Messy Play. Finger Painting Dinosaurs.

This was a failed countdown activity. I thought we will sit and make palm prints and make reindeer and Santa and other Christmasy stuff. Only today Santino decided what he wanted to do, so he included his friends, the dinosaurs.

A Cardboard Fire Truck

Oh, what joy! Another fire truck, only there is Santino in this one! He couldn't keep his hands off and played with it until until it was ripped into pieces. Am I upset about this? Not at all! I am happy that he loved my craft so much!

Some DIY activities in preparation for writing

Santino was introduced to a few new exercises yesterday and today: matching and recognizing shapes and letters. He also showed a tremendous progress in managing playdough!

A Cardboard parking lot!

Here is a fun use of cardboard box I've been saving for a while now. I loved making this fun toy parking lot for my little Pipidinko. Hope he will enjoy it tomorrow first thing when he wakes up.

Homemade playdough fun. Dinosaur, fire truck and hippo tracks

I actually made playdough before, like half a year ago. Pipidinko wasn't interested much in it. I made some playdough pictures for him, and he admired those, but that was it. Then I bought a playdough set a few months later, and he enjoyed stuffing it in different tubes and kept asking me to open a new jar until all the playdough was dried out. I find commercial playdough very tough, not really suitable for a toddler.

Simple DIY quiet activities with a toddler

Here is a simple set of activities I like to offer Santino. It is something inexpensive, actually more like free, very simple to do, although promoting hand-eye coordination, attention, concentration, and a whole bunch of other skills.

Creative play - a present for nonna Lucy

Santino loves painting, holding a paint brush and mixing the colors. Well, for now he mixes all the colors together, until they turn brown, and then he paints careful stripes here and there, swooshes, calling them dinosaurs and fire trucks.
 

I wanted to channel his love for painting and help him make a present for nonna Lucy for her birthday.