Toddler Craft

It’s the first official day of the school holidays and I thought it was about time that I organised some fun things to do around here. Mostly we just play with whatever Pebble wants to play with, and there is nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all! In fact, that’s my preferred play style. However, if I’m honest I’m definitely hiding behind my computer a lot more these days, while plonking Pebble amongst a sea of toys….. or perhaps, sometimes, occasionally….. in front of ABC Kids. *sigh* Mummy guilt right there. Work is demanding, draining, constant.… anyhoo, I digress….It is school holidays!!! Yay!

I did a quick google for some toddler craft to see if Pebble would be interested in this kind of thing. For an early childhood educator I have a pitifully low supply of crafty bits in my house. However I managed to scrounge up some plastic plates, ribbons, stickers, glue, and scrap paper to make…. paper plate maracas!!!

It’s not the product, it’s the process, right? While these maracas turned out mighty pretty and have a fun secondary play use, it was fun just exploring this craft activity with Pebble. The tricky toddler bits:

• be very careful if using a stapler to connect the two paper plates, make sure there are no hard metal bits sticking out. Also, Pebble didn’t enjoy this part – where mummy had to take control and do some making with out her.
• Make sure you use a kid safe glue. I had a weird moment where she used her fingers to touch the glue stick, then she sucked on her own fingers (as a 17 month old is prone to do). About five minute later I thought I noticed her upper lip was slightly puffy. Was I imagining it? I don’t know. Yes, deranged mummy of one called the poison information line and after washing it off thoroughly and observing for a couple of hours there was no noticeable puffiness. Phew! (I used Bostik Blustik which is non-toxic).
• Pebble preferred the stickers to the cutting and pasting of scrap paper. She’s very familiar with stickers and is able to take control herself, instead of someone else cutting and helping to spread the (potentially lethal! ha!) glue.

All in all it was a fun crafty moment, and hopefully will lead to some fun music play later. For now Pebble won’t have a bar of them herself - she is totally uninterested in them unless I’m madly playing them and waving my arms and head about like a crazy woman. Then they’re hilarious.

We Play: Boxes

When it comes to play, you can’t get much better than a cardboard box. We had our first giant cardboard box experience this week after buying a new vacuum cleaner. Pebble was a little unsure at first, but soon loved using it as something to climb up on, push around the room, and bang on top of. When all the options had been exhausted with the closed box I opened it up to make a tunnel. Pebble was straight into it, going back and forth from one end to the other.
This was a little more successful than a box experience I planned for one of my child care placements in my uni days…. I carefully made a big box tunnel, with streamers and toys and each end. I waited with great anticipation for the babies and toddlers to arrive for the day, imagining their delight and the wonderful play they would have.
Sure enough, they were delighted… but the three boys that arrived first took one look at this new spectacle and proceed to demolish it. The had a great time ripping, stamping, banging, pushing, crawling and basically annihilating the box. The main this is, they had fun, and I learned a little something about planning more open ended experiences with less teacher direction!
 

 

We play: mirrors

This week Pebble and I have been playing with mirrors. Mirrors in the car, mirrors on her toys, mirrors in her cot and mirrors in my bedroom.

I bought this soft cube from a local market a couple of weeks ago, and Pebble loves to play hide and seek with it. She sits in my lap and together we open the box up to look into the mirrors. She giggles with delight when she finds my reflection in there, and looks curiously for her own reflection.

This mirror was bought for the car, but now that Pebble is forward facing we can use it in the cot. It plays music and lights up, but I think the most exciting thing for Pebble is being able to see herself, mummy and daddy in the reflection. She has taken to choosing the reflection instead of real life – gazing at us through it while rolling around, grabbing her toes and sing-talking.

Without the mirror in the car I still use the review mirror to look at Pebble, and for the first time she can look back at me! While stopped at traffic lights we play peekaboo, as I move my face in and out of view in the mirror. Yet more giggles follow (don’t worry, I’m sure to keep a good eye on those changing lights ;P).

The full-length and full wall of mirrors in our bedroom have always been a part of our play. This week I’ve started using the mirrors to play lap games while Pebble can see both of us. We do a new one that Pebble’s Grandma taught us (I never knew the words before!):

Half a pound of tuppenny rice,

Half a pound of treacle.

That’s the way the money goes,

Pop! goes the weasel.

I bounce Pebble on my lap and then open my legs to let her fall through (while I hold her!), then lift her back up again. She’s not quite delighted yet, but interested and surprised. The delight will come, I’m sure.
This is my first time playing with We Play at Childhood 101. You can visit and see what others are playing too.

What have you been playing this week?