10 Ways to Play with Push Lights

I found these fun little push lights at The Dollar Tree, my absolute favorite place.  I'll be honest, you can probably find better quality ones somewhere else, but you'll end up spending more than $1 I'm sure.  Each of these take 4 AA batteries and The Dollar Tree sells packs of 8 batteries for $1.  Score!

I love these lights because they're simple, produce a good amount of light, and are easy for a little toddler to turn on and off.  Olive loves them for all the same reasons.  We haven't really played anything specific with them yet except for just turning them on and off.  They are equally fun in the light as well as dark.

Even though we haven't used them (yet) in all these ways, here are some different ideas on how you can use push lights (with your toddler or even an older child):

1) Learning words:  on, off, push, light, dark

2) Energetic game:  Set up about 10 in a room and turn them all on.  You run around pushing them all off and your child runs around pushing them all back on.  This game could literally go on forever.

3) Cozy reading:  Turn off all the lights and set a few of the push lights around you.  Read books together by the light of the pushlights.

4) Stop and Go:  Child is in charge of pushing light on and off.  When she pushes the light on, you move/crawl/jump/skip/etc. towards her.  When she pushes the light off, you have to stop.  When you reach her, switch places.

5) Middle of the night diaper changing light (okay, not exactly a "play" use, but helpful, right?)

6) Homemade light table:  Put a few push lights on the floor and place a clear bin upside down over the lights.  Voila!  Light table is ready to use!

7) Set a few on the floor and play with scarves and/or light fabrics over top to see the light diffused through the fabric.

8) Make a campfire:  Tape some orange construction paper to the outside edge of the light and cut into "flame" shapes.  Use as a "campfire" for dolls and play animals.

9) Practice gross motor/ hand-eye coordination skills:  Set up a few lights on the ground.  Have your child toss bean bags (heavy enough to turn on the light) and try to get the bean bags to land on the light and turn it on.

10) Feelings buttons:  If your child isn't talking yet and has trouble expressing her emotions... Take a few lights and draw a face (or tape a picture) to each one that reflects a different emotion - happy, sad, angry, tired, hungry, etc.  When your child is upset, you can show them to push the light that shows how they are feeling.  If they start to feel different, they can push the light off and push another light on that shows how they are feeling now.

Do any of you have push lights in your home?  What are some of the ways that you use them for play?

Making Soup...and More Pretending

When my daughter was younger, I remember really looking forward to the day where she could pretend with me.  When I was working as a teacher, I was the teacher who would pass out strips of paper and say, "Let's figure out what it could be, what we could do with it!".  Sure, I got a lot of eye rolls, but I also got a lot of creative thinkers.  The art of pretending is really a skill that comes with age, and I would say that age for Olive was about 17 months.  Around that time was when she really started playing "pretend":  pouring tea for her dollies, eating imaginary food with a fork, driving a cardboard car, and more.

I love, love, love pretending with Olive for a lot of reasons, but 2 main reasons really:  1) When you pretend, you can go anywhere, be anyone, and do anything and 2) it doesn't cost anything.  Let's face it, if necessity is the mother of invention, than an empty wallet is the mother of pretend play.

One of Olive's favorite pretend things to do (and by favorite, I mean that it's an activity that she can focus on for more than 15 minutes) is "making soup".

Sprinkling some "spice" into her soup bowl.

Opening a pill box to retrieve some "ingredients" to add to the soup.

Of course, every good cook always tastes their food.

Making soup isn't the only way we pretend around our house.  Here are some other things we have that we pretend with:

• Old corded telephone
• Calculator
• Table setting (place mat, plate, utensils, napkin, cup)
• Dolls
• Toy cars
• Random plastic pieces
• Scarves & hats
• Teapot & teacups

Here's a short article I came across on the importance of play that I thought you might enjoy reading.

Olive and I hope you have a fun weekend filled with dancing like a bear, baking cookies in a shoebox, and having a phone conversation with a stuffed animal. :)

Animal Bookends

I found this idea over at Mad in Crafts while searching for cheap and easy crafts.  And boy, oh, boy, was it ever - cheap AND easy!  My husband and I worked together to make these two last night for our niece and nephew.  We're planning on getting them some books for Christmas and packing these cute bookends in with them.  I had everything on hand except for the animals and frames, so each bookend set ended up costing me a total of just $3!  Pretty cool, huh?

What you need:
- 1 plastic animal or car ($1 at The Dollar Store)
- 2 acrylic frames 5"x7" ($1 at The Dollar Store)
- hacksaw
- hot glue gun, super glue, or some other kind of sturdy glue

Optional:
- Scrapbook paper
- puffy paint

How to make:
1) Cut the toy animal or car in half with the hacksaw.
2) Glue each side of the animal to a frame.
3) Done!

You could stop there or take it a few steps further, like we did.

1) The frames lean inward at a slight angle.  To help them behave more like bookends, we slowly and CAREFULLY held them over the stove flame until the plastic became warm and slightly pliable.  Then, we worked the bottom little by little until the frame sat more straight up, closer to a 90 degree angle.  Obviously, this is optional, but it helps the books to stand up a little better.
2) Insert a piece of scrapbook paper into the frame for a cute background.  Plus, the paper kind of helps to camouflage any messy gluing.
3) Add embellishments - I had some cute letter stickers and used them to spell the kids' names.
4) Add a few drops of puffy paint on the bottom of the frame, the side that it sits on, and let it dry.  We found that the frames are pretty light and adding the puffy paint helps to create a little bit of friction and keeps them from sliding.

I think these turned out so cute.  I plan on making some for Olives room.  Now, if only I can find a plastic cat...