Friday, February 1, 2013

{Sensory play}

Our sweet little Giuliana is now 13months old
Where has time gone?!
She is no longer a baby & no longer enjoys baby things. 
A baby jumper no longer does the trick ;) 
We actually have to get creative now, trying to find activities that she can manage & learn from. 
Its been a blast watching her learn & develop! 
I have been doing a lot of sensory play with her the past couple of months, & she absolutely LOVES it!! 
It's her favorite activity during the day
She knows where i keep all of the supplies, & sometimes i catch her digging around trying to get the supplies out! 
Sensory play, i feel, is very important! It helps your babe learn about their surroundings, how different things feel, how they taste, how they smell.. 
I like to use items that are not harmful, such as millet, water, rice & home made playdoh.
also, i ALWAYS stay right by her or close by as she participates in these activities, 

Here are some of the activities we do: 
1. Millet
Always lay a mat down, things WILL get messy, & it makes clean up afterwards so much easier 
Fill your choice container with your millet {I use a casserole dish}
Put random items in, shapes,  toys, bowls, scoops
Let baby play & explore! 
2. Water
i like to fill a casserole dish half way with water
put in some random toys 
i give her a spatula too! 
she loves to splash around & poor the water on the toys
3. Rice
again, mat, casserole dish
Fill dish with rice & toys & scoops.
Some times i put a mini muffin tin off to the side & she scoops the rice into the little holes :) 
Giuiana loves the way the millet & rice feel on her skin, she likes to put her foot in the casserole dish & sprinkle a little millet or rice on her foot. Its so cute! 
4. Play doh
We just recently started to use play doh in sensory play. 
I like ot make my own playdoh because then i know exactly what is in it
I flatten it out & let her press her shapes into it {1st image}
or tear it up & let her figure out how to squish it together {2nd image} 
She Looooves to squish & play with play doh! 


It has been a lot of fun watching her learn about all of these different things. 
She has figured out that dry rice & millet don't taste very good. 
She has figured out that if you splash the water, you WILL get wet.
She has figured out that Play doh is NASTY tasting
It's funny watching her battle her natural instinct to put things in her mouth
she'll hold it up to her mouth, & its like she suddenly remembers "oh wait, this is gross" & she puts it down haha 
She's growing & learning so fast, I can barely keep up! 

Happy Friday!