Diaper Changing Activities - MISC

I don't have any new diaper changing activities really, I've just been bringing in new things for them to explore, and not really an activity. I didn't think these deserved their own post, but I'll just put a bunch together in one.

Glitter bottles
Food coloring+glitter+hot glue; got the idea from HERE. They love them, and it's good practice naming colors. I often find them placed in random spots around the room, like on our bookshelf.

She loves her glitter bottles! 

Bouncy Balls 

Simply gave them some fist sized bouncy balls, they went nuts! In a good having fun way, not chaotic mess way! 

Rubber Ducks
They went around saying quack quack for 30 minutes!

Basically just brought in something new that they don't see everyday so I can focus on diapers, and not misbehaving kids.

I think that's all I got for now...wish me luck in the giveaway!

Until next time, which might be a while...

Diaper changing activities - Dry Erase fun!

Did you catch my post earlier this week about diaper changing activities? Basically it's a short, easy, CLEAN activity I can rotate through the weeks while changing diapers [or really any other time I need to keep them occupied for a short period of time]. Well this activity utilizes the same 4 page protector pages we used for the sticker activities, but this time instead of giving them sticker pages, I gave them dry erase markers. Make sure to buy the slightly more expensive non-toxic dry erase markers if trying this activity. 

I thought of this because whenever we color, I always give them crayons. Can you blame me though? The idea of marker ink all over the room, child, and mouth is scary, and pens just as bad. I wish kids did not recognize they were only receiving one coloring medium, but they do! Whenever they see pens markers or any other writing implement, instant curiosity takes over as they try to reach one and use it. Of course I swoop in and ruin their fun with the new found toy, but not without feeling bad. Then one day, while in the office supply department in Wal-mart, I saw dry erase markers, and inspiration struck! This might be the perfect way to let them explore a new coloring tool, without the terrible unyielding stains. I did a little research about the toxicity, and found that there is a type of non-toxic dry erase marker that is safe for kids to use. YAY! Dry erase marker cleans easily off of non-porous surfaces, so when their little minds wanted to test the surrounding environment with the markers, I'd have peace of mind knowing I could wipe it down later. It also cleans off of clothes easily so I wouldn't feel bad sending them home even if some of their drawing ended up on their outfit. 

They loved it, and were occupied with them for more than enough time for me to change diapers and prepare for the next activity. 

Look at her holding that marker like a pro! 

They enjoyed the erasable qualities of these markers.

The stickers from before are safely tucked inside the page protectors still.

After a while of coloring on the pages, Emery wanted  to try her skin. As I said double check and make sure you get the non-toxic kind.

She was then surprised that the marker did not wipe off her skin  like it did  with the pages. It does rinse off very easily under water so no worries!

This activity was so easy to set up and the kids could've played with it for another half hour if I hadn't transitioned to a new activity. Such a great, easy activity to set-up if you're trying to get some chores done around the house, or cook dinner, or in my case change diapers! 

Until next time...

Linking up to these fun parties!

Diaper Changing Activities.

As you probably know, I work at a center based child-care facility as the teacher over 18months to 24 months. I am the only teacher over 6 children and the most difficult time of my day is diaper changing times! 3 of my kids are still in diapers, 1 is in the midst of being potty trained which requires supervision in the bathroom on my part, and 2 in underwear. The 3 who sit on the potty go every half hour, and those times usually go pretty quickly and I'm able to leave the other 3 out to play freely with no problems. The problems arise once an hour when I have to get 3 kids to go potty, and change 3 diapers at the same time. I have had days when all heck breaks loose in my room during this time because I just can't entertain, change a diaper, and supervise toilet sitting all at once! Too often these times would turn into a half an hour ordeal of chaos and crying kids.

I had resorted to sitting the more feisty children next to me while I changed diapers, but I did not like doing that because I did not want them to feel punished when they had not done anything wrong [yet] but I also couldn't stop if they decided to push another kid and take their toy while I was in the middle of changing diapers. I discussed the dilemma I was having with one of the moms. She understood where I was coming from because she is an elementary school teacher, and offered to bring in some sticker books that her daughter loved from home to help during these times. From our discussion, it occurred to me that part of the chaos was because they play with the same toys week after week, and though we try to rotate the toys as much as possible, there's only so long you can do that and the children were getting bored.

It was from this that the idea of Diaper Changing Activities was born! I decided that I would come up with some new activities that I could set out for them to explore while changing diapers. Something that was clean, inexpensive, no set-up required, that I could give to each child to encourage exploration and play during these times instead of fighting and mischief.

The first diaper changing activity I gave was stickers. Imade a little booklet of 4 page protectors clipped together and put some sticker sheets in side, and foam stickers on the outside. I handed these out before getting ready to start changing them, and their interest was piqued - just the response I was hoping for. They enjoyed exploring the stickers and moving them around, putting them around the classroom, and I was able to clean everyone up without a hitch. SUCCESS! What a relief it has been to have happy playing children when I am unable to give them my full supervision.

 Here are the 6 booklets I made, real easy and inexpensive and I'll use the booklets for other activities to come. See the dry erase markers? Ya that's another activity that we did...

Having lots of fun putting foam stickers on her arm!

 Checking out the sticker sheets. 

Vivien enjoyed pulling apart the stickers than putting them back on the page.

I can't even express the relief I have experienced since I've come up with this simple solution. I cannot believe it took me as long as it did to think of this. Now at least once weekly I rotate a new diaper changing activity into the mix so they have new things to explore, and do not get bored with the same things over and over. This can easily be applied to trying to cook dinner, clean, or car trips.
Until next time, hope you can find a use for these activities to help make your life a little more healthy.

Linking up to some super parties here...