Love Potions: Toddler Water Play

Our toddler already has me head over heels for him! He created his own love potions for Valentine's Day sensory toddler water play.

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Matching, Sorting, and Comparing Size with Trains

If we have one main educational philosophy here at Still Playing School it is that you can use your child's interests to plan play based activities while introducing academic concepts. This early math lesson evolved naturally from our toddler's interest in Thomas the train!

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Four Tips for Toddler Proofing Your Christmas Tree

I'll admit that I was a bit nervous about how D would do with our Christmas tree this year.  He just turned one so he's walking and exploring everything.  So far, we've had great success with the tree and toddler co-existing!  Here are four tips for your mobile little one to interact with the tree this holiday season:

1.  Put the tree up early and in steps

We put the tree up one day, put the lights on the next, then waited several days to do the ornaments.  This allowed D to get used to each part individually.  It's a big shock for a baby if you put a sparkly, ornament covered tree in the room one day and expect him or her to understand not to touch it!

2.  Put the baby safe ornaments at the bottom of the tree

We started this ornament arrangement before we had kids because we have cats!  The plush and unbreakable decorations go on the reachable branches at the bottom of the tree.  The more delicate and sentimental ones (such as the ones in memory of D's sister) go where they are out of reach closer to the top.

This worked out really well this year because E wanted to help hang the ornaments.  I gave her the sturdy kid safe ones to hang where she could reach from her height as we hung the breakable ones up higher!

3.  Teach your toddler the One Finger Touch

As soon as my babies are reaching for things, I encourage them to touch with one finger instead of a grab. This compromise allows them to explore their world in a natural way without ripping and tearing down ornaments on the tree (or name labels on the mailboxes at E's preschool or groceries in the store or papers on our fridge, etc.)  Of course this takes practice, praise, and encouragement!

4. Provide decorations babies can manipulate for distraction

We have a few holiday themed stuffed animals that I put out with the rest of the decorations that I can steer D back to playing with if he is getting into other decor that isn't for play.  Our Christmas sensory bin has new textures that are safe for him to explore.  Here are 10 more toddler holiday activities to keep them busy!

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Alphabet Sensory Bin

This alphabet sensory bin is a huge favorite of both my preschooler and toddler! It solely contains various letter manipulatives and provided endless literacy opportunities for matching, comparing, and sorting letters.

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Tips for Tantrums: Why Parents Need a Hand Gesture

Please tell me I'm not alone in dealing with stressful, embarrassing tantrums and physical fits from my toddler in public. After talking to friends I've realized how much one simple hand signal or gesture might help us all!

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Light Table Play on the Prism Light Center by Alex Toys

We love light table play! The soothing, sensory platform for learning activities is at the center of all the educational invitations we create for our preschooler and toddler. We have recently fallen in love with the Prism Light Center by ALEX TOYS so we are thrilled to share why we recommend it for your child's wishlist for the upcoming holiday season.

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Fruit Salsa Recipe for Kids

One food that I know our kids will eat endlessly when it's set in front of them is all types of fruit! Fruit salsa is great as a dessert or snack. It's perfect in the heat of the summer when you don't want to heat anything and the fruit is all in season but we love it any time of year. The recipe is super simple, too!

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Marshmallow Sensory Bin

After our invitation to build with marshmallows we dumped all the different types and sizes of marshmallows into a bin for sensory exploration! We created a marshmallow sensory bin for our preschooler and toddler.

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Alphabet City Sorting Center Review

As an Early Childhood Teacher turned Homeschooling Mom I love to create my own educational activities for my kids but we also love to learn with the very best literacy toys on the market. You can't beat the convenience, durability, and fun of Excellerations Alphabet City Sorting Center!

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10 Ways to Play with IncredibleFoam

We had the opportunity to review Discount School Supply's IncredibleFoam Dough by Colorations. We have played with it every single day since we've received it and we are still finding new ways to play and explore with this unique sensory dough! 

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Rain Walk with Kids - From E to D Version 2.0 Series

In the summer of 2011 I took 1 1/2 year old toddler E on a rain walk to explore water on a warm day. Now that she is 4 1/2 and our youngest is 1 1/2 it was time to revisit this nature provided sensory experience!

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Fine Motor Math Game with Bread Ties

We found the perfect way to incorporate math with fine motor skills! Inspired by our spelling with bread ties activity we created a dice game which is adaptable so both our toddler and preschooler can play together, too. 

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Fine Motor Fun with Water Beads

Water beads are irresistible! For this invitation to play we provided lots of ways to explore the water beads that involved using fine motor skills.

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Pete the Cat Inspired Reading and Gross Motor Game

We loved retelling Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin with our literacy and gross motor activity! This book is just so catchy that kids want to read it again and again so we acted it out.

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Fine Motor Rainbow Ball Game

We love playful ways for our preschoolers to learn colors! Scarves in a ball create an irresistible fine motor game for kids! We made it even more interesting by adding all the colors of the rainbow into our play.

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Soothing Scented Goodnight Moon Inspired Sensory Play

It's time for another Virtual Book Club for Kids activity! The author this month is Margaret Wise Brown. We chose to play with a soothing lavender scented sensory bin to get kids ready for nap or bedtime as we read Goodnight Moon!

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Paper Roll Acorns

Our toilet paper roll stamped acorns were the perfect fine motor fall craft for both my preschooler and toddler! 

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Math with KORXX: Sorting Cork Blocks by Attributes

We've loved KORXX blocks since we first played with the natural cork toys! These sensory toys are durable, quiet, inspiring, and aesthetically pleasing! We've told you how they are different than typical cork. Now we're back to share a whole series of posts about how to play and learn with KORXX!

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Twelve Snails to One Lizard Measurement Activities for Kids

Measurement can be a tricky concept to introduce to kids. Present new material in a fun and relevant way with literature!

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Activities for Kids to Play with Real Snow Inside and Outside

Do your kids love to play outside in the snow? It's a completely free sensory play material that no one can resist! We've collected the most creative ideas and activities for kids to explore the snow both inside and outdoors.

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