Baby Play: Odds and Ends Bucket

Oh my, I can’t believe how fast Lil Pumpkin is growing! She is 8 1/2 months now, has a bunch of teeth and is getting around quite well. She’s not walking yet but is very close!

I’ve been trying to do some intentional activities with her each day. Lately I’ve been focusing on different ways for her to explore various textures. She loves to crawl on the grass in the backyard.

 

So I gathered various odds and ends from our toy bin and put them in a bucket. I let her play with them outside.

She clearly had three favorite objects in the bucket. The homemade rattle (a jingle bell in a spice bottle with the lid glued on), the Bristle block, and the red ball from our Melissa and Doug Stacking tower. She is at the fun stage where you can see her learning---I love that! She shook that rattle for the longest time. Then she banged the red ball against the green bowl. And of course, she had to chew on everything!

My 2yr. old saw her sister playing with all these things and decided that was what she wanted to do too. So they both played together. Now any other time when these objects would have been left on the floor, they both wouldn’t have paid any attention to them. But grouping them in a “special” bucket made them seem extra fun. :)

Active Baby Ideas

The youngest member of the Spell household is almost 8 months old already! Goodness she’s growing up so fast! It’s exciting to see all the milestones being reached and to see her interested in her surroundings. Even at this young age I try to do some intentional play activities, but many times I draw a blank as what exactly to do. Just when I was needing a jump-start in our baby play time, Timberdoodle asked if I’d check out a component of their Baby Core Curriculum and I was sent the book Active Baby, Healthy Baby by Margaret Sasse for review.

Practicing creeping around a stationary object and reaching for a toy.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book is a reference book of ideas. This made it easy to read and easy to fit into my busy schedule. One thing I learned was how important movement is in the development of pathways in a young child’s brain. I knew movement was important, but this book opened up my eyes to many more movement possibilities. It also explained why and gave clear examples of how to do the activity with my child.

Active Baby, Healthy Brain includes 135 exercises and activities to do with your child that help stimulate brain development in the following areas:

• balance
• cross-pattern movement
• visualization
• vestibular (inner ear) stimulation
• laterality
• fine and gross motor skills

I was very interested in learning more about vestibular activities and cross-pattern movement as I never would have come up with the idea to do those activities with my child on my own.

The other aspect I liked about this book is that it included activities for toddlers too. Each activity is listed on its own page and has clear examples and instructions for implementing the game or exercise. Most of the activities take very little prep and time to do.

In fact, I was able to use activities in this book for  three of my children--- ages 7 months to 4 years old.  I love it when I can use something for more than one kid or when it is useful for a long period of time. The book  is full of ideas for babies through 5.5 years old.

If you are looking for additional items and activities to do with your young children, check out Timberdoodle’s Baby Core Curriculum and Toddler Core Curriculum.  I like that they have chosen products that encourage learning in a child’s natural environment. Except for the toddler workbooks, everything is reusable in these kits. You can request a free homeschool catalog to check out the other goodies Timberdoodle has to offer.

Disclosure: As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a frank and unbiased review.

Party Favor! A Cupcake for Baby

Can you guess what Lil Pumpkin got in the mail?

Yep, a wooden teether from Little Sapling Toys! I asked in a previous Baby Play post for recommendations, and several of you mentioned Little Sapling Toys. I had been looking at their site, so once I received several more endorsements, I went ahead and ordered her one--- a cupcake to help celebrate my blog birthday!

 
She had no problem figuring out how to use this toy.

I’m so pleased with the quality of this teether. It is very smooth and easy for her to grasp.

We've handcrafted these teethers with Hard Rock Maple, a non-splintering wood. It is naturally anti-bacterial, non-allergenic, and non-toxic. All of our Little Teething Toys are sanded satin smooth with no exterior finish.

To help celebrate with me, Little Sapling Toys is giving out a party favor:

Use the coupon code: SPELL10 for 10% off any purchase in Little Sapling Toys Etsy store. Valid from April 4th- April 25th.

Baby Play: Stack and Roll Cups

Lil Pumpkin is 4.5 months. She has just started to roll over from her tummy to her back and vice-versa. She’s starting to pay attention to the loving chaos around her (aka all her sisters and brother) and what they are doing. She especially likes to find things to chew on (I’m looking for some good wood teethers---any recommendations?)

She got a set of Stack and Roll Cups for Christmas, so I pulled them off the shelf and brought them out for some Baby Play today. At first I had her on the floor, but she was frustrated because she could not get the cups to her mouth.  I put her in her walker and she scooted those cups around on her tray and finally got one to her mouth.

  
What she loved most was sending them flying off the edge of her tray. :)

 
I was surprised at how much she enjoyed just trying to grasp and move these cups around. My toddler and preschooler also had fun with the new toy. They made a rattle ball for Lil Pumpkin (there is a yellow ball that comes with the set), and they practiced putting the cups in order from biggest to smallest. I love when a toy can be used for multiple ages and more than one way.

What is your baby’s favorite toy or activity?