An elephant load of mess...

This is another one of our "Week of Elmer" activities but this one was so fun (and messy!) that I thought it needed a post of it's own :)

This was a variation on the ball yoghurt painting Iz did a few weeks ago. I wanted to do an activity linked to Toddler Book Club that was suitable for babies to join in with and came up with this...

Giant Elmer Yoghurt painting 

Awesome right?! So if you want to try this, here is what we used:

- tuff spot/tray (LOVE this for indoor messy play)

- large plain paper

- yoghurt paint (see here how to make it)

- paintbrush (optional)

- a good cleanup plan...

Step 1:

Make your yoghurt paints. D loved helping with the mixing and seeing the colours develop. We stuck with red, yellow, green and blue. I know Elmer has a lot more colours but I thought 4 was probably enough. And when I later saw how much mess 4 made I was even more glad I hadn't laid out a whole rainbow ;) we also made the paints a few hours in advance and just put the bowls back in the fridge - so they were ready exactly when we wanted them.

Taste testing...

Step 2:

Get the largest piece of white paper you can find and draw a big Elmer on it. My art skills are pretty rudimentary but luckily Elmer is quite easy to draw! Then tape it to your tuff spot with masking tape.

In the end I got them to share an elephant rather than having one each

Step 3:

Assemble children on tuff spot. The important bit here is not to even blink... I turned around for about 3 seconds to get my camera and when I looked back Iz had already dived straight in and was covered in yoghurt!

Still relatively clean...

This was after about 30 seconds!

Step 4:

Sit back, relax and embrace the mess...

Arghhhh she got yoghurt on my leg!!

Love his dedication to the painting even when she had the pot!

Face of innocence...

Yep a ball got involved again :)

Iz has a snack, D stays focused on the task at hand...

D really enjoyed the painting and this activity kept his attention much longer than other ones have. He made sure he used every colour and was careful to make sure he painted all of Elmer. I was impressed at his dedication - even as Izzy was tearing at the paper, he still carried on painting!

He's not looking too impressed by her destructive streak here...

The colours didn't translate particularly well on the paper (they'd probably look brighter with more food colouring) but D still enjoyed telling me which colour he was using/wanted and it didn't dampen his enjoyment.

Concentrating hard :)

Now I should point out that I LOVE messy play and don't mind my kids getting super messy. But even I was surprised at just how messy (and how fast!) Iz got. She loved it though and had so much fun, but this may not be the best activity if you are not a fan of mess...

Meeessssssssss

 

But so happy with it!

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Have you ever done a giant yoghurt painting? Do you think you'll try one? I'd love to hear about it :)

The fastest six months...

Time flies when you're having fun?
Blink and you'll miss it?

We've all heard sayings like this, but I've found its never been truer than the last 6 months.

Time with any baby whizzes past but when you have a toddler whirlwinding around the place, it seems to pass even quicker with baby number 2.

Iz, I don't want to miss a moment of you growing up, and I have loved watching you every day over these last 186 days xxx

At the start...

 

 

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Where has my baby gone?!?

What Iz loved - February 2015

Only a week late, this is a record for me I think :)

Here is what Iz loved this month...

1. Swinging, casually

2. Wearing dresses (even if she doesn't look that happy in that pic! Lol)

3. Sitting

4. Getting messy (and painting with yoghurt)

5. First holiday at Center Parcs (and first grown up swimming costume!)

6. Playing with ribbons

7. The ball pit

8. Discovering spaghetti

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If you want to do your own "What baby/toddler loved" then link up with Rachel @dinkythinks - you can see her latest post here :)

Ball yoghurt painting

This is the second in my "baby sensory play" series and is definitely messy! You can see my first post (ribbon play for babies) here.

When D was little I didn't realise how much messy play you could safely do with even small babies, but with Iz we are embracing it :)

I saw this post on House of Burke's blog about some painting her baby had done with a spiky ball and thought it was brilliant. I didn't want to let Iz loose with paints though as *everything* goes in her mouth at the moment... and I wanted her to have a bit more freedom than the highchair allows so we made some changes.

What do you mean, I can get messy?!

Such a sweetie, if a little yoghurty...

What we used:

- our tuffspot tray

- yoghurt paints (for recipe see below)

- selection of plastic balls (some spiky and some smooth)

- some paper

- an excited baby

She quickly embraced the rolling and explored different textures

And got the hang of dunking the balls in the paint

Hmmm didn't always get it right though...

Yay this is so fun!!!

Love her chubby fingers :)

Iz loved it. We even went back to it after her lunch as she enjoyed it so much. Such a simple set-up but lots of fun. We actually did this when D was at nursery so he didn't have the chance to join in but next time I'll do it when he is here too as think he'd have fun aswell and it'd be cute watching them paint together :)

Action pic!

Iz's masterpiece :)

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Yoghurt paint recipe:

This is so simple, I can't believe I never made it with D. Just mix some yoghurt (we used Greek but you can use anything!) with some food colouring and there you have it - completely edible paint :)  obviously any pictures you make with this are not for keeping - it is more about the process rather than the finished result. Plenty of time for keeping artwork once they start at nursery and bring home loads each week! Lol. 

If you don't have any yoghurt (or your baby is dairy-free) you could also use baby purees in different colours

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I'd love to hear if you try this with your little one :) or if you have any other messy play ideas for babies

Ribbon play for babies

I've got so many blog posts I want to write but am struggling to find the time... But lately we've done some lovely sensory play with Iz, so I'm going to focus on that for now.

Iz has reached that golden age where she can sit up but not yet crawl or do the roll-roll-roll-roll (which I know will come with time). So she's pretty immobile whilst able to sit up to "play". This is a WONDERFUL age indeed :)

I saw this photo on Meri Cherry's blog and loved it. What a simple but cute idea. But sadly we never have boxes that size lying around the house. And even if one arrived, my other half would freak out if I tried to keep it! That's central London living for you... No space for big cardboard box play!

Meri Cherry's ribbon box

So here is our (much smaller!) London-style ribbon box...

Our ribbon box

Still cute. And a LOT easier to store/have in the house. And luckily babies aren't fussy so Iz still loves it :)

Happy baby :)

If you want to make your own follow these simple steps:

1. Cut up your cardboard box and procure a toddler

Not sure why he has a sticker on his nose...

2. Decorate as desired

He loves to "help" and be involved

3. Collect any ribbon scraps you have lying around

Omnomnom

4. Make holes and secure the ribbons

Nearly ready...

5. Play :)

Play with it this way...

Or that way...

Or even in the more casual reclined position!

If you don't have any ribbon lying around then you can go on eBay and search "ribbon remnants/offcuts" and for around £2 you can get a mixed bag of over 25m of different ribbons.

Iz has just turned 6 months and really enjoyed reaching for the ribbons and pulling them towards her (and into her mouth!). Having different widths and textures on the ribbons added an extra dimension to her exploring, and the different colours helped keep her interest. She also loved it when I played Peekaboo behind the ribbon wall as she could still see my outline (nice for her as she hasn't yet developed object permanence!).

Peepo!

So there it is, simple ribbon play for babies. I'm going to write a series of posts on baby sensory and messy play but would also love to hear any activities you've tried with your little ones :)

Pound for a pound update

(You can read my original post explaining about #poundforapound here)

So I've been a bit quiet recently - manly cos I lost a few pounds and then went on holiday and instantly regained them. I completely blame these MASSIVE marshmallows at Center Parcs!

Yep that is a two pound coin being dwarfed by it!!!

But anyway a pound lost is still a pound lost so here are the charities that I donated to with my initial 3 pound loss :)

First Days

This charity collects preloved baby clothes, toys, equipment and furniture and redistributes them to families in need in the local area. It's easy to donate to them by texting (check out their home page for the number needed).

First Touch (neonatal unit at St George's) 

Although I have worked in lots of hospitals I have never worked at St George's. But I read Leigh Kendall's blog (see here) and so have read all about her lovely son Hugo. So when I was looking to donate and it was Hugo's first birthday, it made total sense to pick this charity. If you want to donate you can do it through Leigh's Justgiving page or through their website. 

Ronald McDonald houses

This is am amazing charity which provide "home away from home" accommodation for families when their child is in hospital.Your child being in hospital is stressful enough but just imagine being hundreds of miles away from home, with nowhere to sleep, shower or even eat a bowl of cereal. I think this charity does something really special behind the scenes, allowing parents to have one less worry. You can donate online here and can even choose which house to donate to if you want to support a particular one.

 

Thank you @eghamum @leighkendall and @Louise331 for the ideas/suggestions :)

 

Anyway so I am now back from holiday and even more determined (that's what 4 days in your swimsuit does for you!)... I've got a few charities lined up for the next few pounds (thank you to people who've suggested so far) but I'm hoping (!!) to need a lot more suggestions so please leave some below and help incentivise me...

Toddler monthly book club

So this month I'm really excited to be starting something new. Once or twice a month we are inviting a group of similarly-aged toddlers to D around to the house for Book Club.

The format is going to loosely be:

- read a book together

- have a themed snack

- do a related craft activity

In toddlers especially, familiarity helps increase both their attention and their engagement with activities so I'm hoping most of the toddlers read the named book a couple of times before each Book Club so they know the story and characters. 

So this is the schedule for our first few sessions:

March 16th - Elmer by David McKee

March 27th - The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss

April 10th - Paddington by Michael Bond

April 13th - How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers

If you want to join in with the same books then come back after each date to see what snacks and crafts we did linked to the stories. Or if you have any other book ideas or run your own Toddler Book Club I'd love to hear about it and maybe we could form a linky :)