I had always wanted to make our own Geo board and to make it one of those activities that can be used in different ways to get its use from it so this is what we came up with-our Geo matching slab! As we had no spare wood around the house i used some leftover air drying clay that of course got warmed up by Tara and her tools! After she had finished i just moulded a rectangle slab of clay with some nails pressed into it evenly and let it dry overnight.
When it was dry i added some small markers down the side which i wrote on with whiteboard marker to create a matching game. Tara was working on matching her big and small letters here...
Matching colours here...
You can see how her little hand is using all its muscles to maneuver the elastics around the nails. Fantastic for fine motor and pre writing skills
It can still be used as a classic Geo board with a triangle, square or rectangle shape made...
But whatever the activity is, it always comes back to animals when Tara is involved! hehe now we have a farm with fences.....
We have tried potato stamps when Tara was younger but now she is older stamping is still a hit but this time we tried carrot stamps! I top and tailed a few carrots and then carved some shapes and letters on either ends with a sharp knife. Dipped into some paint we had 6 fun stamps to play with Finished art work..
These micro fibre cloths are found very inexpensively from dollar shops. They make great a great sensory toy for infants. Unwrap and give a good wash to ensure all chemicals and dust is out then fold in half length ways. Stitch up both sides to create a pocket shape. You can add rice or seeds if you want a heavier and thicker toy but for young infants leaving it empty will make it a light weight toy they can really get a hold of. Sew up the last edge to make it a completely sealed rectangle. Soft and furry this texture toy is a favourite of Mason's...
We have plenty of bird life around our area and when we saw a fun way to make bird feeders we thought we should give it a go. Use a pipe cleaner and thread on some Cheerios's. Threading is a great activity for toddlers as it practices patience,completing a task and the wonderful fine motor skills for writing. Make sure to leave room for a loop or hook so you can hang them We hung a few from a tree outside
And shared two with our pet "Pete" who nibbled on it all afternoon
While we don't usually allow playing with food at lunchtime, when i came back to Tara after giving her some spaghetti for lunch and found her name spelt out on the table i had to smile.... We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with our food :)
Letters,numbers,words,shapes, the imagination runs wild.....
After our Dino land adventure we used the clean up as a fun way to discover the art of "Fossicking" Sifting through a tub of sand,water and pebbles, Tara separated the heavier pebbles from the soft sand with a strainer, shaking side to side, round and around just like in the gold rush.
Cannelloni sleeping beauties are fun and easy to prepare for your little ones dinner... Fill your Cannelloni will spinach/ricotta or minced meat and place them laying flat onto a baking tray. Pour over your tomato based sauce and bake for 20 minutes until pasta is soft. While they are cooking get your little helper to peel mushrooms and remove stems for the beauties heads. Use tiny olive triangles for eyes and tomato skin for smiles. When Cannelloni is cooked add a row of cheese on top to make it look like a blanket. Place back in the oven just until cheese melts then take out and add your mushroom heads and add some cooked egg noodles for hair.
Decorate with whole olives as feet and use cucumber and carrot for designer hats or hair clips on your sleeping beauties
We had a parcel arrive full of these packing peanuts that i stored for a rainy day and when Tara found them we got out a mat and started building some structures. If your lucky enough to stumble upon these, with just a touch of glue these make great igloo's or tunnels Then they were turned into Antarctica with icebergs galore!
We added some ships,submarines and boats and played some great inventive games
What can you make on a rainy day with left over cupcake liners? .........A cupcake garden!!! Just use paint or a marker for your stems and glue a cupcake liner on top. These make lovely presents for mums or grandmas for mothers day!
As we had no spare wood around the house i used some leftover air drying clay that of course got warmed up by Tara and her tools!
When it was dry i added some small markers down the side which i wrote on with whiteboard marker to create a matching game. Tara was working on matching her big and small letters here...
Matching colours here...
It can still be used as a classic Geo board with a triangle, square or rectangle shape made...
