Peas in the yogurt

That's what happens when I let Katie feed herself.

I've been struggling with knowing the mess Katie would make if she fed herself and her desire to have the spoon.  I gave in today.  Katie loved it!  Yes it was messy & she may have used her fingers more than the spoon, but most of the yogurt was eaten.  She put peas in the yogurt, then ate the yogurt covered peas.  Creative!

How could I resist giving her the spoon when she is just so happy!  Katie does need to learn how to feed herself, so why not start now?  Of course, the mess (see below) was a consequence, but that's what the sink is for!  Katie loved playing with the water while I washed her hands, face & hair.  That's right, her hair.  She decided that putting her yogurt covered hands in her hair was a good idea.

Successful/Messy lunch time...Katie will want to feed herself at every meal now, that may be a problem. (because I don't know if I can deal with the mess at every meal!)

Macaroni Play Time

Sensory play.  I've heard of it, but never really understood it.  Sensory: the senses...sounds, textures, even taste (at this age especially).  Ok, I get that.  I'm not an expert, but here is the fun that I've with Katie during our sensory play time.  The idea came from Pinterest.  I'm happy to say that I've actually put a pin into use!

Mostly I've posted photos, so you can get the idea.  I put two 16oz boxes of macaroni into a tub.  Then added a measuring cup, stacking cups, and a bucket for Katie to play with.

The first time we tried this activity, I used a silver tub.  It was a bit too deep.  Katie had a hard time reaching the pasta.  When we did the activity again, I switched to large pink bowl.  This worked much better!  Katie could reach the pasta and really enjoyed playing with it.

Katie struggled to scoop up the macaroni, but enjoyed it just the same. She liked feeling the pasta on her fingers and hearing it "crash" on the other pieces of pasta.  It was so fun to watch that even Charley wanted to join in the fun.