Improvisation

We don’t have a sand pit.

My boy loves sand. Absolutely LOVES it. Give him a sand pit and leave him to it. For HOURS. Seriously, when this kid goes to kindy, you will know where to find him.  If there isn't any sand available, then dirt will do instead...

While we might not have a sandpit, we do have rice. A big, big bin full of it. And some food colouring. And an oven.  Coloured rice!
Oven tray, plastic mat, and the rest is up to him.
Hours and hours of entertainment.

Okay, so there was some rice in the carpet. Nothing a good vacuum won’t fix, and totally worth it for the wet day fun we’ve had.

We didn’t have a road mat either (Munchkin was given one this week. He carried it to the car. He carried it from the car into the house. I just wish you could’ve seen it! The mat is taller than he is, and there he was proudly carrying it between his arms, ends sticking out either side of him. Mummy helped him step up and down stairs seeing as he could hardly see!).
So we improvised. We did have a bit big of paper that had wrapped Mummy’s new pin board. And we have felt pens. Mummy drew some roads, an airport, a petrol station and such. Then we drove Munchkin’s cars around. And around. Then the request came for some flowers, snails, and assorted other pictures. Then more cars driving around, and planes taking off and landing. That bit of paper has been used over and over again. It’s had to be retired now, as it got pretty ripped in the end, but for what was just a bit of rubbish it has provided so much entertainment.

Munchkin didn’t have a car garage. I’ve been berating myself that we didn’t get him one for his birthday. Of all the things he spends time doing, playing with his car collection is number one, every single day. Reading books is number two, just in case you wanted to know. Going for walks is a close third. Playing with cars outside is probably fourth (but that’s still playing with cars!). We didn’t have quite enough money at the time and some other things we wanted to get him, so no garage. I’ve spent the intervening six months trying to save up for one. Finally got one yesterday! Wahoo!! Don’t know who is more excited, Munchkin or Mummy. Grin. He loves it, of course.

But back to the pre-wooden-car-garage days. Mummy found a couple of off-cuts of plywood from her building endeavours. We fished a few empty boxes out of Munchkin’s stash (for when he wants to sellotape and glue giraffes, etc!). And wah-lah. We had some ramps. This is really just a miniature copy of the big ramp Munchkin’s had for ages. It lives against the wall behind the couch until he asks for it. Then it sits tucked into the front of Mummy’s chair, and he drives cars down it. We originally got it to run his wooden kangaroos down, but anything that rolls is fair game!

What have you found yourself improvising with lately?

Isn’t it amazing how versatile kids can be, when we let their imaginations take flight. I am looking forward to seeing what ideas we come up with as Munchkin gets older.  After all, sometimes the best toys are the ones we make for ourselves, the things that require a little bit of imagination to really 'see' and use well.

Amy