Oh my goodness! It’s time for our very first Toddler Play Series blog post! This month I’m sharing all the fun we’ve gotten up to with Audrey during her first month of toddlerhood. We’ve enjoyed some mess-free painting, posting activities and some more pouring and transferring this month!
Before we get started, I wanted to take a moment to remind you that you are your toddler’s best and most interesting play thing! You don’t need all the expensive toys or fancy play set ups! Just taking the time to slow down and enjoy the day with your little learner will have the biggest impact!
We have a fancy Buddah Board* that my mum ordered for Elliot’s first birthday. It’s basically a mess-free water painting board designed for mindfulness! The kids absolutely love it but only one child can use it at a time. I stumbled across someone on Instagram who was using Chinese Calligraphy Mats from eBay and I thought they’d be perfect for the kids so I ordered a roll. When it arrived, I used blu-tac to stick it to the wall and invited Audrey to explore and of course the big kids wanted to join in on the fun too!
The water basically evaporates from the mat after time leaving a blank canvas for the kids to use over and over again. it’s nowhere near as good quality as the original Buddah Board* but it’s definitely a great alternative and is perfect for encouraging those big arm movements, crossing the mid-line and coordination skills.
Audrey has been loving posting things this month! She enjoys manipulating objects to fit in different spaces and holes – it’s quite the challenge sometimes and it’s so amazing watching her twist and turn things to make them fit!
This month I cut some little slits in an egg carton and showed her how to post some paddle pop sticks into the holes. This was a tricky one for her at first but with Elliot right there to help her, she was able to work it out! She spent a good portion of this month carrying her paddle pop sticks around the house haha! This was a great activity to work on her fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination!
This month we’ve also been enjoying some scooping and pouring. I found some small scoops at the dollar shop perfect for her little hands. I just added some corn kernels, the scoop and some bowls to a tray ready for her to explore!
It was so sweet watching her try to manipulate the scoop to actually scoop up some corn kernels. She had the proudest little face when she finally managed to keep some in the scoop! I think this one would work especially well with some spoons that had a lip to stop the corn from falling off so easily but she seemed to enjoy the challenge!
As you can see, playtime doesn’t have to be fancy. In fact, you probably have a lot of things around the house already that will capture the attention of your little learner! Simple sensory tubs with a pantry staple base are one of my absolute favourites. You can use dry pasta, rice, split peas – just about anything from the dried soup aisle will work!
I hope you’ve found some simple play ideas to inspire playtime with your baby this month! If you’d like some more simple play ideas, I’d love for you to join my email list! At the beginning of every month, I sent out a free play prompt planner with ideas for babies, toddlers and preschoolers.
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