Tot Trays

Raise your hand if you ever get frustrated with your children who have toys and activities out their ears and just follow you around like a puppy asking if you'll play with them! {This mama!}

I seriously have developed this mom-guilt complex for always feeling like I say "not right now" to Em when she asks if I'll play with her. She is so social and she seems to make really poor choices when she isn't engaged in something. {i.e. Jumping off the couch onto Piper... coloring on the walls with chalk... dragging little sister by feet across the room...}

And I am just simply not going to buy more toys. That is not the solution. We have toys. And I am simply not going to stop what I'm doing all day every day to play. I can't. I am her mom. And a wife. And a housemaid. And a cook. And though being a stay-at-home mama does allow me to be able to do that every once in awhile, it is not good for her if I am always halting her imagination and ability to play alone by jumping in.

{Do I sound like I'm justifying?? Sometimes I feel that way. But seriously. I do believe this is best. And healthiest.}

So insert the "solution" to part of this problem. Tot trays.

Our worst time of the day is right after Em wakes up from her nap in the afternoon. She is crabby and needs some space, but awake and wanting to "do something." To be honest? This is usually when I resort to an episode of Daniel Tiger. But I hate that. She just woke up. She needs time to wake up her creativity again. Not shut it down.

So my goal is to create some sort of Tot Tray that is simply on the table when she wakes up. She loves these, they are engaging, she doesn't need to talk, and they just simply look inviting and fun. My favorite part of this idea is that they are made with 97% of things we have at home. Begging to be used. And this is in a controlled environment. And they take 4 minutes to assemble.

Here is an amazing resource if this interests you:

http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/TotTrays.html

And here are a few of the ideas I've come up with to get us started:
(This list is simply for my reference, sorry if you don't follow my thought process or see my vision - feel free to ask for clarification if you see something especially interesting!)

1. Blank paper, glue stick, googly eyes, markers

2. Mini muffin tin, kid friendly tweezers, Pom Pom balls, 1 clothes pin

3. Play doh, small dowels, penne pasta (colored in food dye if time!)

4. Lacing string, wagon wheel pasta, circle cereal

5. Pool noodles cut in circles, paint, paper

6. Black paper with simple shapes drawn in white crayon, small bowl of small rocks

7. Tub of water with pool noodle boats

8. Black bean sensory bin with seed packets, gardening gloves, shovels, and pretend veggies

9. Color by number

10. Coloring page - pick your own tool

11. Do-a-dot page with tweezers and small Pom-Poms or stickers or daubers

12. Glue in cup, q-tip, small shapes, blank paper

13. Kumon workbook cutting pages

14. Shape/color/size sorts



So there! Tot trays start tomorrow!

Can't wait to see her fine motor skills, imagination, creative play, etc. develop!