O's Dress-Up Area

O loves to play dress-up, but she was losing interest in it until we set up a dress-up area for her. I took her dresses out of her dress-up suitcase and hung them on accordian style hanger on the wall. We also hung a full length mirror on the bathroom door next to the dresses. She LOVES to sing and dance in front of the mirror!

O's Playdough Shelf

O had started to lose interest in playdough recently, so I revamped her playdough shelf (it's right next to her art shelf). All of the playdough tools and accessories are in the glass jar. The playdough is stored in magnetic glass containers (from IKEA) that hang on a magnetic strip (also from IKEA). She plays with playdough almost everyday, and she plays with putty multiple times per day.

Edit to add:  Homemade playdough does not store well in these containers.  There is some type of chemical reaction that occurs eating a hole in the metal of the container. 

Playdough Shelf- Revised

IMG_1995 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

I quickly realized that the playdough shelf wasn't suiting O's needs, and I needed to revise it. I planned on her playing with her playdough at the shelf since she does her artwork at the shelf (it's the perfect height), but she was not interested in that at all! However, she only likes to play with playdough at the table, and she was carrying everything across the room to her frog table. That really didn't make any sense since there is a shelf right next to the frog table. So...I rearranged things and put the playdough and accessories on the IKEA shelf. This is much better, and she is almost constantly playing with playdough (although she's mainly interested in cutting out cookies with "duhkie cutters" instead of playing with her ice-cream maker).

The Stairway

IMG_1938 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

This is the last one I promise (for now anyway)! My mom and I hung these counting bird pictures in the stairway at O's level so she can enjoy them and count with them as we walk up and down the stairs. She's actually not very interested in them, but that's ok. I really like them, and they make the stairway much more interesting :)

O's Apron and Chef's Hat

IMG_1932 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

Here are O's apron and chef's hat which are also hanging on a low hook in the kitchen. We also have her bibs hanging on a low hook so that she can get them herself when it's time to eat.

I wish I could put all of these prepared environment photos in one post, but I can only post one picture per post since I'm blogging through flickr :(

O's Coats & Sweaters

IMG_1939 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

We hung low hooks right by the door in our bedroom (which is the door we primarily use since the main door is upstairs, and I don't like to take O down the outside flight of stairs), so that she can easily reach her coat when it's time to go outside. She loves to lay it out on the floor and flip it over her head to put it on "all by self!"

More from O's Prepared Environment

IMG_1930 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

We hung hooks low on the side of our pantry in the kitchen for O's cleaning tools. She can reach them easily when she feels the need to swift, dust, or vacuum :)

Another Shelf

IMG_1900 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

Just in case anyone is interested...on this shelf we have O's lentil tray, her broom and dustpan (mainly used to sweep lentils), and her window washing kit. This shelf is right next to a sliding glass door that she enjoys cleaning often. All of the shelves in these recent posts are in the kitchen.

O's Playdough Shelf

IMG_1895 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

Since O has really been into playdoh lately, I decided to make it more easily accessible to her. We recently bought the playdoh ice-cream maker which she LOVES! We try to avoid plastic toys, but playdoh accessories are an exception :) The ice-cream maker is really cool. O has a little trouble making the ice-cream by herself, but she can make the whipped cream. My favorite parts are all of the little tiny food molds that are built into the base of the ice-cream maker. You can make tiny pretzels, peanuts, teddy grahams, donuts, etc. I can't wait until my niece visits us again because she is going to LOVE this toy!

O's Art Shelf - Revised

IMG_1898 (Large), originally uploaded by omamom16.

After seeing O have some difficulty getting her art supplies out of the tote, I decided to rearrange things. After she woke up from her nap yesterday, she was VERY excited to see the new arrangement. She kept saying "ook (look), mama! ook, mama!" She was especially excited about the markers in the blue mug since buh-looooo (blue) is her favorite color! She's been making lots of art lately :)