Re-Purpose your Train Table into a Craft Table

According to our backyard weather station, and the flurries in the sky, the temperature dropped to -2°C yesterday and last night, it was -12°C. Given our locale, snow on Halloween is practically a given, so at this point its safe to assume that snow could arrive and stick around at any given moment.

As much fun as snow can be, when the temperatures start to really drop, even the hardiest of kids (which my kids are not) can only tolerate playing outside for short periods of time and if we as parents want to avoid the trap of constant digital stimulation, we need to plan ahead.

For us, the first step was to take our basement that resembled a toy dumping ground and create a place that fostered play and imagination. It's definitely a work in progress, but I have been incredibly inspired by Tinkerlab: A Hands-On Guide for Little Inventors by Rachelle Doorley, which introduces the idea of creative invitations, how to create your Tinkerlab, supplies worth having on hand and breaks up activities into four broad categories: Design, Build, Concoct and Discover.

With Tinkerlab in hand, I was finally ready to create a crafting area in our home, but the first thing I needed was a table. I started by scouring the internet for table ideas and our local Facebook Bidding Site looking for something that could suit our needs for cheap, but eventually a critical look at our space made me realize we already HAD the perfect table.

Rather than looking for something new, I decided to re-purpose our train table that currently seemed to illicit more fights and frustration than joy as of late. I started by taking all things train and putting them in a bin with the hope that one day the boys would enjoy them again.

I then flipped over the two boards that make up the 'table' so that accidental spills will (hopefully) not affect the images on the train table. I carefully taped a thick, flock backed tablecloth onto the boards, taking the time to carefully fold the corners and tape them onto the bottom side. Because there are two boards, it takes some effort to get the tablecloth tight and the table flat, this is easier done without the help of children if at all possible.

In less than an hour, and for the cost of a tablecloth, our barely used train table become a craft table (or craft centre as my kindergartner calls it), that my boys came to love in a matter of days.

Organizing our crafty goodies into small containers, cups and drawers and deciding what the boys could have free access to, took significantly more time and is a post for another day.

How are you preparing for the cold weather?
How do you encourage art, creativity and free play?

Boon Bath Goods: Designer Toys & Scrubbies

My son received Boon Bath Goods at his baby shower and at first glance I wasn't sure how enjoyable these particular toys would be; they looked neat, that's for sure but beyond that I really didn't know. Perusal of the Boon website didn't provide much more information, although it assured me that the foam would not absorb the water, thus reducing any potential growth of mold or mildew. From a health perspective that is of course an important note.

Around two months of age, the boy and I started sharing a bath before bedtime each night. At first he just laid in the tub, and after a few weeks we decided to crack open the Boon Bath Goods and try them out. Due to the assortment of shapes, we carefully chose a few shapes that would be easy for his small, uncoordinated hands to grasp and tossed them in the tub with us.

The boy loved them. At first he would just hold the Boon Bath Toys, then he started shaking them and chewing on them. He loved them so much, he always took one out of the bath and when we towelled, lotioned and dressed him, he would happily chew away on his Boon Bath Goods instead of fighting us during the process. He loved them so much that they became a toybag staple, at playdates I needed to make sure that there was two, or the kids would pull back on forth on the one.

An added bonus of Boon Bath Goods is that the soft foam shapes stick on the sides of the bathtub providing lots of visual stimuli for your little one when they are young and as they get older they can start grasping and pulling them off the side of the tub themselves.The boy  was so proud of himself when he figured this out!

As the boy has started to develop teeth, I was a little worried about the wear and tear on the Boon Bath Goods, but he now possess' four teeth and has not yet ripped, torn or otherwise mangled any of his toys. Now granted he doesn't play with them quite so much now that he is almost 11 months old, and that lack of absorbency in the foam means that teething on the Boon Bath Toys definitely requires a bib (or results in a very wet shirt).

All of that being said, my son showed little interest in the balls, despite their small size, and we never used the scrubbies, instead opting to use organic washcloths we received as gifts. I'm sure these two facets are great for some people, but in my house they just never seem to get used.

The Boon website lists this product for $14.99 and I have seen them locally for $19.99; my son has easily had 9 months of play with these toys and they are none the worse for the wear, all in all these are amazing toys for both in and out of the bathtub.

Taking into account Durability, Enjoyability & Price I have to give Boon Bath Goods a solid 4/5!