Here are five things we wanted to share with you this week:
Well, if this isn’t right up our ally, I don’t know what is: Find playtime in adulting.
The Olympic coverage everyone needs.
Have a great weekend!
-Chelsie & Michele
Month: July 2021
Play it Again!: Blankets
By Chelsie
Welcome back to our “Play it Again” blog series. If you missed the previous posts in this series you can check it out on our blog by searching for “Play it Again”. This series is about sharing multiple ways to play with one simple toy or object to encourage and enhance cognitive, communication, social/emotional, and motor skills for your baby, toddler, and preschooler. We hope sharing a few simple ideas will make play time more fun and may spark your own creativity!
This week, we are talking about blankets. Cozy, soft, blankets. Pulling them up to your chin when you snuggle in bed at night, and talking yourself out of them the morning. But today, is all the fun there is to have with any size blanket, from a receiving blanket, throw blanket, dish towel, beach towel, bed sheet, or comforter.
Babies (0-12 months)
-use a solid color blanket for your baby to lay on and place 2-3 toys in a half moon shape from shoulder to shoulder. The solid colored blanket helps to create a contrast to see the toys more easily
-take turns pulling a light blanket over your child’s head and yours for their first game of peek a boo
-cover a toy and let your child find it
-roll up a blanket and place under your baby’s chest/under arms for support during tummy time
Toddler (1-3 years)
Try the baby activities and also…
-drape a sheet over the kitchen table to make a tent. Add snacks, a book, and a flashlight for more fun!
-Inside or outside, real or pretend, have a picnic!
-Toddler Swaddle: lay out a throw blanket and swaddle your child similar to how you did when they were a baby. Make it a game by pretending to roll out cookie dough, or make a burrito
-Rainy day? Sick day? Regular day? Cuddle up in a blanket together for some simple 1 on 1 time
Preschoolers (3-5) years
Try the toddler activities and also…
-make a cozy spot for baby dolls/stuffed animals
-use a smaller blanket with you each holding a corner, lay a soft toy or ball on the blanket and pop it up into the air
-tuck into the back of shirts as super hero capes
We hope this gives you some ideas on how to play with a
“toy” you probably already have at home. We can’t wait to see what else you (or your child!) come up with!
Now, go play!
Friday Faves
Here are five things we dreamt about/put on the grocery list/cried over/thought about/read this week:
Because a pedicure every week just isn’t feasible, this foot soak sounds lovely.
Make this to eat all week long through these hot and hazy days. Prob better then leftover kid sandwiches.
I’m not crying, you’re crying.
Could you give up this drug?
Have a great weekend!
-Chelsie & Michele
Trail Mix for Tots
By Michele
When I’m packing up myself and my toddler for an outdoor adventure in the backyard, to our local park, or for a hike, I’m always thinking about what to bring to eat and drink. I gotta be prepared!
Easy snacks like cereal or blueberries in a container, applesauce pouches, and a water bottle with a straw are a must; but I always like to pack something a little “extra” if we are hiking or are planning to be outside for a longer time. Sometimes you just need a surprise snack that’s going to save you, and your child, from a melt down in the middle of a trail when you are too far from the car. That’s when I pull out the trail mix.
It’s easy to make. Customizable. Kid friendly. Allergy friendly. Healthy. Or not.
It’s whatever you want, but it’s never boring!
Here are a few ideas to inspire your next adventure snacking opportunity!
Try picking a few ingredients from each category for the perfect trail-tastic snack.
Sweet
Freeze dried strawberries
Blueberries
Dried cranberries
Golden raisins
Sugar free yogurt raisins
Dark chocolate chips
Cereal
Coconut chips
Salty
Goldfish crackers
Cheez Its
Mini Pretzels
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Chopped nuts
Savory
Roasted chick peas
Spices
Popcorn
Roasted soy beans
Roasted peas
Lentils
We also love these reusable bags for snacking!
Now, go play!
Friday Faves
Here are five things we will be making this weekend, added to our carts, read and re-read, and awed over this week.
Trying out this top pick for lugging all that gear to the beach we mentioned in our recent beach day post.
Their goal is comfort and sustainability, **adds to bag.**
Ben Weinman is the guitarist for one of the most well known metalcore bands The Dillinger Escape Plan. He also has a soft spot for ducks that need prosthetic legs.
Have a great weekend!
-Chelsie & Michele
Play it Again!: Blocks
Welcome back to our “Play it Again” blog series. If you missed the first post you can check it out here. This series is about sharing multiple ways to play with one simple toy or object to encourage and enhance cognitive, communication, social/emotional, and motor skills for your baby, toddler, and preschooler. We hope sharing a few simple ideas will make play time more fun and may spark your own creativity!
Today, we are talking about blocks. Blocks are the most perfect toy! They are open ended, versatile, adaptable, creative, and come in many different varieties. Blocks can be played with in so many different ways to further all areas of development from the baby stage to older children. Playing with blocks provides opportunities for learning science, math, problem solving, gross and fine motor, language, creativity, imagination, and social emotional skills like self esteem and cooperation. Not only that, when parents get down on the floor to play with their child they are also
learning ways to enhance development by using specific language (up, on top, build, balance), sharing, building together, and celebrating success. It’s fun for everyone! Before you begin, make sure you have blocks available and accessible for your child. That way they can grab the blocks anytime and start playing in their own way. We use baskets to corral similar blocks on our toy shelf, but stacking blocks on a shelf to be easily seen is a great option too.
Babies (6-12 months)
Babies are in the early stage of block play. They are exploring, holding, and carrying the blocks. Use a bin with low sides and toss blocks of various textures, weights, colors, and sizes to explore.
Use soft blocks to play fill and dump games.
Use a basket or cardboard box to fill up with blocks then dump it out to start again. This is your baby’s way of exploring early concepts of science and math. Babies also love to tap objects and hear the sounds they make.
Use wooden and plastic blocks to tap together and tap on metal pots or bowls.
Add some drum music in the background to play along with.
Use the soft blocks to make a tower for your baby to knock down.
Practice saying “go” and “more” and giving your baby time to respond.
Place blocks along the couch so your baby can cruise toward each one and
practice those steps!
Toddlers (1-3 years)
Try the baby activities and also…
Build simple structures with blocks and knock them down!
Build blocks up and also horizontally on the floor. Challenge your child to see how long or tall their structure can go. Also, create two structures side by side and explore which one is bigger, taller, or longer.
Trace different shaped blocks on paper and have your child find the match.
Also, use various shapes, sizes, and colors of blocks and make matching towers.
Use muffin tins to practice one-to-one correspondence with small alphabet blocks then use the alphabet blocks to identify the pictures on the sides for an early math and language activity.
Make block structures and incorporate a favorite character or stuffed animal. Place the toy on top of, under, in, out, in front of, behind to practice positional words.
Play block bowling by making small block towers then knocking them down with a ball.
Begin to use blocks in pretend play. For example make a fence for the barnyard animals, make a tree for the monkey to climb, or a train track for Thomas to ride.
Preschoolers (3-5 years)
Try the toddler activities and also…
Make bridges and enclosures with blocks to explore the concepts of
balance. Preschoolers are at the stage of using blocks for more pretend play by making advanced structures for their play world. Allow them the freedom to “take over” the living room rug for a bit as their creativity soars!
Use a spring scale and measure the weight of blocks.
Use blocks to measure things around the house. How long is the couch?
How tall is the desk? How tall am I?
Have a building contest with mom, dad or a sibling and see who can stack and balance the blocks the tallest.
Use colorful blocks to make simple patterns.
Use blocks as dice and tape pictures to the sides.
Use action pictures to play a movement game, letters and a bingo board to practice reading skills, and familiar or even unusual pictures to practice language skills by making up a story. Each roll of the dice is a new line of the story. Your child may just want to listen at first but will soon play along.
Last, but not least, follow the child’s lead as they build and play with blocks Let them figure out what will and will not work according to the laws of gravity! 😉
Now, go play!
Chelsie and Michele
Friday Faves
Here are five things we cried over/fantasized about/felt weaker over/awwed at/breathed in…
In Brazil, it’s tradition to give the first slice of your birthday cake to the one you love dearest, symbolizing love and deep affection. These brothers clearly have that bond.
For all of your beach read needs. I’m looking at “The Other Black Girl” and “Malibu Rising”
“If I do it, I want to be able to really do it.” said the 81 year old woman who didn’t want to be on the Tough Mudder sidelines anymore.
The pigeon can’t drive the bus, but he can befriend a puppy.
When summer is heating up, here are some reminders for busy parents to cool down.
Have a great weekend!
-Chelsie & Michele
Play to Grow 