Thread: Play time

That Treehause one has such horrible reviews that it's scary! lol.

Oh sorry, I didn't look at that. Just sorted by price

In that case, Amish!

ETA: omg wow, I can't believe ANYBODY would buy it after those reviews!!!

Originally Posted by cactuswren

ETA: omg wow, I can't believe ANYBODY would buy it after those reviews!!!

I know!!!! I saw a whole heap of them on clearance after Christmas for like $30!!! That right there scared me.

WTH? Amish kitchens don't have electric stoves.

I'm so totally inspired right now. I may even swing by good will on the way home to look for things to use. I'm gonna get my craft on.

Originally Posted by alwayssmile

I'm getting really tempted to get one early because the thought of the holidays being even simpler sounds amazing with the new baby. Maybe I'll get him the M&D metal shopping cart then as his big gift. Then maybe I can retire the other two push walkers until the new baby wants them at a year.

Rowan has that shopping cart. She loves it. She loves running into the wall with it. I crocheted a yarn bumper to keep it from doing too much damage.

Originally Posted by TiggersMommy

Have you seen pics of Rowan's play kitchen? Its like the end all be all of DIY upcycled play kitchens (not to belittle your play kitchen, Leigh). DH has fanciful ideas of what he'd like to do. Perhaps I can take it upon myself to build one for T this weekend. That'll solve the problem. To the HabiStore!

If anyone is curious, this is the play kitchen that DH made: http://wanderscraps.blogspot.com/201...y-kitchen.html

That's actually really similar to ours and what we did...we were just way less careful about it It looks great!

I love that you crocheted her a bumper! I was eyeing that M&D cart. But I figured it would spend a lot more time getting pushed into walls in our microscopic house than anything.

Originally Posted by TiggersMommy

WTH? Amish kitchens don't have electric stoves.

Glad you're feeling inspired! To be honest, I looked at the Habistore and couldn't find anything good at the time. But it's always a crap shoot so worth checking out! Goodwill is definitely a great place to check. I really wanted to get everything used, but since we were on a schedule we ended up going with Michael's (knobs, dowels, crates), Ace (for the sink hardware and paint), the dollar store (sink bowl and potholders, etc) and of course Craigslist for the entertainment center.

Originally Posted by TiggersMommy

WTH? Amish kitchens don't have electric stoves.

I'm so totally inspired right now. I may even swing by good will on the way home to look for things to use. I'm gonna get my craft on.

Oh my gosh...I'm dying over here with the Amish thing haha

ETA: We have a small Steps 2 Kitchen. It's around $40 on clearance after black friday

Leigh that kitchen is too freakin cute!!

Ahh, I'm gonna have to back read but here is what DS1 and Odin both like and do at this age. Keep in mind that we live house that has a preschool so there is no shortage of stuff to do. I'll try to think of stuff DS1 did more when it was just us.

-Water color painting or tempra at the table. I use full body bibs as smocks at this age. IKE has some cheap.

-Finger pain with this same idea
-Playdough (yep, homemade with added oils for scent) with plastic animals
-Play Kitchen with wooden cubes and old boxes/containers from our food stuff. (The grandparents bought our super nice wood one with dishes as a Christmas gift when DS1 was 1 as a joint gift.)

-ABC letter phonics on the fridge
-Cheap red 'party' cups that you use for kegs. So many uses!
-Stickers
-We collage everything using liquid starch or contact paper at first and then gradually moving to glue.

-Baskets, Lots of baskets (thrift shop cheap) to put random stuff in (rocks, sticks, wool, feathers, little animals, babies, it goes on)

-Lacing cards. We have some pre-made and we make some.
-We've always had a 'play' baby stroller but borrowed a shopping cart too that was a big hit

-Plastic tub with sink float stuff.
-Eye droppers with colored water for color mixing, water play, and dropping water on ice (you might have those or pipets at your lab)
-Ice play

-Add food coloroing to water in an ice cub tray, insert pieces of cut up straws for a handle. Instand ice painting on white paper. It looks cool once dry.

-We do a LOT of cooking. Muffins, breads, cutting fruit, soup. I always let the kids cut, mix, kneed, as long as they wash first.

-Sweeping and dusting. Sounds lame but they have their own kid size broom and squirt bottle (water) and rags and they do it all the time.

-Squirt bottles with water in backyard. Also paint brush with bucket of water for water painting outside. Both very fun.

-Chalk and oil pastels on black paper. Looks cool and both are high toddler interest. Get bold vibrant colors.

-Containers or boxes with lids (cut a whole or slit in some to push objects in) with small objects inside (clothes pins, tongue depressers, pegs, ect). They always love putting the objects in the hole or just taking the stuff out and putting back in.

-Plastic kids tea set with water. Great for outdoor use.

We have a ton of sensory bins too for preschool. Never had those with Ryland but Odin loves them. We have rice, birdseed, corn, beans, and tons of themes. Also never had a little table for DS1 until he was like 2 1/2 or 3. I just put a booster at our table for him for art projects. DH sealed our nice wood table so that art stuff wasn't an issue. Odin doesn't know what life would be like without a kid size table.

oh my these diy ones you all made are awesome!

normally im all about being crafty but i have zero energy to do that.
how did this turn into another chat thread and why am i now researching ones to purchase?