Learning Resources Mess Free Play Foam

Blake loves sensory play and also getting messy. He's favourite activities at the moment feature water, kinetic sand or painting. I've realised recently that I haven't had the tuff tray out in awhile, so I've decided during the Easter holidays we are going to have lots of fun getting messy.

Foam and slime tend to be a very popular sensory activity recently which I've seen popping up on social media. We've yet to try these which I feel bad about however when I spotted mess free foam on Amazon I had to get some for Blake.

We decided to do the activity one day after preschool the other week. I had tried the activity with Blake previously however he wasn't interested at the time. However now he is absolutely loving it!

The messy free play foam is from learning resources and you can get various sized packs and I picked up the starter pack with 4 different colours. It's a strange sort of texture as it feels sticky but doesn't stick to hands etc or makes your hands feel sticky after playing.

It's also a non toxic formula that never dries out! It's easy to mould and a great activity to help develop fine motor skills. We love that its mess free and Blake gets really into playing with it and keeps him entertained for a good period of time. 

The only downside I can say is that it doesn't come with a container. However this wasn't too much of a problem as we have quite a few Tupperware boxes so used one to store it in. Amazon do sell a bigger set though that does come with a container which is worth looking out for.

    

Festive Sensory Tuff Spot

I'm not sure why but I've not really shared activities that I do with Blake that often on here. We have a tuff tray and my aim is for next year to use it a lot more and share with you some ideas. On December 1st I decided that I wanted to put our tree up but than I came up with an idea of a festive sensory tuff spot first. So I delayed putting the tree up and let him explore some Christmas decorations as we have quite a few with different textures etc. 

Here is what I included:

- Tinsel 

- Faux mistletoe

- Different tree decorations in shapes and sizes

- Mini Christmas tree

- Bell tree decoration 

- Felt Christmas tree pen

Play The Forest School Way

The forest school movement is gaining in popularity over the last few years. Forest School is a way to help your child to connect with nature and learn new skills by being adventurous and having fun. This is done with woodland crafts, games and other activities. 

I love the whole idea of forest school and children getting out and learning outdoors. I recently found out that once a month a playgroup will be running on a Saturday morning at a local woods which is suitable for all ages and am tempted to see what the next session in July is like. 

I was recently sent a copy of Play The Forest School Way which will be released on the 16th June RRP £12.99.  It's packed full of ideas for children from the ages of 3 up 11 years old. Some of the ideas in the book are: 

- Nature Jewelry

- constructing a bow and arrow

- building shelter

and 

- Foraging for food. 

The book follows the forest school philosophy of encouraging self-esteem, confidence, risk management and social skills within an outdoor environment. The book is to aid parent's to follow aspects of forest school in the way they handle play sessions. Each of the activities in the book are targeted for different age ranges, for playing in groups and for with just one or two children. The book is written for parents and carers however the instructions are written simply so children can read them too. I love that the book is made robust so that it can withstand outdoor handling. 

Even though Blake is too young for the activities mentioned in this book at the moment I definitely feel it will come in handy for using when he is older but also gives me more knowledge and understanding on the whole forest school concept. 

Have you ever gone to forest school? if not is it something you would be interested in doing? 

Wicked Uncle Toys

If you have children you will know it can be very easy to buy toys for little ones as there is  so much out there to choose from. Of course this can make buying toys hard as well. That's where Wicked Uncle can help you out, aimed at all the family to give a helping hand when buying toys for little ones. Wicked Uncle have a selection of toys suitable from babies to teens in a range of categories from age range, A-Z, gender and popular toys. This makes finding the ideal gift much more easier. As Blake is 18 months in a few weeks, I decided it would be a good idea to choose toys suitable for 2 years +.  Then he will still be able to play with them next year. 

My first choice was the Grow it: My very own garden set. This is great for imaginative role play and is bright and colorful making it eye catching. The set comes with 9 chunky pieces great for small hands. Another fab thing about the set is that the watering can is like a proper one, so that children can also practice watering real plants as well as the toy ones.  The set is made from durable soft plastic which can be easily washed.  Blake loves trying to use the watering can, planting the carrot, radish and two flowers using the shovel with the three colorful pots.

I also chose the Fix it: My very own tool box from the same brand, which is also great for imaginative and creative play. Again the set is made from soft and durable plastic with eye catching colors making it a fun and stimulating toy. The chunky six piece set contains a realistic sounding drill,  hammer, screwdriver, saw and wrench as well as a tool box to keep it all in. It's great for little ones who love to fix things. Blake loves using the drill but doesn't seem to have much interest yet in playing with the other tools (unless you count throwing them at me). I've been encouraging him buy "showing" him how each tool works, I think as he gets older he will certainly start to gain interest. 

Both the Grow it: My very own garden set and Fix it: My very own tool box retail at £19.95 

which i feel is a great price for toys that are of such high quality and fun to play with. 

What do you think of my choices?  Have you purchased anything from Wicked Uncle? 

Coloring book postcards

Coloring books for adults have become popular for awhile now with many fabulous books filled with pretty images. Recently I was sent some new coloring books but what makes them more special is that you can pull out the pages as they are also postcards. 

I love the idea of the coloring books as they make sending out the postcards more personal. This means that each postcard is unique since you can color them in however you would like. What a great way to get your creative juices flowing.

I use to love coloring in as a child and as an adult this is no different. Its a great way to be more creative and is also a great way to relax and unwind after a busy day. If you are into mindfulness which is also popular at the moment then you will also love these books. 

The books have such beautiful images in which you can see below and each postcard in the book is different. The card is a great thickness so that you can use coloring pencils, pens, felt tips, crayons and acrylics. 

What do you think about these coloring books? Do you love coloring in? Do you find it relaxing?

What Did The Caterpillar Eat? Sensory Bag

One of our favorite books to read to Blake is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Its a book that I think most children have had read to them, and one that i can vaguely remember being read to when I was little. Its one of Blake's first books that we purchased for him and he loves it. 

So when I was looking through the fab resources for newborn- two years from Twinkl and came across some The Very Hungry Caterpillar activities, one of them I knew I had to do was the What did the Caterpillar  eat? Sensory bag. 

Its so easy to make and Blake has had lots of fun with it too. 

You can find the resources and how to make this activity here. 

Blake still is at an age where he can still have fun with activities like this but as he gets older he will start to understand and engage more so this activity will really help with is learning. 

I am going to also do this activity again with him when he is a little older as at the moment its all about the sensory aspect rather than learning about food names etc. 

As a parent, sometimes messy activities can be a pain to do. This activity is non messy and and because its easy to make and do its not time consuming either. The only thing is that you will need a laminater which in my opinion is an investment to have if you love doing loads of activities at home. Because the items are laminated you can clean them and resuse them  so that you wont have to print them off again. Once you have finished the activity all you have to do is remove the laminated bits and pop the ziplock bag straight in the bin. 

What do you think of this sensory bag activity do you think your little one would love to do this? 

Oats & Water Sensory Mash

Quite a few months ago now I purchased a tuff tray so that Blake and I can have lots of fun at home doing sensory/messy play. This will be the second time I've used it for that though as I have also been using it for letting him play with his Mega Bloks in.

In my last post I mentioned that I have been reviewing Twinkl, which is a learning resource site for teachers, childminders and parents. One of the sections I'm loving in the birth to twos resource pack is the sensory activities to aid learning. 

I chose to begin by doing one that was only slightly messy so that Blake can get used to doing this kind of thing. The Oats and Water Sensory Mash looked like a fab one to try out. 

I like that it's edible as at this age children love to put everything in their mouth. 

It's also very simple to do too. 

All you need is: 

- A large container or like me a Tuff tray 

- Oats

- Water

- Kitchen Utensils ( we used a whisk and some of Blake's snack pots) 

- Cinnamon, nutmeg or brown sugar ( we used a small amount of cinnamon) 

To begin with I let Blake play with the oats on just its own with the utensils. I was very proud of him for touching it on his own as usually he doesn't like to touch stuff like this especially as he hates porridge. As you can see below he liked spreading it out in the tuff tray with his hands. 

I then gradually added more water letting him explore each time I added more. 

I did have to encourage him once the oats were wet to actually touch them, but after awhile he was fine and he started to copy me using the whisk and playing with the gooey mixture. 

I added the cinnamon and encouraged him to mix it into the oats which he loved doing.

I love how simple it is to do too although I'm glad that Stuart was around to help with bath time afterwards. I'm looking forward to doing more of the activities with Blake that are in the pack and also coming up with my own ideas too. 

Does your little one love messy/sensory play? 

British Science Week

Did you know that it is British Science week 11th -20th of March? 

When I was at School I was never into Science and at GCSE I didn't

get a good grade for it. 

My class never really got to do experiments which I think maybe partly why I never really enjoyed it. 

As Blake gets older I want to help him enjoy science and help him at home

and aid his learning and make it fun for him. 

There are many fun kits for you to do at home with your child or big child (the husband). 

The Natural History Museum shop is a great place to find some great science kits for fun and learning. 

I was recently sent the Sapphire blue crystal growing kit which are an ideal gift to spark your kid’s imagination and develop their interest in minerals, gems and crystals.  

Its pretty simple to do too all you have to do is mix the solution and watch as your crystal grows from its pod-like base into a magnificent cluster.

£10

Other sets that will be great are: 

Space Explorer Projector

A fascinating projector that uses real NASA photography to create your own personal view of space. A stunning introduction to the universe, the projector turns into a night light when it's dark. 

£15

 Make your own solar system. 

A fantastic kit for those that love space of all ages. 

Snap the speres together, paint the planets with glow in the dark paint and watch them orbit the sun. 

£15

Primary Science Lab Set

created specially for preschoolers to encourage them to experiment and play. 

This set contains 10 experiment cards with simple and clear instructions.

Perfect for getting kids excited in Science. 

£30 

All of these products can be found at the National History Museum Shop.

Are you kids interested in science? Or maybe you are? 

I'd love to know which of these items you like the look of. 

Comment below. 

Twirly woos magazine

If you have a little one you may have seen Twirly Woos over on Cbeebies.

Well now your little one can enjoy some more of the Twirly Woos with the new 

magazine which is filled with activities and fun things to do. 

We were kindly sent a copy of the magazine a week or so ago. 

The Twirly Woos is a brand new magazine with each issue being based on a theme from an episode. 

It's packed full of pre-school activities so more suited for children older than Blake. 

I definetly think this magazine will be great for older children as there are loads of fun activities which they

will be able to do such as coloring in.

I was also able to do some stuff from the magazine with Blake though such as rhyme time and the stories. 

One thing Blake did love was sitting on my lap and helping pat the stickers in the right places. 

When Blake is older I am looking forward to getting him magazines such as this one as I feel

that he will love them and be able to do more of the activities and he'll be able to entertain himself.