Sensory Activity: Cool Whip

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Older toddlers can safely play with shaving cream, a fantastic material for sensory play, but if you need something for a younger toddler who still wants to see how everything tastes, look no further than whipped cream as a substitute.

For this game, I used the vegan CocoWhip from Soy Delicious. You could also use soy or rice whip from a spray can, but I worried the sound would startle Veronika!

Instead, I sat her down in her high chair and dolloped a big blob of the CocoWhip in front of her.

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With December just around the corner, it was time to get in a snowy holiday spirit! So I added a few holiday items, like sparkly hair ties and Christmas cookie cutters.

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She absolutely loved scooping the whipped cream into the cookie cutter shapes, almost like she was frosting them.

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We also pretended her spatula was a snow plow, with fun sound effects, and I showed her how to spread the whipped cream thinly and thickly. Then we made whipped cream” cookies”!

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The sparkly hair ties were fun to dip and dangle in it!

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She had so much fun that when I asked if she was all done, she signed “more more”. A first!

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I’d say this was one successful sensory experience. She had so much fun that we might try it again for other holiday themes, like Easter in the spring or with Halloween items in the fall.

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Off and On

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Simply taking off lids and putting them back on again is a delight for babies at Veronika’s age (13 months), and it can be fun simply to set your little one up with a lot of lidded items, a few toys, and watch them play!

To get Veronika started, I set out a saucepan with lid and lots of Tupperware with lids, some that twisted off and some that lifted off.

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That would be enough right there, but for added amusement, I hid a few toys in the saucepan.

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I also put a toy in a container with a screw-on lid. Leave lids like this relatively loose and your little one should be able to twist them off. I resisted the urge to jump in, and let Veronika problem solve by herself!

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For some early learning color fun, I put color-coded stickers on the base and lids of two identical containers. I encouraged her to notice that orange went with orange and yellow with yellow.

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I didn’t expect her to ace this test, of course, but was laying some groundwork! You can work up to lots of different color stickers as your one year old gets older.

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What other types of containers with lids does your baby play with? Shoe boxes? Baby wipe containers? Please share favorites in the comments!

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Teeth Brushing for Toddlers

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With 8 teeth already, tooth brushing is part of the routine for Veronika now, and I love making this twice-daily activity fun for her. Setting up good dental habits early will serve your little one well over a lifetime, so it’s never too soon to start.

First things first: Make sure you have a fun toothbrush. Personally I love the Baby Banana brush. Other great starter options are ones that slip right over the adult’s finger, or even just a damp washcloth if no teeth have come through the gums yet.

Veronika loves her banana brush, and knows to anticipate our brushing routine. First up, we say hi to the baby in the mirror!

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Next, I always sing a silly song. My favorite verse (to the tune of Row Your Boat) is:

“Brush brush brush your teeth.

Brush them every day.

Brush up and down and all around.

Keep cavities away.”

To vary things up, instead of singing you can tell a story. Today I gave each of her teeth a name, and told a silly story about them being ducklings who needing a bath. She might not have understood, but she smiled as we brushed!

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If you want to demystify the process, give your little one a flashlight and have him or her shine it in your mouth.

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Look at all those big grown up teeth.

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Just for fun, it’s cute to hand over a toothbrush and let her have a turn at my teeth.

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Finally, you can take pictures of teeth and then look at them together. You could even post these pictures into a little book for a story to read about teeth.

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All of these simple activities will help your baby understand better what’s happening when it comes time to brush teeth.

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Thankful Spelling

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Travis is quite proud of his spelling lately, so the Thanksgiving holiday was the perfect opportunity to practice with stick writing. What an advancement from when he and I made the alphabet in sticks before kindergarten started!

After a quick walk, we returned home with lots of little sticks. Make sure you have some that are long and some that are shorter.

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I had him carefully sound out the word T-H-A-N-K-S. As we got to each letter, he crafted it from sticks. He loved finding just the right piece, for example shorter sticks to cross his H or A.

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S was tricky, so we ended up snapping a long stick in such a way that it curved twice. He had so much fun that he continued to make letters on the floor for a while after! And I was thankful for that.

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Bowl with Bottles

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“Bowling” is a fantastic first sport for babies. Even before coordination develops for kicking, babies love to roll balls… and knock things over! So bowling is a natural choice.

Save your empty plastic bottles for a few days (our pins were recycled sparkling water bottles), and set them up. You can go as high as ten bottles in a classic bowling formation, but Veronika and I started with 3.

I set out a few toy balls and showed her how to aim for the bottles. She loved the crash they made when they knocked over!

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Her favorite way to play was to take one bottle and use that to knock down another one.

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But this still required coordination and forethought, so I loved her variation!

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Hopefully she’ll work up to rolling the ball at the “pins” soon. We can even make it harder with a smaller ball as she gets older!

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Lentils with Spinach and Quinoa

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Lentils are one of Veronika’s favorite foods, and this is an easy way to jazz them up. Cooking the quinoa in the microwave means you only need one saucepan, a bonus come clean-up time!

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup quinoa
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 cup green lentils
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 cups chopped fresh baby spinach
  1. To prepare the quinoa, combine the quinoa and water in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave for 4 minutes. Stir, recover, and return to the microwave for a final 2 minutes. Set aside.
  2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 3 minutes.
  3. Add the lentils and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the liquid is nearly all absorbed.
  4. Stir in the spinach and cook for a final 2 to 3 minutes, until the spinach wilts.
  5. Add the lentil mixture to the quinoa mixture, then let cool before serving.

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Ways to Give Thanks

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Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and I’m encouraging Travis to think about what that means, and ways he can say and give thanks. Here are a few ideas we came up with, along with some suggestions from Highlights magazine!

First, we wanted to thank a neighbor who’s done a lot for us this year, whether feeding the cat or just popping in to say hi. Travis drew a classic Thanksgiving meal on a plate for her. He loved picking different colors for sweet potato, green beans, and more.

 

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He even had little round cranberry sauce.

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On the back, I helped him spell out thanks.

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He was so proud of his writing that he decorated a second plate for me with “thank you mama.” If you’re the grown up, turn this special plate into your breakfast plate over the holiday! Highlights suggests that big kids could even make breakfast for a parent as a way to show thanks.

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I also challenged him to think about why he’s thankful for harder tasks in life, like chores and school work. I drew a little picture and listened to his answers, which included getting rewards as a result (his allowance) or feeling proud after.

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Another idea from Highlights is to ask your child to donate a toy to younger cousin or neighbor. Because I know we’ll be doing this over the Christmas season, we skipped the activity today.

Finally, instead of eating a turkey on Thanksgiving, every year we adopt one from Farm Sanctuary. This year’s turkey is named Hank Williams, and Travis is so proud to display the adoption certificate!

How will your children give thanks this year? Please share in the comments!

T.H.A.N.K.S. Scavenger Hunt

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Here’s a cute activity Travis and I did in anticipation of Thanksgiving next week; it turned our regular stroll to the bus stop into a fun hunt! We wanted to find items matching a word that corresponded to each letter of THANKS, so sought out the following:

  • T: Trees
  • H: Holes
  • A: Animals
  • N: Nibbling
  • K: Knobbiness
  • S: Seeds

Trees: This was an easy one, but it had Travis appreciating the trees on our little walk to the bus, whether tall ones or small berry trees.

Holes: Travis is convinced that the hole outside our door is a snake hole. I hope not! Either way, he loves checking it out. Also look for holes up in trees; these might have nests come springtime.

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Animals: We wondered who we would still see this close to winter. Squirrels and chipmunks play and eat in a brier patch on our walk. Here’s one eating an acorn; we even heard him chewing!

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And we heard lots of crows calling out this morning, though I couldn’t capture a picture.

Nibbling: Check for signs of animals fattening up for winter! Travis also checked the leaves for caterpillar nibbling, though I told him it was probably past their season.

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Knobbiness: Look for neat burls in trees. Travis had fun spotting a few of these on the walk.

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Seeds: Acorns are an easy find, but we also found larger seeds. And these showed signs of nibbling! Also keep an eye out for maple keys or other familiar seed pods. 

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I’ll leave you with this stunning frosted leaf Travis found. We are thankful for the beauty of nature!

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Hide Small Toys

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This game has elements of surprise, tactile learning, and early language development. And it couldn’t be easier to play!

I filled two small gym socks with a few toys for Veronika to find. Older toddlers may enjoy a long sock to reach into, but the short shocks were just right for my one-year-old.

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At first, she pulled out a round ball. I named the object for her, and described it. It felt round and smooth.

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She immediately wanted to try putting it back inside the sock, which I helped her do!

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But – surprise! – there were more treasures to find inside. Next she pulled out a little pig.

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And you can see from her lips here, she tried to say “pppp” (she’s testing out new words daily!).Hide in Sock (3)

She kept digging and found a car. Again, I said the name of the object and described what she was feeling. This time she made a “vroom vroom” sound.

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You could keep going with this game with as many toys as your little one likes before losing interest. Once the socks were empty, Veronika even tried to put them on!

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Sticky-Treat Sushi

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There is an international festival coming up at Travis’s school, which has us talking about food from around the world. Here’s a sweet spin on the classic Japanese dish! This candy sushi was so fun for Travis to put together.

To start, make the “rice”: melt 2 tablespoons Earth Balance butter in a microwave-safe bowl, heating at 10 second intervals for a total for 30 seconds, or until melted.

Add 2 and 1/2 cups mini Dandies marshmallows. Microwave at 15 second intervals until melted (we needed about a minute total), stirring after each interval.

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Stir in 3 cups rice cereal. If you need to use your hands, I recommend having a grown-up do so, as the sticky marshmallows will still be hot.

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Spoon the mixture onto parchment paper. Cover with additional parchment paper and use a rolling pin to flatten about 1/4-inch thick.

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The rolling pin ended up being a little tricky, so we found it easier to pat with our hands.

Use a pizza cutter to cut into rectangles. Travis was so proud I let him use this tool!

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Now you can make sashimi or sushi rolls!

For “sashimi”, place a Swedish fish candy (Wholesome DelishFish are vegan) on top of a rice rectangle. Cut a strip of fruit leather with a pizza cutter and wrap around the fish.

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For a rolled version, cut a strip of fruit leather and cover with a rice rectangle. Top with pieces of candy (Travis chose organic Red Vines) and roll up.

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If you really want to get creative, tint a little vanilla frosting with green food coloring for “wasabi”!

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