Homemade Toy: Baking Soda & Vinegar

This is an incredibly simple activity and great fun for kids of all ages. This was a quick, last-minute set up so it's very basic. Felix was tired and I needed to get dinner organised. He and Jonny did this one together. I took a few photos and left them to it.

I put a small box of baking soda in the bottom of an oven dish, you can use any type of dish you like and just use enough baking soda to line the bottom, it doesn't have to be too thick. I put a little vinegar in two ramekins; to one I added red food colouring, to the other I added blue food colouring.

We used a medicine syringe since that's what we had on hand. I've since bought a dropper so we can mix things up a little. Jonny showed Felix how to hold the syringe, making sure the tip was in the liquid, pull up the stopper to suck the liquid into the syringe and then squirt it onto the baking soda.

Felix was fascinated with figuring out how to use the syringe. It took a few goes to get the hang of sucking up the vinegar but he got the hang of squirting it out straight away (of course!). He enjoyed watching the vinegar squirt out and learned to aim at a dry area of the baking soda. Jonny showed him how to put the tip of the syringe into the baking soda and then squirt so it would bubble from underneath.

They talked about colours; white baking soda, red vinegar and blue vinegar. This naturally led to talking about purple once Felix used up the red and started adding blue. They talked about bubbles and fizzing, sucking and squirting.

But they also sat there in silence. Felix lost in concentration on his work and Jonny watching him and being there to support his learning, offering explanations or help when needed. I love seeing my boys like this.

Simple activities, like this one, are great for the evenings. It's an opportunity for Felix and Jonny to spend some quality time together after work and on those days when Felix is fractious, it gives him something with purpose to concentrate on, helping him work though whatever it is that's upsetting him.

Toddler Chores: Doing Laundry

Felix adores doing, all the better if doing involves helping either me or his Dad. His favourite phrase of all time is "I do" which often comes out as "IdoIdoIdoIdoIdoIdo" in his enthusiasm. Fantastic. I am going to jump on that, embrace it and milk it for all it's worth. Sure, if Felix helps me do chores, it's going to take twice as long. But if I plan for that in advance and allow that extra time I can teach him a new skill, have some lovely bonding time and make him happy all at once. How could I resist that.

Instead of doing everything for Felix and have him say "Oh, Mum thinks I'm not capable of doing that, I must not be able", I would rather set the bar (relatively) high for him, so he instead thinks "Oh, Mum who is amazing and knows everything there is to know in this world believes I can do it so I must be able to." There is an age old quote "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a toddler to do his own laundry and you can relax on the couch and eat truffles"... well, maybe that's not exactly how it goes but you get the idea!

I've mentioned before on this blog about my slight aversion to kids toys. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for kids having toys but I think that in many, many houses, the toy situation gets out of control. I've seen entire rooms just obliterated with an explosion of plastic. And 90% of those toys are completely pointless. Why on earth would I spend $200 on a toy kitchen when Felix can help me in the real kitchen? Why would I buy a magnetic food cutting toy when Felix can help me cut real food that we will then cook and eat?

Yes, we start small. Yes, we start slow. And yes, in the beginning, little gets accomplished. But Felix practices and in time, gets more and more accomplished. And in time, he needs less supervision. And eventually I will be able to entrust entire tasks to him without having to worry. That will be a sweet, sweet day for both of us.

One task we have been working on for a while is doing the laundry. Felix first showed interest because of the lights on the front of the machine and all he wanted to do was press them. So I explained to him what each button did, its name and how to turn the dial. He would press the buttons I would point to and be delighted. Then he moved on to emptying the machine and soon he was doing everything.

Now he can and does happily help me sort the laundry, puts it in the machine, measures and puts the powder in the correct drawer, closes the drawer and door, turns the dial but I direct him to which setting, adjusts the temperature and wash settings for the nappy washes and turns the machine on. Not to shabby for a just turned 2 year old. So many guys haven't acquired this skill by the time the move out of home!

I really enjoy spending this time with Felix, teaching him new things. It's so lovely to see the look of concentration as he takes it all in, when he stops himself from making a mistake and corrects it without my help and the look of pride when he's finished is heartmelting.

Homemade Toys: Glitter Goo Bag

This is another cheap, quick, and easy homemade toy.

The cast of characters: zip or snaplock bag, hair gel, glitter.
I later added green food colouring, not pictured.

Prepare bag.

Open pot of hair gel, try to ignore the desperate smell of teenage
boy hair and hope the likes never enter my house.

Scrape gel into your snaplock bag.

Add glitter, I use about half of a tiny pot.

Squish the gel and glitter to mix, spread the mixture out,
working from the bottom of the bag so you get rid of the air.
Close up the bag and preferably tape it too, just in case!

Have fun before your toddler wakes up from his nap.

Flattening out the bag.

Squishing the bag.

And there's the look of devilment, he's enjoying this.

While Felix did enjoy the Glitter Goo Bag for a time, it wasn't a hit. I think it will be better received in a few months when he is a bit more interested in drawing shapes etc. Right now, he has little interest in actually drawing with his finger, he prefers to just squish the bag.

I'm planning a few things when I pull this back out. One idea is to tape it to a window so the light shining through makes it easier to see the shapes drawn on the bag. Another idea is to just tape it to some white card for the same benefit.

Homemade Toys: Rice Sensory Bin

Felix turned two on 11 July and as part of his birthday present I made him a rice flavoured sensory bin. A sensory bin is a whole lot of fun. This rice version is our first foray into sensory bins and I'm definitely planning more.

I started with a 10kg bag of rice. I divided it evenly between
5 snaplock bags.

Next I added a bunch of food colouring. I used most of a bottle
of cheap colouring as I wanted strong colours.

Add enough white vinegar to spread the food colouring
without making the rice too wet. I used about 1/3 cup.

Expel most of the air from the bag, seal and mix it all up.

Leave it sit for about an hour so the colour can soak in.
I forgot to photograph the next bit but once the colour is soaked
in you should spread the rice out on trays to dry.

Once it's dry you can empty it into your chosen tub.  I picked
this one up at The Warehouse. It's an under bed storage tub.

So pretty and enticing. I recommend putting a mat down.
Even with the most careful child, rice will spill and it's easy
to empty the rice back in off the mat and hoover the rest up.

I organised some accessories for scooping and pouring.

Felix was quite tentative to begin. He didn't want to mix the colours.

He warmed up quickly and started to really enjoy it.

Dexter got in on the action. He was fascinated.

Lots and lots of pouring.

Felix really started to enjoy the texture of the rice.

He decided Dexter had the right idea and wanted to feel the
rice on his toes too.

He wasn't sure about it getting stuck between his toes.

But he loved sticking his feet in anyway.

Scooping the rice up with his feet.

He had a friend over later that day to join in the fun.

More friends and Grandparents joined in the fun on the weekend.

The Rice Sensory Bin was a huge hit with everyone. Felix played with it non-stop for over three hours on the first day which is phenomenal for a just turned two year old. Dexter at 6 months loved it, I love it and his Grandparents loved it too. There's just something so soothing about the sound of the rice being poured, the feel of it in your hands and the bright colours. It does what it says on the tin and just appeals to all the senses. Well, except smell maybe, the vinegar smell does linger somewhat!

We have had the sensory bin out regularly since then. Felix will bring the big mat to me when he wants to play with it. Since the initial novelty wore off we probably get a good hour of playtime before he wants to put it away. This is definitely the most expensive of our homemade toys since neither the rice nor the bin can be bought cheaply anywhere round here but it has been worth every penny.

Homemade Toy: Using Tongs

After an extended hiatus, due to an unfortunate meeting between my laptop and a cup of tea, I'm back! I have a beautiful new iMac to blog from and I am head over heels in love.

We're all about cheap and cheerful toys in this household. We don't have the space or inclination to buy a whole bunch of stuff. We strongly dislike plastic & battery operated toys and a lot of wooden toys are just out of our price range. So I focus on making toys when and where possible.

This is one of the simplest "toys" I have made. All you need is a tray, a basket, some pom-poms and a pair of tongs. I set the invitation up with the pom-poms in the basket and the tongs alongside. Felix empties the pom-poms onto the tray and then uses the tongs to pick them up and pop them back into the basket.

Examining the tongs and figuring out the best way to hold them

Getting better control of opening and closing the tongs

Noticing all the clicks of the camera shutter

Obviously the camera is hilarious and I'm very distracting

Moved the basket off the tray to pick up errant pom-poms.
He's reaching pro status now, picking up two pom-poms at once.

Placing the basket back on the tray.

Placing the tongs back on the tray

All tidied away, now he's coming for the camera!

We first tried this activity a few months ago. Felix couldn't quite get the hang of the tongs, though he did try. I think his hands were just a little small! I packed it away and forgot about it for a while. At 24 months, after a minute or two of experimenting, he easily got the hang of it. He really enjoyed it and has repeated this activity a few times since.

I'm planning to put this into our regular rotation of toys but I'll switch out the pom-poms next time for a bit of difference. I'm planning to try coloured ice cubes for a different texture, and as Felix gets better we'll progress to smaller items like pasta shapes or broad beans. Eventually we can use a smaller tongs and then a tweezers.

I'd love to hear if you try this activity. Was it a hit? What other objects do you use?