Our Adventures with a Recycled Tuff Tray

I love this Tuff Tray. Like, properly love. It saved my poor, abused carpet from more spills. It kept my crazy toddler's mess contained. Plus, it's made out of recycled plastic. SWOON.

We used it near-enough constantly. Indy is getting to the fiercely independent stage of wanting to feed himself. With the tray, no problem! Any spills were easily wipe-uppable, and no damage to my carpet.

Finger painting had always terrified me. We attempted it a couple of times on our dining room table, but things invariably got covered in the thick, staining goop. I was more than happy to strip Indy off and let him prod and poke the paint to his hearts content. I was able to just peeeeel it off the tray when it was dry. Obviously, after this activity, Indy himself was covered. I contemplated trying to take him upstairs and to stand perfectly still in the bathroom while I ran a bath, but realised that was silly talk. Find me a toddler who can stand still while covered in muck. (tip, you can't.) A flannel just wouldn't cut it, a baby wipe wouldn't cut it, visions of looping the hose into the house did flash across my mind (albeit very briefly) and then I had a flash of genius. Our old washing up bowl! It would fit into the tray, it would get him clean, he could play with the water and it would be fine! So, voila. A mini bath/water play.

Butter. Wouldn't. Melt.

I looked around for more ideas on what I could do with this magical tray. Then my mind flashed back to the kinetic play sand I had picked up at the pound shop. Indy had the HappyLands zoo set, and I thought it would be a great activity, to have the animals trampling in sand, mark making. I set up the blue and the stone coloured sand, and let him have at it. No sand got smooshed into my carpet, and it was so easy to put it all away afterwards!

In short, I really really recommend getting a tray. We used it in the garden when the grass was damp, we used it in the kitchen, we used it everywhere. It's perfect for when little hands get the colouring bug but can't quite stay on the pages. It's ideal for Play Doh and other slightly mucky activities. And snack times are super easy when you've got a lipped container for your child. Ha! The tray can be found here. Go get one!

Gelli-Baff

Yesterday, me and my mum (Indy's nanna) went out to do some lovely sunny bank holiday shopping, mostly for wedding things. We went to Dunelm to get some fabric for table cloths, and my mum spotted this awesome PVC!
http://www.dunelm-mill.com/shop/roadmap-pvc-fabric-453377

So naturally we bought a metre of it to use as a messy play mat. I had itchy fingers, so had to try it out this morning with the Gelli-Baff I've been hoarding since I found it in Pound World.

This is all you need to make this wonderfully gloopy stuff;  a nice big bowl, a litre of warm water, and the two packets in the box.

It tells you to add a little at a time as it all of a sudden thickens, and you have to keep stirring. It's a lot like jelly mix (hence Gelli...)

Luuuvly. Looks like a slush puppy. Then the fun begins!

Indy decided this wasn't enough goop and muck for one day, so wanted the Play Sand involved as well. Lots of 'wow' noises and squelching occured! He scooped and plopped and whisked.

All finished off with a great big cheesy grin, and a nap on the sofa :) A successful morning's play I think. Next time, I think I'll go for the green or the blue, and hide things in there like shells, toy animals, and foam letters.

A Lovely Birthday Weekend

It was my Birthday yesterday, I turned a grand old 26 years. On Saturday we did our usual Saturday thing of popping to the local farmers market, a cheeky stroll round some charity shops, and then popping into a cafe near us that offers people with various learning disabilities the opportunity to gain experience in the working environment. We like supporting local businesses as much as possible, so try to visit whenever we can afford it. My mum came with us as we were searching for things we can use for our impending wedding! She finally caved and had a go at babywearing, I think she loved it a bit.

On Sunday, we gave the hall we're getting married in a fresh lick of paint. Safe to say, I was thoroughly exhausted and looking forward to a nice quiet birthday.

Monday rolled around, and I had a deliciously quiet birthday. I was greeted with cards, and daffodils, and coffee (yesss), and a really cool Batman tshirt off my boys. I had a lovely long bath with a Terry Pratchett book, and that evening we went out for an Indian (Indy ate loads, as always)

Today we went into Cardiff to spend some birthday money! We popped to Lush as Indy suffers with eczema, so got him a couple of Ickle Baby Bots and a pot of Dream Cream, as they work wonders on his dry patches. We also got him some Burt's Bees shampoo, as his hair has been looking dry. I'd heard a rumour that Pound World had gelli baff and Play Sand in stock so on the off-chance we went in. We found some! I'm so excited to try the gelli baff with Indy. We couldn't resist opening the sand, as Daddy was itching to have a go.

All of this was topped off nicely with a bath. Indy was so knackered that a bit of boob and he was fast asleep by 7! Bless him. We're hopefully finally getting round to our Easter themed 'treasure hunt' with the packaging paper tomorrow, so I'll be sure to post!