Playing with Cloud Dough – 21 months

Posted by Caroline Elliott

We first found out about Cloud Dough in the summer and Monkey had great fun playing with it outside. You can read about it here. It was fab and I have thought about making it again but I am not always fond of REALLY messy play indoors, I do it, but I have to work myself up to it and prepare myself for the clean up operation!

As I have created the Creative Challenge Linky I felt I really should challenge myself to have some indoor fun with cloud dough.

Ingredients

What is Cloud Dough? It is Flour mixed with Baby Oil. It’s something like 8 parts flour to 1 part baby oil but I have to say I don’t really measure it. What’s the point in it? Well it turns to the consistency of sand, though has a much silkier texture. Otherwise you can play with it like wet sand, build things with it or just have a good old play.

I got a Tuff Spot ages ago with grand plans about this kind of messy play, but so far I have been too chicken to play with anything other than Play Doh in it. I just don’t trust monkey to keep things INSIDE the tuff spot. But as I said, this is as much about challenging myself as it is Monkey having fun and learning so we went for it.

And, do you know what? It was great! He has a whale of a time, as you can see! And yes, a bit of cloud dough managed to escape the confines of the Tuff Spot but it all got hoovered up

It started off quite sedately.. and he was moving some toys around in the cloud dough.

Then it got messier…

and messier…

then he had a little dance to “wind the bobbin up” in his head (a definite sign he is enjoying himself a lot).

He had a good stomp around..

and well he was covered from head to toe, but he absolutely adored it, which was great.

And it wasn’t too much of a nightmare to clean up, just pulled his clothes off and wiped his hands and feet and that was it. The cloud dough is in a tub to play with on another day, the tuff spot had a wipe and the floor a hoover and it was not too bad.

Phew! Successful Messy Play!

A quick word to the wise, if you do end up playing with it outside, like we did in the summer, make sure you sweep as much up as you can. Because our garden is a tip we left a pile of cloud dough in the corner of the patio, big mistake! It is a now a bit gunky pile of yukky stuff! It goes pretty disgusting when it has been rained on!

Listening to Music in the car

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Monkey loves music. has done since he was tiny. You can see him singing to music in his head sometimes as he dances along to ‘wind the bobbin up’ or ‘twinkle twinkle’ doing all the hand movements!

He has quite particular tastes though and is happy to let me know when he doesn’t like the music that is on in the car or something – generally by lots of whining. Heaven forbid if we have the radio on and I don’t realise that a song has finished and there’s talking on instead, he gets very stroppy!

But what I love his the way he reacts to a song he likes coming on the radio. They are very rarely songs he has heard before, and they do vary, but he likes music with a strong beat, particularly a good rock song. As a lover of rock music it makes me dead happy and proud, when a heavy guitar rift comes on the radio and I hear my little boy behind me clapping and shouting ‘yeeeeeaaaaahhh’ haha. So daft but I love it, so that’s my ordinary moment this week!

Not the best pic I’m afraid, hubby was driving on this day and monkey was moving a lot, but, you get the idea 🙂

Running down hills

Posted by Caroline Elliott

A couple of days ago, Monkey and I were enjoying a nice little walk home from his grandparents’ house. The sky was blue, the sun was out, we walked past some lovely spring flowers and it was just lovely.

Near to our house there is a big bridge – the blue bridge – and we spend a lot of time on the bridge looking at cars and buses. There is a little grassy area next to the bridge which Monkey loves – mainly because in the autumn we spent a LOT of time there playing around kicking up leaves. He likes it there, we play peepo around the trees, and he knocks on the tree trunk (not sure why but he enjoys it).

What I hadn’t ever really noticed before that day was the fact that this grassy area provides a great sloping hill down from the bridge. (It leads down to a road but it is only a Bus lane so not dangerous). I’d obviously seen it but not thought about it. Monkey though for some reason (after the obligatory knocking on tree trunks) made a beeline for the top of the hill, pulling me along with. Then, to his delight, we ran all the way down the hill together. He likes running down the smallest of slopes but this is the tallest and steepest ‘hill’ that I think he has ever run down, and well, he loved it!

And I loved taking photos of him! So he did it again…

…and again…

… and again! Many times over!

Oh the simple pleasures of running down hills! 🙂

Mud Mud Marvellous Mud - Outdoor Play Party

(Mummy Daddy Me)

Our little builder – 20 mths

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Just a short one but I am feeling like a proud mama and wanted to share this. Monkey has loved Duplo for ages and has been steadily getting better at putting them together. They still frustrate him at times but he loves it (and we almost constantly have duplo spread across the living room).

He builds towers with daddy and his uncles but this was the first time that he built a little structure. He put the blocks onto the board and started to build his tower without ANY input from any adults.

I know it’s not that exciting or impressive but when we saw it we were so proud of him. I just love watching him grow and develop and it’s times like this that make me so happy that I am lucky enough to be a SAHM. Because I get to marvel at every teeny tiny development and know that I played a part in his learning and growth.

If you’ve not read my blog before PLEASE don’t take this to be meant as detrimental towards working mummies because it’s not, I firmly believe that every mummy has to make the choice that’s right for them and their families and am not judging the way anyone else chooses to raise their child/ren. But for me, entirely personally, and I know how lucky I am, this is what being a SAHM is all about.

Small steps like this make me feel so PROUD, mainly of him, for it’s his achievement. But a little bit proud of me too, for creating and nurturing this little wonder.

The Stick Collector

Posted by Caroline Elliott

We were out and about on Saturday. We popped to a local garden centre where we are members so get offer on lunches etc. After lunch we started to walk home but our bossy little Monkey kept disagreeing with us about which way to go. As we weren’t in a particular hurry we let him be in charge for a little while so we headed in the direction of our local country park, Ferry Meadows, which we go to a lot because it’s close and there’s lot to do.

Anyway we were walking along (thankfully the rain had passed for a bit) and we suddenly realised that Monkey was carrying a lot of sticks. Now he loves sticks, it’s not rare for him to get quite attached to sticks. They are regular companions on walks, they are a great motivational tool if he doesn’t want to walk any further (wow, come look at this stick!) and I constantly seem to find bits of stick at home, in our shoes, down the back of the sofa, etc.

What was unusual though was the quantity of sticks. So we watched for a bit and realised he was collecting them. Every time he passed a stick he picked it up! With the crazy weather of late (especially the mental winds on Friday night) I’m sure you can imagine there was a loooot of sticks about! It was so cute to see him problem solving with each new one, finding a way to keep hold of them all while picking another one up. Daddy and I thought it was brilliant 🙂

The funniest bit was when all of a sudden he sort of looked at the sticks as if to say to himself “What AM I doing?” and then dropped them on the floor and continued his walk. So funny.

A little while later he started collecting again, and the same cycle continued. He then tried to pick up a huuuge stick, then found one that was about his size and was content to use just that one for a while.

Daddy thinks he looks like Moses in this pic! he he

We went all the way to Ferry Meadows but then the winds were getting up, the clouds were starting to look a bit foreboding, it was nearly naptime and Monkey had done a poo. Despite all of this Monkey still didn’t want to go home so we had to strap in the buggy (with a lot of protesting) and thankfully a couple of little sticks kept him entertained most of the way home 🙂 Just in time as the heavens opened within a few minutes of getting home! Monkey was obviously very tired after all that problem solving and stick collecting as he slept for 3 hours and we had to wake him up! 🙂

Free (ish) indoor fun – 20 mths

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Hasn’t this year just been RIDICULOUSLY wet so far? Honestly! Our little part of the country is by no means the worst hit, if anything we’ve got off fairly lightly, but there has still been far too many rainy days for my liking! I make no secret of the fact that I have to get out of the house every day for the sake of my sanity. Even the prospect of an entire day at home with just Monkey and I is enough to put me in a grump. So rainy days are not good for me, far too much time spent indoors. We’ve still got out and about a lot in between all the rain but there has also been a lot of time spent playing indoors.

All this time spent indoors has led to a lot of clutching at straws for things to do, without spending a fortune on toys. He has got a lot of toys of course but there’s only so much variety and he is always looking for something new to do. So here is a little list of some of the things that have been keeping Monkey occupied without spending any money!

Since we started getting Monkey involved in cooking and baking (to help with the fussy eating) he loves it in there and wants to be stood on his little step stool at the worktop ALL the time. So we spend a lot of time in the kitchen these days, which is where many of these activities take place. This is also great as it may give you ways of keeping your little one occupied if like Monkey they tend to harass you while you’re cooking dinner!

Filling and pouring. We do this with lentils, rice, flour, pasta, anything really. We have a little funnel, an empty vanilla extract bottle, an empty spice jar as well as bigger bowls and cups etc. It goes everywhere but he loves it and it’s easily tidied up with a dustbuster! 🙂 He puts things in bottles, he tips them out, he moves them from one thing to another, just a great way to learn how things work really. He plays with some chopped vegetables and potato peeling etc. too.

Spaghetti is great for them to explore – Monkey loves posting it through a Colander (great for fine motor controls) and snapping it and sorting it and putting it in the bottle or jar. We’ve also played with cooked spaghetti which is fun.

Stacking and sorting. We got some cheap ikea cups and bowls ages ago which stack really nicely and Monkey loves organising things! Tins are a great way of keeping him occupied at the moment, he loves making a tower of tins! It concerns me when the towers get tall that the heavy tins will fall on him, but so far so good.

Banging – cake tins, saucepans, bowls, spoons, so simple but so much fun. Monkey was loving this the other day and I got some of his musical instrument toys involved too and we had a fantastic impromptu music session in the kitchen. Lots of fun!

Oh and spoons make a great noise when they are dropped on the floor! 🙂

The kitchen isn’t the only place with fun to be had though, who doesn’t love a den?

Cardboard boxes are great too, we’ve had one for so long now that it’s lost all shape and doesn’t stand up unless you hold it, but Monkey still loves crawling through it as a tunnel and drawing on it.

I really hope this weather improves soon but in the meantime why not check out some of the other indoor play ideas we have had fun with in the past.

Playtime with household objects (ages 6 mths +)

Parcel tape play

Playing with velcro hair rollers and straws

Our failed Valentine Craft attempt!

Posted by Caroline Elliott

You may or may not have read that I have set myself a Creative Challenge to be more creative with Monkey’s playtime and to allow him to explore his creativity more at the same time. I know I am not alone in my fears about messy play but I am trying my best to brave with this challenge. (Please click here if you would like to join the challenge!)

With V day coming up I thought it was a perfect opportunity to be a bit creative. Hubby and I don’t really do valentines day but I thought that Monkey’s Nanny and Grandma might appreciate a card from him. So using an idea I’ve nabbed from Baked Potato Mummy I decided to do some cutting and sticking. I cut out some heart shapes and tore up some tissue paper in suitable valentines colours.

I was going to try and do the gluing on the hearts before Monkey joined in as I was worried how he would get on with the glue… but well I failed and my child is far too clever for me. He always seems to know when I am doing something I don’t want him to know about. I think it’s a combination of me being rubbish at being sly and the fact that he wants to know what is going on ALL the time to make sure he’s not missing out!

So anyway he came to find out what was going on and was immediately obsessed with the glue bottle and lid….

for ages….

…even while I was trying to get him interested in sticking things (he loves stickers so I thought he would love it, but, no). He eventually had fun blobbing the glue on the card, but he didn’t want to stick the tissue paper down.

And then, well I’m not really sure why, I think he thought I was trying to take the glue away from him (he was getting annoyed with having sticky hands so was trying to help!) but he started bawling. Properly bawling. As if his world was ending. For ages. For apparently no reason.

After a while I got out some little foam bits and he cheered up instantly – and played with them for a bit and then went to off to play-doh. (Kids, eh?)

So well, here are the valentines cards… but I’m ashamed to say that aside from a little bit of glue dobbing, I made them (eye roll). Not a great start to the Creative Challenge! I’ve tried to console myself that it was good sensory play, and good fine motor control practice, but, well, really it was a big fat fail wasn’t it? haha oh well, you’ve got to laugh! Maybe I will try something slightly less ambitious for our next messy play!

The upside was that when my little bro, Uncle Marky, came round for a play after work, the two of them had a whale of a time playing with the tissue paper, throwing it up in the air and all around! haha They were at it for ages! Silver lining and all that!

The Creative Challenge linky will open on the LAST WEDNESDAY of every month – so 26th February. I hope your creative challenge is going better than mine is so far! 🙂 Two weeks to go! Click here to find out more!!

<div align="center"><a href="https://becomingastayathomemum.com/category/playtime-blogs/creative-challenge/" title="Creative Challenge"><img src="http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c325/cazzabella2304/CCbadgesmall_zps32623a4b.jpg" alt="Creative Challenge" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I’m also linking up with Kid GLloves and Mini creations… though all Monkey really made was a mess 🙂 sorry guys! xx

A Big Bus Adventure to the Library

Posted by Caroline Elliott

Monkey loves buses. He seriously LOVES buses. We have loads of toy buses and he gets massively excited whenever he sees a bus. It could be a real bus – which he will shout and point and clap and wave to – or a bus in a book or on the TV, which again he will shout and point and clap and wave to. Bless him it is very cute.

We don’t go on buses very often mainly because in our area to get anywhere by bus takes at least 3 times as long and is way more expensive than going by car. He has been on buses before – but not since our holiday in the summer. I have been meaning to take him on a bus for a while but we are generally pretty busy and I’ve just not got round to it.

On a no-plans Thursday however I decided it was time for our Big Bus Adventure. I didn’t want to take him too far and the local library is on the bus route, and I vaguely remembered they do a story time on Thursday Mornings so I thought it would be nice to combine the two. The library is actually about 2-3 mins away in the car, maybe 5 mins by bus (plus all the waiting time either end) but it cost us £2.40 to get there and back. At adult walking speed it only takes about 15 mins to walk… so you can see why we don’t get the bus very often!!

But it was a treat for Monkey and he was very excited when the bus came to the stop, and gave a big clap as it came up.

He sat very seriously all the way there and I was explaining that it stops to let people on/off etc.

The library wasn’t open when we got there so even though it was freezing cold we had a little play outside first.

We had a lovely time at the library – he goes with Nanny and Grandpops to a rhyme time session most weeks but it was the first time we had been to Story Time, and they read one of his favourite Spot books which was lovely and he really enjoyed it. We had a look at some of the many lovely books they have there, but bless him he just kept getting excited to see some of the books we have at home. No matter how I tried to get him interested in other books he was obsessed by Dear Zoo and Dear Santa! Bless him! I did manage to tear him away from his faves though and we checked out a couple of other books on his library card to bring home with us.

There was more excitement for the bus journey home and it takes a slightly longer loop home so we got a few more pics of him enjoying the ride! 🙂

And that was the end of our big bus adventure, bye bye bus! 🙂

Puddle Splashing and a new furry friend – 20 mths old

Posted by Caroline Elliott

We regularly see both sets of grandparents each week and they try to look after Monkey for an hour when they can so I can do some cleaning etc. without interruptions. Last week though unfortunately on the day we were due to see his paternal grandparents, my poor mother in law came down with a nasty migraine! So Monkey and I had to re-think our plans. I was a bit concerned as it was pouring with rain first thing, but thankfully the sun came out and it was actually quite a lovely morning.

The wellies and waterproofs came on and we went on a little walk to a play area at a nearby school.

It was absolutely sodden, as I guess you would expect with the weather we’ve been having! Monkey had a bit of a climb on things but mainly wanted to splash around in the puddles – though he likes to make sure it’s safe so he likes Mummy to splash in them first. It’s quite funny as he won’t go in until I’ve been through it first! haha He did enjoy a swing on the huge swing thing though too.

As he wasn’t that interested in the actual park we started to wend our slow way home, chasing the ball, waving at buses, pushing the buggy…

Then a very friendly cat appeared! Monkey loves cats, almost as much as he loves buses.

He’s very good at gentle stroking bless him!

They very much enjoyed each other’s company, until a dog came and the cat ran off!

More puddle splashing and then home.

Not a very exciting outing or anything but nice to record the simple pleasures of a little walk filled with lots of smiles

Wet walks and squirrel watching

Posted by Caroline Elliott

What a wet and miserable week it’s been! We’ve been doing a lot of indoor play at play centre but we have managed to get out and about a bit to make the most of the dry-ish patches whenever we can!

With all this wet weather we have been making a lot of use of Monkey’s wellies and waterproof trousers – he loves puddle splashing and I don’t have to worry about him getting soggy when he’s all kitted out!

It’s also a good motivator to keep him moving when we have a stubborn moment – let’s go find a big puddle! Soon gets him moving again 🙂

There’s a lot of squirrels around at the moment and Monkey loves watching them scampering about.

There is a squirrel somewhere in this pic, I think it’s climbing down a fallen log… as it was running off Monkey waved goodbye (bless him!)

(There’s a grey blur on the fence that I think is the squirrel! My phone is ok for close ups but not so good for longer distance pics!)

Yesterday afternoon’s walk to the post office took forever as Monkey just wanted to spin and dance around – and there wasn’t enough puddles around to persuade him to move!

It started to rain on the way home so he was back in his buggy, and to my surprise sat there chuckling the whole way home – apparently Monkey loves the rain!

Becoming a Stay at Home Mum

Can I really do this?

19-24 months

Playing with Cloud Dough – 21 months

Listening to Music in the car

Running down hills

Our little builder – 20 mths

The Stick Collector

Free (ish) indoor fun – 20 mths

Our failed Valentine Craft attempt!

A Big Bus Adventure to the Library

Puddle Splashing and a new furry friend – 20 mths old

Wet walks and squirrel watching