1. Flash Cards.  The Wingman has loved these flashcards that I purchased on Amazon.  Usually we keep it pretty low key.  I’ll hand him one card at a time, telling him the word, and he will stack them in the cardboard box they came in.  Sometimes he just has fun stacking (still a win as he learns better hand control!), sometimes he’ll repeat the words, and sometimes he’ll stare at the picture and soak it in.  (BTW, his favorite card is the one with the cookie on it. 😉 )

//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=lifwityou1204-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B00413Q59C&asins=B00413Q59C&linkId=6MQLZEY7BTRFOP4A&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true

2.  Bowling.  Get some plastic cups and set them up like bowling pins.  Then roll a ball from a couple feet away and watch them fly!

3.  Chores.  Wingman loves to help.  The first task he took an interest in was emptying the dishwasher.  He likes to help with the silverware specifically, but also anything else he can reach on the bottom rack.  He now knows where to put the silverware, my mixing bowls, and my cutting boards.  Other jobs he likes to help with are sweeping, dusting, and spritzing things with a spray bottle of water.

4.  Spray bottle of water.  Sometimes this is helpful (such as when I’m mopping)….sometimes it isn’t so much.  But he already knows the routine…now when he grabs the spray bottle, he’ll grab a towel for the other hand. 😉

5.  Puzzles.  He loves Melissa and Doug chunky puzzles!  He’ll put the pieces in, then say, “More!” and we’ll start over.  He’s even started to play games with it and pretend to put a piece in the wrong spot, then we’ll giggle and say, “Nooo!!!” and then he’ll put it in the correct spot.
//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=lifwityou1204-20&marketplace=amazon&region=US&placement=B000E9DPVI&asins=B000E9DPVI&linkId=YVSLWABJ6AH7IWPZ&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true

6.  Little Baby Bum.  This one is his favorite.  I used to be against toddler usage of technology….but I have been surprised, amazed, and impressed with how much he was truly learned from these videos.  He has learned colors, shapes, counting, and singing.  Obviously, movies and videos should come in moderation, but I am now definitely an advocate of intentional video watching. 😉

What are some of your toddlers favorite activities?

-Bonnie

When I made my 101 in 1001 list, I decided I wanted to make a busy bag for the Wingman.  When my sister suggested doing a busy bag swap, I was so excited!

My sisters and I each made three sets of two different busy bags.  One set we kept for our own kids and the others we mailed to each other.

After scouring the internet, I finally decided on the two that I wanted to do.  This post was my first inspiration and what made me decide to make foam shape puzzles.

Supplies needed:

1. Construction paper
2. Foamie sheets or self-adhesive foam shapes
3. Scissors
4. Pen
5. Elmer’s glue

I couldn’t find self-adhesive foam shapes, so I just bought a pack of half sheets.  I definitely understand why the lady in my tutorial recommended the self-adhesives, though!!  It was painstakingly time consuming trying to trace and cut out these shapes.

Being the uncreative person I am, I based most of my patterns off of the ones shared at Tot School.  When I ran a Google image search, I came across this post at Vista Woman.  I love her patterns as well!

I was able to get two puzzles out of each sheet of construction paper.  If I had it to do over again, I think that I would purchase full sheets of foam (unless I can locate self-adhesives…then I would definitely do those!!) and use full sheets of construction paper.  Some of my foam puzzle pieces ended up being quite small and I can imagine they might be easily lost.

Here are my final puzzles!  I folded them in half, which served to help me to keep the patterns  only on one half.  Plus it makes for more compact storage.

Wingman is still a ways away from being able to understand how to do this project.  But I am excited for when he is able to!!

-Bonnie

While Googling and Pinteresting for activities to do with a one year old I came across an idea of making a tugging box!  I followed this tutorial and it was super easy.

I had a shoe box from several months ago when I bought some heels.  Ribbon was left over from our wedding.  At Walmart I purchased three sheets of felt (23 cents each) and a package of pipe cleaners (97 cents).  So it was very inexpensive.

All my supplies

I used a pair of scissors to poke holes into the box.  I wasn’t sure how many to do, but I just poked a decent amount, figuring I could add more if necessary.

After I made the holes, I simply threaded the items through two holes.  Some of them, like the shorter pipe cleaners, were placed close together.  Since the ribbon was longer, I threaded it through holes on opposite sides of the box.

In order to further encourage hand-eye coordination, holes were left empty on top so the Wingman can stick pipe cleaners in there if he wants.

It took probably a total of 10 minutes to make.  Super easy.

I made it late at night.  While I contemplated waking the Wingman up to try it out, I managed to wait until morning.  I was so excited to see what he would do!

He was definitely intrigued.  He loved pulling on the various pieces.  He has yet to notice that when he pulls on one end, the other end gets shorter.  But we’ll get there.  For now he just enjoys pulling on them.

Definitely a success!!

-Bonnie

When I saw a blog post mentioning this idea, I had flashbacks to similarly playing when I was young.  I knew I had to try it for the Wingman!

Total cost?  $1.00.  The Dollar Tree had a bag full of rubber bands of various sizes.  I sorted through it and found the biggest ones, which I then put over our loaf pan.

Yay!!  Now to see how it passes the baby test.

At first he wasn’t too interested and he started to play with his dinosaur toy.  Daddy gave it a couple “twangs” and the Wingman looked up with a big smile.  Now he was interested!!

He never quite got the hang of twanging it himself, but he enjoyed pulling off rubber bands and banging the loaf pan on the ground.  Definitely a toy that will need supervision, since the rubber bands are quite easy to pull off.  While the first go at it wasn’t super successful as far as “music”, he enjoyed it and I know he will keep having fun exploring it.

-Bonnie