It has been ages since I posted! Life is busy & we've been having fun! I am so happy to share one of my favorite toddler activities that blends science, sensory play, & cooking. 

I love making Play Dough with Miss F. !

Full disclosure --It definitely requires a certain approach of patience and flexibility of mind. Fortunately, this is a very flexible recipe...the measurements need not be precise!

We ❤ Discovery Bottles! In anticipation of Valentine's Day, I made Little Miss F two Valentine inspired Discovery Bottles.

So this is the state of things...I began this post in January. Seriously. January….and now I am finally getting around to posting it...how many weeks AFTER Valentine's Day? What can I say...life is busy and it doesn’t always go according to plan. But we’re having fun!

We LOVE any project, activity, or craft involving contact paper. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I offered Miss F a Valentine Themed Sticky Craft using a variety of materials I found at the dollar store: Ribbons, pink, white, & red pom poms, and plain & glitter hearts in a variety of colors. ​

Miss F loves Yetis. Yes, the winter wonderland version of Big Foot. Absolutely. Loves. Yeti. She has yeti books, a Yeti friend for her bed. We’ve been reading Vin Vogel’s picture book, The Thing About Yetis. Our little girl, much like a Yeti thinks the cold and snow of winter are the most fabulous things. She does not like to be hot. But...just like the Yeti in Vin Vogel’s book, sometimes, even those who really, really love the winter miss the breezy ways and days of summertime.

We LOVE the ocean. We LOVE the beach--the water, the waves, the sand, the shells, the rocks! This summer Miss F simply delighted in her first beach experience, much to the absolute pleasure of her parents (and Digby!). ​

It has been such a busy New Year! I have a bunch of posts planned on a variety of Invitations to Play to share quite soon -- our Winter Nature Pal Exchange Craft, Story Stones, Valentine Inspired Play Activities, Sensory Bottles and More! In the meantime, I thought I would go old school and share one of our favorite homemade activities: Popsicle Sticks in a Coffee Can Posting! ​

Last weekend my daughter and I took a leisurely autumn walk to the park. Actually, we never even made it into the park -- only to the entrance steps! Little Miss F. was having so much fun playing with the leaves as we went we didn't get very far. While we were sitting on the steps enjoying the leaves, an older man stopped to share, "I was watching you and your daughter as she was playing in the leaves." I wasn't sure where this was going...but I listened. Having a dog and a baby has taught me that people feel quite comfortable to come up to you at any time and just chat. Then he asked me, "Do you know Buckminster Fuller?" He then said, something I hope I carry with me always. He explained, "When your daughter pulls on the drapes, LET HER! There's only two weeks that she'll be that type of scientist!" It was amazingly affirming to hear from a complete stranger, YES! Do let your child play in the leaves. She is happy. She is exploring. She is engaged. She is learning! Thank you kind stranger. You left me with a quote I will ponder for some time.

Nature and offering natural materials to my daughter is important to me. Especially since we live in New York City. In last post I shared our Nature Pal Exchange box. It was so much fun to purposefully explore the nature around us in New York! There is a lot to notice, explore, wonder about, and enjoy! I learned some lessons too! Dry out your collected materials as soon as possible! I made the HUGE mistake of not drying out my collected acorns and leaving them in open bags in a closet. Big mistake! I noticed the condensation on the bags & hoped since they were open they would dry out on their own. Nope. Mold formed. I was so disappointed & it was totally my fault. I felt so bad-the acorns could have been tasty meals for squirrels. :(

Late on a Friday night I saw the post on Instagram announcing the Fall Nature Pal Exchange. Pen pals but with items found on nature walks?!? What a fabulous idea!