Natalie, from England, sent in this great idea. Let’s take a look at it…
For this you need:
• Crates (from our Melissa and doug toys food sets).
• some of our Yellow Door Education stone food
• cooked spaghetti (some dyed with food colouring).
• dry spaghetti.
• utensils.
Setting this up I thought ‘he’s just going to eat all of the spaghetti’ but surprisingly he didn’t! Of course he had a little nibble, but he loved scooping it and putting it in the pots, almost acting like he was cooking it.
Then came the dry spaghetti… he soon realised it makes a lovely snapping noise… so I’m sure you can guess what happened next so it turned into a lovely fine motor activity!
This helped with his : fine motor showing curiosity thinking of ideas; concentration focus sensory feedback; hand eye coordination cause and effect playing with what he knows acting out experiences.
For older ones- • cook the pasta with them • do some threading •mix colours to turn the pasta different colours • sorting the pasta in to groups (by colour, by size, by length).
For younger ones- •put the pasta on the floor/ in a shallow dish for tummy time •put pasta in sensory bottles •let them sit in the pasta.
Tell the Housebound With Kids community a bit about yourself…
I’m Natalie. I’m a first time mam to Arthur who’s just turned 1. We love in England and I’m an early years lead at a primary school. We love sharing our play ideas at home and sharing where we get our resources from.
@arthursantics19
How are you finding being housebound so far?
I’m loving it! Lockdown happened just as I was about to go back to work after maternity leave and we were put on a rota, meaning I got to spend more time with Arthur.
Do you have any tips for other parents?
Use everyday things. Cooking is always a great one.
Has this website and community helped you?
I love that there is such a broad range of ideas out there that people can use at home.
