Nature Park & Community Garden

We took a fieldtrip to our local nature park and community garden. Love Bug really enjoys being in nature, and I try to encourage natural exploration as much as possible. 

Looking at the flowers in the garden.

There are three ducks that reside at the pond. We've taken to calling them Huey, Dewey, and Louie. 

The park really encourages the natural use of it's landscape, as seen by this tunnel that runs through one of it's hills. 

Natural play strutures. 

All Of Baby, Nose To Toes

All Of Baby, Nose to Toes

I am actually really excited to start this theme. Because Love Bug is so young (13 months), I think it's important for her to begin to learn basic body parts. 

For Love Bug, I am including two other books in this theme: 

I See You, You See Me

Hide And Seek Baby

This is what I call "The Invitation" to play. I set up and wait for her to be interested. 

The invitation to play has been a success!

I introduce the book "Hide and Seek Baby" along with a doll and a blanket. 

She is interested!

We play hide and seek with the baby and with each other. 

She is now interested in the "I See You, You See Me" book. It has a mirror attached to it. I haven't met a toddler who doesn't like the mirror! 

We explore parts of the baby as we read the book. Here we are looking for baby's belly button. :)

We found baby's toes!

Love Bug is "feeding" her baby. 

After a day or two, I move the exploration basket to a new location. Most of the time, that in itself creates a newfound interest in the items. We then use them in different ways to create a rounded learning experience. 

Although this particular book is most suitable for the under 18 month crowd, older toddlers *can* still enjoy this book. Here are some examples as to how you can modify it for an older child:

Found on Pinterest. Roll the dice and have your child point to the body part on their own body and/or on yours. 

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Found On Pinterest.

Also Found on Pinterest. 

So, as you can see...a little time spent on Pinterest can give you an abundance of activities to do! 

Field Trip

This weekend we took a field trip to a local indoor play space for toddlers. It's a fantastic facility with a lot of open ended gross motor toys for tots to play with. 

Love Bug thoroughly enjoyed working those muscles lifting up the extra large soft foam filled blocks. 

 And watching her figure out how to climb and slide was thoroughly enjoyable for me!

Her favorite toy of all though was probably the blue ball that she carried around everywhere. 

Eric Carle Books

Naturally after reading Baby Bear Baby Bear What Do You See, we ventured on to other Eric Carle books. I didn't realize I had so many! I also have The Mixed Up Chameleon, but it's not pictured. 

Little Man (that I babysit) really enjoyed putting his fingers into the foods of The Very Hungry Caterpillar! I need to make a trip to the grocery store so we can sample some of the fruits this caterpillar ate his way through! 

Love Bug enjoyed feeling the web that The Very Busy Spider was weaving throughout the book. I also forgot how great of a tool this book is for teaching about animals and their sounds! 

Fun With Boxes

So much fun can be had with a box and some imagination!

We used a long slender tube like box to create a chute for Love Bug and Lil Man to drop balls in to. 

I've used an old mailing box to create a homemade postal box for Love Bug. I used a laminator to laminate a couple of small sheets of paper, but envelopes would work just as well. 

We've used boxes to create bridges and ramps for cars (and other objects as deemed fit by 1 year olds!) 

What have you used a box for?! I would love more ideas!