Setting the Table

One idea I've come across several times on Pinterest, is how to teach children responsibility through play. There are many lists of chores children can do at different ages. One such chore for toddlers is setting the table. I loved this idea; I think its important for every family member to have responsibilities in the home. So I pulled out some basic items from D's play kitchen and had him practice setting the table in his play room. 

I gave him two sets of play placemats, plates, utensils and cups. He did a great job.

Then we had to do a little pretend play, of course.

Then onto the real world. At dinnertime, I handed him each item saying: One for Daddy, one for Mommy and one for  Deshy. He quickly got the hang of it and now loves to help set the table each night.

Bubbles in the Sink

There are some days, that we don't have anything going on and I don't have anything planned and we need to kill time. So I'll put D up on the counter next to the sink and fill it with water and liquid dish detergent bubbles. A funnel and a giant spoon are all he needs to have fun with this one. 

Indoor Mini Construction Site

One of D's favorite things at the moment is TRACTORS! He loves construction sites. We live in a community where homes are being built around us, so we have lots of opportunities to watch the giant tractors at work. He could sit and watch them for hours if I let  him.

I've seen several pins about creating construction theme sensory boxes such as....

from pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com

from in lieuofpreschool.com and

from one of my favorite mommy bloggers dirtandboogers.com

I knew D would love this. Dirt, tractors, rocks...what more could a boy ask for? 

I put my spin on it and made moon sand (or cloud dough) to use as the sand. We spread out a giant beach towel to contain the mess but quickly realized we didn't need it. The "sand" somehow made it off the towel and all over my floor. I have hardwood and the sand is easy to vacuum so it wasn't a big deal. 

I poured the "sand" mixture into a big tub, added small rocks and miniature toy tractors, and he was good to go. (I'm about 9 months pregnant right now, so on days we don't leave the house, D ends up staying in his pjs.)

A bit later we added some miniature sea animals....

He liked the feel of the sand.

Then we added some blocks.

Took a break to color. 

Made a hat out of some pipe cleaners.

And then played with it some more....

I kept the moon sand for a couple of weeks and occasionally pulled it out again. My bag of sand got smaller with each use. It was easy to make and loads of fun, so I'm sure we'll be doing this again soon.

Under the Sea Paper Mosaic

When I stumbled across this Pin from toddlerapproved.com, I instantly knew I wanted to try this with D. 

First I cut out shapes of fish and placed them on top of the sticky side of contact paper. D helped me tear up some construction paper and we decorated the fish. Next, I taped a large piece of contact paper (sticky side out) to the wall. With large pieces of torn construction paper, we created seaweed and water. We placed the fish that we had created earlier on top of the water and wah-lah! Under the Sea Mosaic. 

Of course, nothing can be done without his toy trains these days.

Baking Soda & Vinegar Science Experiment

This was a fun little experiment that we tried one day. First we poured baking soda into a shallow pan. Then we filled small cups with vinegar and colored each one with a few drops of food coloring. Using a medicine dropper, we helped D suck up the colored vinegar and drop it onto the baking soda. This caused the baking soda to bubble up and fizz. D liked seeing the reaction after the two chemicals combined.