Keeping busy...

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been pinning quite a bit these days and I've been trying to improve my pin to action ratio!  I've been pretty motivated to give miss Maya B some new things to do to keep her busy...especially since the rainy season has begun and our time outside is very limited!  

I had tried some "artsy" activities in the past, but she was never too interested.  Now that we go to toddler group, she's been exposed to more options and I think seeing other kids do art and craft projects, encourages her to give it a try too!  She wasn't too keen on painting for a long time...she didn't seem to like getting her hands dirty ;)  But recently, she's been much more interested and though she still doesn't "go for it" with full blown finger painting, she's getting there...

I used some ric rac and mini clothes pins to hang her art by our window in the dining room.  This window is pretty bare, so it's nice to bring some life to the dining room and see all of her work!

Another activity that's been keeping her busy these days is water beads!  You can find them in the floral section of any craft store.  I've had multiple friends recommend them and I finally gave them a shot.  Once you add water, they become marble sized wet beads, similar in consistency to jello (probably a little more firm).  They're a great sensory item and Maya loves scooping them with a spoon into bowls.

As you can see in the previous pictures, we had gotten into a pretty bad habit of allowing Maya to stand on the bench to do projects.  In order to avoid potential falls, we brought a small Ikea table that I had found at a garage sale for $5 (I plan on paining the top with chalkboard paint sometime very soon!) and one of her chairs into the kitchen to create her own "craft table".  She seemed pretty excited and hasn't complained about having to sit here instead of standing at the bench :)

lovely post-nap crazy hair

this picture makes me giggle because she is actually saying "cheeeese".  she's learning how to actually smile for the camera...makes my job much easier :)

If you have any other great crafty ideas for an almost 2 year old, I'd love to know!