Baby Play – Laundry Basket Fun
T has taken putting in and taking out to a whole new level this week – she’s decided (I’m very into child led play – so I’ve just been providing alternatives for her to use) that instead of putting in objects she’s going to put in herself. So far we’ve been in the block box – whilst it’s full of blocks, in the toy box once J had emptied it out – but by far the best in and out for her is the Laundry Basket.
This activity is great for developing gross motor skills and is obviously fun otherwise T wouldn’t keep doing it. She’s at the stage of taking tentative steps everywhere and is able to stand on her own for a while.
Each of the stages uses different muscles and T is gaining some real balancing skills from the getting in stage of the play. She tends to hold onto opposite sides as in the picture above, lift both feet off the floor and move one leg into the basket.
Whilst she is getting into and out of the basket we are reinforcing language with her – T get IN, T get OUT. She’s really started to develop her language over the last few weeks and I’ve found it really interesting to read about language development over on Little Stories. So anyway that we can use language in play with her we are.
Do your children have something that they do over and over again?
My son is 13 months and he loves to climb in and around anything. Here is a short list of the more recent things: our dog kennel (his very favorite, he climbs in and closes the door), the toy box, laundry basket, nook in a bookshelf, on top of the coffee table. It is hysterical to me and seems to be his favorite pastime of late so I am just enjoying these moments while making sure to keep him safe!
My daughter is 4 1/2 and still enjoys playing with the laundry basket. It just goes to show that kids don’t need fancy toys for play.
Laundry baskets make such fantastic toys!
The bigger the better in T’s books and something that we’ve all got around the house as well