Toys Around the House - Hangers

While packing up some of the things in my closet, I discovered a new "toy" for Xander.  He is fascinated by hangers.  The loop together, you can bag them, throw them, etc.  

Toys Around the House - Big Box

I realize that this is one of the most well known and loved "toys" in history.  Big empty boxes are wonderful because they can be anything you dream them to be.  While I am sure we will have many adventures with boxes, this is Xander's first one to play with.

At first, he was a bit nervous, but got over it rather quickly.

After a while I opened both sides so he could crawl through.  I imagined Toby and Xander chasing each other through the tunnel, but Toby wanted absolutely nothing to do with the box.

Even Mommy joined in the fun.

Toys Around the House - Jingle Bells

Since Xander loves his shakers so much, I decided to try another noise making "toy."  I put a bunch of jingle bells in a cool whip container for him.  He really enjoyed it.  He liked shaking the container and banging on it like a drum.

Eventually he got it open and was able to shake and chase the bells.  Unfortunately they don't sound as pretty when shaken in a hand.  He was pretty proud of himself.

This is what happens when Mommy says "no" firmly (he was trying to eat a bell).  Apparently he doesn't like that word or tone of voice.

Toys Around the House - Pom Poms

A few weeks ago Michael's had some crafting kits on clearance.  I know Xander is a ways off from crafting, but I picked one up  figuring I would find something to do with it.  The kit included a bunch of pom poms in various sizes.  I put the largest ones in an empty cocoa container to see what he would do with it.

At first I showed him all of the pom poms inside and closed the lid.  He played with the container for a while, but was unable to get it open.  Finally I took the lid off and he had a great time with them!  He knocked them around, felt them, and tasted them.  Many times I put them back in for him to dump out again.  He also thought it was funny if I tossed some in the air and let them rain down on us.  I think the pom poms turned out to be good motor development since he wanted to try to crawl after them.

Oh, and just a reminder how much babies like exploring normal objects, Xander spent much of one morning amusing himself with an empty cereal box and an empty orange juice container.

Toys Around the House

Lately I have been giving Xander random things from around the house to entertain him.  He loves discovering new things and I am continually shocked by what will keep him absorbed.  Consequently, I have decided to do a "Toys" Around the House section in hopes of giving inspiration to others with little ones (plus it satisfies those who only look at my blog for pictures of Xander).

The other day I found a package of balloons while going through my craft box.  At first the balloon just frustrated the heck out of him.  He would grab for the balloon, the balloon would bounce away, I would retrieve it, and repeat.  However, after adding some string, it has provided HOURS of entertainment.  He has figured out how to grab the string and reel in the balloon if it is far away.  You'd be surprised how challenging it is to coordinate the hand over hand to do that.  His favorite is to hold the string and bounce the balloon away from him, usually bopping himself in the face repeatedly.  I just have to be careful since I am paranoid about him trying to bite it and choking on a flying balloon fragment.

Of course being the obsessive mother that I am, I tried to find a way to make it educational (in addition to the motor development).  I got out his flashcard for balloon and showed it to him with the balloon multiple times over a few days.  I wanted him to have good experiences to relate back to the word was taught a couple months ago.