Sometimes I forget how endlessly fascinating figuring out basic principles of the world is for toddlers. For example, figuring out relative size.
I pulled this set of nesting boxes (by Melissa & Doug) off the shelf for Bl (15 mo) to check out. Initially I showed him how to stack them, which was really “how fast can Mommy stack relative to how quickly can Bl knock down.” Bl can knock down pretty quickly. Therefore, no pictures. 🙂
Bl turned out to be much more interested in figuring out which boxes would fit into each other. Some of this may be due to the fact putting “something in” is more forgiving than “stacking on”, so Bl could experience more success at this developmental stage.
Great fine-motor & gross-motor practice, as well as building some of that cognitive understanding needed for later math skills!
Frugal tip: If you don’t have a set of nesting boxes/cups, I’d suggest finding some various sizes of tupperware or recycled containers and make your own “set”!
There was a potluck lunch at Br’s (3 1/2) preschool for the last day of the regular school year. We were supposed to bring “something with fruits or vegetables”, so I asked Br if he wanted to make “his salsa” for his friends at school.
We’d made this once before. Br really enjoyed doing, and we all ate it, even Bl! It is surprisingly good, and is a great way to get Br involved in the kitchen.
Materials:
-Bowl
-Kitchen Shears
-canned “Fire Roasted Tomatoes”
-can opener
-green onions
-herbs (we used fresh oregano & fresh cilantro*)
-lime/lemon (optional)
-tortilla chips (or anything else you like to eat with mild salsa)
*depending on the herbs you use (& the size of the leaves), the parent may want to chop them up first to avoid a “salad” feel
Open the can of fire roasted tomatoes (I let Br turn the handle for the can opener once I had it started). Dump them into the bowl. Arm child with the kitchen shears and have them go at it (with appropriate warnings about sharp scissors and the avoidance of appendage or little brothers)!
Br chopping his salsa
I chopped the root end of the green onion off, then passed it to Br to cut up with the kitchen shears. He cut a lot of the pieces really big, so I pointed out to him to cut them smaller with his shears once they were in the bowl.
I had Br pull the leaves of the herbs of their stem. For the oregano, I showed him how to lightly pinch the stem and pull it through his fingers to get all the leaves off at once. He thought that was pretty amusing. 🙂 I chopped the cilantro for him, then had Br use a little scraper to put it in the bowl. I had Br smell the different ingredients, and taste it at different points to “decide what we needed to add”, to help bring in the sensorial component.
We also put in a squeeze of lemon. I squeezed it with my hand, but I probably could have had Br do it if we’d used a citrus juicer or reamer.
Stir, check there aren’t any giant chunks left (and if there are, have them cut them with the shears), and sample!
Post Script: Br had tried to pressure some of his kid friends to try it who apparently weren’t “salsa fans”, but I got a number of compliments from the parents & teachers, & they were shocked to find out Br had made it himself!
Bl (15 months) was wandering around the house “wearing” the laces from a lacing game I bought for Br (3 1/2) at a yard sale last week. Our youngest does like his necklaces…
This reminded me of an lacing activity for toddlers I had seen *somewhere* in the blogosphere ( I can’t seem to remember where- if you recognize the idea, please let me know so I can credit them!), so I decided to try it today with Bl. Luckily, it was super quick & easy!
Materials:
-paper towel and/or toilet paper rolls
-ribbon (about 2-3 feet)
-index card
-pipe cleaner
-scissors
our materials
Use your scissors to punch a hole in the middle of the index card
Thread the ribbon through the hole and tie a knot in the end large enough to keep the ribbon from coming back through the hole.
Ribbon knotted through index card
Tie the other end of the ribbon around the middle of the pipe cleaner
Ribbon tied around pipe cleaner
Fold the pipe cleaner in half and wind the halve together to make your “needle”
Pipe cleaner "needle)
Voice of Experience: make sure you trim the ribbon tied to the pipe cleaner short, so it doesn’t interfere with the lacing
Cut the paper towel/ toilet paper rolls into ~1-2 inch wide pieces
Cutting the rolls- don't get distracted by my gigantic red scissors!
While I was distracted by my gigantic red scissors (see note above), Bl figured out he could shove things under his table topper.
Bl: "That piece of snap pea fit so nicely, lets see how a carrot does under here..."
I modeled to Bl how to slip the pieces of roll on to the “needle” and then thread them down the ribbon. He was definitely very interested. It seemed to still be on the edge of his developmental ability (especially the part where he would need to switch hands to allow the roll to go down the ribbon after getting it on the “needle”). I ended up holding the needle for him a lot of the time, and helping thread the peices down. He did take a few turns on his own as well, but he kept wanting to thread back through pieces already on the ribbon and getting tangled up. It held his attention for at least a few minutes though ( which is ETERNITY for a 15 mo old)!
I hadn’t put this away yet, so I trimmed the index card into a nicer shape while sitting at the table in the lull between finishing dinner and the mad rush to get everyone to bed before half past bedtime.
Trimmed index card end
And here it is all set up on the shelf in case Bl wants to try it again tomorrow while Mommy is at work!
