Dinosaur Wash

I love it when Bean and I come up with a completely spontaneous activity together.  It can be something so simple but there is such a joy that shines when children invent their own activities that it often absorbs them more completely than any pre-planned ideas you the adult might have had. Bean is seriously into Dinosaurs, and also LOVES any kind of water play. One afternoon whilst we were telling a story with her dinosaur play set, the dinosaurs had been "jumping in muddy puddles" and Bean decided they all needed a bath...So we set up a Dino-Wash!

The key here was allowing Bean to take the lead in initiating and setting up the activity, helping her find something to use as a bath, giving her a plastic jug and step up to the tap so she could fill the bath herself, getting her to squirt in some bubble bath, and going on a hunt around the house to find various scrubbers and sponges we could use for washing.

I find these days that the process of setting up the play area (whatever it is she might want to do) is as important as the play itself for Bean. I also find if she's actively involved in setting up she readily helps with putting away once the activity is over.

With a squirt of bubbles and some warm water away she went giving her dinosaurs a thorough clean! 

Of course a LOT of water ended up on the floor, which is why I chose to do this in the bathroom with some towels down. 

It was simple clean fun, good for sensory, motor, and role play, and it doesn't have to be dinosaurs of course...plastic animals, dolls, little people, my little ponies, or even give them some plastic plates and cutlery for 'washing up'. Every kid likes bubbles and water so you can't really go wrong!

Happy playing!

Sea Treasure - Sensory Box

I have to give the credit for this activity in large part to my husband, who accidentally invented the main material used in its making! You're probably wondering "what on earth are those blue things?"...Well, Bean has named them 'Curly Whirlies', and they're actually the debris from when my husband was drilling holes in some big plastic barrels for planting. They're all sprially and some of them are very springy, Bean found them fascinating so I just had to use them in some way!

We haven't done so many sensory activities over the winter, mostly due to the mess factor as we usually do this kind of play outside. But the weather is warming up and it seemed a good opportunity to get stuck back in with a sea themed sensory box! 

This sensory box is one with a twist, as well as being a sensory activity it's also a treasure hunt game. Hidden beneath the curly whirlies are little glass gems shaped in sea themes such as shell, sea horse, star fish, and I included a small pot to gather the treasure in. 

The materials used are as follows:

• Curly whirlies (you could also use blue aquarium rocks or anything else blue that can get wet)
• Aquarium plants (borrowed from our under the sea playset)
• Plastic boats (borrowed from our water table)
• Plastic anchors (found at op shop)
• Duplo people
• Jar or small container
• Sea gems (found at dollar shop) 

I set this up one night for Bean to play with the following day, and it was very well recieved! I think as much as anything she was just so happy to get back in to sensory play outside, which was a big highlight of last summer. 

She started off with some imaginative story telling using the people in the boats, and was interested to have me explain and demonstrate what the anchors were.

I has already anticipated that she would want to add water to this tub, because I mean...who wouldn't? And of course after a little while she went to get the hose. She enjoyed swirling the water around with the curly whirlies in it, it felt wonderful...and it was then that she discovered the treasures hiding underneath!

Well, needless to say we did a LOT of treasure hunting that day (and the next)! When she was losing interest in finding treasure in the tub, we added the gems to our sand pit and dug for buried treasure in the sand. 

All in all this was a lovely box to play with and a really nice start back into using our outdoor space again :-) Roll on summer! 

Happy Playing! 

Whisking Up Bubbles!

Today we tried a simple water play activity involving soap flakes and lots and lots of bubbles! When mixed together it makes a rich, thick, silky play substance that feels wonderful and moves a bit like slime.

You will need:

• A large plastic tub or container
• Soap Flakes (available from the supermarket laundry section)
• Powder/Tempera paint
• Water
• An assortment of whisks, spoons, cups, and containers

First pour a generous amount of soap flakes into the tub (a child of 2 or over should be able to do most of this activity themselves)...

...Add water...

...Then start whisking to start the bubbles!...

...Add in the powder paint, and whisk some more! The colours swirled in the bubbles look beautiful...

Add more water if desired (adding the water with the hose was VERY fun for Bean) and keep whisking until the mixture gets thicker with an egg white consitency...

...And now enjoy! Its a perfect substance for pouring, mixing, and funnelling, and can be the catalyst for some imaginative play as well (Bean decided that she was a wicked witch mixing a magic potion).

And of course if you're playing with this outdoors it makes lovely "Bubbly muddy puddles!", a very happy discovery for Bean :-)

Happy Playing!