Clothespin hanging

It's snowing today. 

My toddler is stir crazy and I'll go crazy if I have to hear Caterina say "meow meow" one more time on Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. 

Sal likes to play with these plastic clothespins I bought for less than a dollar. I keep a few stashed in my diaper bag to keep him entertained during long restaurant waits and airplane rides. He usually pins them on our clothing and has fun removing them and replacing them elsewhere. 

I got them out to play with this morning and just as I did so, Carla started speaking the language of her people in an all out screamfest for food. The girl can eat, folks. Sal still isn't sure of her (mostly  only when I'm nursing now) so I was hesitant to have him climb all over me to put clothespins on my clothes with her in my lap. 

Instead I tied two lacing strings together and strung them between the legs of our coffee table. I gave him a can of pins and he went to town hanging them, removing them and replacing them. 

It's a great fine motor activity, quiet, and clean. Thought I'd share it with my fellow parents of toddlers because we all can use a few magic tricks ip our sleeve for those days when attention spans are short and energy is high. 

Pompom transfer activity

Yet another pompom activity. 

We have an overstock of pompoms around here. 

Among our favorite pompom activities are stringing pompoms on thread to make garlands for the holidays, pushing pompoms into an old Parmesan container and shaking them back out, stuffing a silicone ice tray with different sized pompoms and the ultimate favorite--throwing pompoms all over the living room. 

I saw the idea of using tongs to transfer pompoms into a small container on Pinterest and we gave it a go this morning. 

Thirty minutes later and he is still transferring pompoms, announcing them by color. 

Winning. 

Pom Pom stuffing

While in California, I stocked up on some artsy stuff to bring back to do projects with Sal. My sister in law left us some Halloween themed pompoms from Target and they were the first bag opened when we got home. 

I gave Sal the bag of Pom poms and a silicone baby food freezer tray and he went to town stuffing the different size Pom poms into the compartments. In the future, I plan to give him different tools for transfer (chopsticks, tongs, spoons) and work with him on sorting by size and colors.

So, if you're looking for an easy, quiet and cheap activity for your toddler-hit up Target's dollar bins or your local craft store for some Pom poms!

Qtips in a bottle

This activity seemed too easy (& clean) to be true, but we had the items on hand so we tried it. An empty Parmesan shaker with the large hole, and a travel pack of Qtips kept these little hands busy for over twenty minutes. 

This activity is small and easily portable for dinners out, Dr. appointments , car rides and I'm thinking it will make out airplane travel bag next month. 

Have any of you tried this or something similar? Please share!

Bean transfer activity

I ran across a picture of a friend's daughter transferring beans from one bowl to another with a spoon, and decided one hot humid August morning to give it a try in our household. Sal is a bit younger than the little girl, but not by far. We got out a couple bowls, a variety of "scooper" shapes and sizes, and sat on the kitchen floor. Without any instruction, Sal picked up the spoon, and started transferring beans from one bowl to the next.

Sure, beans ended up missing the bowl, followed by "uh oh", even when they were quite deliberately scattered on the floor, but we are lucky enough to have a kitchen that can be enclosed by two sliding glass doors. Really though, beans scattered on the floor aren't that messy.

In fact, Sal got our ayi's broom and dustpan and helped "sweep". 

This activity kept him busy in one way or another for over twenty minutes. Back and forth with the beans, then cleaning them up and starting all over again. 

It dawned in me that this is a Montessori activity, so I Pinterest searched more Montessori activities for the future and plan to try some. I haven't really subscribed to a particular teaching method for my son, but I guess if I am drawn to activities like this, that don't include tv, batteries or direct instruction, I may lean a bit towards the Montessori way.

I'm excited to try out some new activities especially since I'm already slowing down and looking for things to keep Sal busy within the confines of our home and limited supplies.