Ice Cube Bags

July 5, 2020Leave a comment

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If it’s going to be hot, then I’m going to put the heat of the sun to work for me! These ice cube sensory bags turn into a color mixing experiment the longer they’re out in the sunshine.

For set up, I thought it would be fun to freeze cube-shaped ice instead of ice in a standard ice cube tray. I colored one-third of them yellow with food coloring, one-third red, and one-third blue.

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In the morning, I set up three gallon-sized zip-top bags for Veronika: one had yellow and blue ice, one had red and blue, and the third had blue and yellow.

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At first, it was all about the sense of touch. “Ooh! cold!” Veronika said, squeezing her hands on the ice.

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It was fun to watch the ice cubes slip and slide around in the bag!

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As the cubes melted, the color mixing became more apparent.

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As mentioned, you can move the game outdoors to the hot sun to speed the process along. Pretty soon your primary colors will have given way completely to secondary colors!

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Chocolate-Dipped Fruit Activity

July 4, 2020Leave a comment

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Looking for a fun way to keep toddlers busy if big siblings are helping in the kitchen? Give them extra ingredients and chocolate to dip it into!

This activity can get messy but is bound to keep little fingers busy. I gave Veronika chunks of fruit (sturdy fruits like cantaloupe, strawberries, and bananas all work well) with a toothpick in each.

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In a microwave-safe bowl, combine 5 ounces chopped dark chocolate and 1 tablespoon vanilla frosting. Microwave at 30 second intervals until melted. Let cool slightly, then place on the high chair tray for your toddler, along with the cut fruit. Time to dip!

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I showed Veronika how to poke the other end of the toothpick into a Styrofoam block while the chocolate set, which is half the fun!

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After initially snacking on some strawberries, it turned out she was much more into this as artwork, spreading chocolate onto a paper plate with the toothpicks. But between nibbling at strawberry pieces and dipping fingers into the chocolate, it kept her busy while big brother cooked, which was all I needed!

Five Senses Car Games

July 3, 2020Leave a comment

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In general, Veronika is an easy child to travel with in the car. She loves to “read” books to herself, or listen to music, or even just look out the window. But I also like finding new ways to keep her entertained in the back seat! Here are a few fun suggestions that will engage all of your toddler’s senses.

Taste & Smell: Make a snack necklace. Remember those candy necklaces from the penny candy store? This is like that, only healthier. Thread o-shaped cereal onto string or a shoelace, and knot into a necklace.

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It was a little difficult for Veronika to understand the mechanics of biting off one cereal piece at a time, but once she figured it out, this was a big hit. And it’s way less messy than handing a bag filled with snacks into the back seat!

Sound: Ahead of time, enlist other family members to help make a voice recording on your phone. When you then play the sound in the car, your little one will look around for where the voice is coming from! Big brother Travis was my cohort to record a few knock-knock jokes. Then we recorded ourselves humming Darth Vader’s theme song. Poor Veronika looked so confused when we played the jokes, not understanding why Travis’s real mouth wasn’t moving. But she grinned when the song began!

Sight & Touch: For a whole new view of the world (literally!), make mini toddler binoculars. I cut empty toilet paper tubes a little shorter than actual length, and then hot glued two pieces together for each set of binoculars.

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Cover the front of the tubes with a sheet of colored cellophane.

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The world could be pink! Or purple! Or green!

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These were the biggest hit of the day, and I could hear her little fingers crinkling along the smooth slippery cellophane with interest, too, adding an element of touch to the game.

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Note: These cellophane sheets are great for changing up the “view” at home, too, You can have your toddler peer through just one color…

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…or overlap two colors to see color mixing. Veronika likes to look from object to object. “Orange Baby!” she might say, or “Orange Mommy!” Be sure to supervise this game closely so cellophane doesn’t obstruct breathing.

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After all that sensory play in the car, you might just get this:

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Does your toddler have a favorite car game? Please share in the comments!

Frosting Flags

July 3, 2020July 3, 2020Leave a comment

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This craft-turned-snack is meant to let toddlers make “flags” in the run-up to the 4th of July. Will your toddler really be able to make a snack that looks like an American flag? Most likely not, but it’s never too early to introduce a little patriotism and show your child that our national colors are red, white, and blue!

Scoop vanilla frosting into three paper cups. Add a few drops of red food coloring to one cup, blue to the second, and leave the third as is. Stir and repeat with more food coloring until you have the desired hues of blue and red.

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I gave Veronika these cups along with craft sticks as “knives”. Ideally, have your child then paint the frosting onto graham cracker sheets. Because the store was all out of vegan graham crackers, we used saltine crackers instead!

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It turned out that Veronika was way more into snacking on the crackers than spreading the frosting!

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To capture her attention, I scooped the frosting out of the cups and let her spread the colors around this way. Now it became more like edible art!

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All in all, a delicious first lesson on our flag.

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Patriotic Balloons

July 3, 2020Leave a comment

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Even if your family can’t wave balloons at a real parade this year, I loved this idea (spotted in Country Living magazine) to make easy patriotic balloons for fun at home.

I blew up big blue balloons (and red or white ones would obviously also work), then added the letters U, S, and A out of star stickers.

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You can use small office star stickers, but we found big sparkly ones that added to the fun.

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While I decorated a few balloons in this way, the kids loved adding stickers to a few extras. Stars all over!

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We can’t wait to wave these at home while we watch the virtual fireworks.

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Sky Colors

July 2, 2020Leave a comment

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Travis’s latest issue of Highlights magazine included an interesting article about why the sky appears blue even though sunlight contains all colors. (Spoiler: nitrogen and oxygen scatter blue light more so than the other colors). We then played with this quick way to visualize what’s going on right here at home!

Fill a clear plastic cup with 12 ounces water.

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Place the cup on a sheet of white paper in direct sunlight. We immediately noticed that a bright spot of white light (a.k.a. all the colors) appears on the white paper.

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Now we added three quick pours of almond milk to the cup. This makes the water a little blue-ish, because now blue is scattered more than the other colors just as in the air. The color on the paper, on the other hand, changes to orange, since this is opposite from blue on the color wheel.

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I explained to Travis that this is a lot like what we notice at sunrise and sunset, when reds and oranges are allowed to come through.

Even though we could see the blue tint/orange paper a little, it wasn’t terribly pronounced. We’re wondering if perhaps this trick works better with dairy milk? If you use cow’s milk, please share your findings in the comments!

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Sunflower Seed Butter & Banana Smoothie

July 2, 2020Leave a comment

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My toddler doesn’t want solid food for breakfast very often, so we’ve been big on smoothies in the morning lately! This one packs in protein and potassium.

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas
1/3 cup sunflower butter
1/3 cup apple juice
2 cups plain almond milk
2 teaspoons agave nectar

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

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Fireworks Printing

July 2, 2020Leave a comment

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We’re busy decorating for the upcoming 4th of July, and this was a fantastic way to make prints that looked just like exploding fireworks!

I had a few plastic scrubber sponges which I knew would be perfect for the craft. (Note: look for these in the cleaning supplies aisle of the supermarket).

I set out black construction paper for the night sky, along with paper plates containing red, white, and blue paint. Using one scrubber sponge per color, dip in the paint and then press to the paper.

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“Pop!” I said, as I demonstrated to Veronika. “We made a firework!” Saying “pop!” was half the fun of the game, and Veronika proceeded to pop pop pop her fireworks all over.

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In this way, we filled up the black paper rather quickly!

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That meant this was a great art project, but definitely not a way to keep your toddler occupied solo.

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Even though we can’t watch real fireworks this year, at least our home will be spangled with them!

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Imagine

July 1, 2020Leave a comment

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The bittersweet moment has come, at 20 months old, that Veronika is ready to wean. Part of me is glad and so proud to see her reach this milestone, but part of me will miss it!

We’re in need, therefore, of a new calm-down bedtime ritual to replace lullabies and breastfeeding. Instead, I’ve started to hug her close as I tell her a story.

Oral stories, rather than simply reading from a page, are a great way to get even young toddlers to imagine and visualize. In fact, we’re enjoying the new ritual so much that my plan is to keep adding to the story nightly. Who knows how long it will go!

Almost anything can be a prompt for an imaginative story like this, but tailor it to your child’s favorite things or activities. Or even use it to address fears that have become apparent in your toddler!

To wit, Veronika’s pajamas made me think of rainbows and unicorns, two of her favorite things.

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I began to weave a tale about a girl and her best friend (“Sparkly Neigh”), who is so happy that everywhere she goes, rainbows appear. The tale involves swings, ride-on cars, butterflies, adventures, and more.

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What will your story be about? Please share in the comments!

Glow-Bee

July 1, 2020Leave a comment

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Next time your kids want to toss a disc back and forth, don’t just play Frisbee; play Glow-bee. All you need are a few glow-in-the-dark sticks to take a regular game up a notch.

First, Travis used paint markers to decorate a clear plastic lid. We used one from an empty yogurt container, although a larger lid might have been better.

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