My kids have always loved messy play activities and from all the parent and toddler groups I’ve visited over the years I know they’re not alone!
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messy play
Bottle Top Crafts: DIY Stamps
So as regular readers will know I’m on a bit of a quest at the moment to find some activities for toddlers to do with my one year old.
She’s suddenly at that age where she wants to do ‘stuff’ but neither of us are quite sure what that ‘stuff’ is yet!
Because toddlers are notorious for having short attention spans I like to use cheap or recycled materials where I can, bottle top crafts are perfect for this as it means I get an extra use out of all the bottles of milk she goes through.
These DIY stamps are super simple to make and are a great way to help with fine motor skills too.
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Marbled Dinosaur Messy Play Painting
Painting with foam is a great way for kids to get a hands on messy play or sensory play and as the mother of a three year old boy I know how popular dinosaurs are! Believe me I’ve learned more about dinosaurs in the last year than I did in the previous 35! This dinosaur messy play painting creates a cute marbling effect that you will want to use yourself once the kids are in bed.
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Messy play to beat the hot weather
In the old days I used to love the hot weather. I have Raynaurd’s Disease too which means the times when I feel anything other than freezing can basically be counted on one hand. But six months pregnant? With a toddler? Hmm.
This great idea was something the Pre-school I visited yesterday were doing and when I recreated it at home today my friend told me to take pictures and blog it as it’s such a fab idea. I know that she reads this so I thought I better comply!
I filled the washing up bowl with cold water and a squirt of washing up liquid and chucked in a load of The Toddlers toys. Obviously not anything containing batteries! Toddler and his friend then spent ages looking for toys, taking them out, playing with them, putting them back in the water and, bonus, getting the toys clean at the same time. (I umm..don’t clean toys that often…)
Another added and brill bonus is that the BBC reported this week that one of their tips for cooling down in hot weather is to stick your hands in cold water. Much easier to get a child to do if there’s toys involved! They also encouraged wearing a damp tshirt which I can also report back certainly happened!
How are you keeping you and your kids cool in the hot weather? Any suggestions gratefully received!