Popsicle Stick Color Matching and Sorting

Alexa has become obsessed with sorting things. She likes to sort pompoms into cups and Legos into bins. She'll sort spoons or blocks or anything else you give her a few of. I came up with a cool popsicle stick color sorting game for her using a small cardboard box, an Exacto knife, some markers and 8 popsicle sticks.

My original idea was that she could pull the popsicle sticks out of the box and put them back into the slits in the box. This would help her with fine motor skills and also introduce colors and matching at the same time. The idea was a success!

I did have to hold the box down for her so she could remove the sticks and then put them back in the slots. I wish I could figure out a way to weigh down the box so that in the future this can be an independent play activity. I'll have to work on that.

She had no problem pulling the sticks out. I was amazed at how easily she was able to put most of the sticks back into the slots. Her fine motor skills really have improved since we started letting her put money in her bank.

I love this simple activity because it is a progressive learning toy. Right now, she uses it to take the sticks out and put them back in. Next we will start working on color recognition and matching using the box. I can even see a mix and match game with this box in our future.

Have you come up with any non-traditional learning toys lately?

Beach Sand Play Dough

I love trolling the internet for cool activities and projects to do with Alexa. I think these moms and teachers and caregivers who come up with these ideas are amazing. I also like experimenting with my own stuff. After finding a cool recipe for chocolate clay from Growing a Jeweled Rose, I decided to try and come up with my own recipe for some kind of play dough using stuff we had around the house.

We've been having some really beautiful weather in Linz and so I decided to try and make my own version of Cloud Dough. I grabbed some flour and baby oil because I thought that would make a great soft, fluffy textured play dough. What I ended up with was an amazing play dough that felt just like a nice sandy beach. It wasn't exactly what I had set out to make, but it ended up being a lot of fun anyway.

Alexa and I had a great time squishing and pressing the sand dough into different molds. She crushed the sand dough in her hands and into the bucket. I think this would be a very interesting addition to a sand/water table in the summer.

Beach Sand Play Dough

1 cup flour
3/8 cup baby oil

Mix well with your hands and then have fun building a sand castle with your new sand dough!

I left our sand dough out for several days. It held up perfectly, so today I put it into a clean and dry baby food jar and labeled it for storage. I'm not sure how long it will hold for, but I like being able to keep it for more than one play day.

Bottle Caps

Bottle caps are the new cool around here. For some unknown reason, we have an entire container of plastic bottle tops in the Tupperware drawer. While I was making lunch the other day, Alexa came across the bottle caps. She ended up testing each and everyone of them by sticking them in her mouth. She took them out of the container they were in and then put them back in. She sucked on the spout tops and then blew her cute little spit all over the kitchen. She was in baby bottle cap dreamland.

I really don't know what it is about these bottle caps, but she has seriously been playing with them almost every day for the last three days. Today, she explored with them in a big metal mixing bowl.

Beware, it's loud. Very loud. However, Alexa loved it. She played long enough for me to figure out what to make for dinner and then to actually make it. That makes this a new go to activity.

 
After a while I even gave her a wooden spoon to "mix" her bottle caps with. She loved it. This was even louder...just so you know. 

8 Activities to Keep Your 8 Month Old Busy

Alexa gets into EVERYTHING these days. She also seems to be getting bored with many of her toys. I'm not ready to buy her a whole bunch of new toys with the holidays right around the corner, so I've come up with some new old ideas to keep my little bean happy, busy and out of trouble.

1. Laundry. Every time I fold laundry Alexa likes to "help", unfortunately her idea of helping means twice as much work for me. Here's how I make it productive for me and fun for her...

Dump all the clean, dry clothes on top of the baby. I keep the laundry basket on the couch so that as I fold things they stay folded, but Alexa has fun playing peekaboo and hiding under the clothes. Sometimes she'll even hand me something to fold!

2. Build a fort. Use a fitted sheet, big bath towels or any blanket and build a fort in the living room. Tuck the sheet around couch cushions or the coffee table to secure your fort. Bring a bunch of toys into the fort and play as long as your little one is interested. You can also play hide and seek or peekaboo in the fort.


3. Get a change of scenery. Something so simple that I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner! Moving into the kitchen, the baby's room or even your bedroom can do wonders to cure boredom and keep a very nosy baby occupied. I keep a few toys under Alexa's high chair to play with while I'm cooking meals, now I let her play on the kitchen floor instead of cooped up in her high chair and she finds these same exact toys 10x more entertaining! I also have a small canvas box in her bedroom with stuffed animals and a puzzle that she doesn't play with very often. When we break that box out she'll play for 20 minutes or more. Take baby into your bedroom and have snuggle time, read a book, play the radio and have a dance party or even bounce her on your bed.

4. Sandbox. If you don't have your own backyard or your own personal sandbox, take baby to a local park or playground to explore in the sandbox. It's a little late to find sand toys now, but a few plastic containers and a scoop or spoon of some kind is all you need! Don't stress if baby eats a little sand either, after all, it's just dirt!

5. Get a cardboard box. Seriously, I don't know why we as parents have not learned that the greatest toy is pretty much free. Babies LOVE cardboard boxes. I don't know what's so great about a cube of cardboard, but it is all the rage with little ones. As soon as your little one can sit up you can sit them in a cardboard box (or laundry basket). Add a couple of small rattles and it's a party! When your little one gets older (12-18 months) replace the toys with some crayons and let them get creative!

6. Finger painting. Alexa LOVES doing crafts and finger painting is at the top of her list. Recently, I let her finger paint her pumpkin for Halloween, but most of the time I just let her go crazy painting the tray of her high chair. This time I put a towel over the high chair and saran wrap on the tray to see if it would make clean up even easier. If you have press n seal wrap, that works likes a charm! I like to have little mementos so I usually start her off with a piece of paper on the tray, but once that is covered it's a free for all. I always add a drop of her baby wash to each blob of paint for easier clean up and we always paint in just a diaper!

7. Tupperware. Babies love Tupperware. It's so versatile. It can be banged, sucked on, chewed on, it holds things, hides things...the possibilities are endless. Set your little one up on the floor and surround them with as many plastic containers as you're willing to wash! You can stack them, hide other small toys or smaller containers under them, or create your own baby rock band.

8. Dance Party. Turn the radio on to YOUR favorite station and rock out with baby. Teach baby to bob up and down and dance alone and then pick him up and spin him around the room. Alexa and I have a daily dance party in the morning while I'm getting my coffee ready. She always enjoys a surprise dance party around the living room or bouncing up and down on our bed.