imagination

Vegetable Soup Water Table Play Activity

August 7, 2018 by Stacy Craft 3 Comments

You can create this vegetable soup water table play activity with things that you probably already have in your kid’s playroom and your kitchen for lots of summer fun.

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Playing with our water table is almost a daily activity during the spring and summer for us. My kids enjoy playing with it just as intended but I also like to occasionally provide themes to spice it up and keep it interesting.

We decided to be a pretend chef and cook up a vegetable soup water table play session this week.

If your kids love sensory activities, don’t miss the 10 Second Edible Baby Sensory Play Activity, Cookie Cereal Baking Bin and the Fall Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bin. And if you need a way to organize your kid’s dress up stuff, read this!

Vegetable Soup Water Table Play

Making vegetable soup in our water table entertained my 4 year old for about 30 minutes. My 9 month old even got in on the fun, although his attention span is not as long!

What You Need:

Water Table or even a plastic storage bin or a bowl could work.

Pretend Vegetables

Plastic Spoons/Bowls

Water

Vegetable Soup Water Table Play Set up

Reason #3849 that I love water table activities – it is so easy to set up. As a busy mama, things that take just a couple of minutes to set up are the best kind of activities!

I just gathered up our play vegetables, plastic bowls, and spoons. If you don’t have play bowls and spoons, just use some plastic ones from your real kitchen! My daughter decided to add in some fruit to our vegetable soup, so we went with it.

Once it was ready, she spent some time washing her fruits and veggies (it is amazing what our kids pick up on watching us in our daily lives).

Drop the veggies (and fruit if you are using it) into your water table and fill it with water. It seems like such a simple idea but just offering the simple task of “making soup” completely reinvigorated the water table for my little one.

She spent time creating different recipes. Of course we “tasted” each one. She even washed the dishes after we tried each new creation.

I love that she can be creative and practice life skills while playing pretend. Not to mention that we all got some nice outside time as well.

Don’t mind the little one. He is trying to make “bulldozer soup” a thing.

Here is a bowl of her delicious soup that she created. Seeing your kid’s imagination at work is a rewarding experience.

I also love that I can keep a toy that we have had for a while (note the baked on dirt that no amount of scrubbing will remove) fresh and fun.

This vegetable soup water table play activity is a simple water table idea to encourage creative play. Would your kids enjoy this cooking theme for the water table?

Pin this Vegetable Sensory Soup for Later!

Need more summer fun activities? Check out this list of the Best Water toys for toddlers!

Easy Dress Up Station

July 16, 2018 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Are dress up clothes taking over your house?

I have enough issues with regular laundry to then pile on top a bunch of princess costumes, my house was becoming a wreck quickly.

I wanted to create an area in our play room that would be fun to play and use but that would also create some organization for all of the stuff! This easy dress up station was just the right fit for our little princess.

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

By creating some order to our princess mess, I found that my daughter is actually playing with this stuff!

Before she either couldn’t find her stuff because it was wherever she dropped it or I had shoved it in the bottom of the closet in an attempt to clean up. Now that she can easily see her pretty dresses and jewels, she usually becomes Belle or Sophia once or twice a week!

And if LOL Surprise Dolls are also becoming tiny little residents in your home, check out this LOL Organizer.

What you Need for the Easy Dress Up Station:

Adjustable Garment Rack

Princess Wall Art

Wood Wall Clear Knob Organizer – I got mine at Hobby Lobby and can’t find the exact same thing. These are really pretty and these are reasonably priced and would be cute.

Lots of Princess dresses, play jewelry and little girl high heels.

Setting Up the Easy Dress Up Station

The adjustable garment rack took less than 15 minutes to put together and that was the first thing that I did. Once that was ready, my daughter helped me hang up all of her princess dresses.

The dress up area isn’t just limited to princess costumes. She can dress up as a chef, vet, or a girly super hero.

I stored extra dress up clothes and play shoes at the bottom of the rack. (Don’t mind that missing Elsa from the blue shoe! Hey, they still work!)

Next, I had my daughter stand in front of where the mirror would go. I did this because I wanted it to be a “kid friendly” mirror. (not hung so high that she wouldn’t even be able to see her face)!

We hung the mirror so that she could see her full princess ball gown in all it’s glory.

The princess wall art was hung level with the top of the mirror. The hooks went right under the art so that she could easily reach her purses and jewels.

I set our vanity next to the easy dress up station so that she can move right on to hair and make up once she gets dressed. I love that this area provides a fun play area for kids to use their imagination.

Plus it helps to get the princess dress mess off my floor.

If your pretend play costumes are causing chaos, I hope you try this super easy dress up station solution for your playroom!

Once your playroom is in order, check out this bathtub toy organizer hack so that you can see the bottom of your tub again!

10 Best Toys for 3 year Old (That They Will Still Play With at 5)

December 18, 2018 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

A list of 10 toys for a 3 year old that will get played with and used for years to come. Best of all, they are all under $25.

Toys. Toys. Toys. They are everywhere and they can take over your home quickly if you don’t choose wisely. I love when I find a gift that really gets played with. Even better if it gets played with for years to come.

Over the last few weeks I have been trying to get a big donation pile of unused toys and other things to give to others in anticipation of the new toys that will come at Christmas time. While I was doing that, I noticed several toys that have been around a while that are still being used.

I wanted to share with you the top 10 toys that we bought for our daughter when she was 3 that she is still playing with as a 5 year old.

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Reasons We Love These Toys

There are several criteria that put toys on my must have list for my kids.

Inexpensive – When buying for a 3 year old, you don’t want to break the bank with a toy purchase in case it doesn’t get used or
Mostly Independent Play – Obviously supervision is required. However, these are good because they provide some level of independent play or quiet time. As an example, my daughter might color or paint at the kitchen table while I am cooking dinner.
Encourage Creativity/Imagination or Motor Skills – A toy that teaches or allows my kids to create something is one that I like buying.

10 Best Toys for 3 year Old

Here is the list of the 10 best toys for 3 year old kids. We purchased these for our then 3 year old daughter that she still consistently plays as a 5 year old now. These toys have held the test of time. They are durable, fun and entertaining. Best of all, you can buy these on Amazon for less than $25 each (and a bunch are under $10)

Mega Bloks Building Set

These big building blocks are perfect for little fingers (our 1 year old even has fun trying to build things). I love the wagon that it comes with for storing the blocks. It is also an easy way to teach your little one the art of cleaning up their mess.

Alex Discover Button Art

This is my favorite item on the list! Starting at 18 months, the kids can work on pushing the buttons into the art. When the child is younger you can work on color identification and matching the correct color to the button. My five year old still gets this out to work on. She can of course do it independently now so it is now a nice quiet time activity.

Playhut Tent

What is it with kids and tents or forts? They love them! My daughter has loved her tent for years. She likes to hide in it, read in it, play with toys in it and play pretend. They also fold up to make storage super easy.

Learning Resources Rise & Shine Breakfast Play Food

Good quality play food is really hard to find! This set is realistic looking and has a couple of really cute features. An egg that you can crack, a muffin that you can fill with blueberries and a small toaster for the bread. My daughter still plays restaurant and loves to serve us food.

Hot Potato Game

The laughter that this game brings is the reason it has made this top 10 best toys for a 3 year old list. Now that my daughter is five and the baby is 14 months, we all get in on the fun. The baby of course doesn’t understand the concept but he loves chasing around any dropped potato! It is always a good time.

Coloring Book with Water Colors

Coloring is fun but painting is a blast! These coloring books come with a watercolor palette and a coloring book featuring your favorite characters.

Melissa & Doug Water Wow

These are so amazing. The kids “paint” with a refillable water paint brush. The pages come to life with pretty colors when they get wet but the magic happens when the water dries. As it dries, the pages turn back to white so you can paint them over and over again. We play with these at home and on road trips or plane rides.

Melissa & Doug Ice Cream Scoop Pretend Set

My daughter wanted this on a random Target run and I didn’t really want to spend $24 on it. I almost passed it up but during the summer, I usually choose to let her get a toy or two. It has been played with so much. I am not sure that I will ever forget her little voice yelling “ice cream for sale” 600 times a week!

The set is very cute with 4 different flavors and cone and cup options. There are magnets in the scoops and the cone so you can serve up a double scoop and it will stay together.

Disney Princess Necklace Activity Set

This is awesome for the ability to create again and again. The necklaces are a silicone type stretchy material with a fastener. String the beads, add a princess and wear. When she wants to change up the necklace, just pop the fastener and create again. This does have small pony beads but at 3 my daughter could do this craft mostly on her own.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Wooden Recorder

Music is always a great thing to expose children to. We love singing silly songs and we have a big bucket of noise makers and instruments. This recorder is a fun way to make some fun sounds. We also have a xylophone and a small keyboard.

Hopefully this list of the 10 best toys for 3 year old children will help you in your gift search. Whether it is for a birthday or Christmas, I hope your kids love these things as much as mine do. I am just happy that we can find some other toys to play with on occasion because my 5 year old is currently LOL obsessed.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Sensory Bin

July 29, 2018 by Stacy Craft 3 Comments

It may still be 9,000 degrees outside, but that is not stopping me from dreaming of Fall. This fun apple cinnamon oatmeal sensory bin presents kids with an open invitation to play with Fall inspired items.

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Sensory bins are great for their educational benefits. But do you know why I really love them? They are usually very quick to set up (as a mom, you need that right?). The bins can usually be made with things you have on hand or with just a couple of small purchases. And the absolute best part is that they entertain! It will keep your little one busy while you do something on your long To Do List.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Sensory Bin Contents

I found most of these things at home or at the Dollar Tree. Sensory bins are also great because you don’t have to have exactly what I used. Just use this as a guide and get creative with what you have at home.

In our apple cinnamon oatmeal sensory bin you will find:

Container – I use a dish bucket from the Dollar Tree for most of my sensory activities.

Oatmeal

Play Apples

Various measuring cups / funnels

Play spoon, bowl, skillet (From my daughter’s Play kitchen)

Shovel/Strainer/Rake (These were Dollar Tree sand toys that I threw in)

Apple Cutting board (from Dollar Tree)

Sprinkle of Cinnamon & Allspice

Magnet Letters

Plastic Tablecloth

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Sensory Bin Set Up

Setting up this sensory bin is as easy as (apple) pie. Forgive me, I hang out with a 4 year old and an 8 month old all day! It really is simple and will give you time to do some work or maybe relax for a few minutes. Of course, with all sensory bins, you should gauge your child’s maturity and provide proper supervision.

Spread out a big plastic tablecloth or towel if you are doing this inside. I love using plastic tablecloths for all types of messy play activities. Grab your bucket and dump some oatmeal in. If this is killing your OCD perfectionist self, I understand. I would rather someone tell me to add 57.2 ounces than to tell me to “dump” something. I promise, it will be fine. Just dump some in. It doesn’t need to be precise. We are going for quick and easy with this sensory bin.

Sprinkle a little cinnamon and allspice in with your oats. Just enough so that you can smell the spices which will add to the sensory experience for your kids. Mix the oats and spices together. Remember to have them smell and describe it while playing!

Stick the apples, measuring utensils, and other items in with the oatmeal and present it to your kids. My girl made apple pies, dug around in the mixture, and let the oatmeal fall through the funnel.

I also wrote out the word “apple” on a piece of paper. She then matched the magnet letters to the letters that I had written for some alphabet recognition practice.

I hope your toddler or preschooler will enjoy this fall inspired apple cinnamon oatmeal sensory play activity! If you have a baby, check out this 10 second setup baby sensory activity. Do your kids love sensory bins?

imagination

Vegetable Soup Water Table Play

What You Need:

Vegetable Soup Water Table Play Set up

What you Need for the Easy Dress Up Station:

Setting Up the Easy Dress Up Station

A list of 10 toys for a 3 year old that will get played with and used for years to come. Best of all, they are all under $25.

Reasons We Love These Toys

10 Best Toys for 3 year Old

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Sensory Bin Contents

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Sensory Bin Set Up

More Fun Apple Items: