Activities

Activities, Education, Parenting

Five Activities to Help Create Little Problem Solvers

We have had a lot of hot and humid days this summer, so when Rosebud plays in the water table, I try to keep it in the shade. On this particular day, the sun had shifted and Rosebud was complaining of being hot. She still wanted to be outside so I suggested moving the table to a shady spot. She didn't want to, but obviously it was still a problem, so we had to find a solution. The umbrella that came with her picnic table was over her lawn chair, so she brought it over to the water table.

Umbrella over water table.

I asked her how we could stand the umbrella up to cover the table. She tried putting it into the ground which didn't work. Then she noticed a little hole on the back of the water table that is meant for an umbrella. It fit, but slid all the way down and was too close to the table. I told her what we needed to do was to find a way for the umbrella to sit in the hole without falling all the way through.

She suggested that we use tape, so I headed inside to check the junk drawer. I brought out some round rubber thing that must have been some sort of stopper. That was way too small. I showed her the rubber circle and how it wouldn't fit. We went back to the tape solution and duct tape did the trick, at least for a while. I put some tape on the bottom of the hole and the umbrella had something to sit on. Well, at least until Rosebud started splashing.

If Rosebud can't reach something in the kitchen, she finds something to stand on. Usually, she finds her drum, but that has become unsafe so it disappeared. She's always looking for things in the house to use as a step stool. One day, she tried using an exercise ball and came crashing to the flor. Luckily I was right there and she didn't get hurt, but it definitely scared her.


We all use some level of problem solving skills every day. Whether it's in our businesses, family lives and even in our hobbies. It's important that children have many opportunities to find solutions to their own problems. This can be with specific toys or just random things in their environment. I notice Rosebud's problem solving abilities most when we're not doing anything specific because the best learning opportunities naturally appear. They can appear when we're cooking dinner, creating art or playing outside. It's children's job to explore using trial and error to see what works. It's our job to ensure that they have plenty of opportunities to do this. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Child pouring water at a water table.1. Put water in a bucket or water table with a variety of objects and different sized cups. They can learn about sinking and floating, less vs more and if an objects properties change in water. For example, a sponge or cotton ball will become heavier in water. The whole idea is for them to experiment and to see how things work.

Child playing with blocks.2. Give them blocks of any kind and let them build whatever comes to mind. Rosebud likes to build castles, roads, cities and tree houses just to name a few. Bigger blocks get stacked on top of smaller blocks. Different shapes don't always work well together. The blocks may not balance well depending on if you are building on carpet vs a hard floor. There are so many ways that blocks can be used for teaching and learning problem solving and logical skills.

Child solving a puzzle.

3. Puzzles are good because children have to think about where the pieces go in relation to each other. While this is not open ended, puzzles can help children focus on a specific problem and solution.

Child playing doctor.

4. Any dramatic or aunt imaginative play can be used to encourage problem solving. When children play together, they have to decide who is playing what role. Around the preschool stage, they start planning and being more intentional about their play. They can work out turn taking, using an object to represent something totally unrelated and experiment with different roles and themes. Rosebud's favorite dramatic play theme is, doctor. I can't even count how many checkups I've had in the past year.

5. Let them experiment with a ball or marble run. Have different sized tubes. Change the tubes around with different lengths and curved tunnels. They can see how the marbles move depending on how the run is set up. One boy I was working with in the pre-k class was fixing his marble run. He was telling me how the pipe needed to be welded because there was a crack, so he took it apart and rebuilt it. He built his marble run quite tall and another boy was working on a way to reach the top of the marble run.

Girl looking at flower through magnifying glass.

These skills can be modeled and reinforced at any time. Children have a curiosity and drive to learn. Experimenting comes naturally to them and it definitely should be encouraged. You never know what discoveries they will make. For more great ideas and insight on this topic, click here.

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Activities, Art, Parenting, Uncategorized

Shell Painting

Here’s another simple painting activity. We’ve been doing some ocean themed activities lately so I thought we’d try stamping with shells. The shells didn’t stamp on the paper as expected. You have to move the shell to get the full stamp, but Rosebud had fun with this. she loves painting of any kind.

Three shells sitting in a bowl of paint next to a piece of paper.What you need:

Paints,

Paper,

Shells.

Directions:

There are no directions except to see what you can create. Use different colors. Use different types of shells. You could also keep the colors totally separated and make neat patterns.

Rosebud’s shell painting.

My only suggestion is to have plenty of paint. Enough to dip the entire half of the part of the shell you will be stamping.

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Activities, Art, Parenting

To Bead or Not To Bead

It's a rainy day here, so we are stuck inside. I've been trying to find things to do to keep Rosebud occupied. First, Rosebud helped me make breakfast. She loves to mix badder whenever I bake, but today I made French toast. She loves to beat the eggs and then mix it with the milk and sugar. I always have to tare her away from this and I have to explain that it's time to cook and cooking on the stove is hot.

Sticker collage.After breakfast, we decided to make another sticker collage. This time with fish and flowers. Less than ten minutes later, I was scrambling again to find something to do.

Beads and shells.Rosebud loves to go through my drawer of craft supplies which mostly consists of beads, shells and other jewelry making items. I had some string and larger beads so I thought, why not try some beading. It's a great fine motor activity and Rosebud loves to wear necklaces. I cut the string and put a little piece of tape on the end. We often do that for the kids at work to make it easier to pull the string through the beads. However, when we started beading, the tape was making the string too big to pull through the beads.

The few beads we put on the wire.I had to go to plan B. I was hesitant to use the wire, but I was supervising her and knew it would be easier to get the beads on. I showed her how to string the beads which she was having trouble with. I expected this, as it was her first time. I decided that I'd put the beads on for her, but she had to pick out her beads and hand them to me. She picked out a couple of beads and then lost her train of thought. When I'd ask her which bead she wanted next, she'd say, "making a necklace." Then just scattered the beads around.

Small cup of macaroni with the string above it.

This was turning out to be a failure so it was time for a plan C. After a couple of good loud screams and plenty of tears, I packed up the beads and returned to the kitchen with the original piece of string. I thought we could try macaroni. Rosebud was excited about this, but the first thing she did was put a piece of raw macaroni in her mouth. I immediately picked everything up and tried to explain why we don't eat uncooked macaroni. We tried again and of course, the macaroni I have is too small to get the string through. There were more tears until she realized that she wanted to eat lunch.

A toddler wearing beads and putting a necklace on her bear.What did I learn?

1. Have the appropriate materials on hand.

2. Remember how young she actually is.

3. Plan better for rainy days.

4. It's not a failure, it's practice. She was introduced to a new activity and we'll both do better next time.

5. The answer to today's question, is not to bead.
For Practice:

For jewelry making:



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Activities, Art

It’s About the Process, Not the Product

Here is another simple painting activity. All you need are some paints, paper and pinecones. Rosebud and I went over to the playground yesterday where she found a pinecone. I immediately thought we could use it for a painting activity.

We were trying to stamp with the pinecone because using it like a brush was too hard on the paper. As the title says, the process is more important than the product with this activity. My only suggestion would be to have more paints and more pinecones. I would put each color of paint in a container large enough to dip the entire pinecone so it could be stamped or rolled across the paper. I’d also suggest having one pinecone for each color of paint. I didn’t think of this until we had already gotten started.

Different colored paints with a pinecone

Eventually I had to just dump the paints on the paper because trying to dip the pinecone wasn’t working. I had little containers of paint from the dollar store. Although this didn’t work as expected, I’m interested in trying to paint with other natural items to see what we come up with.

Pinecone painting creation

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Activities, Art, Parenting

Flower Painting

Yesterday Rosebud and I did another simple painting activity. I set out several colors of paint in a bowl. A flower fell off one of my plants and recently we painted with flowers in my preschool class so I wanted to do the same with Rosebud.

I grabbed the paint, paper and the flower and headed outside. We sat at Rosebud’s picnic table and painted. That was after Rosebud smelled the flower and decided it smelled good. After a few minutes, the flower started to fall apart so we stamped with the petals instead of using the flower like a paintbrush.

I want to try this with different flowers and other natural items throughout the summer. This is how her picture came out. We are waiting for the next flower to fall so we can work on the next master piece.

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Activities, Parenting, Toddlers, Uncategorized

Our Favorite Fun Outdoor Activities for Toddlers

I am so happy that we’ve been able to spend so much time outside these past couple of weeks. This past winter felt like it would never end. Rosebud loves being outside. She loves all the sights and sounds, going for walks and exploring nature. She loves pointing out birds, bugs, flowers and anything else she sees. I had a huge headache today, but after I got home from work, we spent some time outside and I noticed that my headache went away. I was able to just enjoy being outside and watching Rosebud play in the water table.

Water table filled with toys

The Water Table

Playing in water has to be her absolute favorite activity outside. She is a big fan of anything with water. She could be swimming in the pool, playing in the water table, jumping in a puddle or trying to take the hose while we water the plants. I’ve put a bunch of toys in the water table to keep her interested. As it suddenly has gotten hot, splashing in the water table is a good way to cool off. There is a boat, different sized rubber ducks, round and heart shaped stacking cups and plastic fish. She loves to give the duckies rides on the parts of the water table that move.

The Trampoline

I’ve wanted to by Rosebud a climber for a while because we don’t have much for her to climb on, but since the good ones are expensive, I settled for a trampoline. She loves to jump and it’s good exercise. We’ve had this one set up for a few days and she loves it so far. She likes going in and out of the enclosure, but she likes jumping on it as well. The only down side is it doesn’t have a handle for her to hold while she jumps so it will take her longer to get the hang of it, but it should last her a couple of years. I love trampolines because they help the kids get their energy out. the one I originally bought is no longer available, but here is the closest I could find.

Favorite Fun Outdoor Activities for Toddlers Bubbles pin

Bubbles

Bubbles is another of Rosebud’s favorites. It’s especially fun for her on a windy day when she can chase the bubbles around the yard. Bubbles are great because they are simple, inexpensive and entertaining for the little ones.

Boy kicking soccer ball

Ball Games

Rosebud’s new obsession is soccer. Well, her version of soccer which is chasing the ball around and occasionally kicking it or just carrying the ball. I got her a soccer ball because she got so excited whenever she’d see one in someone else’s yard or at the store. She loves any kind of ball though. She also has one of those hop along balls with the handle. She hasn’t mastered the skill of sitting on it and bouncing, but she enjoys kicking it and spinning it around. Lately she’s been interested in games with us. She’ll have us stand around and kick the ball back and forth. Yesterday she told me, “fetch” after she threw the ball. She uses her imagination and makes up games as we go along and of course she always wins.

Favorite Fun Outdoor Activities for Toddlers Sand pinSand Play

I wrote about sand play in this Post so I will only mention it briefly. I had to include it though because most of Rosebud’s time outside is spent playing in the sand. She’s the happiest when she is making a mess. She could be in the sand box dumping buckets of sand, putting sand in her wagon or sitting in the middle of a sand pile in the yard. Over the past few weeks, we have worked on making sand castles, looking for treasures in the sand and even writing letters and making shapes. We are looking forward to many more outside adventures this summer.

What are your favorite outdoor activities? Tell me in the comments.

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Activities, Memories, Motherhood, Parenting

5 Reasons To Cook With Kids

5 Reasons to Cook With Kids pancakes pin.
I’ve been cooking with Rosebud since she could sit in her high chair. Back then she wasn’t directly involved with the cooking, but she sat in the kitchen observing everything I was doing. I put spoons, measuring cups, a mixing bowl and pretend food on her tray which kept her occupied as I chopped vegetables, mixed cake badder or mashed potatoes. I’d show her the foods and let her sample them as she got older. I remember times when I’d read a recipe, tell her the ingredients we needed to add and she’d repeat after me. Now that she’s a toddler, she’s an active participant. She counts and takes out the eggs, mixes cookie dough or fills the measuring cups and spoons to scoop and pour the ingredients. Her favorite saying these days is, “I try it.” She wants to do and try everything!

1. Cooking builds vocabulary

Kids can learn names of foods, spices and and the equipment and utensils we use to cook with. They can learn opposites. Hot and cold, wet and dry etc. You can talk about foods being sour, sweet, salty or bitter. You can talk about colors, shapes and textures of the food. If your child is older, reading the recipe can help build vocabulary as well. Yesterday as we were mixing together some sugar, butter and eggs for cookie dough, Rosebud told me, we need to hatch these eggs. At first I didn’t know what she was talking about, but then it hit me that to her cracking the eggs is hatching them.

2. Cooking teaches math and science

Kids can learn about temperature. Hot vs. cold. What happens when ingredients warm up, boil or are frozen? They can learn about measurement by using measuring cups and spoons. They can learn about consistency. What happens if we add water or flour? They can learn about plants and where food comes from. What is inside an apple or a pepper? The possibilities for teaching concepts and experiments in the kitchen are endless.


3. Trying new things

When kids help make choices about their food, they are more likely to try new things. In the preschool class where I work, we participate in this program where a nutritionist comes in to teach the children about healthy eating and where food comes from. There is a garden where she takes them to get vegetables and it is surprising how many new vegetables they have tried because they have picked the vegetables themselves. We’ve also done a bit of baking in preschool. The kids help add ingredients, mix badder and once we even allowed them to help us with cutting up fruits for fruit salad. This makes them so excited about afternoon snack. They can’t wait to try what they’ve made and share it with their families. Rosebud loves to try bites of vegetables or fruits when I chop them up for salads. I also ask her which fruits and vegetables she wants when we are grocery shopping. She loves seeing the food and pointing out what she wants. I’ve never seen another kid get so excited about broccoli.

Food collage

4. It’s healthier

When you are making a home cooked meal, you know every ingredient that is in your food. This is obviously healthier than a frozen or fast food meal. Even if you are baking treats, that is healthier than the prepackaged snacks. Not to mention trying to decode the nutrition labels. For many families there is little time to prepare a meal so frozen may be the way to go on nights when you have to be in several places at once or do a million things. Nothing beats the convenience of prepared meals. However, I try to avoid those meals when I can especially for Rosebud because I like knowing what is in her food. I also want her to like the taste of foods that don’t come in a can or box. She enjoys fresh fruits, veggies and home cooked food.


5. Cooking can be together time

I like when Rosebud stays in the kitchen with me while I cook. If she’s helping me, she’s learning about food and having fun. We can spend the time talking or sometimes she will pretend to cook with her play foods or sit in her chair with crayons and a notepad. I don’t get to spend much time with Rosebud on week nights so I try to find ways to include her in what I’m doing. On other nights, she prefers to have screen time while I make dinner and wash dishes. It’s not the greatest option, but sometimes it’s the only way to get things done. I try to maintain a balance and create ways to spend time together even when I have endless chores to do. I find that cooking usually interests kids and great memories can be made from it. I have happy memories of baking with my grandmother when I was little and hopefully one day Rosebud will remember cooking with me.

5 Reasons to Cook With Kids Chef baby pin.

Do you like cooking with your kids? What are your favorite kid friendly recipes? Tell me in the comments.

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Activities, Art

Rolling Pin Painting

Here is another simple painting activity you can do with toddlers.

All you do is put a couple globs of paint on a piece of paper and fold it in half. You can use two or more colors and see how they mix or you can stick with one. Then have your child role the rolling pin back and forth over the paper. Open the paper and see the surprise painting. It’s that simple. Rosebud could’ve done more, but we only did two and each of them came out totally different.

The butterflyJust a design

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Activities, Education, Parenting

Five Benefits of Playing in the Sand

I think I can officially say spring has finally come here in the northeast and I’m so excited that we’ve been able to spend plenty of time outside. Just last week, I bought some new sand for Rosebud and refilled the sand box. I threw in some buckets, shovels and molds. It keeps her busy for a while. When I was a kid, I spent hours in the sand box so it’s no surprise that she likes it as well. There are so many reasons to encourage kids to play with sand. Here are five of them.

5 Benefits of playing in the sand pin

1. It helps with fine motor skills.

Scooping, pouring, sifting and sculpting the sand helps build strength and is practice for skills they will need later. Not to mention scooping, pouring and measuring can be connected with math concepts.

2. They can be creative.


Sand can go with almost any theme. You can use it for a beach theme with shells, toy fish and rocks. You can use it for an animal theme with logs, toy animals and other natural items. Sand goes with cars and trucks, in an outside kitchen and even in art. Yesterday, Rosebud was pretending to serve ice cream one minute, building a sand castle the next and then decided to look for rocks and other treasures.

3. It’s a sensory experience.

One of the things I hear a lot when people talk about going to the beach is their feet on the sand. It’s part of being connected with nature. I think that urge for kids is even stronger. I work with a lot of kids with special needs. I’m not a big fan of that term, but I’ll use it here to keep things simple. Many of these children find playing in the sand calming. Some children that cannot stay put for even two minutes will stay at the sand tray or sit in the sand box for 20 minutes plus. They are able to immerse themselves into the activity because it is open ended. There are no expectations for what is right or wrong. They can experiment as they wish.

4. It’s scientific.

Sand can be experimented with. It doesn’t always remain in the same state. Rosebud discovered that her sand in the sand box is dry because we keep it covered at night. The sand is fine. It slips through your hands and you can’t sculpt with it. However, we also have this wagon that is full of last years sand that was very wet. It has dried out quite a bit, but it is still wet enough to sculpt with. Rosebud and I were having fun seeing what we could make. We filled buckets and discovered that the sand could be dumped out and keep it’s shape. We could build sand castles that would stay together. We didn’t need a mold. This sand was heavier and stickier. Experimenting and investigating the results is what our little scientists do every day.

5 Benefits of Playing in the Sand pin

5. It’s fun.

Playing in the dirt is fun. Being in nature is fun. Making a huge mess is fun and the best part is most of it stays outside so I don’t have to clean it up. Watching Rosebud enjoy herself was the most fun for me. I think making a mess and seeing what she can do with the sand is the most fun for her. Why not see what happens when we fling sand outside of the sand box? Why not fill the wheelbarrow and dump it in other parts of the yard? Never mind that I just refilled it. Why not try dumping the water bottle in the sand box and see what happens? I drew the line at flinging the sand and dumping the water, but the important thing is spending quality time together. That’s the best thing about our outside time. We are not distracted by the normal things that distract us inside. Do your kids like playing in the sand? Let me know in the comments.

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Activities, Art, Education, Parenting

Bubblewrap Painting

Here’s another simple painting activity. I had Rosebud paint the bubblewrap.

Then we put the paper over it to get the prints. Rosebud didn’t understand and just wanted to paint on the paper, but here’s what we ended up with.

This bubblewrap has different shaped bubbles than what you usually see which is why I wanted to use it. I’ll be ordering some new finger paints in different colors so we will probably try this activity again later.

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