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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

a yummy time with playdough

Oh the challenge of creative play at 15 months! I have made several solid attempts at "creative play" with Holden in the last 3 months or so. But it seems that I am normally way above his little head. Coloring has been a success. And yes, I do realize that coloring doesn't sound all that creative. But it's something new and different for him to do. So yesterday I thought I would pull out some playdough and let him go at it. I was a bit skeptical of what he would do with it. I tried to put him in a big chair at the kitchen table, but he could barely see over the top. So then I placed him in his highchair, kind of wondering if he would think the playdough was a snack since he was sitting in his eating chair. I personally remember loving the salty goodness of my mom's homemade playdough as a child. I was constantly, sneaking bites to eat as I played at the kitchen table. I wonder if she remembers that? I probably wasn't as sneaky as I thought.

Minutes later I learned that sure enough, he wanted to eat the playdough. At first, I kept trying to explain: no eat. We play, smash, pinch, squeeze it. But we don't eat it! Then I finally caved. I'm sure there's no harm in eating the stuff. He ate some, had a disgusted look on his face and spit most of it out. Which, by the way, he often does with his food now. Grrrr. So I thought to myself, problem solved. He doesn't like it. The store bought stuff must not taste as good as mom's homemade stuff. But even if he didn't like the taste, he continued to nibble here and there as I cooked dinner. Any other suggestions for creative play at this age? The toys in the house just get plain monotonous. Not so much to him, but to me.

9 comments:

Amanda said...

fingerpainting! Very messy but oh so fun. Just make sure to cover your table with newspaper. :) I also always wanted to try those homemade potato stamps when the girls were fingerpainting. they look fun and pretty easy.

He is so big....and soooo handsome! Give him hugs from Aunt Mandy!

Unknown said...

Try water colors. Abby and Connor loved them at his age.

Kelly said...

My kids love playing with bubble wrap and packing peanuts. Every now and then we'll get lucky and receive a package with both! They love the texture and sound and my 3 year old makes "snow" angels out of the packing peanuts. Messy, but fun!

The Wier Family said...

Sidewalk chalk! Fun, easy, and washes out of clothes... a bonus! Also, "painting" the sidewalk with water and a paintbrush. He is so darn cute!!!!!

The Skains Family said...

Bubble always provide lots of entertainment for my girls!

everyday graces said...

Bubbles! I highly recommend gymboree bubbles. Go there and buy the bubbles with the little blower that has like 5 or 6 little holes. I used to blow these inside the house in our kitchen when colin was little. It was a huge hit with very little sticky mess.

http://www.gymboree.com/shop/dept_item.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442130953&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374306252060&bmUID=1250478771473

Molly said...

I love all of the suggestions above! We love fingerpaint and water painting. We also love playing in the water, like at a water table. Owen just got a water and sand table for his bday and all 3 kids were playing with just the water today. SO fun!

Silly putty, shoe laces, homemade shakers, tents/forts, floam...those are just a few more fun ideas. A fun place to explore is Lakeshore Learning Center...they have such cool play stuff.

Have fun!

The Coopers said...

painting with pudding! then he can eat all he wants. put it on his tray and let him go. paint the sidewalk, porch or driveway with water. get water and some paint brushes and paint away no mess!! they have those real easy bubble blowers now you can buy that all he has to do is push a button! have fun!

Jess said...

I don't have any good suggestion but I just had to tell you about my friend's son. He will grab handfuls of Play-Doh and then run off and hide so he can eat it. He's 18 months. It just cracks me up!