Busy toddlers

 Soren and I have had to be creative with our play activities lately. Winter gets long - we are housebound with the cold weather and I hate feeling like the tv is always on. The old toys just aren't cutting it any more and we need new activities.

My friend Colleen got me started with a few ideas from a couple Montessori web sites. One of which was sorting beans from a bowl into different shaped containers. This was an all around winner the first couple times. How handy to just pull out my jar of dried beans and a couple ice cube trays. He loved shoveling with different types of spoons - teaspoons, ladles, wooden spoons, etc...

 At first I was worried he would eat the beans - which he did. This picture is the first one he tried and realized they weren't very nummy. After that, I didn't have to worry about it. My next concern was the mess. When he started flinging things around, it usually meant he was bored so we just picked up before it got crazy.

 This same activity we've replicated with white beans, macaroni noodles, sprinkles, candy, buttons - the list goes on. He is starting to get a little tired of it. I might put it on the shelf for a month and then re-introduce it.

 Our other fun activity has been playing with colorful alphabet magnets on cookie sheets. I learned that he likes to sort by shape and color - lining up all the "e"s or all the little circles.

 Somehow, he has learned his colors! So these magnets have been great to practice on. Now we are working on shapes and letters. I think his favorite letters are "double-why" "S" and "E".

 Here is Soren playing with straws and sprinkles - not my best idea. He just ate all the sprinkles and when I tried to cut him off he through a huge temper tantrum and tossed the bowl across the kitchen. Oh well, before that I had about 30 minutes with my hands free to clean the kitchen. It may have been worth it...

 And here we are this morning sorting macaroni noodles while I cleaned the bathroom. He loves to sit at this new table that we bought last weekend. It is just perfect for him and he now prefers all meals and snacks from his little blue chair.

Very fun. Anyway, those are some toddler activities we've been doing lately. We've also had fun with little pom-pom balls, crayons, shells, stickers, boxes, story books, sewing hoops that double as basketball hoops, and washing lots of dishes (this boy loves to play in the sink).

But to be perfectly honest - winter just needs to end. This morning felt sooooo long and we went through 50 activities in what seemed like 5 minutes. Amazing how quickly my patience has worn thing today. Thank goodness for naptimes. And when he wakes up again, we will just have to figure out something new. Maybe it will actually be warm enough to go outside?