Easy and Simple Every Day Play

Squeaker turned a year old on December 5th and while I’ve seen different criteria for classifying a child of her age; we alternate between calling her an older baby or a toddler (… toddling terror, to be specific). She is walking and walking quite well, and she uses walking as her primary form of movement. She’ll only crawl now if it’s to reach something that she can’t bend down and pick up. But, even with all of her walking, I still try to find easy play ideas that will keep her moving, keep her occupied and also facilitate some sort of independent play. I’m not trying to say that I want her to play independently all the time- she’s still just a baby (in my…

Mess Free Thanksgiving Art for Babies

With Thanksgiving next week, I had hoped to post up a few of these but well, I’ll be honest- the gift guide is consuming a lot of my blogging time. Still, I didn’t want that to get in the way of posting some Thanksgiving art for babies posts. We’ll have a messier version up next week, I hope, but for now; here’s the next part of mess-free art for babies. If you’ve seen past mess-free art posts, you’ll notice that we’ve usually done tracing of the hands and/or painting in a plastic baggie. I post these projects not because I’m trying to discourage messy play (I think that’s important too) but because I’m trying to be mindful that sometimes Squeaker just doesn’t want to put…

Baby Games & Books: Peek a boo

We’re starting a new feature of School with Squeaker- designed for babies and toddlers called: Baby Games and Books Each part of the series will focus on a game to play with babies, variations of that game (if possible), related books, and YouTube videos (if possible) that are related to the theme. Interacting with your baby or toddler by playing games is a great way to work on communication skills, social skills, fine motor skills, gross motor skills… there are really a lot of areas that you can incorporate! Our first game in the series is one of Squeaker’s favorites: Peek-a-boo * Please be advised that this post may contain affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information. Games like peek-a-boo usually won’t make…

3 Easy Sensory Friendly Pumpkin Play for Babies

Sweet B is on a field trip to a pumpkin patch and while I would have loved to have joined her- outdoor places like farms and pumpkin patches and I, just don’t get along. Even with my allergy meds, sometimes I just can’t win. So, instead of joining her, Squeaker and I are partaking in some at-home pumpkin play. Here are just two of the activities that we’re doing for our pumpkin play for babies ideas. These are both sensory experiences as I want Squeaker to get a lot of hands-on play with different textures, smells, and tastes. Sensory Pumpkin Play for Babies: Cloud Dough First, we used a cloud dough recipe found at Lemon Lime Adventures, though our ingredient list is slightly different. As…

Back to School Art Project for Babies

It’s been a full week since everyone has gone back to school here in New York; both of my kids and myself. I’m attending Mercy College and all of my classes will be online. To celebrate this occasion, I wanted to do another art project with Squeaker focusing on the general theme of back to school. Naturally, my first inclination was to do something with apples… and that lead to all kinds of searches through Pinterest boards for Fall projects. Eventually, I settled on something with trees. I think that this something that I can continue to do with her every year, and another less messy art project. This post makes use of affiliate links at no additional cost to you. By making a purchase…

Mess Free Art for Babies

Mess Free Art for Babies

For Mother’s Day this year, I wanted to do a few art projects with Squeaker. Naturally, I started with Pinterest and after oohing and aahing at the footprint and handprint crafts, I looked further. I wanted to do something with her that wouldn’t be too much of a mess, but also provide her with a fun sensory experience. I finally found something that was close to what I was looking for- mess free art for babies. You will need: A highchair (or flat surface, if baby is able to sit up. Or you could incorporate this into tummy time.) A willing participant (Squeaker was 5 months) Ziploc bags (we used gallon size) Paint (we used tempera) Paper (we used construction paper, though card stock could…