Water Table Rainbow by Tomato Mama Teachable Moments Tuesday

     Around here we love our water table. I bought this Step2 WaterWheel  play table 2 summers ago and I have to say that it was money well spent. We play with it in lots of different ways including with the toys it came with ( boats, spinner funnel, and cup) as a toy car wash, we've rolled balls down the slope and shot golf balls into it with his toy golf clubs ( water hazard!) It's a great way to cool down, but it also a great learning experience.

      Last night I filled up an ice cube tray and put a little food coloring in each section to make colored ice cubes and put them in the freezer. Today we had a rainbow of ice cubes waiting for us. We filled up the water table and I let Pickle decide what color cubes to put in.

     We watched them melt and guessed what color the different cubes would combine to make. I gave him a spoon and he stirred them up. 

     When we ran out of colorful ice cubes we dumped in all the melted water that was left in the tray and got this cool swirl that Pickle stirred up.

      Pickle wanted more ice cubes. I was out of colorful ones so I pulled out some regular ones and let him get some small motor practice putting them in the water one by one with some tongs. I love how this 

activity evolved and that he had so much fun that he didn't want to stop. I'm going to make some more cubes tonight with more food coloring and see if we get a more vibrant result. I will post an update tomorrow! 

    Tonight at bedtime we will read WartHogs Paint: A Messy Color Book. By the way, this was not as messy of an activity as it might seem! I have one blue fingernail, but the rest of it washed off. I dressed Pickle in dark clothes that would not stain just in case. 

     

Sensory Experiences by Tomato Mama

One of my secrets for getting through this endlessly snowy winter with a 3 year old is the sensory bin. We are doing our best to get out of the house when we can and play in the snow when it's warm enough but it's still tough. This is always a hit and gets me a little "sanity time!"

I bought a couple of big bags of rice at Aldi ( I may add one more next time I go) and poured them into this "under bed" storage bin. It is low to the ground so that Pickle can easily access it and it also fits under the train table when not in use. Add some trucks and you have an instant preschooler construction zone.

A few pieces of rice do make it out of this from time to time, but our rule is that if he makes a mess, he has to pick it up before moving onto another activity. So far he has done a great job with it. 

There are endless variations to this idea ( more to come on this in the future) but one of our other favorites is to clean out the rice and put in some water and some cups to practice pouring with. You should never leave a child unattended with water so make sure you are able to give this activity your full attention before beginning.  On warmer days it's fun to put in an ice cube and observe as it melts. Also, try freezing some ice cubes with food coloring in them and watch and see with your child what happens as they melt and the colors combine.