It’s that time of the year when the supermarkets are full of all kinds of festive treats. We’ve purchased two of those extra large disposable foil roasting trays that appear along with all the other paraphernalia that we might need for seasonal entertaining. But these trays won’t see the inside of an oven; they are great for all kinds of activities with toddlers.
Daisy has a small paddling pool full of coloured soft play balls and we set the trays out next to it. Mummy and I then filled the two trays with balls from the pool. We decided to sort the balls by colour and encouraged Daisy to help us. Talking all the time we told Daisy the name of the colours we were looking for as we filled the trays, just as we do when we name a toy in play.
With balls sorted in the trays we tried shaking them with Daisy and watching the balls bounce in the trays. Squeals of delight from Daisy until both trays were empty. She then found a new way to play with the trays herself – banging the empty trays together and enjoying the new sounds she was making!
Another day we might set the trays out and let Daisy fill them herself with a few balls and repeat the play; and another time we could select different colours for the sets of balls.
And when Daisy has had enough of this play, we’ll always encourage her to help us put the balls back into the soft play paddling pool.
Granny Smith's Diary 