Ice Cream Shop Pretend Play 🍦🍧🍨

I had set this up a few weeks ago, for the little guy. He loves playdough and also ice creams... Combine the two, and it was a hit! 😄 The setup might look like a lot, but it hardly took me a few minutes to put it all together. 

I already had some homemade playdough of different colours lying at home. I only made a fresh batch of playdough with a hint of vanilla essence to make the Vanilla 'Ice Cream'! :)

A little chalkboard name board for his store. 

Muffin tray to hold the various 'flavours'. 

An upcycled carboard box to hold the 'ice cream cones'.

Magnetic or Non-magnetic Sensory Bin

The little one was introduced to magnets earlier this month through the DIY Magnetic Fishing game, that we played at the his birthday and more recently through the Magnetic Paper Plate Maze we made last week.

So lately, his curiosity around how magnets work, is high! He goes around the house with his little magnetic stick (from the maze game) or the fishing hook trying to see what sticks to his magnet and what doesn't! 😅

Playdough Kits - Some More!

Fire Emergency Playdough Kit

Our love affair with Playdough Kits is going strong and with each kit, I am seeing a lot of learning through play happening.  If you have missed our first post on Playdough Kits, do hop over to my previous post on it and read up on them. We have the following kits on that post:

• Construction Site Playdough Kit
• Cupcake Playdough Kit
• City Playdough Kit
• Land and Sea Playdough Kit

Farm Playdough Kit

Also, if you are looking to make your own batch of playdough, here is how we make our Homemade Playdough. Its super simple and we really love the texture! The playdough that we use are all homemade

I consider a thoughtfully put together playdough kit as a little investment in time that I am making. I may take about 15-20 minutes to put together a kit and what results in hours of freeplay and endless creative learning for the Mini. It is worth every bit of my effort.

Bee and Garden Playdough Kit

The best part? I have spent absolutely nothing to make these kits, except of course the box itself, the rest of the little items are all parts of his existing toys, items lying around the house or craft supply. I love that I am able to re purpose items from his toys that are usually lesser played with. These kits give a whole new dimension to them and rekindles his interest, while in reality, there is no new items at all. Just presented in a different fun way!

Funny Faces Playdough Kit

Here are our kits from last few days... We totally absolutely LOVE them. I do hope you get some ideas and inspirations while here and get playdoughing with your little one! It is worth it all :)

Playdough Kits

Construction Site Playdough Kit

Recently I came across this interesting concept of Playdough Kits and we love them! It's basically putting together loose parts along with playdough based on different themes, as open ended play invitations. Playdough has always been loved by my boy, with these kits I am primarily trying to tingle his creativity and give new play dimensions to good old playdough!

Cupcake Playdough Kit

I am big on organizing and absolutely love a good storage solution! The box I use for my Playdough Kits is a dry fruits box I got on Amazon. The mat is a silicon baking mat from Ikea. It is perfect for playdough play, zero mess!

City Playdough Kit

I let these kits sit in his play shelf for a couple of days until the interest is alive. He pulls them out himself and sits to play. I have a box full of loose parts that I store away, and intent to use in these kits on rotation. After play, we ensure everything is back in its place until next play session. 

Land and Sea Playdough Kit

These have worked great for us, so sharing here for anyone else who may be interested! :)

Do check our newer post, "Playdough Kits - Some More" for a few more kits that we put together! :)

Rainbow Rice Bin | Sensory Play Ideas

So, have you made your own batch of Rainbow Rice yet!? :) 

If not, go right over to my DIY Rainbow Rice post and make your mini a batch of it already! Its super easy and you will be done in no time!

If yes, yay! Read on to see some simple fun ways in which we enjoy rainbow rice sensory bin.

Scooping:

A few colourful stacking cups (a favourite toy from the Mini's babyhood days, re-purposed!), a shove, strainer and fork from a mini beach set and a few more random spoons of different sizes make for a lovely session of just scoop, fill and shove!

Mini Construction Vehicles Play:

Of course the little construction vehicles have to come in for some fun too! They always do :) So here is to more filling, scooping and dumping of gorgeous rainbow rice by tiny diggers and dump trucks.

Ice Cube Tray Counting:

This one was a self initiated activity by the Mini. I added an ice cube tray to the rice bin and he began filling the slots one by and one and went on to count them! So yeah, there you have a super fun counting activity as part of the rainbow rice bin! :) 

Artificial Grass Mat Farm | Sensory Play Ideas

This is a ready-made set up that has absolutely no-prep required! Well yes. I found this awesome inexpensive door mat on Amazon which is made of artificial grass. I felt it is just perfect for a simple fun farm set up for my little boy!

It feels just like real grass and has the similar character as real grass does. I loved the feel of it and from the number of times he ran his palms over the mat and smiled to himself, I can say so did the Mini!

He has a few of tractors, of all different colours and sizes and a few farm animals. We teamed them all up and set them up on this little mat of ours and.... Voila! Our little farm is ready! :)

Or you can just forget farm setup and just enjoy the feel of the artificial grass under your bare feet! :)

Animals Bath Station | Sensory Play Ideas

How can you go wrong with water play, right?! Which child does not like slapping around and frolicking in water!

My little Aquarian boy is no different and absolutely loves the water. He loves his bath time and always asks for a few minutes extra after bath to play around just a bit. It always calms him down after a long day or a cranky tantrum and makes him happy.

My boy is a little person who loves when there is a procedure to follow or a structure in place. So when I set up this animal bathing station, I did not just let him go wild on it. I guess that would have been fine too, but I knew a little procedure would be loved by him, so I gave him a little demo with just one animal...

I asked him to first dip the animal in soapy water. Then place it in the little bath tub. Then, spray water on it using the squirt bottle to rinse off soap. Use the towel to wipe the animal, off dry. And finally place the animal in the other bowl!

...he followed this procedure meticulously and repeated it with the rest of the animals one by one, giving me enough time to go finish up my lunch prep! :)

Rice Bin - Construction Site | Sensory Play Ideas

Okay, so this post needs not much text really! 

A bin full of rice and an army of construction vehicles -  what really needs to be said here!? Just go play and have fun loading, tipping and dumping :)

Okay, before you get started, maybe just read up my post on Sensory Play Setup and Ideas for some basic setup tips to contain the mess, if any and to ease up the process for you! 

I always set up my bins in our balcony for the open space available and for the natural lighting. And I always lay out a plastic mat under the bin to help set a boundary for spillage and also for easy cleanup.

Now, am going to just leave you with some pictures of my Mini at play at his little Rice Bin Construction site :) 

Rice Bin - Scooping and Pouring Station | Sensory Play Ideas

If you are new to sensory play and need some tips on how to set up a simple sensory bin and the basic items you would need for it, go over and read my post on Sensory Play Setup and Play Ideas. You will get a good idea and tips on getting started and I hope it will in fact encourage you to get started with sensory play, if you are weary like I was before I gave it a go!

In this post here, I am going to show you how I set up our rice bin scooping station. This is a very basic setup which actually needs no real setup bu some very simple tools that can keep a toddler busy for hours! Well, mine is a huge fan and is happy to play with this set up any day!

We add the following to our rice bin to make it a scooping station:

• Mini beach set - shovel, form and strainer.
• A few different sized spoons.
• Ice cube tray.
• Funnel
• Empty containers.

Sensory Play Setup and Ideas

After a couple of weeks of researching on sensory play and reading about its benefits and gathering some simple items from around the house, I have finally put together a dedicated sensory bin for the Mini. I have been weary of sensory bins as I was afraid of the mess! But then, after reading on how good it is for little ones and understanding how to teach them to contain the mess, I decided to give it a try. It's been a few weeks now and am so very glad I decided to go for it.

I am no expert in this, but after I put in so much effort into planning this, I really wanted to document some simple pointers that works well for us when we do sensory activities or play with our sensory bins. It's definitely worth the effort!

• Dedicated Storage: A big transparent shallow box is great for play and for storing all the little sensory play items. I store the different play items in individual ziploc bags. I store this box away, out of sight under the bed when not in play.
• Rice: I bought a few kilos of the least expensive rice I could find and have kept it only for sensory play. If stored well (in ziploc bag), I understand it can last for years!
• Play Setup: I always setup our sensory bins in our balcony, as there is a lot of open space. And I layout a plastic sheet below the bin to allow for easy cleanup and to allow him a boundary beyond which he shouldn't spill.
• Set Basic Ground Rules: Just before we begin play, I always remind him of few rules around sensory play. Like, to be careful and to not spill. To play only with the items I have set up and not include more toys in the bin. I play with him to demonstrate and repeat and remind him of the rules as we play.
• Limit Play Time: I set up the sensory bin/setup for him once in a few days and invite him to play for a limited time. 45-60 mins has been our time so far, after which I tell him it's time to put it away and bring to his notice another toy/activity that he's very fond of.
• Simple Variations: We try and do a variety of simple sensory play activities with slight variations. Initially I plan to set up the bins/activities for him in rotation and eventually, will let him choose what he wants to do.

It delights me to see him happily explore and play while also follow instructions. The textures, the movement, the feel of the various elements, he explores them all and enjoys the whole experience. It is a joy to watch his little self at play!

The more sensory play we do, he is learning to get more careful and conscious of not making a mess. He was with both bins for a good one hour after which I put them away. I can now leave him unattended for a few minutes while he's at play, and get some work done!

He looks forward to sensory play lately and its heartwarming to see him run towards our dining room window after he comes home from school, and peep into the balcony to see what 'sesory been' I have set up for him! The effort involved is worth it all.