The never ending cycle of finding an activity for a baby and a child…
When my first born was around 6 months old I remember our pediatrician telling us to do, “an activity” every day with her in a Tony Soprano type voice. God, I seriously love our girls’ pediatrician office. I mean they are awesome. Ok, back on track, what the heck do they mean by an activity?! I was still learning the ropes and now I felt the need to come up with all these “activities”. Like it wasn’t enough that I read to my baby and she watched me do dishes?! I think that moment truly started my need to plan for my child(ren).
The wheels began to turn and I would come up with great sensory activities that were so easy like putting Pom poms in a jar. I mean, it really is that easy!
The problem that has turned up this time around is now I have a 1 year old and a 6 year old. That’s like, wayyyyy different. Again, my type A personality began obsessing over these grand ideas when I realized that the 6 year old really likes the same stuff….getting messy and having fun.
So, how do you, the parent not cry during these activities while you children destroy everything you work so hard on every day to keep sort of clean?! 1) Don’t freak out if it doesn’t go as planned. 2) Be nice to yourself. 3) Be ok with children making a mess. To help with this I like to have a vinyl table cloth that I put down on the floor. It’s great for things like painting, water play, or moon sand. I also like to have some kind of container or tray to put the activity in.
For this sensory adventure, I used two plastic bins, warm water in the large container, cold ice water with ice cubes in the small container. I used food coloring to make two colors that when stacked would make a third (yellow + red = orange). The last part is just common kitchen items like spoons, measuring cups, and any other fun objects you think your kids would enjoy.
The girls had an awesome time. It took up a good 30 minutes of play. It started off very nice but I will say it turned in to a water park so I am very glad I had something down. Towels are a great idea too! Eventually, my older one wanted to add some of her favorite dolls which was just fine with me since it helped keep the activity going.
One last piece of advice…play with your kids too. Enjoy!
Family STEAM Lab 