In Bouncy Bliss

Last week A.J. and his buddy ManMan enjoyed a leapin’ good time at Leapin’ Lizards. They bounced and jumped around which of course made nap time seamless. Bouncy houses are great for gross motor skills development, too!

Amira giggled and cooed as she excitedly watched the kids bounce. These are pictures of her before we left the house. Isn’t she a cutie!!How did your little one(s) burn off some energy this week?

-Asia

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Bath Time Fun with Blinging Ice-balloons & Other Developmental Activities

Blinging ice-balloons

There is so much you can do with balloons and food coloring. Ice-balloons for bath time or snow fun is one of them. Freezing balloons with food coloring inside is  a neat idea that I discovered from the blog Hurrayic. A.J. thought it was fun, too. He didn’t want to handle the cold balloons as much as he did the ice cubes, but he liked watching the ice balls melt in his bath water.

We also practiced Circular Arm Movements by scrubbing potatoes. This little scrubber is perfect for A.J.’s small hands.

I wanted to practice his 3-finger pincer grasp by using a clothespin to transfer mini pom poms, but he was not ready for this activity. Instead, he used his hands, but in all honesty, he wasn’t feeling this activity at all and only did it once. He dumped out the mini pom poms and went on his way. Oh well…

I'm done! NEXT.

To keep A.J.’s interest we played “marching band.” I put in a video of Florida A&M’s Marching 100 band and we danced and marched around. A.J. didn’t know that we were in fact developing his Gross Motor Skills!

What other balloon fun have you had lately?

Pray, Persist & Prosper!

7 Wrapping Tube Sports for Tots

Balloon volleyball with tubes as posts

1. Balloon Volleyball with Tubes as Posts – I used old wrapping paper tubes and covered them with wrapping paper for a uniformed look then slid them onto two paper towel holders as posts. The painters tape is kind of tacky, but it worked to keep the posts in place.

A.J. loved throwing the balloon over the “net.” He also enjoyed exploring the streamers. My makeshift net probably won’t last too long though because he’s kind of rough with it, but that’s okay.

Balloon Tennis or Balloon Swat

2. Balloon tennis or balloon swat – These DIY racquets are made from cut pieces of tri-fold poster board. I covered the boards with thick scrapbook paper and added popsicle sticks for handles. I doubled the sticks for a sturdier grip and duck taped them to the boards. I also used pieces of clear tape around the handles to keep them from shifting during play. Although I am a tennis player, I got this idea from Toddler Approved. They used paper plates, but I didn’t have any on hand, so I used what I had available.

A.J. had fun with his racquet although he preferred to hold the square part instead of the handle. I will keep these in storage and bring them out periodically until he gets better hang of it.

Tube Slide

Trinkets to slide

Tube sliding in action

3. Tube Sliding – One of my favorite blogs is MontessoriMOMents written by Lori. Although I saved several of the tubes for “projects,” I hadn’t done anything with them. I saw the tube sliding on Lori’s blog and got excited because I knew A.J. would probably enjoy it, too. And I was right. He got a kick out of sliding items down the tube and watching them either land in the basket or spin up and out of the basket due to speed.

We haven’t tried the next few activities yet, but they’re on my play list.

4. Golf – I will use a tennis ball and cut the tube for A.J. to use. When he gets older, we can use golf balls and a club. His Auntie plays golf, so we will have to get him ready!

5. Baseball – I really should say, “balloon ball.” He can hit the balloon with the tube as if playing baseball.

6. Fencing – The tubes look like they were made for jousting. Why not explore this sport and use it as a learning opportunity.

7. Javelin Throw – I can see A.J. throwing the tube like a Javelin during outdoor play. Ohhh what fun we will have!

What are some other ways you’ve used wrapping paper tubes for toddler fun?

Pray, Persist & Prosper!