100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 51: Nature Bracelet

I decided to take Oliver outside today to make a nature bracelet (idea courtesy of The Toddler's Busy Book). When I'd first read through this book, back when Oliver was 18-19 months old, I hadn't even bookmarked this page because I'd decided it was too old for him and that he wouldn't be interested in it.

Fast forward a few months later to today, and I decided that Oliver was possibly ready for this activity. It's a nice fall day outside, so I decided we couldn't stay cooped up. I took out some thick tape and cut a strip for Oliver and a strip for me. I wrapped Oliver's around his wrist, sticky side up, and he started to cry. Toddlers often don't like anything new and different, and this bracelet was enough to set Oliver off.

I assured him that we were going outside, as I'd promised, and I told him, "I'll show what we're going to do. I'll show you!" I put my bracelet on and carried him out back. I took one leaf from our patio and stuck it to Oliver's bracelet. That was all he needed! The waterworks stopped, and he eagerly joined me for our short nature walk.

I pointed out some of the leaves on the grass to Oliver. I handed him one, and he stuck it to his bracelet:

Oliver really got into the nature bracelet. He picked up some leaves himself, and others he pointed out for me to pick up. A few items, he stuck onto his bracelet himself, but he mostly wanted me to put them on for him. Here are a few photos of him finding leaves and sticks and sticking them onto his bracelet:

A few shots of our nature walk:

In all, we were outside for about twenty minutes. I truly had as good of a time as Oliver did. When we were all done, we went back in, and I stuck our bracelets to a sheet of white paper so Oliver could check out all of the items we'd collected:

He wasn't as interested in the items once they were on the paper, but he looked at them briefly and touched them a bit. We'll keep the paper to show off to Daddy when he gets home, but then we'll discard it.

"Nature Bracelet" was a really enjoyable activity. The cost is negligible, as all you need is tape. The activity was fun and relaxing for us both, and I can imagine doing it again on warm days later this fall with a baby strapped to my chest. There really is no to very little set up and clean up. It's a really good activity for Oliver's age group (nearly 2), and I felt good about the activity. I give it an A+!