Pattern blocks: Beyond templates

I blog about pattern blocks quite a bit. They are currently my favorite educational toy, and this is one of the (many) reasons why. Emma called me in the other day and said, “Mama, look at my robot!” I went in, and she had created this beautiful robot. She went on to explain that she gave the robot a skirt, because the robot is a girl.

Peg doll and recyclables dollhouse

I bought these peg dolls for Emma quite a while ago, and today she asked to get them out and decorate them. I think they turned out quite nicely, especially given that it’s her first go at decorating a 3D object. I need to get her some non-smudging pens for this type of work, ideally in a range of colors instead of just black. Any suggestions as to what I should look for?

The dolls needed a house, so we took the lid of a shoebox and some scraps of cardboard and fabric and created this humble abode:

Emma loved this activity, and it was made completely from leftover scraps apart from the two dolls (99 cents for a package of two, and I think I got them 40% off). She spent at least an hour playing with the finished product this afternoon. Maybe we should take a second shoebox lid and build an addition onto the dollhouse. :)

Penguin puppets!

These puppets are based off of this free pattern. I printed the pattern half-size so that it would fit tiny toddler hands, and then made a few minor changes (I shortened the white part and made the main body a bit thinner). They were super easy to put together – I hand-stitched the eyes and beak, and then used my sewing machine to finish the rest super quickly.  You could even glue on the eyes, nose, and white body – but only if your children don’t try to pull any glued objects apart the way mine do.

I’m not sure if it’s because of my changes or because I used pink and blue felt instead of black (Emma’s request), but these wound up looking like a cross between penguins and snowmen to me…what do you think?

Thankfully, their lack of authenticity doesn’t make my children love them any less.

Play Fridge

MATERIALS:

• Cardboard Box
• Packing Tape
• Pipe Cleaner
• Extra cardboard to make shelves

I’ve wanted my kids to have a play fridge for a while, and I knew as soon as  I saw this box that it would work perfectly. I turned the box wrong side out, cut out a door, and added a pipe cleaner for a door handle. The shelves are made out of a second sheet of cardboard that was being used as packing material.

If I were a detail-oriented mom, I would line the inside so that the original contents of the box were on display. But I’m not, and it turns out that that’s a good thing – Emma was initially upset about my using her box this way (Johnny and I put it together during her naptime), but then decided it was okay because the pictures were still on the inside. She likes the little girl on this box, who she says “looks kind of like Emma.”

Play food to last (for a while, at least)

You may recognize this food from my restaurant play post a couple months ago. The food was printed from Filth Wizardry. My kids used our first set until it literally fell to shreds, so we made a second set this week, laminating it this time. I don’t have a laminator, but I bought a roll of laminate that works well for small projects like this. I’ve seen other bloggers use clear packing tape to produce a similar effect.

Both kids love their new laminated food. The food is pretty small, so we store it in an old yogurt container. Emma uses it with her play kitchen as well as with the restaurant play mat!

If you give a toddler a notepad…

Emma spent yesterday morning writing “birthday party invitations” on this small notepad. She’s really into notepads and notebooks lately – she uses them to write letters, play school… I like to offer her materials and then wait and see what she does with them.

This is also a great way to use junk mail – this particular pad of paper was sent to me; I have no idea what made them think I’m really into cars…

What does your child do if you give them a notebook or pad of paper with a pen?

Blank Book and Another Monkey

I got some small stickers and sticker books as favors for Emma’s birthday party. The sticker books are just small sheets of waxy paper stapled together with a cute cover. I never would have considered them toys in their own right, but Emma has had a blast with Johnny’s sticker book. She spends hours “reading” it, pointing out illustrations and telling story after story. It just goes to show that you can never get too simple with toys.

Here is Emma, showing off her magical book:

And reading the book to her (newly finished this morning) amigurumi monkey. This monkey is much smaller than the other one, and so took less time to make. I also think it’s cuter – but I find that I always consider smaller cuter.

Here are both kids playing with their monkeys. I’m so glad I discovered this book of amigurumi patterns – these toys are cute, cuddly, and easy to make.