Everyone has some crappy baubles and a cake tin, right? This afternoon I put a mix of baubles in a (pretty dirty) cake tin for August. I made sure they were different sizes and textures so his little hands could explore the differences. He had fun bashing, mouthing and rolling them. He's only just started to show an interest in things that roll so this is great for learning the rotation/circular schema. It's also great to keep baby interested during tummy time.

I made sure to keep a close eye on him as there were small parts - and he definitely ended up with a glittery, fabulous mouth. But that's what learning is all about, right?

Keep the posh Christmas decorations close to the top and give this a try with your cheapies!!

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Bauble Rescue

Just tape them in! We're making this last a little longer by adding some masking tape - my favourite! August now gets to practice his fine motor skills including pincer grip as he peels off the tape. It's also a little bit hilarious watching him getting confused when he can't get the tape off his hands - how amazing is sticky stuff?!

You can, of course, tape anything in here, so if there's something super motivating that your child loves - tape it into a cake tin!

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Ribbon Pull DIY

Anyone else consume a whole bucket of @cookietime.nz Christmas cookies? Well here's a good excuse to because the tub is fantastic for DIY baby activities!
This morning I made it into a ribbon pull. This is great for exploring textures, developing fine motor skills including pincer grip, building hand eye coordination and fostering curiosity. The ribbons pull from one side to the other so you never have to stuff them all back in, the game just keeps going.

What you’ll need:
- a tub or a box. - a skewer or something sharp and pointy. - some scissors - different coloured ribbons

How to:
- poke holes in your tub. You’ll need two for every length of ribbon. - use the scissors to twist the holes and make them wider. - feed ribbons through from outside the tub, through the middle and out to the other side. - cut the ribbon long enough so that when pulled, about 20cm of ribbon comes out. Knot both ends.

The video is August discovering the ribbon pull toy for the first time. I’ll leave it out for a couple of days then rotate it in as I do with all of his toys to keep things fresh and interesting. It’ll be great to watch him over time to see how he interacts with it and whether he begins to pull the smaller pieces!

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Christmas Texture-Discovery Mat
Might as well use all this Christmas stuff whilst it's out for the month! I looked around for all the different textures I had so that August could explore them. He loves stroking things with the back of his hands at the moment so I wanted to give him some variation. This was great for some independent play and, as always, perfect for extended floor time. He scooted around for ages finding all the different things and shaking, banging, stroking, mouthing and throwing them!

What's there?
⋒ cake tin full of different textured baubles.
⋒ red play silk
⋒ furry textured reindeer.
⋒ wrapping paper
⋒ tin foil
⋒ fur and velvet stocking
⋒ soda stream bottle with Christmas beads in for shaking.
⋒ tinsel
⋒ dog collar with bells on
⋒ ice sensory bag in roasting tray.

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Wrapping Paper Pull
Another easy and totally achievable floor- time activity.
I've masking-taped strips of wrapping paper to our table. They really could be stuck ANYWHERE, a baby play gym would be ideal.

August tore some of his, others he pulled down and I could stick them back up. He loved the scrunching of the paper and stroking the soft texture.

This activity promotes hand-eye coordination and reaching for the tape may help your little one to roll. Watch carefully that any mouthing doesn't turn into swallowed paper.