Sensory play, the Valentine way

I think DJ is destined to be really annoyed at his mom when it comes to education. Not only was that my thing, but add the Montessori methodology into the mix, and I'm already looking at ways to help his natural curiosity blossom into a burgeoning brain of knowledge.

I know, I know. He's barely a year old. But that doesn't mean his curiosity, creativity, and natural desires to copy everything (EVERYTHING) I do can't be guided into some awesome fun that just happen to be educational. But since he's so little still, that means we get creative.

DJ loves to copy what I do, so he has his own broom and dustpan that are his size. He's very interested in sweeping and cleaning (except when it comes to throwing his toys around the living room - it's a process, yall!) so I try to help him with that. I let him use my broom, too, but it's easier for him to handle one his size. I let him sweep up real piles of stuff, and I even let him haul around my mop from time to time. He loves playing with Tupperware, kitchen equipment, the dishwasher... he just likes doing what we're doing. When I'm making some kind of food where he can be safely involved, I let him (ie - kneading bread dough). He loves to feel helpful and it helps him feel like he's a contributing member of the family

Unloading the dishwasher is a favorite chore of his. Granted, he likes to unload it when I'm trying to load it, but... hey, you've got to start somewhere.

Mixing the food up, just like Mom.

He seriously will sweep the entire downstairs multiple times a day.

He likes to find my hand broom and dustpan in the pantry and use it, too.

I don't have any pictures of this, but he is really interested in my hair when I get ready in the mornings. I have an extra pick that I let him use to help me brush my hair, which he really enjoys. He then tries to brush his hair, so he gets to practice on himself, too. It's a good life skill to have, and looking at some teenagers, you might wonder if they've figured this one out yet! He likes to help me blow dry my hair by holding the blow dryer, so I let him do that. He also loves watching us brush our teeth and has had his own toothbrush since before we moved to Nevada. He is a pro at brushing his own teeth, which is great because not only do I not have to start that battle, but I can let him be independent with that. When he's in the bathtub, we let him wash his own face and then wash our faces so that he gets that we all do it and that he can help by washing our faces. Sometimes he even washes our arms for us - so helpful, and really, so good for him at this age and stage of development.

He's probably 8 months old or so in this picture - he loves that dang toothbrush and definitely knows how to use it.

Today we tried a new sensory activity. I took some vanilla yogurt (it happened to be Greek yogurt because that's what I have) and divided it into 4 containers. I then took food dye and dyed the yogurt yellow, green, blue, and red. I stuck a diapered Deej in the tub with a giant piece of paper, a paint brush, and the yogurt and let him go for it. At first, he wasn't sure about any of it, so I actually got my hands in there and played for a minute. After he saw what was going on, he went to town. He finger painted the paper, the tub, his belly, my face... and then he did it all over again with the paint brush, sucking yogurt off of his fingers and the brush all the way. Was it messy? Yes. Was the clean up a bit of work? Oh yeah. Was it worth it? Absolutely! He got to express some creativity, he got to make an unhindered mess, and he had a great time doing it. It's good for his self confidence, his creativity, his development of gross and fine motor skills as well as sensory development, and it was stinking adorable.

This was such a glorious mess that it HAD to be a picture collage. We had a blast doing this.

What real life activities and sensory activities do you do with your littlies? What are they interested in? I'm always looking for good ideas, and I know I've got some awesome mom friend readers out there!