Tag Archives: Try Something New Thursday

Nature Scavenger Hunt

For Try Something New Thursday, I wanted to do a nature scavenger hunt. I loved scavenger hunts as a kid, and I thought Buddy would enjoy them too. There is an amazing free printable on Life With My Little’s blog (get it here). I printed it and laminated it during Buddy’s nap. Once I found a small dry erase marker, we were all ready to go.

Buddy saw the scavenger hunt sheet, and he immediately understood what to do. He “read” the list on his own. We needed to find a stick, a dandelion, a clover, a bug, and a cool rock. I love this particular scavenger hunt because it is short, has nice pictures, and everything is easy to find.

Buddy got into his push car, and we went to the park near our house. There is a walking path around a small pond, which I knew would be perfect for our hunt. Buddy studied our scavenger hunt list as I pushed him to the park.

Once we reached the park, Buddy got out of the car to find the items. As we found each item, he crossed out the picture with the dry erase marker. Buddy loved using the marker and carrying our scavenger hunt list!

We found a clover!

Crossing out pictures on the card.

Since we took our time finding the items, we were able to see many amazing things not on our list. We saw a rabbit, a squirrel, a heron, and several huge dragonflies! Buddy loves animals, and they made our walk extra fun. After we walked for a while, Buddy wanted to push the car on his own. It slowed us down a bit, but we saw many fun things as a result.

This was such a fun and easy activity! We both loved it, and I’m sure we’ll do it again soon.

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Repurposed for Fun: Bowling with Cups

Cornstarch and Water Sensory Play

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This week, I wanted to try a new sensory activity for Try Something New Thursday. I first saw the idea of playing with cornstarch and water at Fun at Home with Kids. I knew this activity would be messy, but I was willing to deal with the mess to have a little fun.

I mixed some cornstarch and water in a glass pan. I didn’t measure what I put in. I started with a little water, and I kept adding until it was just slightly runny. It was a great slimy texture that was somewhat solid and somewhat liquid.

I started by giving Buddy the pan while he was still in his highchair. It was less messy in this setup, but it was hard for Buddy to actually play while strapped into the seat. I decided to embrace the mess, so I grabbed a towel and moved the activity to the kitchen floor.

Buddy was a little timid at first, but he was definitely interested in feeling the mixture. It didn’t take long before he was digging in with both hands.

It was a huge mess, but it was worth it. Buddy had a great time playing with the cornstarch mixture. He loved spattering it around the towel. Eventually he pulled the pan and set it in his lap, so he could get easier access to the good stuff.

Originally, I thought about doing this activity in the bathtub. I decided against it because I knew I needed to clean my kitchen floor and do a load of laundry today anyway. However, I might do it in a tub next time, because Buddy definitely needed a bath after our play time was done. We both had a good time, though, so the mess was worth it.

Pom Pom Play

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I’ve been wanting to do something with pom poms for awhile. Since today is Try Something New Thursday, it was the perfect time to try playing with pom poms for the first time.

Buddy loves putting things in and pulling them out of containers. I’ve seen a lot of different variations of poms and containers on Pinterest, and I decided to use a snack cup to hold the poms. We have only tried to use this cup with an actual snack once, which wasn’t very successful. I liked the idea of reintroducing this cup as a toy, since it isn’t being used at all right now. Maybe later, Buddy will be more interested in using it to hold snacks once he’s used to it.

I took a couple of handfuls of poms and put them in a pile on the floor. Then, I handed Buddy the cup. He immediately started putting the poms into the cup. He started by putting one pom in at a time, but eventually got so excited that he started using both hands to shove handfuls of poms in the cup.

I didn’t think ahead of time about whether or not all of the poms would fit in the container. Luckily, they did, although it took some effort on Buddy’s part for the last two to go in.

Mom, this one won’t go in!

Once all of the pom poms were in the container, Buddy wasn’t sure what to do. He shook the cup to try to get them out, but they stayed in. He put his hand in, but he couldn’t get many out. I let him use his problem solving skills for awhile, but eventually I took the cup and poured out the poms. Then Buddy started over putting the poms back in the cup.

After the second time the cup was full, Buddy decided to make up his own pom pom game. He took poms and lined them up on the bookshelf. Then he knocked them down. He kept doing this over and over for quite a while.

This activity was a huge hit, and we will be doing this again soon! I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an easy idea to keep a little one entertained.

Crawling Obstacle Course

Rice Sensory Bin

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Today, for Try Something New Thursday, I put together a rice sensory bin for Buddy. I’ve been wanting to try sensory bins for a long time, but I’ve been too busy with school work to have time to put one together.

I bought a extra large bag of rice and a big bin to put it in. Then I threw in some measuring cups, a slotted spoon, an empty container of baby food, a bowl, and a plastic cup (left over from our ice boat activity). I thought Buddy would like to scoop and play with the rice, and I knew he’d want to shake it up in the container with the lid. (He loves anything that makes noise.)

Buddy is checking out everything in the bin.

Buddy checking out everything in the bin.

Buddy was very interested in the rice bin, but he wanted to take the items out of the bin to examine them closer. He realized the rice made a noise when he shook the bowl, but unfortunately that meant rice went all over the floor. My sweet little boy tried to pick up the rice and put it back into the bowl (and he was somewhat successful), but he quickly realized it was too much to pick up. I knew before we started that it would make a big mess, but I underestimated how quickly the rice would be everywhere!

Buddy loved playing with this cup.

Buddy had lots of fun, even though the majority of his play was on the kitchen floor and not actually in the bin. Eventually, he decided to push the bin around and then explore the kitchen. (He never gets to play on the floor of the kitchen, and I think he was excited to crawl around in a new setting.)

Even though this activity was a big mess, it only took a few minutes to clean up. I definitely will try it again, but next time I’ll try some different materials in the rice.

Tales of a Teacher Mom

Learning and Fun with a Little One