The tuff spot (see this post) is still in the playroom/dining room. Today Eli decided to pile it full of his cuddly toys so they could have a picnic.
When everyone was finished, they all settled down for a sleep
and Eli tucked them in!
I’m a big fan of the Tuff Spot at the moment, hopefully it’ll be warm enough to take it outside soon.
I did do this in April honestly! We’ve been struck down with chickenpox so life has ground to a bit of a halt. I was inspired by this one at Make, do and friend.
Contents:
Coloured pom poms and threading cotton reels – for making patterns;
Foam numbers – large and small;
Number wooden blocks;
Cuisenaire rods – these were on special offer on amazon a while ago, E’s probably too young for them at the moment but they’re great for early understanding of the relationship between numbers.
Tweezers for picking things up and various containers for sorting.
Initially E was mainly interested in the noise the box makes when you shake it! We have sat and played with it together and he’s been pretty focused. So far we’ve ordered the numbers, sorted things by colour and size and attempted to make patterns with the cotton reels. For him it’s definitely a box that needs some adult direction rather than an independent play box. Later on in the month I’ll probably add in some pattern sheets for him to copy.
Cost to me: nothing
If you missed them here are the links to the other boxes I’ve done:
My sister told me about Tuff Spots which are apparently all the rage in nurseries and preschools. They are intended for mixing cement and so on but they’re a great size and shape for a play tray. She found a great deal on eBay so ordered one for both of us and it’s been in the boot of my car ever since.
I’m intending to use it outside for messy play so I was waiting for the dry weather to return. That may never happen and I was sick of it clogging up the car so I brought it inside.
Today I simply put some of Eli’s small word toys onto it to see what he’d do. He immediately sat in the middle and started playing.
The slightly enclosed area meant he had a small village to play with and definitely made him focus differently. I suppose it’s a bit like the idea of setting up table activities that I blogged about last month.
We I also realised the little house perfect for “A Squash and a Squeeze”
Our ice cream shop (see original post) was a resounding success; I would definitely recommend it.
I’m not sure it’s really a sensory box in the real meaning of the term – more a role play box – but Eli played with it every day for for two weeks and then on and off for the remainder of the month.
After a week or so I added in a little box of pennies and a notebook and pencil for taking orders
Eli practiced counting out pennies to pay
and wrote down orders in his book.
Now we just need to work on not shouting “What you want?” at the top of his voice to all customers and he’ll be a fully trained waiter.
I haven’t had a very crafty week this week, the first week back after a holiday is always a bit of a shock to the system!
Last time we ordered pizza – which happens more often than I’d like to admit – we also ordered some cookies (I wouldn’t recommend them, they’re very small for the price). They came in a cute little pizza box which I put aside for imaginative play.
Today we got out Eli’s Play Dough Pizzeria (thanks Aunty Lucy!)
And played at being pizza deliverers
(I do feel a bit bad that he knows what a pizza deliverer does but did add another dimension and more speech into the game)
