Category: 18 to 24 months

Balloon Fun

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Balloon Fun (4)

I’m of the firm opinion that balloons are not just for birthdays. To wit, here was a fun way to play with a few on a random rainy morning!

I blew up about five balloons, which of course is half the fun right there. Veronika loves to pretend she’s blowing them up with me. (Note: always supervise balloon play closely, as they can be a choking hazard).

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I then hung each balloon from a string and suspended them from an archway. Give your child a wiffle bat and let the balloon bopping begin!

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Veronika took a few swings, but then honestly preferred just walking underneath them. She loved the way they bounced on top of her head.

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We invited big brother Travis over, but one whack of the bat took them all down from the ceiling – whoops! So perhaps you’ll want to save this one for younger toddlers.

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How I Feel

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Here’s a great activity for siblings that gets giggles (because it tickles!), checks off the arts and crafts box for the day, and will have siblings thinking about what they love best about each other. You can do this with two or more siblings of any age.

I needed to first trace both kids on a big sheet of craft paper, and Travis volunteered to lie down first. Veronika laughed as I traced around him with crayon.

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She was clearly eager for her turn!

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This little one loved being traced!

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Next, fill in the outline of each sibling with how they feel about each other. I posed the question to Travis, asking him to describe words about Veronika and his emotions. I thought he might mention some of their inside jokes or games, but instead he said, “I love her, that’s all!” Can’t argue with that, so we wrote that in.

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Pose the same question to a second sibling. Obviously if you play the game with a baby or toddler, he or she won’t understand the concept. In that case, older siblings get to fill in words about the baby inside their outline. Travis said “copy” (because she always loves to copy him!), “cute”, and “love”.

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If your kids want to get creative, you can then draw on faces, hair, or other feature. My kids just liked rolling around on the paper afterwards, and that was fine, too!

Threading for Toddlers

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Veronika wanted to copy along when Travis threaded beads to make friendship bracelets back in the spring, so today I thought I’d introduce her to the skill! Threading is a fantastic fine motor activity for toddlers, and although I didn’t expect Veronika to ace it today, the idea was to introduce the concept and see if she could loop some items with large holes onto string.

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Good, early items for toddlers to thread include dried tube-shaped pasta, cut up pieces of a paper towel tube, beads with big holes, and wooden craft spools.

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At first I was going to have her thread onto shoe laces…

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…but these were a little droopy and wobbly. We switched over to pipe cleaners which were much sturdier for her!

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She was most interested in the pasta, which was by far the easiest item for her to thread. She could loop it onto the shoelace or the pipe cleaner with a little assistance.

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She also loved testing out the beads, although these were tough for her fingers.

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After a short while, she was mostly just interested in playing with the materials.

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But I thought it was so sweet when big brother Travis swooped in and created a “bracelet” for Veronika.

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She loved his creation!

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Block Sorter

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Veronika loves her bus shape-sorter toy, with slots on top for squares, triangles, and circles, but with one caveat: she can’t open it back up to retrieve the shapes once they’re inside! I solved the problem for her today with this quick DIY version.

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Use any shoebox with a lid (brother Travis’s old Kiwi Crate was perfect) and cut holes for each shape you’ll be using. Veronika loved watching me work: “Mommy’s cutting a triangle!” and the triangle had to go right in. “Mommy’s making a square!” She tested each hole as it was made.

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Now all of the shapes were inside.

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I showed her that she could open the lid… all by herself! She was thrilled. “Triangle is inside!” she said, but not for long. She took them out for a second round, now having to find and fill all three holes with the shapes in a jumble, which was a great challenge.

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I loved that she could use this toy solo. She was evidently so proud of it that she wanted to pick it up and carry it around with her!

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A definite hit, for almost no effort at all on my part.

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Video Visits

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We tend to take lots of photos in our current era, but less so home videos. Here’s a cute project to encourage home video memories, as well as to promote bonding between siblings.

The idea is to have an older sibling narrate a video about any favorite destinations for your younger tot. Our first stop was the playground and Travis described where we were (with a little bit of cheeky humor!), as well as Veronika’s favorite things on the playground, and what they were having for snack.

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I then filmed several fun clips as they played on the equipment together!

Once home, I played the video back. Both kids were so delighted to see themselves on screen, little mini celebrities!

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They loved it so much that we repeated the game the next day on a bike trail. Travis once more narrated the scene.

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And one more the kids were smitten as they watched themselves, after. I intend to keep up this activity, since it’s clear that the kids are going to treasure these clips for years to come.

 

Food Fair

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We turned snack time today into a chance for the siblings to bond! Travis gets a kick out of how messy Veronika can be when she eats, but sometimes older siblings resent the attention a messy baby or toddler receives at mealtime: help with a spoon; wiping off trays and bibs, etc. So today, Travis was in charge of Veronika’s snack! This got laughs all around.

We headed outside with a picnic blanket and a tray full of snacks. I included: applesauce, fruit pouches, chocolate pudding, juice boxes, and soft cookies.

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At first I asked Travis just to help Veronika explore the foods. Were they hot or cold? What did they taste like? Which did she like best?

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Then Travis began to make her concoctions. A simple cookie topped with a little applesauce…

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…soon became a big glob on a plate. Applesauce + pudding + juice, oh my! Travis then dipped a cookie in it and offered it to his sister for a taste with glee.

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Don’t be fooled by Veronika’s sleepy, sour expression. She kept asking for more bites!

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Travis delighted in this activity, and I loved watching them share this moment.

Spooning Marbles

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Here was a quick activity today to hone Veronika’s fine motor skills. I’ve seen this activity done with a bowl of marbles on one side of the child and soft egg crate foam (like you’d find under a mattress) on the other side, but you can easily just use a muffin tin.

The latter is what we had on hand, so I started a batch of blue marbles in one tin and gave Veronika a scoop.

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At first reached for the marbles with her fingers, but as soon as I directed her attention to the spoon, she was great about scooping them up and transferring.

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I encouraged her to fill all of the compartments, not just one, and she seemed to enjoy the challenge!

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This was excellent practice for spoon control, since this girl now insists on serving herself soup, cereal, and other watery favorites.

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She then trotted over her to playroom and came back with a tea cup. I loved that she invented her own version of the game, adding marbles to the cup.

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Soon we were enjoying a full marble tea party!

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However your child plays, you’ll need to supervise this particular activity closely, as with all marble play, since they can be a choking hazard.

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Sensory “Salads”

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We found an old play set with components to make a pretend salad: fake lettuce, croutons, olives, etc. Veronika loved it so much I thought it would be fun to help her make a few more “salads”. These two methods were quite different, but both so enjoyable.

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For the first version, I put together odds and ends from the craft bin that she could toss like the ingredients of a salad. We had tissue paper “lettuce”, cotton ball “croutons”, strips of ribbon (bell peppers perhaps?) and pieces of crepe paper.

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I gave her toy tongs as well as real tongs to toss the ingredients around. The tongs were arguably as interesting as the sensory materials!

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Then we moved on to an edible sensory version. The night before, I made a batch of Kool-Aid dyed pasta. To keep it edible, just in case Veronika wanted to take a nibble, I diluted each pack of Kool-Aid in 2 tablespoons hot water (as opposed to rubbing alcohol). Place 1 cup of cooked spaghetti in a gallon-sized zip-top bag for each color that you’ve prepared. Pour in, seal, and shake to distribute the color evenly. Open the bags and let the pasta dry out overnight.

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In the morning, I heaped together all the colors of noodles in a craft bin for a big “salad”, and once again handed over the tongs.

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This was an instant hit! She needed a little help at first since the noodles were sticky, but then loved scooping them into a smaller bowl.

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Big brother immediately needed in on the action, too. He soon had created a big spaghetti “cake”!

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Then he wanted to try snipping the spaghetti with scissors, which is how bits began ending up all over the floor.

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Veronika, meanwhile, was narrating her play, something about trucks and cars. She was pleased as punch with whatever she thought she was “making”.

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And then she discovered the joy of simply throwing the spaghetti on the floor to make it go splat.

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My two crazy sous-chefs did then decide to sample the salad. “It’s tasty!” Veronika announced. They told me blue was the yummiest. I was glad it was just a few nibbles.

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Clean-up was a bit more of a pain than usual. Next time I would probably do this activity outside and hose down the patio afterward, or lay an old shower curtain liner on the floor if doing it indoors. But worth it? Yes!

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Crumple Painting

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Crumple Painting (3)

Veronika has loved working with a big canvas for art lately, so today I wanted to find a novel way to let her fill a big sheet from the craft paper roll. Instead of paintbrushes, we crumpled up newspaper from the morning’s news!

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I put a few fingerpaints onto paper plates, then crumpled up the newspaper. I showed her how to dip one end in the paint and press onto the paper.

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She certainly thought it was funny but she seemed a little hesitant to try herself. More fun was turning the plates upside down to see if the newspaper would stick!

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I realized that the wads of newspaper were much too big for her little hands. Making smaller crumples was the solution.

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We ended up with neat dots all over the paper and set it aside to dry. This looks like it would make beautiful homemade wrapping paper, so we’re setting it aside for upcoming birthdays!

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Playing in the Rain

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We’ve taken gorgeous walks in the rain this summer, and if there’s one thing we’ve learned it’s this: there’s no such thing as bad weather, as long as you have the right gear! Veronika actually seems to love walking in the rain as long as it’s not a downpour. She’s proud of her new rain coat and boots, happily donning them whenever she has the chance.

Today, I wanted to take advantage of this, so we headed to a friend’s farm in the drizzle!

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Veronika was delighted the moment we set foot in the fields, heading off on the journey. She was so happy when she spotted cows in the pasture.

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We spent a long time watching them, seeming as equally unperturbed by the pitter-patter of raindrops as we were.

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She loved “moo”ing at them. Because she refused to wear her jacket’s hood, she soon had little damp curls from the rain.

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We made a stop in the barn, which smelled of damp wood. It was the perfect place to spin and dance.

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Then we visited the cows’ paddock, where she loved seeing water drops that had beaded up along the steel fence. We drummed on it to make them shake.

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Have you had any great rain play this summer? Please share in the comments!