Our MN heatwave is about to end. The last few days have been a dream! You know it is a fabulous winter day when you have been outside playing and walking for two to three hours. We were able to do this the past three days. Today wasn't too cold, but the wind made it a little yucky to be outside with a four month old. I thought I had better get some of my best indoor tricks up and running to keep the kids engaged, learning, busy, and happy. It is all about sensory at this age. Kids learn to process what is happening in their environment partially through sensory play. One of my favorite activities is water play. Yes it is a mess, but oh boy is it fun. Here is what you need:
Step 2: Put one or two towels down under the water bin.
Step 3: Have the kids squirt the water into the container and watch the different colors mix together. Soon there will be enough water to play with. I leave the toys in the bin the whole time, or you can add them as the water level rises.
All of the different levels of learning going on is unbelievable. Kids are working on fine motor skills with screwing different types of caps on and off and scooping and pouring water, they are learning about colors and color mixing, and they are working on math skills with measuring and volume.
Dramatic play is also being incorporated, and depending on the toys that you use, develops a whole slew of other skills. Since we are going on a Disney cruise in a few weeks, the girls put their mini Disney princesses on the boats and we worked on water safety skills as well as playing out different scenarios of cruising. Ariel was attacked by a shark, and Cinderella fell of the ship because she was acting a little crazy:) You could also add some play dishes and sponges and have the kids "wash" dishes. Just add some dish soap in the water! You can also have boat races by squirting the boats with the water bottles and seeing how far and how fast they can go.
- Some sort of large bin (I prefer clear)
- Water toys (I like using mini boats, whales and sharks, but laundry soap scoops, cups, bowls, and squirt toys work well too)
- All different kids of quirt bottles- I love empty lotion and soap bottles, condiment bottles, such as ketchup and syrup containers, etc. I just picked up two colored bottles at the dollar store today. Clear ones work great, because than you can mix in color which I will get to next.
- Sponges
- Markers
Step 2: Put one or two towels down under the water bin.
Step 3: Have the kids squirt the water into the container and watch the different colors mix together. Soon there will be enough water to play with. I leave the toys in the bin the whole time, or you can add them as the water level rises.
All of the different levels of learning going on is unbelievable. Kids are working on fine motor skills with screwing different types of caps on and off and scooping and pouring water, they are learning about colors and color mixing, and they are working on math skills with measuring and volume.
Dramatic play is also being incorporated, and depending on the toys that you use, develops a whole slew of other skills. Since we are going on a Disney cruise in a few weeks, the girls put their mini Disney princesses on the boats and we worked on water safety skills as well as playing out different scenarios of cruising. Ariel was attacked by a shark, and Cinderella fell of the ship because she was acting a little crazy:) You could also add some play dishes and sponges and have the kids "wash" dishes. Just add some dish soap in the water! You can also have boat races by squirting the boats with the water bottles and seeing how far and how fast they can go.