Dear Reader,
I’ve been reading a lot of child development resources lately, both to know some good activities for this blog and to better serve my kids (which is the point of doing activities for the blog… so, yeah), and in passing there was a mention about how metal bowls are great sensory tools because of how easily they make noise. I found that fact interesting and decided to test it.
I had already celebrated the childhood pastime of turning pans into drums, so I decided to put a ball into the bowl and roll it around and see what happened. I found that hard plastic balls made the best noise, and it didn’t take long for the kids to think so, too.
As you can see, the ice cream toy was experimented with, too. That was a toddler addition. And it did roll, so they liked it. Obviously not as well as an actual bowl, but the point is letting toddlers experiment and learn, so there really isn’t a way to go wrong.
The preschooler got in on the action, too, so although this activity is definitely geared toward toddlers, and I don’t know if it really would have been fun on her own, she enjoyed rolling the ball in the bowl. And since that was over the toddler’s ability to really get the ball going, really, it worked out well that she helped. I’d say maybe an older toddler would be able to roll it herself, say 2-ish? And if they’re rolling it themselves, my unprofessional guess is that it works on bilateral movements. It’s a fancy word that keeps popping up in developmental contexts, meaning that it works with both sides of the body and helps a kid learn to use their limbs together.
(yes, I know. Halloween jammies in September. I mean, I would classify myself as one of “those people,” that like Halloween – the cutesy side of Halloween. I don’t like creepy – but also, they were on sale at Walmart, and all of my girls needed new jammies. so, it’s a win-win. Especially for Minnie Mouse jammies. And my preschooler wishes Halloween could be every day, so she had no complaints! Seriously, costumes, fancy things, spooky things, and candy!?! You just read off all of her favorite things in one holiday! Needless to say, we’ll be sporting Halloween jammies in May, too.)
