We have been having so. Much. Fun. But "sensory bin" is kind of clinical and unwieldy, so Mom's renaming it. This is the Babylab. We'll probably call it something else before that gets embarrassing, but that's totally what it is right now. It's where we do our science:
Besides the bin, we have an assortment of tools for conducting our experiments. Mom thought she'd take a picture so we can see how it changes as Babyman grows. Here's the current binventory:
But she also knows that no one besides her really wants to see pictures of that, so onto the experiments...
Wood Shop!
We are not doing the wood shavings again. They were everywhere.
Captain Rainbeard
This was really great for fingerpainting!
Or, it will be, when we start using the paints instead of eating them.
So. This Christmas, we decided that we really, really liked candy canes:
And Mom found a promising recipe for brownies with candy canes crumbled into them. And this seemed like a fun, post-Christmas tradition... take down the tree, smash candy canes, eat brownies. What could be better? Since we'd taken so happily to the sensory bin, I thought it might be fun to let him try smashing the candy canes. I put them in a ziplock bag and sat with him on the floor with a small pot and a frisbee. And I hit the bag a few times to demonstrate, and then I handed everything over to him.
He looked at the bag and he looked at me. And then he handed the bag back to me expectantly, as if to say, "Alright Mom, stop playing around and give me one of these."
And I took another couple of whacks at the candy canes. And he cried.
But we thought the brownies were delicious. Even if Mom is a candy cane murderer.
Mom was feeling guilty about the amount of time the tv was on, even despite the fact that we watched mostly nice, vaguely educational things for kids and not just slasher films and infomercials. So, inspired by various sources on the internet, she decided to spend 2012 exploring more activities appropriate for growing baby men. And she knew you'd want to see the results...
Today's activity was inspired by Play at Home Mom, a blog Mom was recently introduced to. She decided that one of Austin's Christmas presents should be a sensory bin. She went to the hardware store and got a largish, clear plastic bin and a big blue tarp. And this is what she did:
Behold, a garden of shredded paper, paper bags, tin foil, plastic cups, paper tubes, tupperware and spoons.
This is such a great idea. I can think of so many cool things to put in there for him, and it would also be great for fingerpainting or other crafts.
