Silly Putty

A while back I bought a small container of three colors of glitter silly putty (I think it was at Micheals).  My daughter doesn't really like to squish it around in her hands but enjoys using it with her toy animals.  It is always some kind of substance that traps her animals (tar pit, sinking sand, glue, etc.) or creates an obstacle for them to overcome (lava, frozen lake, etc.). 
 
 
It is so much fun to sit back and watch the stories she comes up with.  Her imagination astounds me sometimes.  Her sound effects when animals get stuck bring a smile to my face.  Watching her play reminds me to slow down, relax, and enjoy the blessings of being a mom.

Learning Mats


My daughter has enjoyed using these learning mats.  Right now her favorite ones are the USA mats.  We have a couple that show the different states- one which we use to color in the states as we learn about them. 

 
 
Here are a few more of the ones we have.  Solar System, World Map, Presidents, Telling Time, Counting to 10, ABC's, Addition, and Subtraction. 
 
 
These mats are fairly inexpensive.  I usually pick up one or two every few months when I make a trip to a school supply store.  I know that I have seen them at a number of different toy stores and online (I might have to start looking for some new ones online since I have pretty much bought all the ones that my regular stores carry).

Christmas Present

Here is a look at my daughter's Christmas present. 
 

 
We built her a new table with some fun features. 
 
It is a simple 2' x 4' frame with a light hood attached underneath and interchangeable table tops.  We insert fluorescent lights and add a frosted piece of plexi-glass to use it as a light table.  We use black light bulbs and clear plexi-glass to create a black light table. 
 
We also bought some "Lite-Brite" pegs that we could use in a peg board top but sadly the pegs go right through the holes (I'm not sure if I got the wrong type of pegs.  I have seen a number of blog posts sharing this idea so I know it can be done.  I will have to research and experiment some.).
 
I plan to buy some Lego plates and create a Lego table top that can be placed over the plexi-glass. 
 
I am still trying to figure out the best way to organize all of the toys/markers/etc. that will be used on the table.  Maybe a set of divided drawers set next to the table.  I will post some pictures once we finally get organized.
 
 
 
For a better look at how we built the table and to see the other tops check out this post.

Large Playmat Maze

My daughter asked for a pony maze and this is what I came up with.
 
 
I used the back of our large laminated map.  I quickly drew a maze 
and added flowers all over to make it easier to tell which were paths.

 
She had each of her ponies begin at the start.

 
Then she had them wander in all directions.  They each took a different path
until there was one pony at each dead end.

 
Once the first pony made it to the end she went back and helped all the
other ponies find their way out of the maze.

This maze was lots of fun and I was excited to see my daughter have her ponies help each other.

Flatirons Mall Play Area

I found some old pictures from a day we spent at Flatirons Mall in Broomfield.  They have a great indoor play area by the foot court and a huge sandbox play area right outside. 
Great way to end a day of shopping.




Volcano

Here are pictures of our latest volcano attempt.  It turned out better than our previous attempt but still wasn't as great as I was expecting.
 
 
Supplies- Clear bottle, plastic tarp/tray, water, oil, food coloring, and Alka-Seltzer tablets.
Fill the bottle a little more then half way with water.  Fill the rest of the way with oil. 
Add food coloring.
 
 
Add Alka-Seltzer tablets.


 
Watch the volcano.
 
You can redo this a number of times and still get the same reaction.  I allowed her to add a couple drops of food coloring each time so each reaction looked a little different.