It was so much fun to share my love for sensory play with Kayleigh over the past few weeks while I prepared this series.  She loved, loved, loved getting to experience new sights, sounds, and textures while playing with these activities.  And don't worry if your little one is as young as mine--I'll be showing you how to adapt these activities for your children, whether they are babies, toddlers, preschoolers, or older siblings who want to lend a hand and have some fun, too.

The fun begins tomorrow, so go find a plastic bin, fill it with as many of the above sensory items as you can, and come back in the morning to learn how to make some really cool art with your kids.  We're going to have a blast!