Anna's "Activities"

Raise your hand if you get just as excited (or more!) as your kids when they get a new toy. 

You too? I've said on the blog before that I love(d) teaching and so something I still enjoy is coming up with new activities and ideas for Anna Ruth (and Betsy someday!) Of course coming up with toddler ideas isn't the same as planning fourth-grade curriculum :), but I am finding it is just as exciting (or more so!) to watch Anna Ruth enjoy something new....as it was to watch my fourth-grade students.  It's a totally different excitement when it's your own child. 

I want to make sure though that Anna is getting new things to think about..and a lot of the times her favorite "toys" is really an activity I've saved on Pinterest or came up with somewhere else.  Or even just something around the house I've let her play with....like putting dry pasta, paper napkins, and plates in the play kitchen.  She knows the word "activity" means we will get out something special and extra-fun.  And that it's often kept in our china cabinet...she'll go running to this cabinet when I say the word!  

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For this activity I filled an oatmeal container with fuzzy, colorful balls and then cut out small holes in the plastic lid.  Anna loved shoving the balls into the container through the holes in the lid.  She also thought I wrapped the container in heart paper/washi tape just for her to unwrap and rip off like a present.  :) 

This was another idea she really liked.  I covered a {handmade} chalkboard with chalk, and then let her dip a small paintbrush in water to draw on it.  She enthusiastically played with this for a while, then dumped the tiny bit of water on herself and proceeded to clean up the floor with a towel, another one of her favorite things to do! 

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What fun things have you tried that have been a success (or not) lately?