Real Water Beads

Out of sheer luck and too much time spent on FB, I was able to snag myself a whole stash of water beads! Haha perfect timing since I was just talking about it!

Yules and I had a great time watching them grow today! Simply dump them in water and watch them plump up. I think it takes a few hours for them to fully grow... Yules and I didn't stick around long enough to watch the entire process! Haha! By the time we came back a few hours later they were full grown!

Like I said before, these things last forever!! Once you're done playing with them, give them a quick rinse in a strainer to get rid of some of the gross kiddie germs! You can store them in a big ziplock or Tupperware container. If they dry out, just simply add water to rehydrate them.

They come in a tiny little pouch the size of a tea bag!

 

This is what they looked like right after we dumped them in the water:



After 30mins:

 

 
Full Grown (about a couple hours):

So crazy how they grew from that teeny tiny bag! And so much fun for the monster to watch them grow and of course play with afterwards!

What does the duck say?? Apparently "NO"!

New favourite look: DUCK face
New favourite word: NO
This new combo drives me NUTS... but gets her whatever she wants from Husband!!

Sensory Play...

Here's a little glimpse at what's been going on in our sensory table lately!

1. SAND + Natural things! We added some rocks, seashells, branches and any random things that Yulli collects during our walks!

2. BEANS! Kinda the same type of play like sand... scooping, pouring, transferring etc. But the bigger units changes it up and it also makes a different sound. I find the hearing sense is often neglected during sensory play! Bonus: it is uber cheap!

3. WATER + Spray toy! Oh man this thing is fun on warm days when we can play outside and not worry about making a mess! This is actually a toy that Yules plays with in the bath! It sprays water everywhere and has different interchangeable pieces that can stack to create different spray patterns! It was a very WET activity, therefore no pics... but here is what the toy looks like in case you want to purchase it!

4. SAND ALIVE/KINETIC SAND! These are new products that I can only describe as wet sand-play-doh-living organisms!! Haha sounds gross and kinda cool at the same time! I think the big kids (aka adults) had more fun playing with this stuff! The two products are similar but a bit different... Sand Alive is a little more play dough like and Kinetic Sand is a little more "alive"!! Here's a video that shows you just how cool this stuff is! Yulli is playing with the Sand Alive!

5. WATER + Tapioca Pearls! This is supposed to mimic water beads. Yules still has the occasional tendency to sample things, and I wasn't all too sure what type of chemicals are in water beads... so just in case she puts one in her mouth, I decided to use tapioca pearls. But then I found out that they do sell non-toxic water beads that are safe for kids... Oh well next time!! The advantage to using real water beads is that they last FOREVER!! If they get kinda gross and germy, you just rinse them and if the dry out you just rehydrate them! Tapioca pearls only last a few days... Bubble tea anyone? Haha!

 

This is what the pearls looked like a couple days later... much more plump and the vibrant colors faded... but still fun!!



Self Portrait!!

Let me first start off by saying how much joy it brings me when I get messages informing me that you guys stole paper from Costco!! Haha! Read this post if you have no idea why I am encouraging stealing paper from Costco!!

Anyways, one day Yules was laying on one of her Costco sheets of paper, so I decided to trace her body! She thought that was pretty fun! We then proceeded to add in all the body parts and details. It was a great way for her to identify all the names of the body parts! I asked her where the eyes should go and she would show me and I would draw them in. Afterwards I would ask her to color the eyes... so again she had to identify them.
We tried to trace Kalbs beside her, but he was not having any part in this activity!! Haha! So I just drew him beside her!! Excuse my poor artistic skills Haha!

Contact Paper Colour Sorting

Here's an easy colour sorting activity for you guys to do with your little monsters!

I used strips of construction paper to make a "frame" on contact paper. I gave the monster some left over seasonal foam shapes to sort... which are removable so I would recommend them over pieces of paper!  She was a little confused at first because usually when we do contact paper activities it's a free for all and there is no real "goal"! But she got the hang of it pretty quickly and accomplished her task over a few days!

Random DIY teaching clock!

I know I haven't posted in a while... so here is a random post un-related to decorating or babies... and actually not that exciting either!! Haha!

I saw this idea on Pinterest and pinned it a while back... for no good reason, other than the fact that I thought it was a good idea! LOL. It was a DIY clock used to help kids learn to tell time. Well obviously the Yules isn't going to be learning to tell time anytime soon!! (Haha you see what I did there??)
Anyways, I actually just started tutoring a little girl recently and low and behold what does her mom want me to work on... time!! Haha Pinterest to the rescue! We spent some time making it together and I think it turned out well and it really helped reinforce some of the concepts. Oh yah it was also super EASY!!

I'm pretty sure most of you (my super awesome readers) don't have kids old enough to be learning time... but in case you are a super hard core keener mom... give it a try. Haha Or keep this idea in the back of your mind for when your kiddos are actually old enough to learn time!