Inside The Little House

We had been looking around a toy shop when Tiny happily disappeared into a little house that had a small sink in it. She got busy and spent a long time playing with the taps and fiddling with things. She loves being in the kitchen and after seeing this I have ordered her a little sink for our kitchen so there is something Tiny height for her. I'm excited and looking forward to it arriving!
I'm also thinking about how to create a simple, little playhouse for her in our home. A friend suggested if I made one (like in this photo) I could add velcro patches on the outside wall and then when the seasons change I could stick on seasonal plants and animals. Mmmmm.....it has got me wondering.

Lavender Oil And Sleeping

A friend of ours was telling us about a product they had been using to help their toddler sleep better at night. However when I looked it up it was very expensive and guessing the main ingredient was lavender oil I thought I would try just using that. So I've been vaporising lavender oil in the bedroom now for a week and am pleasantly surprised to find it is having an effect -Tiny is waking a bit less and sleeping better. I am very happy about this but more so that I'm also sleeping better too!

Climbing

Tiny enjoys climbing the stairs and loves to climb slides so when I saw this, it felt appropriate to let her have a go. She got half way up which was a fine effort!

Sunshine And Cornflour

This morning Tiny kept heading for the door like a puppy desperate to be outside so we abandoned what we were doing inside. She loved playing with cornflour in the sunshine!

Stuck To Her Favourite Appliance

At the toy shop a friend kindly bought Tiny a box of wooden biscuits. We had seen some stuck to a child's baking tray and so using velcro I made her a similar toy at home. She didn't engage with it and headed for her favourite appliance - the dishwasher! Tiny loves the dishwasher and is fascinated by it. And so I thought I'd try sticking the biscuits to it and immediately she engaged with pulling them off! I think she loves the low humming and vibration of the dishwasher and this made the play all the better for her.  Once she had pulled the gingerbread man off she spent ages chatting with him. Not sure what about but it sounded serious!

Pulling Apart

Tiny enjoyed finding a toy in a toy shop today that had pieces that you could pull apart. The only downside were that the pieces were a bit too big for her tiny hands. On returning home I found some velcro and wondered what I could use to make a pull apart toy for her. I remembered I had a wooden pile up toy and discovered the pieces were the perfect size for her little hands. Using the velcro I stuck two together and filled a basket of them for her. She enjoyed pulling them apart and played with them over and over again. 

Making Connections

We've been enjoying activities at the moment that make connections. Whether that is with books and toys or going to a real life situation that we've been reading about in a book. Tiny loved visiting a farm yesterday especially taking a tractor ride and hearing the real 'brmmmm brmmm brmm!'

Hair Rollers and Felt

With Tiny now being more confident on her feet this activity seemed perfect to encourage her to stand. I taped some felt to the wall and added the hair rollers. She enjoys pulling them off and maybe in a month or two she may enjoy throwing them onto the felt. 

What's In The Box?

Tiny likes exploring so to add to her investigations I often put a brightly coloured box in her crawl path. As she heads towards it I ask, "What's in the box?"

After she investigates we play together, exploring the item and find ways to use it. In this case it was a piece of scrap material with holes in it and a little lion finger puppet. Mr Lion popped his head through the hole then Tiny threaded him through. 

Sensory Bottles

I made these a while ago for Tiny when she was about 8 months old so I could distract her when she got her nappy changed. Now she is 1 year old she is picking them up to look at them but I have definitely made the mistake of making them in too big a bottle. I can tell as she only holds them for a short while, her interest is there but she drops them because they're too heavy. They are fun to make so I'm going to start again but use smaller bottles. Add sequins, pom poms, Lego pieces then add half water and half glycerine. The glycerine makes the pieces fall through the water slower. And Abracadabra!

Pots And Pans

When Tiny's great aunt visited over the weekend we got talking about children's toys.
She said, "Well in my day we didn't bother with any of that; we just played with pots and pans. The wee one would be given a wooden spoon and they'd just bang them."
So that's what we did today and Tiny loved it. And so did I! I joined in with some chopstick drumsticks.

Joy!

Yesterday I walked into a learning centre and it was row upon row of brightly coloured plastic, shaped into some sort of toy, usually with flashing lights or an electronic voice. I left feeling uninspired and bored. 

I had been looking for a Grimm's Rainbow having come across one at a playgroup and seeing the potential for lots of fun, decided to buy one for Tiny. My search took me online and I was overjoyed to discover this online shop - Myriad Toys. I ordered the rainbow along with their catalogue and having flicked through it today I feel excited and happy to have found such a place. It is full of thoughtful and exciting resources for play and not a plastic, flashing toy with only one purpose in sight. Joy!

Fabric Basket

In response to her new interest - fabric; I have begun to leave out her little basket containing various textiles for her to explore. It provides an opportunity for her to explore button poppers, elastic and stretchiness of fabric. She loves it!
I change it daily so it keeps her interest.

Tiny's Recycling Bag

One of Tiny's favourite places to head for had been the recycling bag in the corner of the kitchen. So we quickly found a clean bag and placed appropriate recycling items in it for her to sort through. Since the clothes drawer however card, plastics and paper have lost their appeal as she now likes cloth that she can squidge between her fingers. 

Feet And Hands

Been thinking about babies feet and hands some more and how we encourage situations for hands to grasp, flex and reach. We also don't worry about them being uncovered. However with feet they get covered, restricted and their exploration inhibited. As if in synch with my thoughts Tiny's socks fell off in the car seat. Before she fell asleep she stared out of the window listening to The Rolling Stones holding her foot in her hand. Half an hour later, still asleep, she was still holding her foot in her hand. I'd not seen her do this before but then she would always have socks on or a babygro covering her feet. I think she found comfort in her own skin-to-skin contact and I imagine this would have been the case in the womb.

The Clothes Drawer

Yesterday I took Tiny to a playgroup where there was a slide. She wanted to climb up it so I removed her babygro so she could grip  the wood with her feet. Afterwards when I tried to put the babygro back on her she grabbed it off me and began to study it in detail. She became engrossed in the button poppers and stitching. Later that evening she began to play with a brightly coloured towel. So today was no surprise that while I was sorting her clothes she began to look at them but also added her favourite activity at the moment - pulling things out. She loved it so much that she climbed in and began sorting through her clothes! 

Baby Feet And Engagement With The World

There is something about baby feet that reminds me of sea anenomes. You only have to touch them and they move bending forwards and backwards like this little anenome in the video.
https://youtu.be/-6lMD9h_ix4

Now Tiny is beginning to cruise I have played with the idea of getting her little shoes. However when I have put a pair on her feet it feels like I'm covering a part of her body that wants to flex, grasp and feel the world beneath and around her. Even when coming to stand there is flexing to aid herself lifting up and covering her feet would make it considerably more difficult for her. Feedback from the feet creates a pleasure in feeling secure. I have experienced it myself when crossing a tree that had fallen over a river. I would never have crossed it in anything but my bare feet as I needed to feel secure that I wasn't going to fall in. By putting shoes on Tiny I sense I would be removing some of her growing confidence and security with her engagement in the world. This has meant that hoovering and mopping have become a frequent occurence to ensure the floors are clean and safe. So, lovely little sea anenomes, explore freely!

Collander And Pipecleaners

Tiny still likes to pull things out of bags so by threading pipe cleaners into the collander it encouraged her to pull them out of the holes. I added some wooden pegs to help her practice grasping objects. She enjoyed doing this and turned the collander after a short time. 

Less Is More

I have discovered that with Tiny, having less toys out means she engages more with the toys present. I used to store her toys in canvas cube boxes that fitted in this shelving unit. This was for my convenience as it meant I could quickly tidy away at the end of a day. However, I didn't feel like it was working for Tiny so I stored the cubes away with most of her toys and chose a selection to display. I placed the heavier items and books on the bottom row. This new arrangement has improved independent play for Tiny as she crawls over and often chooses to stand and pull things out, then play with them.
To enable her to see more, I placed mirrored tiles on the wall and she now  sometimes happily babbles to her reflection.

When she begins to tire of what's out, I choose a different selection of toys/books which freshens things up again.

A Thoughtful Gift

Tiny received this as a first birthday gift from my friend. We had been to visit her at her flat and she took notice with what Tiny had enjoyed playing with. A fortnight later on Tiny's birthday she had filled this little basket with the items and gave it to her for her birthday. It was a winner with Tiny and I loved it because of the thought that went behind it and nothing new was purchased.

Wooden Blocks

Wooden blocks are lovely to play with and I found these in a charity shop. As Tiny is only one I thought I would brighten them up by adding Washi paper to them after seeing it done on The Imagination Tree. At a later time maybe we can sort them into colour groups. I am curious to see if she will play with them any longer because of the bright colours. 

Incy Wincy Spider

I made Incy Wincy spider from 4 pipe cleaners tied in 3 or 4 knots in the middle then attached him by string to a kitchen towel tube. She would watch Incy being pulled upwards into the tube, then she would take the tube and peer down inside it with curiosity, amazed that Incy was inside the tube! This activity has delighted her for a few days now. At first she would only look down the tube but now she has started to stick her hand down it.

Adding a few props as I sing to her really makes her chuckle!

The Light Box

I found a storage box with a flat lid, stuck some tracing paper on the inside of the lid and placed fairy lights inside. The box lid shut without needing to place a hole for the wire to come out. Using sheets of cut cellophane and some of Tiny's toys she happily played looking at the colours. She then climbed on top of the box and looked at things from there while I hurriedly placed cushions around the box. 

Coming Down The Stairs

Spending time coming down the stairs has been worthwhile. I did wonder how she would do it. Would she go down facing inwards or outwards? She has decided on the latter. We began by going side by side so I could catch her if I needed too. At first she bumped down but now two weeks later she bum shuffles to the edge of the top of the stairs and prepares herself. She then edges her back down the vertical edge of the stair and slowly slides down to the next step. This has definitely strengthened her legs which led to her climbing the slide earlier this week on her first birthday. I am of course always ready to catch Tiny but do give her the space she needs, to feel in control of herself. 

Wallets

Today she began to play with my wallet and worked out how to open it. I quickly took out anything I needed kept safe. She then spent time enjoying pulling out cards and receipts.

Slide

I'm always finding ways to let her exercise and develop her muscles. It was quiet today at the soft play area and so she got a chance to climb up the slide. She did this in her bare feet so she could grip and climb up and over the bump. It took two adults to be there with her; one at the top and one at the bottom of the slide. She managed it first go! Climbing the stairs every day has paid off.

Mobile

Tiny cried having her nappy changed until I made her this mobile and placed it above her changing mat. The first time she saw it she pointed up at it and even now when I place her down the first thing she does is look up at it. The CDs catch light and make colourful rainbows while the little pom poms and felt make it colourful. I then cut out and painted some hummingbirds to add to it. Gone are tears - hello colour and light! 

Slime

I made some slime: 

120ml of baby shampoo and 75g of cornflour mixed together. 

I dropped in some blue food colouring for her to swirl about in the slime. She messed with this a little but not that much so I gave her tray of lukewarm water. This was much more engaging! I have a feeling she may enjoy messing with slime when she's a bit older. Maybe she didn't enjoy it because it was a processed product?

The Water Wipes

Tiny really enjoys unpacking and sorting through objects so I let her play with this box of wipes. After a while she decided to climb in which was great balance practice!