Basic Cereal Threading

January 8, 2021Leave a comment

Basic Cereal Threading (3)

This easy threading game is a great intro to the activity for toddlers. All of the items involved (play dough, cereal, and dry spaghetti) lend themselves to solo toddler play either before or after the activity, too, meaning you’ll get double-duty from one game.

To set up, we first rolled a few balls from different colors of play dough. Veronika loved helping with this step.

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I then speared a strand of dry spaghetti into each mound of play dough. We were working on a craft tray, so I simply poured out some o-shaped cereal right onto the tray. If you’re doing this activity in a high chair, give your toddler a bowl of the cereal instead.

I showed her how to thread one cereal piece at a time onto the spaghetti. After a few misses, she was quickly a pro at the activity!

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I loved watching her work with great care, not only looping the cereal over the top, but then holding onto it as she guided it all the way down to the play dough base.

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Don’t be surprised if there’s some snacking involved, too, with all the cereal around!

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Take-Along Cereal Snack

May 30, 2020Leave a comment

Take Along Cereal Snack

Dried fruit adds a nutrition boost to plain old cereal, making this a great snack option for growing toddlers.

Ingredients:

3 cups o cereal (such as Cascadian Farm)
1 cup diced dried apple
1/2 cup freeze-dried strawberry pieces

Combine all of the ingredients in a large zip-top bag. Transfer to smaller bags for individual on-the-go servings.

Fruity Cereal Activities

March 2, 2020Leave a comment

Rainbow Cereal Sensory (5)

A favorite snack around here is the Rainbow O’s cereal from Cascadian Farm. So today Veronika played with the cereal in three different activities! You could also do any of these activities with Fruit Loops or Fruity Cheerios, but I like the all natural ingredients in the Rainbow O’s.

First up was a simple sensory tub. I filled a round cake pan with some of the cereal and added brightly colored measuring cups for scooping.

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Veronika was a lot more interested in tasting and snacking at first…

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…but eventually scooping was fun, too.

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Next up, we made some art! I had her scribble on a yellow plate with crayon to make the center of a flower.

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I glued the plate onto blue cardstock and outlined petal shapes around it. Drip glue over the petal lines, and then cover the glue with the cereal. If your child is in preschool, he or she can definitely help with this step, which will be great for exercising little fingers. Veronika, on the other hand, was quite alarmed to learn she was not allowed to eat the cereal that had glue on it, so much so she burst into tears! So this might have been a little ambitious with a toddler.

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Finally, it was time to take some cereal on the go! With visions of spring dancing in our heads, I turned her snack bag into a butterfly: Fill a zip-top bag with some of the cereal, then seal and divide in two with a finger.

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Secure with a craft lace.

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When you reach your destination, make a necklace! Undo the craft lace and thread some of the cereal onto it, then secure about your child’s neck loosely.

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Now a bite is literally at hand the moment the urge to snack hits.

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Rice Cereal Sensory Tray

November 4, 2019Leave a comment

Rice Cereal Sensory (2)

One-year-olds are a tough age when it comes to devising activities. They’re old enough to want variety and to do things with those little hands and bodies, but not skilled enough yet for the games and projects they can enjoy once true toddlers (closer to 15 or 18 months).

Here’s a fantastically easy sensory bin that’s sure to engage a baby at just this age. If you have a box of rice cereal, just dump it in a bin! I added a few of her favorite little toys (Duplo figures, plastic farm animals) and buried them somewhat in the cereal. Now everyone was hiding in the rice paddy!

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I also added a rake for her to explore with, thinking this would make less of a mess than shovel. This wasn’t necessarily the case, but the rake became a fast favorite, and she trotted over to her playroom with it once the sensory play was done!

I also added a spritz bottle. Toddlers can practice squeezing the handle themselves. For Veronika at age one, I spritzed the water so she could watch the droplets in the sun-lit room.

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The instant the water hits the rice cereal, you’ll also get a scent sensory bin, with the homey smell of cereal for breakfast wafting up.

The water also means the rice cereal will clump together. She delighted in handfuls, picking them up, marveling when they stuck to her little palm, and shaking them loose with glee.

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And of course, trying a taste!

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She had fun raking through and finding the toys.

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Then it was lots of scattering the rice cereal around for ages.

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But don’t worry about clean-up. The rice cereal (even when wet) sweeps up like a charm with a simple dustpan.

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This was definitely a winner!

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Shall I Pour?

September 13, 2019Leave a comment

Shall I Pour (7)

Pouring dry items from cup to cup is a fantastic way to build the fine motor skills that will one day allow your little one to pour liquids. Don’t expect your baby to be pouring his or her own water and juice after this game, but it is great practice and cute fun!

I put a soft blanket down on the kitchen floor, then filled two cups with O cereal and left two cups empty (one set for me, one for Veronika).

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Once I had her attention, I showed her how to pour the cereal from a full cup to an empty one.

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“Watch me pour!” I instructed.

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Well at first she was simply delighted to discover that the game involved a snack. Yum!

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She also seemed to love the visual of the cereal trickling from one cup to another.

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After showing her a few times, her hand reached out to mimic me, which I had anticipated; ten-month-olds are fantastic mimics!

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She tried her own hand at pouring…

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…and then just wanted to play with Os and cups. As I said, don’t expect your baby to be a pro after the game (your play space will probably look like mine, below), but your little one will have a blast!

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Fruit Loop Sensory Bin

January 31, 2017Leave a comment

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If sensory bins are great… edible sensory bins are even better! The original idea for this game called for Froot Loops, but for a healthier version, we used Cascadian Farm’s Fruitful O’s. They’re not quite as colorful as Froot Loops, but the colors are all natural and the cereal is vegan, meaning Travis could play and snack at the same time.

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To punch up the rainbow nature of the bin, I added colorful plastic cups, red craft foam cut into various shapes, a bright yellow beach shovel, and a few toy cars that fit the mood of the bin.

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Travis didn’t need any prompting to get started. He used the cups to pour the cereal back and forth…

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…and to load up the dump truck.

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It only took about three minutes before he took his first bite, and his eyes popped with delight. From there it was play a little, nibble a little, play a little, nibble a little, which I was just fine with since it was sort of the point!

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I threaded some of the cereal onto a pipe cleaner, thinking it might be fun to eat a “kebab” snack as he played, but to my delight, he preferred to thread loops onto his own pipe cleaner. Great for fine motor skills!

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