Category: Imaginative Play

Backyard Grill

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This one’s a little complicated, parents, but I promise it’s worth it!

The idea came from our August High Five magazine, and although I wondered if Travis would understand the concepts – we’ve never grilled dinner with him! – he has lately been very curious about the grills in our building’s courtyard, and took to the whole game with alacrity.

You’ll need to do some set-up the day before. Cut sponges into circles and have your child paint some brown and some yellow to make (veggie) burgers and buns. Our yellow is on the brown-ish side anyway, but if yours is bright yellow, you might want to tone it down with a drop of brown for better bun color.

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Travis had a blast painting the sponges, proudly saying, “We’re making burgers!” Make sure to let dry overnight – the sponges will absorb a lot of paint.

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While he slept, I did a little mommy work: roll toilet paper tubes in yellow tissue paper, and tuck in the ends. Add a piece of green tissue paper to one side, securing with tape; twist the overhanging end and secure with a rubber band. Draw on corn kernels with brown pen. Now you have corn on the cob!

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If your child is a preschooler instead of a toddler, they can probably help out with this part too!

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In the morning, I told Travis we were setting up the grill, and he was so excited. We used castle blocks as the base, but any blocks or Duplo you have around the house will work. We crumpled up black construction paper for charcoal, and then I told Travis we needed to add fire so our grill would be hot like the oven. He loved adding wads of red and yellow tissue paper, and helped me blow on the coals to start our fire!

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We added a cookie rack as the grill itself. Then it was time to cook our burgers!

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Travis became an expert burger flipper:

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Added green tissue paper “lettuce”:

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And liked the corn even though he seemed very unsure what it was:

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And after about 20 minutes of good fun, toddler happened:

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A good ending!

Cloud Blobs

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This simple art project was a fun way to introduce Travis to the idea of cloud-watching, and is also great for sparking imagination.

Use any dark-colored construction paper as the background, since you’ll be using white paint. I chose blue and black so we could have clouds in both a “daytime” and “nighttime” sky.

Have your toddler dip a spoon into the white paint, and drizzle in the middle of the paper. Travis was very into the novelty of using a spoon instead of a brush, and needed to cover a few more sheets of paper once we’d completed the project itself.

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Fold the construction paper in half and smooth down, then open back up again – you’ll have a “cloud” blob of white paint. Encourage your child to tell you what he or she sees in the image. I joked that this was a little like a toddler Rorschach test!

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To wit, I thought our cloud on blue paper looked like a bee, but Travis told me he saw an octopus. If you like, have your toddler use white crayons (or other colors) to embellish the paintings, but Travis mostly lost interest at that point.

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To end the fun, we took a trip outside to look at real clouds, and I encouraged him to spot shapes in the sky as well. Overall, a nice introduction to the wonderful art of cloud-watching!

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Boxes, Boxes, Boxes

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Our great fun with a toddler-sized box car the other day had me thinking: What can’t a toddler do with boxes?

Next time you receive a package, wait at least a few days before you toss the cardboard into the recycling. The possibilities are almost endless! First off: color on them. In the past, Travis and I have drawn the dials and buttons of a “rocketship,” which then makes for great make-believe.

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Or if you have a box large enough, open it up and color each segment of the box a different “habitat,” such as jungle, ocean, or desert, adding a background and appropriate animals to each. Your child can step from location to location, and talk about the animals you’ve drawn in each. After the second time we played this game, Travis went to town on the entire piece of cardboard with a black crayon – very Jackson Pollock-esque!

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If you have a few medium-sized boxes, string them together and place stuffed animals inside, and then take them for a train ride!

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A large box is perfect for turning into a toddler-only house….

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…after you’ve decorated the outside of course.

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And smaller boxes make perfect garages and tunnels for all the toy cars in the house!

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What other ways have you found to play with your child and boxes? Please do leave your thoughts in the comments!

Animal Safari

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This activity is an oldie-but-goodie in our household, one of Travis’s favorite games to play before bed. We only play a couple of times a month so that it’s always exciting when I announce it’s a night to hunt for our animal friends!

While your child isn’t looking, hide a few stuffed animals, preferably jungle-themed. This set from Giggle fits the bill perfectly. I recommend “hiding” the animals in fairly obvious places so your little one doesn’t get frustrated.

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As part of your bedtime routine, dim the lights and announce that it’s safari time. I love giving Travis a flashlight to hold as he searches to add to the excitement, and he loves when his spotlight falls on a furry find.

Somebody’s getting warmer…

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Tada! Travis triumphantly uncovers a hippo:

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And is that a monkey under the couch?

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Encourage your child to name the animals they have found, for some fun vocab practice as well. And now good night!