 While school is back in session for many, we are still dealing with the heat of summer. Midweek it is supposed to be 88º here in New York. I am definitely planning on hitting up the sprinklers in the afternoon, and perhaps enjoy some ice-cold play with homemade ice chalk!
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 Celebrating Opened Ended PlayI almost did not write this post this until one evening while enjoying a snack of black beans my daughter ventured into the living room to gather up some bins I had left out from our new IKEA sensory table. She then proceeded to use the bin as her seat in the kitchen to enjoy her snack. Apparently she thinks our kitchen is a BYOSE #BringYourOwnSeatEstablishment.
She was delighted. Delighted in herself. Delighted in the box. Delighted with her snack. Just delighted.  Lately I’ve noticed that Little Miss F. is starting to splash more in the bathtub. Now splashing is fine with me -- it is great sensory exploration. However, we cannot flood the bathroom. I knew I needed to change some things up because I think LMF was getting a bit bored of the same rotation of bath toys. So, the other night I decided to change up our bath time routine and add something completely new to Little Miss F. --
GLOW STICKS!  Earlier this spring I collaborated with family members to celebrate several family 1st birthdays at one celebration. One of the homemade items I created for the special day were Cake Pops. Having enjoyed them as an occasional treat at Starbucks, I was excited to make this special treat. Now, honestly, most of my baked goods are super packed with yummy healthy goodness...cake pops are not. They are yummy, but they are truly a once every so often treat.
 I know I have not posted anything in a little bit. Honestly, I’ve been enjoying summer and just taking in each precious day with Little Miss F. Sometimes it is the best thing to just disconnect and take a break from all devices and apps and just get outside and be with your child. For us, this has meant a lot of time traveling with the family. When I travel I notoriously over pack, add a child into the mix and I seriously have a problem. Recognizing this, I knew I needed to create some easy to pack, light for travel fun toddler activities for car trips and small hotel rooms. Who knew that the zipper pouch activity would become one of Little Miss F’s favorites!
 My husband recently remarked that we need to give her more challenge. She’s figured out all of her play areas.
I think he was right. To her, she could move about the house and accomplish her work in a matter of minutes. We needed to do things differently to make her stop and ponder and wonder.  Knowing how much Little Miss F. loves her Circle Basket and her Metal Treasure Box, I decided I wanted to create a wooden box. I learned from her interactions with her Red Discovery Basket that she seems to prefer treasure baskets that have lids for her to uncover.
 I’ve noticed Little Miss F. has a penchant for all things red. The first magnetic letters to come off of the dishwasher? The red E and the red I. The rings she prefers to carry about the home, red. If she spies a red card--it's hers!
 My husband said to me the other day, “Why don't you make cloud dough for LMF?” and I thought, yeah, why don't I make some cloud dough for Little Miss F to explore?
 Based on Little Miss F's love of her Circle Discovery Basket I decided to make a Metal Treasure Discovery Box. As I planned for this I was initially inspired by Nicole from The Kavanaugh Report’s guest post on The Naptown Organizer Blog use of a wire kitchen strainer as a basket. I love it when invitations to play are housed in aesthetically correspondent or complementary materials--such as having a using a natural woven basket for wooden blocks, or a tin bucket for clear plastic materials.
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