I had forgotten how exciting odds and ends are to babies! Emily, my 9 month old is now crawling and exploring everything she can get her hands on. I have found that I can keep her in one spot by giving her a box full of odds and ends eg a tea set, odd toys or plastic kitchen utensils. She will spend quite awhile in one spot rummaging through the box and taking everything out of it. This gives me a bit of time to do other things!
Wiggles Puppets
Ben, my 2 year old loved making these puppets with me, they are easy, simple and have kept him busy for ages performing Wiggles songs in our make do puppet theatre (blanket thrown over a small table).
All you need is a book of your favorite characters to photocopy and cut out. Or draw and cut out a character. Get your child to colour in the character. Cut it out, stick it onto a paddle pop stick and if you want stick a couple of googily eyes on it. You could also stick hair or clothing on to it depending on what you have. Once it is dried you have a pretty basic but fun puppet for your toddler to play with!
For more creative ideas to do with your toddler or baby visit baby-patch.com
Jen
www.baby-patch.com
Toilet training Ben has been such a rewarding experience in terms of witnessing a toddlers mind learning… It has been a month since we started the process and now Ben tells us when he needs to go to the toilet and often takes himself.
It only took a couple of weeks of my prompting Ben to go & spending copious amounts of time reading to him on the toilet before it all clicked into place and now it all happens automatically. We are yet to tackle the night training, I am sure that will come with time. But I have been pleasantly surprised how easy the process has been.
Jen
I have just come accross a great way to earn a little extra income from home. Check out this Paid Surveys Program, it is an established program run by a stay at home mum and she seems to be doing pretty well out of it…. She gives you access to a database of survey companies that will pay you cash for your opinion.
So if you have a bit of time why not give it a try!
Jen
Now this painting may not look like much, but it was fun to make. If you are feeling a little adventurous when painting with your toddler and you have mastered the handprints and finger painting, why not try this. Use a sheet of plastic (like a table cloth) or a large sheet of paper and fasten it to the table. Let your toddler have fun covering a large area of the plastic with paint and their fingers.
Then, using the wrong end of a paint brush or a blunt pencil let your toddler draw a design on the painted surface. Get a second piece of paper and lay it on top of the design, carefully press down and then lift off and you have a screen print! It takes a bit of practise to work out the best amount of paint to have on the paper / plastic - to much and the screen print smudges all over the design, to little and the paint does not transfer. As long as you all enjoy yourself in the process it dosent really matter what the end product looks like!
For more fun ideas to do with toddlers check out jelly painting!
As a mom, you might be thinking ‘what spare time????’ but if you want to earn a little extra cash completing paid surveys online is a great way to do it.
All you have to do is become a member of a free survey site, and then when you have a quiet moment have a look at the survey list and fill in what ever interest you. You can also review products and actually keep the products you review for free!
There are hundreds of companies willing to pay you for market research - what better way to earn a bit of spare cash to buy your next baby gift!
Check out www.surveyadvisor.net for more information.
Jen
I thought that I would share this cute photo of Ben on the day we bought him his first underpants. He enjoyed dressing up and putting the undies on his head rather than his bottom….
Toilet training has been a lot less daunting than I thought it would be. It has been a couple of weeks since we made the switch to undies and now Ben is pretty much toilet trainned.
We followed ‘Secret Blueprint to Potty Training Your Toddler in 1 - 3 Days’ and it worked really well, except we didnt need to use reward charts as Ben was happy with us reading books to him on the toilet so that was all the incentive he needed!
If you are at the same stage I hope your experience is as smooth as ours was.
I came home the other day and found Chris and Ben (our 2 year old) performing a puppet show with their newly made puppets.
Chris had drawn a couple of dinasours and cut them out. Ben coloured them in and then Chris stuck them on a paddle pop stick and stuck a couple of googily eyes on. They both had a great time making them.
These dinasour puppets are a easy, quick and fun creative activity to do with Toddlers. For more creative inspirations visit baby-patch.com
If you are looking for a unique and ethical gift for a baby or toddler, check out the website for Eternal Creation. Eternal Creation runs its own design and production workshop, the Himalaya Tailoring Centre, located in Dharamsala in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas. They provide jobs for the local community and ensure high quality products are produced and ethical principles are maintained. They have a beautiful range of clothing for babies, toddlers and women.
See the beautiful clothing for yourself at http://www.eternalcreation.com
For more ethical gift ideas visit http://www.baby-patch.com/alternativegifts.html
Jen
If you are looking for a musical, fun and uplifting gift for a 2 or 3 year old, ‘I like to Sing!’ with Justine Clarke is a real delight. The songs are catchy, fun and have much variety. The DVD is bright and colourful with some animation and some dancing with children of all ages. As a host of PlaySchool, Justine Clarke knows how to appeal to young children and educate them in a musical, creative and fun way.
For more great baby and toddler gift ideas visit http://www.baby-patch.com/toys.html
Jen
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