I know Henry’s fine motor skills have never been his strongest trait. So, I do sneak in some fun here and there that works his fingers, such as the Dandelion Hat and Colored Vinegar and Baking 
Fine Motor Activity: Pipe Cleaners
September 14, 2011 by 18 Comments
It’s Playtime! : The Areas of Play
September 1, 2011 by 6 Comments
In yesterday’s post, P is for Play, I went through a few of the ways I look at play, and how I believe
Free Play : DIY Road Map
August 9, 2011 by 8 Comments
Not sure why it took me so long to realize that I can draw on our play table.
But now that I have, Henry and I have created many road maps!
Roads are the biggest hit.
And since Henry can’t reach across the table, the
Ice & Water Activities: 38 Ways to Beat the Heat
July 29, 2011 by 14 Comments
Have you gotten enough ideas to Beat the Heat?
Here are some [thirty-eight, by the way] icy cool activities and art that I gathered up to share with everyone. Whether you got a water bug in your family,
Free Play : Fabric
June 21, 2011 by 7 Comments
Yesterday’s basket of fabric scraps that George explored,
turned into some exploring from Henry, as well.
The entire basket, of course, was dumped onto the floor immediately.
Henry began sorting the fabric scraps by color.
At least that’s what he told me.
He was collecting the
Baby Activity: Fabric Scraps
June 20, 2011 by 10 Comments
A new sensory item for George is a tub of fabric scraps!
I’ve had these in the cupboard for years, not being able to bring myself to throw them out, but not knowing what else to do with them either.
I brought them out
Outdoor Play : Tin Can Forest
June 14, 2011 by 25 Comments
A forest in the sandbox for the Forest Fiesta!
Henry and I made a real forest with upcycled tin cans, tree branches and a few plants.
Henry loves picking up sticks at Grandma’s house. So that’s just what he did.
While he added the biggest
Outdoor Play : Firewood Sculpture
June 13, 2011 by 9 Comments
Henry got to camp overnight with Grandma and Grandpa last weekend.
We joined them for the night for fire-cooked pizzas and s’mores.
Before building the fire, a giant stack of firewood was begging to be played with.
Henry and I began to build a sculpture.
[Mostly
Free Play : Carpet Doodles
May 23, 2011 by 11 Comments
Carpet doodling was an unexpected activity that came out of some free play.
Henry and I scored a bunch of old utensils and cookie cutters from my great-grandmother’s house. They’ve been in a bucket around the house and played with nearly every day.
As
Outdoor Play: Dandelion Picking
May 16, 2011 by 18 Comments
Fine motor activity with dandelions!
On Mother’s Day, we headed outside to pick dandelions at my mom’s house and collected them in a basket. Not doing anything in particular with them.
Later that week, we went outside and did the same thing again
Sensory Play : Flour Piping Activity
May 10, 2011 by 18 Comments
After seeing the sand piping bags at Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning, I knew it was a sensory activity that Henry would love to get messy doing. Minus the sand, we made our own flour piping bags.
After our Free Play : Stirring
Play Dough Noodle Threading Activity
May 9, 2011 by 16 Comments
Playdough is still Henry’s favorite go-to activity.
In need of new ideas for activities, I posted a discussion on the we teach : bodies to move board to link up your favorite fine motor skills activity. Nicole [The Activity Mom] linked up her
Free Play Activity : Stirring and Mixing
May 2, 2011 by 13 Comments
Henry is sometimes all business and no play.
He thinks a lot of things are ‘his job’.
As he often says, ‘It’s my job’ in his best man’s voice.
This day was no exception.
[His facial expressions in all of the photos show exactly his seriousness of the
Exploring Baby Food
April 27, 2011 by 9 Comments
Last week on It’s Playtime! I featured some baby things to do.
The pudding fingerpaint [from Girl in Air] stuck in my mind.
A friend of mine commented on Facebook about using baby food, too!
That’s just what I did.
George was fussy one
Homemade Play Doh : It’s [much] Softer!
April 12, 2011 by 13 Comments
As I’ve mentioned a few times already,
Henry is on a huge layDoh kick lately.
One day last week, Henry and I were with his Grandma.
He wanted to play with PlayDoh.
Grandma’s PlayDoh had gotten kind of hard and crumbly.
So we set off to make
