100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 95: Toddler Spray Paint

Don't forget that the monster hat giveaway ends later today (9/7/13)!

I decided to take the kids outside to try to recreate an activity I found from kiwicrate.com. She had her little boy spray large sheets of paper with a spray bottle that she filled with water and Koolaid. We don't have Koolaid, but we have food dye. My husband cleaned out a spray bottle for us to use, and we filled it with water and red food coloring. It reminded me a lot of the time I took Oliver out to spray the snow in the winter. That activity didn't go very well because he wasn't interested in spraying the snow. I wondered how painting paper would be.

We didn't have large butcher paper on hand, so we used computer paper, which I weighed down with some pine cones. Joanna wanted to play with the pine cones.

Oliver did a really great job spraying and enjoyed the activity. Jo was interested but couldn't spray by herself. She tried really hard, though. Oh, and that is a name tag on Oliver because we tried to attend a nature class up at Lookout Mountain today. It didn't go very well, but he liked the name tag!

Oliver kept spraying and spraying! I turned over the sheets so he could spray them again. We switched colors from red to orange because he wanted more colors.

He was interested in trying to spray the pine cones.

Joanna wanted to spray the pine cones, too, but she couldn't get the spray bottle to work.

From my experience with the kids, this is a really fun activity for kids who aren't toddlers. I could see Oliver having a really good time if I gave him lots of bottles filled with different colors. Joanna thought the whole thing looked fun, but she couldn't really do it herself. Although the website recommended this activity for kids 2+, I think it's better for 3+ or 4+. As a toddler activity, I give it a D+. The "plus" is because Jo was interested and was kept busy with trying to work the spray bottle.

Pros: Easy to set up, good for hot days, outdoors.

Cons: Can stain, difficult for toddlers, doesn't last long (unless you have a lot of paper to use, I suppose!)

Preschool Science: Melt Ice Cubes

The other day, Oliver and I decided to do a last minute science project. He loves the ice dispenser in his grandma & grandpa's fridge, and I tried to tell him that ice is just frozen water. So, we decided to experiment!

Please be aware that microwaves can create hot pockets in liquid. So, if you do this project with your preschooler, you will want to make sure you check the temperature and stir the ice water to prevent those really hot pockets from forming!

Step 1: Oliver got ice from the ice dispenser. So fun! We used crushed ice because it would melt faster (more surface area). 

Step 2: Oliver put the cup of ice in the microwave. He heated his ice for 30 seconds, and then he stirred it. There was already some water in the cup after 30 seconds!

We microwaved the ice three times at 30 seconds. After the third round, all of the ice melted.

Step 3: Drink!

Oliver was really excited that he "made" water. I considered refreezing it to show him how water can go back from liquid to solid. Ultimately, I decided he wouldn't have enough patience to wait for water to freeze, so we didn't perform that experiment.

For dinner, we boiled water for rice. Oliver likes to watch, and I pointed out the steam to him. I explained how the steam is water, too. It can be solid, liquid, or gas, depending on the temperature! I think he mostly just thought it was neat to use the ice dispenser and microwave, but he also seemed to grasp the concept that water gets solid and turns to ice when it's really cold.

I love preschool science!

Can't Miss: Centennial Center Park

We've been staying at my parents' house all week while they're out of town. It's been great not worrying about the kids messing up the house, only to get a call for a showing request on the house!

This past weekend, we wanted to find something to do, and I searched for local splash parks. We set out for Centennial Center Park, which just opened last summer. It's on Arapahoe Road between Revere Pkwy and Vaughn St, which is about a five minute drive from where we've been staying.

When we arrived, I was stunned by the view. It looks incredible! In fact, my husband and I scrambled to see if we had any cash because, from the looks of the park, we assumed they would charge admission. Nope. Free!

We entered the splash pad first. Jo thought we were crazy and had no idea where we took her.

Oliver just wanted to push some buttons to make the water go.

The splash pad area was pretty busy, so we checked out some other parts of the park. Seriously, it's huge! There was more "natural" splash park above, and the water ran down the rocks like a waterfall. This was Jo's favorite part! It was a lot less crowded, too.

There was one part of the park that was entirely made out of sand! It reminded me of parks from my childhood. They even had those digger contraptions! Oliver really loved the sand park. There were a few patches of shade here and there, but otherwise mostly in the sun.

You can see the walls were decorated and reflected parts of Colorado.

There was also a regular play ground for the kids. This part of the park was almost empty. I assume it's because 1) most people go there for the splash park, and 2) it was way too hot to enjoy the playground that day! I think the playground part would be a good choice in the fall and winter when the water is turned off.

Oliver liked the car, but he wasn't very good about sharing it with other kids.

Not pictured is the large jungle gym in the park. There was a large part of this park that was perfect for big kids--there were ropes to climb up about fifteen feet in the air! You don't see parks like that anymore, and the big kids loved it.

Centennial Center Park is outstanding! I don't usually praise parks with little to no shade, but all the running water to keep us and the kids cool helped tremendously. This is one of the best parks we've ever taken the kids to, so if you're ever nearby in the summer, be sure to stop and check it out. It's a winner!

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 85: Water Shakers

I got today's activity idea from parenting.com. They suggested partially filling water bottles with water, tightening the caps on as tightly as you can, and then letting your little one play with them. I had bottles leftover from the kids' birthday party, so I decided to give this activity a whirl. I added a few drops of coloring to the bottles for a visual effect.

Both kids enjoyed this activity! At first, Oliver was upset that I wouldn't take the caps off. He wanted to play with the water part and pour it out. Jo sat nearby shaking the bottles and having a blast. Soon, Oliver decided that the bottles were fun, too.

This activity kept Oliver entertained for about 10 minutes. Jo continued playing with the bottles because she enjoyed the crinkle sounds of the plastic in her hands. She liked watching the colored water swish, and she liked watching them when I rolled them for her. As she continues to play with the bottles as I write this, Oliver is laughing at her shaking them. It's pretty cute.

Water Shakers is a solid activity for toddlers, especially very young toddlers and older babies. Just make sure you put on the lids really tightly or even glue them to help prevent them coming off, which would be a choking hazard. Jo's still playing with these bottles! I give this activity an A for keeping such a young kid happily entertained.

These would also be fun to let the kids play with in the tub or out in the kiddie pool in the summer.

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 82: Water Bombs

Our last water balloon activity completely bombed. Oliver still wanted to play with water balloons, so I filled another dozen or so and took him out front. I told him to throw the balloons. As soon as he threw the first one and watched it explode all over the sidewalk, he was hooked.

Some of the fun in action:
         

The activity only lasted a couple minutes. Oliver was a little water balloon machine gun. After he threw the last one, he cleaned up the busted balloons, and we went inside to do some rock painting.

Oliver loved this activity. It was so simple, too! Ultimately, my only big problem with this activity was that it took me about 10 minutes to get it ready, and it was over within a minute. I hate when cleanup takes longer than the fun. I know we'll definitely do this again, but I think I'll do it on a weekend when Andrew can watch the kids so I can fill a ton of balloons all at once. I give "Water Bombs" a B+ as a toddler activity.

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 81: Water Piñata

Yes, I'm addicted to Pinterest. When the kids are asleep, I find myself sitting at the computer, flipping through crafts and children's projects.  Months ago, I found this pin for a water balloon piñata:
http://pinterest.com/pin/216383957066018804/

All you need to do is fill up some water balloons, tie them to a string (I used yarn), and hang it up outside. Hand your child a bat or cardboard tube, and stand back!

Tip: I found a large package of water balloons in the toy aisle at Walgreen's this week that were on clearance for under a dollar.

It was OK.  Oliver couldn't bust the balloons on his own. He swung at them as hard as he could over and over. He was having fun, but I could also tell he was frustrated. I hit one for him and let him try for a while again. 

Here he is, swinging the broom handle like crazy. Doesn't he look adorable in his new monster jammies from Costco?

After breaking two balloons for him, I decided to shoot a video of the activity. You can tell it just wasn't working out as I'd envisioned. I felt really bad for Oliver because he was so excited to test out the water balloons I'd made.
                                                          

It was a pain getting the balloons filled and tied up. Oliver was practically jumping out of his skin to get at the balloons. I felt excited for him, but the activity didn't live up to our expectations. It gets a D grade.

Don't feel too bad for the little guy. We went in, made more water balloons, and I created another activity for him (to be debuted soon!).

Mordecai Children's Gardens

We had a few gorgeous days at the start of this month. We enjoyed some cloud cover that made spending the days outside pleasant. So, we buckled the kids into the car and set out to the Denver Botanic Gardens. They now have a rooftop children's gardens, which we'd checked out in spring 2011 and loved. We have a membership to the Botanic Gardens and need to make it a point to go more often! Entry for us was free with our membership. Non-member adults are $12.50 a piece, kids under 3 are admitted free, and kids over 3 are $9.

We were a little disappointed in this trip. Most of the rocks in the rock stacking stations were gone. There were still some, but it was mostly barren. No kids played there. We hiked up "Marmot Mountain," which we loved last time. All of the animal bones for studying were gone. All of the blocks made from fallen trees were gone.

We wandered to the man-made creek. They added awnings over the creek to create shade for the children. It was a wonderful addition to the area.

Unfortunately, we found they removed all the buckets and rakes that kids used to play in the creek. There were no toys there anymore. Don't get me wrong; we still had a great time splashing in the water. I just don't understand why they took away the buckets and shovels when the little kids enjoyed them so much!

Here are some photos of us playing in the creek:

I love this candid photo I snapped of Andrew and Joanna:

Check out the clouds!  It was such a lovely day.

Behind Oliver is a pair of dress-up wings. It's all that was left in the stage area that used to be filled with dress-up items for kids to play with: 

Oliver loved our afternoon at the Botanic Gardens. Our membership made it was worth the trip. Had we paid the non-membership entrance fees (for our family, that would have been $25), then I'd have to say our trip wouldn't have been worth the cost. I mean, playing in the creek was fun, but kids can play in a nice creek for free at Belleview Park or at Civic Green Park! Hopefully, the Denver Botanic Gardens will bring back all the toys, activities, and learning tools that they offered to kids when they first opened the Mordecai Children's Gardens. As of now, it's just an expensive place to take kids to splash around.