Posts tagged toddler activities

Juju’s First Zoo Day!

It's All New To Ju! 72 Comments

Hello Fellow Juju Lovers!

We had a few days off from daycare this week so we made an impromptu trip to the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown, PA. 

Juju had never been to the zoo and as summer quickly starts to wind down, I wanted to try to get some fun stuff in before the weather changes. Thanks to the pandemic we had to cancel two week long vacations we had planned for this summer.

Insert: Zoo Day! 

There was some damage done to the zoo a few weeks back when we had a really sever tropical storm. The zoo got flooded and had to close for a few days, not to mention relocate a bunch of animals . The zoo had just reopened after the pandemic and really didn’t need this extra burden. Despite all that, the Zoo was open and had lots of fun things for a little guy like Juju to get into! 

Want to help the Elmwood Park Zoo get back on track? Click here for more info! 

Some of the highlights of the afternoon for Juju were the Owls, The Percussion Garden and its oversized xylophone, the fountain, and the giraffes. 

Check out some of the pics below! 

We had a Blast!

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Sensory Play On A Budget

It's All New To Ju! Parenting 29 Comments
Hi Peeps!

I wanted to do a quick post about some of the activities we were doing around the house with our 16 month old. We are currently coming out of an 80 day lockdown in Philadelphia, and during that time at home we had to get creative to replicate the activity level my son is used to getting at daycare.

Let me start by saying…

My family and I are truly blessed to have made it through this pandemic virtually unscathed. I was able to comfortably work from home while my husband watched the baby (thankfully not working from home but still getting paid). We had food, shelter, and even plenty of toilet paper to keep us happily indoors. We enjoyed watching milestones we would have otherwise missed if my son was in daycare. We also did some much needed spring cleaning and minimizing (Marie Kondo would be proud). 

Now that we have hit toddlerhood, the range of activities we can try out has vastly expanded. One of our favorites is…

SENSORY PLAY!

Sensory play includes any activity that stimulates your young child’s senses: touch, smell, taste, movement, balance, sight and hearing.

Sensory activities facilitate exploration and naturally encourage children to use scientific processes while they play, create, investigate and explore. The sensory activities allow children to refine their thresholds for different sensory information helping their brain to create stronger connections to process and respond to sensory information.

Since we love FREE and EASY…

Our sensory material of choice is WATER PLAY! It literally requires nothing but a bucket or bowl and any random household items or waterproof toys.

Sensory Materials we use:

  • Balls
  • Bath Toys
  • Applesauce Pouch caps
  • Wooden spoons

Baby loves every minute of it and it’s always stimulating enough to his senses to incite a nap!

5 minute Sensory Idea

Sometimes after meals when Ju isn’t ready to get out just yet but he is done eating, we give him a bowl full of water and a wooden spoon and he goes to town. Water play is just that simple!

Tell me what sensory activities you are doing with your toddler so I can give them a try! I’m new to this and always looking to expand on FREE and EASY summer fun, so drop me a comment and share your favorite!