Balloon Free Play

 We LOVE balloons at our house. They are so cheap and provide so much entertainment! I almost always have a package of balloons tucked away somewhere so that when we're desperate for something to do I can pull them out.

 This day both kids were bored and cranky and just kept getting into trouble. I've learned that if I can provide them with something to keep themselves busy and cheer them up it can change a BAD day into a good one. And this pack of balloons only cost me a dollar, so it's a winner all around.

 We built muscles while we threw and caught and batted and kicked the balloons.

 We built vocabulary as we talked about colors and sizes.

 We built a foundation for learning math by comparing and classifying.

 We built memories as we goofed around and enjoyed being together.

 I pulled out a marker and drew a face on one of the balloons. This idea took off like wildfire, and soon every balloon had a different face on it. The kids would bring me a balloon and I'd let them pick whether that one would be happy, sad, surprised, etc.

 To see more of the fun things we've done with balloons, click here.

Exploring Density (Sink or Float)

For our letter D science activity I followed the lead of this post and we did an exploration of Density. This was super easy to set up, and kept both kids entertained for a long time. 

Let's gather our supplies:

A selection of toys and other objects, some that will sink and some that will float

A large container to fill with water

A piece of paper that says "sink" and on that says "float"

 We took this activity outside because I wanted to be able to turn the kids loose to have fun without any worries about messes. We could have also done this in the bathtub and it would have worked great. 

The first thing we did was talk about what it means to sink or float. Then we took all the toys out of our bin while hypothesizing on how each one would behave in the water.

 Erik was thrilled to turn on the hose and fill up our tub. Sharli wasn't too sure what was going on yet, but we were outside so it must mean something good!

 Then we tested each item and placed it on the paper that described what it had done. Sharli just splashed around and had fun.

 After we'd tested all our objects, I just turned the kids loose with the water and sat back and watched. Water free-play is one of our favorite activities. Almost no prep, and SO much fun!

 There is so much to be learned from just exploring with water. Fine motor skills such as scooping and pouring, spatial awareness when deciding if water from one container will fit in another, hand-eye coordination, sensory awareness, social skills like cooperation (when you've got more than one child involved), language development as you discuss things like cold or wet.

 Since this day, Erik asks often if we can play with density again (he actually uses the word density, it really stuck with him). He also loves to test all his bath toys to see if they'll sink or float. This was a hit in a major way!

Goin' Fishin'

I realized the other day that I never posted one of the activities we made while we were staying with my parents this summer. It was pretty easy to throw together, and is a lot of fun!

This is just your classic fishing game, the inspiration for which came from here. Mine are not anywhere near as adorable as hers, especially my fishing rod (hers is awesome), but they get the job done. For the fish I just cut a fish shape out of different colors of felt, and jazzed them up a bit with puff paint. To make them magnetic I put a roll of wire in the mouth of each fish. Honestly, I can't give you any more detail about what kind of wire it was, it was just something I found laying around.

For the fishing rod I tied a piece of yarn around the end of a dowel rod and hot glued a magnet to the end of the string. Easy Peasy! Depending on whether Erik felt like sitting or standing, sometimes the string was too long, so we just twisted it around the end of the rod and it worked great. I liked having a bit of extra length on there to give us more options for where to play with this. 

This activity takes some practice when you first get started. We haven't played with it in months, and so today when I pulled it out it was like it was brand new again. Erik struggled to control where his "fish hook" was swinging, but he eventually got the hang of it and we sat and fished on the living room floor for quite a while. It really was a lot of fun! This is a great way to work on hand/eye coordination, talk about colors, and kill some time while you're waiting for your laundry to finish. :)

Balloon Free Play

Every once in a while my normally mild mannered happy boy has a day where nothing is right. Everything makes him sad/angry/cranky/depressed/etc. On days like this he is no longer known as Erik, he becomes His Royal Highness the Ultimate Cranky Pants. Seriously, it's that bad. Well, we had a day like that last week and I was desperate for ANYTHING to put a smile on his face and keep him out of my hair for just a few minutes. I dug around in my stash of odds and ends that I keep around for just such occasions and found a few stray balloons. He was immediately excited and could hardly wait for me to blow them up. We blew up a little one and a big one (gotta work on building that vocab. and spatial awareness!) and then I sat back and relaxed for a moment while he went nuts. 

Tried to belly-flop on the balloon. Balloon: 1, Erik: 0

WOW! Look how far I kicked the balloon!

If you haven't already, take note of the blanket fort I made in his crib in an attempt to keep him busy. It worked for only about 3 minutes that day, but he hasn't forgotten it and since then we've done that over and over and he LOVES it!

His favorite thing to do was throw the balloons up as high as he could and then yell "HIGH!"

We built muscles, built vocabulary, talked about colors, and I didn't kill my offspring, so I would say this was a huge success!

Rolling Ramp

Another great idea from Productive Parenting, this is an activity I just knew Erik would enjoy. He loves playing with balls, so anything that incorporates that love is a hit. It's super easy. All you need is a ball (or two, or three...) and something with which to build a ramp. We used a flattened cardboard box leaned against a chair, but you could use a cookie sheet or a stack of books or anything else you can find. Productive Parenting suggests setting up an empty milk jug at the bottom to try to bowl over, but I didn't want to wait until we'd finished one off. You could just skip this part or do like we did and put a basket at the bottom to catch the ball. 

 Erik really enjoyed rolling the ball down the ramp. He did it over and over again. He also really loves cardboard boxes though, so next time we try this I may need to come up with something else to make our ramp out of that will be less distracting. Every time Erik had to chase after the ball, he was working those gross motor skills, as well as visually tracking the movements of the ball.

We did end up taking the cardboard box and turning it into another activity for both Erik and Paisley to enjoy. Stay tuned next week to find out what we did.

Body Parts Song

I discovered this little song to help learn body parts, and we love it! We even did it over Skype with Wyler and he loved it too.
Erik is pretty good at identifying his facial features, even the less mentioned ones like his cheeks and chin, but it doesn't hurt to review. The great thing about this song is you can add in any body part you want. So we can sing about legs, arms, elbow, hair, or whatever else we want. The main point behind this is to build Erik's vocabulary, but it's also a fun way to get music into our day.
We also have another song that we like to use for learning body parts, although this one isn't quite as adaptable. Erik's pretty good at doing it (although in the video he gets too distracted to finish off the last little bit, but that's okay), which is fun since he didn't know where his shoulders or knees were until we learned this song.
Remember music AND movement combined can do amazing things for your child, so take a minute and sing a song or dance and know that you've changed your child's life for the better.

Imitation, revisited...

I was playing with Paisley yesterday, trying to do an activity for a blog post (which you now have to wait until next week to see) and she was a little distracted. So I started clicking my tongue on the roof of my mouth to get her attention. Next thing I know, she's clicking away too. Needless to say, all other play stopped, and we just sat and copied each other for several minutes.

Babies come pre-programmed to want to do everything that other humans are doing. They have a special instinct to seek human faces to look at and prefer a human face over everything else (at least while they're little, I'm pretty sure Erik's outgrown this phase!) Imitation is a great way for a baby to learn new skills and to feel like she's part of the group. This particular skill (tongue clicking) will help to strengthen the muscles that she will need to talk someday. And more than anything else, it's just super cute!

Bubbles!

Paisley was feeling a little bored this afternoon, but she wasn't quite sure what to do about it. She wasn't quite tired enough for a nap, but she wasn't really up for any grand adventures either. I started looking around for something that would engage her attention without being too overstimulating. Enter the bubbles...

She really wasn't so sure about this idea at first. Especially when one popped somewhat close to her face. 

The bubbles definitely caught her attention and she tracked them with her eyes as they floated around the room. Occasionally I'd catch one on the bubble wand and hold it close enough for her to touch it. She actually wasn't a huge fan of that, because she didn't like it when they popped. 

Don't worry, she did eventually warm up to the idea, and I think it's one we'll be repeating. 

Bubbles are a fun new way to exercise those eye muscles. As the bubbles flit around the room on different air currents, the baby is fascinated and will follow them as long as they're within sight. They are also a great way to learn about cause and effect, since they have a very distinct and consistent reaction to any interaction. And, they're darn fun too!

Creeping and Crawling

Paisley is SO close to crawling, it's driving her crazy. It's like she knows what to do but can't quite get her body to go along with her. The funny thing is she somehow manages to move all over the place anyways, but none of the adults in her life have caught her in the act. You put her down to play on the floor, step out of the room for a minute, and when you come back she's several feet away from where she started. This only happens when nobody's looking however, so we don't know exactly how she does it. My theory is teleportation :)

We are all anxious to catch Paisley in the act of doing whatever it is she's doing, so to that end today I was trying everything I could think of to induce her to move. I put her on her tummy on the floor and arranged interesting looking toys just out of reach. She'd stretch and wiggle and try really hard, but she never did go for it. 

That doesn't mean that this activity was a flop though. Just having tummy time encourages Paisley to work those muscles that she's going to need to crawl and sit up unsupported successfully. Providing her with interesting things to look at encourages visual development. I was on my tummy on the floor nearby trying to draw Paisley's attention to the different toys, so she was getting some good social interaction. All in all, we managed to squeeze a fair amount of "work" into a few minutes unplanned playing on the floor.

Paisley + Puppets, Take 2

You may remember what happened last time I tried to get Paisley to play with a puppet. Let's just say it didn't go real well. I was sitting on the couch with her today trying to decide what to do with a few minutes of one on one time together and saw the puppet on the top of they toy box. It's been a few months, so I decided to give it another shot. 

 She had so much fun this time! She was smiling and squealing and just eating the whole thing up, sometimes literally!

She went back and forth between flirting with the puppet, to trying to grab it and eat it.

 I wish I had a better shot of her squealing at the teddy, but every time she'd get excited, she started thrashing around, so this is as good as it gets.

 

If you need a reminder of the benefits of playing with puppets, click on the link towards the top of this post, or go here.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

This post contains affiliate links.

This is something that Erik really loved to do when he was little. I don't remember where I originally found the idea, but if it came from somewhere it was probably my What to Expect; The First Year book. I recently was reminded of this activity on Productive Parenting. 

I got Paisley all set up in the Bumbo seat and propped a mirror against the wall. It took her a second to figure out why I had her pointed towards the corner, but once she did she loved it! 

What are you looking at?

Playing with a mirror like this is really good for a baby. It gives them someone else to talk to and socialize with. It helps them become self aware, and as they do become self aware, it helps them learn the results of their motions. Here's a little blurb about the "magic" in a mirror.

Paisley really loved talking to herself in the mirror. It was super cute!

*Diedre Mower is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. 

Peek-A-Boo Song

In my first Peek-A-Boo post, I posted a link at the bottom to a cute little peek-a-boo song that I'd found. We've been singing that song any time we play peek-a-boo, and Paisley really loves it! Just thought I'd share a video of our fun.  

The music helps to keep her attention, and just adds a whole new dimension to the fun. She was pretty distracted by the camera, so you don't get to see how she normally reacts. She often laughs out loud while we're singing this song, she just loves it! Try it with your little one and see what they think.

A Walk in the Park

Paisley LOVES to be outside. She loves the sunshine, and a breeze in her face, and watching the world go by. We try to get outside fairly often; sometimes it's just a quick trip to the mail box, but we do try to get to the park at least once a week (although I've yet to remember to bring my camera).

All ready to walk to the mail box. 

Sometimes it's nice to have a change of scene and society. When we go to the park Paisley loves to lay on a blanket and look at the leaf covered tree branches waving away above her. All the other kids in our play group love to come over and tell her hello, and I think she's started to enjoy the extra attention.
Getting outside is really good for little ones, even when they're tiny. The sunshine (though you have to be EXTREMELY careful about limiting sun exposure) prompts your body to make vitamin D and the fresh air just makes you feel so good! Playing outside is a GREAT sensory experience. The baby gets to see, hear, smell, and touch so many new things. You can help draw the baby's attention to a particular stimulus and tell them what they are experiencing (Do you hear the fire truck? Do you see the bird? What does this rock feel like?) so they can start to put names to things. There are so many great learning and growing opportunities when you go outside! Want to learn more of the surprising benefits of outdoor play? Here's an interesting article I found today.

Story Time

This post contains affiliate links.

One thing that I try to do every day with both babies is read books. This is a little more logical with Erik, who can understand what is being read and even point to things in the pictures, but it is just as important for Paisley to get story time too.

Reading does SO MANY things for little ones! By the time a child is one year of age, they are familiar with all the basic sounds (or phonemes) that make up the building blocks of the language spoken in their home. They understand a large amount of what is said around them, even though they can't say the words themselves. How do they learn all this? They listen to mom and dad and everyone else around them and soak it all up like little sponges. Reading is a prime opportunity for an infant to be introduced to all this stuff. Don't believe me? Check out these great articles about reading with infants at kidshealth.org and babycenter.com.

Some of the benefits of reading with infants are that you get to hold and cuddle your baby while they listen to the sound of your voice (GREAT bonding time!), they assimilate language (picking up phonemes, learning vocabulary, picking up on inflections, etc...), they strengthen their eyes as they look around the page, they learn about the world around them through pictures stories and rhymes, and  they get to learn to hold and handle a book as you help them feel and turn the pages. 

Babies this age will not yet understand what you are reading, so a captivating plot is the least of your worries right now. Here are some of the books we like and why we like them.

-Make sure the book you are reading has bright interesting pictures that are very simple. Too much stuff on one page is just an overload of stimulus and the baby can't process any of it. Keep the backgrounds simple with crisp clear pictures.

Llama Llama Zippity-Zoom

-While an infant may not be able to understand the words, they do appreciate rhyming and repetition. Look for things that have a sing song type rhythm and lots of rhyming.

Moo, Baa, La La La

-Other things to look for are books with added features like sounds or textures. Erik loves to pet the different animals in this book, and we're helping Paisley to learn how much fun it is too.

Touch and Feel Pets

Maybe one of the most important things to remember is that when baby says she's done, that's it you're done! Don't push reading now unless you want her to hate it later. Remember, she's not following the story line, so if she misses the last page, she'll never care.

*Diedre Mower is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. 

Peek-A-Boo!

We all know and love peek-a-boo, it's something almost every mom does with her babies. But, did you know it's not just for fun? Playing games like peek-a-boo helps your child develop an important cognitive skill, Object Permanence.

I've actually been putting off this post, trying to find a way to get a cute picture of Paisley and I playing Peek-a-Boo, but I'm just not smart enough to figure out how to make that work. So, you'll just have to take my word for it that we were playing Peek-a-Boo the day we took this one. 

What's object permanence? Well, when something disappears from your sight you know it hasn't ceased to exist, it's just hiding somewhere. You know this because you have a firm grasp of object permanence. When an object disappears from a baby's sight, in their mind it no longer exists. Poof! Just like that the toy you were playing with is gone forever. The baby won't try to find it, or wait for it to come back because to them it is now non-existent. No wonder infants hate to see mom or dad walk away from them, for all they know they'll never see them again.
So, you can see the benefits to helping an infant get a grasp on the idea that things don't just disappear into oblivion. Peek-a-boo, and other games like it, help to teach this concept to an infant. Now don't expect them to get it after the first round of hide and seek, children often don't fully understand this idea until they are 8-12 months old. That doesn't mean you shouldn't work on it though.
Want to know more about object permanence, or Peek-a-Boo? Check out this site, she also has a really cute Peek-a-Boo song that will help to hold a young infant's attention while you play. Paisley really loves it!

Mobile Play

Paisley loves talking to/looking at/playing with just about anything she sees. I put her in her bed for nap times and she loves to talk to the animals on the mobile. The mobile in her bed is too high for her to touch, but that doesn't stop her from interacting with the animals on it. She waves and chatters and watches them move around, and more than once she has even talked herself to sleep.

So other than keeping her entertained for a few minutes here and there, how does a mobile (or something like it) help a baby to learn? If the mobile is like the one in Paisley's bed (too high to touch), a baby can still track the objects with her eyes to help develop good vision, and interact socially with them. If you have a play gym, with the toys dangling just low enough for the baby to bat at them and grab them then you reap all the benefits of the mobile, with the added benefits of fine motor skill development, hand-eye coordination, and tactile stimulation.

Don't have a mobile or crib/play gym? No problem! Just follow this link for a great DIY alternative!

Imitation

Today Paisley and I had enjoyed a few minutes of just sitting and hanging out while Erik was eating his  lunch. I was making faces trying to get her to smile at me, and noticed that when I stuck my tongue out, Paisley would start wiggling her tongue around. I kept making faces, and pretty soon she was sticking her tongue WAY out of her mouth every time I stuck mine out at her. 

As soon as I pulled out the camera, she got distracted and wouldn't stick her tongue out as far, but it was still pretty cute!

The human brain is hard-wired to imitate and conform with those around us. Ethan and I just watched a whole program on PBS about this a few weeks ago and it was really interesting. The instinct to imitate those around us is one of self-preservation and learning. By watching and imitating me, Paisley was becoming more aware of what her body can do, and fine tuning her muscle control. As she gets older, imitation should continue to be something she really enjoys and she should be able to mimic more and more complicated tasks. Things like clapping, waving, etc are just a few more steps down the road from sticking out her tongue.

Puppets and Paisley

As a nod to all the "soft" things we've been playing with lately, I pulled out Erik's little puppet and decided to see what Paisley thought of it. As long as it was just sitting still where she could look at it and touch it, she thought it was great.  

 Then, I made the mistake of putting it on my hand and making it "talk" to her. I touched her toes with the puppet and talked to her about her toes. I had planned on moving on to her fingers and maybe her tummy, but she was not real thrilled with this new game. In fact, I think the puppet had her feeling a little creeped out.

Apparently, Paisley is not a huge fan of talking and moving teddy bears. Now, I'm not giving up on her yet, we may still convert her to the idea of playing with puppets, but we'll have to take it a little slower. 

Playing with puppets, even at this young age, can have some benefits for a child. It encourages Paisley to practice tracking a moving object with her eyes, and even turning her head to follow it when it moves far enough to one side or the other. It gives her a "new" individual to interact with so she gets more social practice. It is sensory stimulation as she feels the puppet touch her hands or feet or face.

So, this won't be the last time we play with puppets, but we may have to wait a little while until she's over her fear of it.