Tuesday, July 19, 2011

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 19: Pretend Picnic

My cousin recommended that I host a pretend picnic for Oliver. Right off the bat, it sounded like a good idea. Oliver loves playing pretend, and even I can get into a pretend picnic!

While Oliver was busy playing, I laid out his blanket. I placed some plates and forks on the blanket, and I set up his monkey and Cookie Monster to dine with us. We don't have any pretend food, so I grabbed Oliver's newest food love: Gerber Yogurt Melts. They seemed like a good choice because they're not messy. I arranged those on the plates and called Oliver over.

Oliver was so excited to see the yogurt melts! He immediately ate Monkey's and Cookie Monster's. Then he ate mine (I wasn't planning on eating any anyway because they have gelatin in them). So far, he was not excited about the picnic--just the food.
I asked Oliver if Monkey would like to have a yogurt melt. Oliver put one to Monkey's mouth and then quickly ate it himself. Once they were all gone, he ran away to the kitchen to try to find the bag. I took a picture of the aftermath:

He came back and demanded, "More!" I put a few more on the plates and then told him they were all gone. This time, he wasn't so excited about finding the yogurt melts, so he spent more time playing. He fed Monkey (but neglected Cookie Monster) each and every one before eating them.


The picnic didn't go exactly as planned. I thought he'd get a kick out of a "formal" meal set for his animals, but that didn't happen. Still, he ate (which is always a good thing), and he played some pretend. I can't say he didn't have a good time, and I found the activity pretty funny. In my mind, I pictured future picnics, complete with a fake tea set (yes, now I want to go out and get him a tea set). I have a feeling that the more we play it, the more into it he will get. Pretend Picnic earns an A-!

No comments: