Fun Things to do With Toddlers - A Week of Activities!

We've been busy!  it's been a fun and activity filled summer, here are some of the things we have been doing in a bumper week of fun toddler activities. 

I had been planning this activity for months, saw it on Pinterest and started browsing the internet for water tables. I thought it was probably the best idea ever and was going to be so much fun and so stimulating and Boris would probably play with it for hours!  Turns out (for me) this was THE most stressful (and expensive) activity I have EVER done with Boris, and that is saying something because I have done some pretty stressful activities with him.

I still think it is a great activity but I would warn you not to try it is you have a small baby who is on the move near by, he WILL want to eat the water beads no matter how much you try to distract him with tin foil!

So if you want to try this activity what you need is:

Water table (I bought this one, its expensive but a good size and has two separate sections so I think I will be versatile for future activities)
Blue water beads (I bought these)
Glass nuggets (these)
Tin foil,
Glitter (optional:

WARNING: This activity must be closely supervised, I know my toddler isn't going to put these in his mouth, but I don't know your toddler so to avoid any risks I wouldn't recommend it for children under 36 months.

I lined the water table with the tin foil which, under the water created a beautiful sparkly shiny effect. the I filled it with pre-soaked water beads and a pack of the glass nuggets.

Boris was intrigued by the water beads, he has played with them before so was quite excited about them.  

The contrast between the soft beads and the hard glass nuggets added another sensory element.

Boris kept dropping the beads and nuggets on the floor which of course Biscuit wanted to immediately eat!  So I tried to distract him with floating balls of tin foil!

I added blue glitter, but it looked a bit like bits of floating dirt, I think silver would have worked much better. 

It's a really beautiful activity and would definitely have been more enjoyable if it had just been me and Boris, but with Biscuit there is well it was a nightmare. I don't mean to sound negative but it really did get me in a sweat!  

What have you tried with water beads?  Please link below, link party fun!

Fun things to do with toddlers - A week of activities!

We've been busy!  it's been a fun and activity filled summer, here are some of the things we have been doing in a bumper week of fun toddler activities. 

Ice play - Way back in 2013 I put an ice cream container filled with water, stones, twigs and herbs into the freezer and there is sat for 12 loooong months until one hot and sunny day in August when I remembered it, got it out and smashed it to smithereens on the patio!

It looked beautiful, you could see through the ice to the objects within, suspended in frozen animation like a time capsule of the previous year.

Boris had a poke around with a trowel; this activity needs careful supervision to make sure shards or ice aren't flying near eyes. I helped him to smash it up to get the the objects inside. (I think I may have used a hammer)

Biscuit was intrigued as well and picking up the ice and pushed it around. The smell of the mint that was frozen inside was amazing!  I couldn't believe how well the sent was preserved in the ice, not only stimulating the sense of touch but also the sense of smell and taste!

A great thing to suck on on a hot day.

Do you have a back log of toddler activities?  Feel free to share a link in the comments, we can have a link party!

Hello September, Hello Autumn!

So we have officially reached the end of summer and what a great summer it has been.  Having my other half working from home most days has been wonderful, it has meant lunches as a family in the garden, evening walks and the odd mid week day out.  The weather has been fantastic, I have been out with the boys every single day visiting playgrounds, parks, friend's gardens, paddling pools, woods and lakes.  It's been too hot for me at times (I am a delicate English Rose after all) but mostly I have enjoyed wearing sandals and skirts and sort sleeves, I have definitely loved the long days and hanging wet washing on the line to dry every day (love the smell of line dried washing) and whaduya know, we are in for an Indian summer!

But I am happy to welcome in the change of the season, bringing with it crunchy leaves underfoot, and that feeling of crispness in the air.  definitely much better to look for the positives in Autumn and Winter than mourning the loss of the summer and moaning about the negatives of colder weather and shorter days. I can quite honestly say that the only thing that worries me about the Autumn and Winter is the washing.  There is little worse on a cold wet day that a living room with wet laundry hanging in it. But while the warm weather lingers I won't worry about that little grey cloud and I will ponder on all the things I have to look forward to in the coming months - Birthdays, meeting friends, new toddler classes, toddler groups starting up again, themed weeks. This week alone holds a 7 day raw food challenge, a visit from my lovely sister and a Lion King theme.  Bring it on!