Children can learn so much from watching their parents or caregivers or doing everyday tasks. When we first bought this for our house we did not even have a child; but we did have a toddler niece who really loved playing with the different tools. For a few years, until we had our own child we decided that this would be nice when we did have a child so that they could discover “play cleaning” as well.

Our child loves playing with this toy. He is absolutely in love with watching everyone else clean, he loves pretending to sweep with the broom or “brush” everyone’s hair with the duster. This toy has allowed him to play clean while I am cleaning the house and I would highly suggest it for any toddler!

The leaf blower is a toy that we bought for our nephew for his second birthday. His dad is a caretaker and so we thought it would be a super fun way for him to be like his dad and use his leaf blower at the same time as his dad.

It is one of those toys that is loud and so it is a great gift to give because the child gets so much joy out of it, but you might not love buying it for your own child.

That is what I thought until my child loved playing with his cousins leaf blower so my husband bought it for our child as well. When he first opened the leaf blower he did not really want to play with it that much. I decided to make him fake leaves using ripped up pieces of construction paper and he then started to enjoy this toy because it actually blows a tiny amount of air that made the paper fly around.

He really started falling in love with this toy when we had to get rid of all the leaves in our backyard and get them to the street for leaf pick-up and he was so excited to use his leaf blower just like we were using the actual one.

Our son received this tee and baseball set for his first birthday from his Godfather. He was so excited to see it but then had no idea what to do with the bat or ball. With the help of his dad he was able to use the bat and ball and place it on the tee and pretend to hit it.

It was not long before he started using the tee and put any and every ball he could find on the tee so that he could try to hit it off with his bat. He has gotten so much better at swinging the bat and hitting the ball over the past few months.

Overall, he loves this toy and it is a great first start to introduce your child to baseball if you want something that can be used indoors or outdoors.

This slide has been so great for his gross motor skills! I put it on the list for his birthday. I did not really pay attention to how big it was and I was a little surprised when I opened it and it was so large.

Our son quickly found out that it was so fun to go down the slide with or without assistance. It took him only two days to find out that he could climb up the slide without anyone helping him and go down it alone! Of course we were right next to him and always kept a hand an inch from his back in case he started to fall or slip, yet he surprised us and was great at going up and down it alone!

We used it in the house as he received it in the fall, at it was a bit chilly to be using it outside. After a few weeks he started to try to climb back up the slide instead of going down it so it became something that we would let him do every few days instead of every day and then we put it in the garage until the spring.

One of the best things that he received before his first birthday was the farm set. This was a set that most children play with for a short time and then they get bored of the different parts of it. Our son loved this and his favorite animal has been the horse for months. He took it on car rides, when he goes up for a nap he loves to have it with him.

This set gave us a wonderful opportunity to teach him the names of animals and what sound they made. The easiest by far was the cow, as it is easy for a child to say “moo”. He then liked the sheep with saying “baa”. Recently he has started saying “cluck, cluck” for the chicken.

This set is both fun and helps your child develop skills that they will use for many years to come.

As a parent who was once a teacher I feel all the pulls to decorate with my son. It’s hard sometimes to remember that he is just only over one, so there isn’t a ton he can do.

We decorated for Fall/Halloween at the end of October. It was a fun memory together I used Saran Wrap on his tray for his high chair and then just gave him paper cut outs of pumpkins to decorate with paint pens (kid safe) and then with actual paint.

It went over well until he decided to lick one of the paint pens…that was far from delightful! Yet, he had so much fun and there was so much joy during his art time!

I know some parents shy away from arts and crafts and decorating with littles because it can be MESSY!!!

From experience I can tell you that this may be the case! Yet, learning and developing is so important with littles! It is so important for them to experience different textures and to get hands on experience with their parents/caregivers on helping to decorate.

Here are some tips on decorating with little ones!

• Have all supplies ready before you begin, including clean up supplies!
• Cut out all shapes beforehand for extra little ones!
• Use paint pens from Crayola as they are great for clean up and do not cause as much of a mess as paint brushes.
• Only use paint that is safe for little ones, if your babe might have a chance of putting it in their mouth make sure it’s safe…or make it yourself!
• Base activities and decorating on their fine motor skills! (If they can rip paper, then do that! If they can cut it then let them!)
• Give them options. Do not only give them one color to choose from! They should be able to explore!
• If you do not like messes, maybe try one craft or decoration at a time. If you’re overwhelmed, chances are no one will have fun!
• Let them explore!!!!

In the last few months my little one has transitioned from baby to basically a little man. He went from laying in his little seat and swing, to using a bouncy seat to now just walking everywhere!

It has been incredibly exciting watching his transitions and I am so proud of him! Even though this is exciting, I still have to get things done! I can’t always be playing on the floor or helping him discover new toys.

That brings me to when I am cooking or doing dishes in the kitchen. I try to plan my kitchen work around when he is going to eat so he can be in his high chair, I can entertain him and he can be a happy little man.

The best plans don’t always work though. Do they?

So I’ve discovered that by using things that are ALREADY in my kitchen he can learn so much!

Here are a few things I have done and will continue to do so that he can have fun and also I can get things done in the kitchen with him!

• Pick a Cupboard: this might be scary for some parents, having their child given the ability to open a cupboard door, and pull things out, however it has been such a learning tool. I have been able to show my little one how to open a door, close it gently, pull things out and play with them and put them away after. We have baby locks on 99% of our cupboards, especially those with cleaning supplies in them or heavy objects. Yet, (we have a TINY kitchen) I have one cupboard that no matter what I am doing I can see what my child is playing with and he has discovered so many fun things all on his own this way.
• Let them Play: maybe it sounds obvious? One of the biggest things that helps with imagination and development is allowing children to discover things on their own. The first time he played with bowls on the floor, he got them out and he stacked a few, smashed another few together to hear the sound and just played with them. Part of me probably didn’t love the smashing them together sound but he wasn’t hurting anything, was enjoying it and he found out that some fit inside others.
• Do not be Afraid to say No!: if your child is running over pick up something that they definitely should not be playing with be sure to let them know. Help them understand when something is not safe for them. At the same time, it’s been freeing to let my child make discoveries and play on his own for little chunks of time. I have the ability to make him feel bad for playing a container or spoon or I can encourage him to discover uses for them.
• Use your Words: one of the best things that you can do for your little one while they play is to comment on what they are doing. “I see you playing with a bowl! That bowl is blue!” Something as simple as those sentences can help build your child’s vocabulary!

Now, back to what I mentioned before. If you aren’t comfortable letting your little one make discoveries and you don’t have only items that are safe for them to play with DO NOT let them play in the kitchen with you.

My kitchen is super small which allows me to always have him within arms length and never out of my sight. I still watch him like a hawk and often times have to pick him up and show him what I’m doing, washing dishes, loading dishwasher, putting things away. I never hold anything sharp or leave out anything sharp while he is in kitchen. There is no safety in things that are hot or sharp being available for a little one to stumble upon.

The last fun little idea is to give them a fun challenge during snack time. We practiced putting one of his blueberries under a silicone measuring cup, then him lifting off cup to eat it. He laughed and was so excited, all the while I knew this was building his skill set. He also on his own discovered that a larger measuring cup would sit on top of and “hide” the smaller cup and he could repeat what I did with the blueberries on his own with just the cups.

Little ones are so much fun, the possibilities of what you can use to help them discover their world are endless, just start somewhere!