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Category Archives: play
Toddler Activities
Posted in play
Tagged play, sorting beans, toddler activities
Contrarians Have More Fun (Especially In The Rain)
Until recently, when it rained we made the obvious choice to stay inside. Although I firmly believe we, especially kids, need to get outside everyday for at least a short period of time. The air, the exercise, the stimulation and the exploring kids do are all great reasons to get out everyday, not to mention it’s fun to play with friends!
We have had record rain this summer, which means that we were destined to spend a lot of the summer cooped up in our house. Multiple days in a row trapped inside is tough on toddlers. That translates to being tough on parents who have to deal with stir crazy kids.
There are only so many block towers to be made, only so many drawings and only so many indoor I’m-gonna-get-you-chasing-games. There are only so many videos we can watch (we only have three as it is). Anjali wants to be swinging on swings, digging in the wood chips and climbing on climb-y things.
Enter 1 raincoat and 1 set of froggy rain boots for Anjali, and rain pants for mama and papa.
At the outset of Hurricane Irene in August, we decided to take a little walk to the Random Tea Room. It was just starting to rain. We put on our gear and walked. We had our tea. On the way home it really started coming down. Once we got home however, Anjali was having so much fun in the rain, walking through puddles, splashing and exploring, that we all decided to hang outside for a while.
Then Anjali and I took a walk around the neighborhood.
The look on her face was one of complete joy and wonderment. For me, witnessing Anjali’s new experiences
and the joy it brings her is one of the most inspiring things I have experienced in life.
Since then, when it rains I try to make it a point to get our gear on and go outside, rather than remain trapped in the house. Anjali loves it, and we get the whole park to ourselves on rainy days! Swinging in the rain
is a whole new experience. We had to be careful on the climbers, although Anjali was adventurous.
I guess it pays off to be a contrarian, especially in the rain, so long as you have good waterproof boots!
Posted in play
Building With Anjali
Over the past couple of weeks, Anjali has taken block building building to a new level. That is, she likes me to build the exquisite buildings you see below. She helps by gathering and bringing the blocks to me…
And supervising. She signs “more,” and I build at will.
Previously, Anjali loved to knock down the block buildings immediately after they were built, like some kind of baby Godzilla. But some of these buildings we built stayed standing for days.
That period ended, and now she’s back to knocking down the buildings only after the first few blocks are laid. But I captured some of our masterpieces on “film.”
Posted in play
Tagged blocks, building with blocks, play
My Old Sweater Is The Coolest Jellyfish In Town
Wanna see what amazing things you can do with an old sweater?
Anjali’s aunt Ragini made this with my old sweater. The last time she came to visit with Anjali’s cousins Xia and Anika, we donated a bunch of our clothing to them (they in turn have donated a good portion of Anjali’s wardrobe!).
When we visited them last weekend, Anjali received this belated birthday present. 
It took me 2 or 3 minutes to realize that it was made of one of my favorite, old sweaters.
There was a time when I was on the road a lot with my old band, Fathead, and
I wore this sweater everyday. I was like a cartoon character, except that I needed to do laundry… Um, I really liked that sweater.
That’s the best re-purposing I have seen in a while. It was hard letting go of that sweater… But it’s true, what they say:
If you love something, set it free; if it comes back it’s yours…
Posted in play
Tagged family, re-purposing, stuffed animals
My House Is Booby Trapped With Toys and Books
I used to be amazingly ninja-like in my ability to walk anywhere in the house in the dark. I got good at doing this on those late nights when I came home from gigs and didn’t want to wake anyone else with lights. I also got good at it anytime I woke in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, or if I realized I hadn’t fed the cat and had to go downstairs because he was meowing his head off. In those cases, I left lights off to prevent from becoming fully awake.
But now my house is booby trapped (“That’s what I said…Booty trapped.” Anyone know what movie that’s from?). There are board books and blocks, Little fuzzy animals and tiny shoes, Potties and stacking toys, and even little instruments. Last night I slipped on a board book when coming out of the bathroom. It’s a wonder I didn’t wake anyone (the cat doesn’t count because he was already awake, meowing for attention at 1:30 am!). Two nights ago I stepped on (and broke) a cat toy–a bell in a plastic toy. Oops.
The rules have changed. I either have to throw in the towel and get a flashlight, or study new ninja skills. I’m up for the challenge. Anjali, after all, is developing new skills daily. Today she made a successful attempt at sitting on her potty by herself (although she didn’t pee…or instead, she peed on the floor a minute later).
So, the least I can do is learn how to run the obstacle course in the dark, without sacrificing any (or many toys…or my physical well-being) in the meantime.
Posted in play
Tagged new skills
Mid-Week Music: The Gummy Bear Phenomenon
Have you seen this Gummy Bear song/video on YouTube? This thing has millions upon millions of views. The gummy bear (the candy, that is) originated in Germany, as does the Gummy Bear song. The song was written by German composer Christian Schneider and released by Gummybear International. The song has since been released in at least twenty five languages and has spread worldwide.
I don’t think I wanted to like this song. It’s pretty ridiculous. But it’s completely infectious. I find myself singing it often. But forget me. Anjali loves it and is mesmerized by it.
 Check Out The Gummy Bear CD... |
 And the Gummy Bear DVD |
We very rarely show her videos or TV. Perhaps that’s even more reason for her to be attracted to it. But she smiles, dances, points to the screen and talks to it.
Here is the video:
…Why do we get to see the bear’s butt crack?
We eventually had to download the song to add to Anjali’s birthday playlist on our IPod. In fact, there is a whole Gummy Bear Album called I Am Your Gummy Bear
Check Out The Gummy Bear CD...
And the Gummy Bear DVD
Learn basic piano chords here.
Tagged gummy bear song
What Are Babies Putting In Their Pockets?
I didn’t notice it at first. Maybe that is because for the purposes of elimination communication, Anjali wasn’t wearing pants a lot–just a diaper and baby legs. But recently I noticed that her pants have pockets.
Pockets?!
Isn’t that extra work for the manufacturers, and thus more costly to them? Why do babies’ pants have pockets? Are they there for adults to look at and say, “Oh, cute…Little pockets!” Could it be that it’s actually easier for a manufacturer, like Gap, to just use a mini design version of the same adult pants?
No, I think those pockets are there to use! And here is what I think babies use them for:
- Stashing Food: When you serve your little one his/her favorite food, or give them a treat, they may just want to save some for later.
- Holding little bits and pieces they find on the floor: I have noticed, since she has developed a bit of a pincer grip, that Anjali picks up all sorts of specs, lint and fuzzies that she finds on the floor. But what does she do with them? She puts them in her pockets, of course.
- Loose Change: College is getting really expensive. I can’t imagine what the cost is going to be by the time Anjali is of college age. Better start saving now!
- Holding her barrettes: Since Anjali’s hair is long in the front, we have been using barrettes to hold it out of her eyes. But those barrettes are tiny. I haven’t seen two of them for the past couple of days. Maybe they’re in her pockets.
- Stashing other kids’ toys: Sometimes the other kids have really cool toys, and when you have to go home you don’t want to part with it. Now, I’m not saying Anjali has ever done this (yet), or ever will. I remember when I was about 6 years old I pulled a 5-finger discount on a matchbox car from my friend’s house (I now confess, and feel a sense of relief…I did give it back by the way).
- Just Plain Style, of course.
Anyone have other ideas?
Posted in play
What To Do With Our Compost In Fall/Winter?
Gardening just fell by the wayside this year. We have a plot in our community garden about a block away, but we just didn’t have time this year with Anjali’s arrival. How did our friends Radha and Sheila did it?!
I did manage to turn the soil in the spring, but never planted anything. I continued to bring our compost to our plot. And there it happily sits, composting. But as we don’t have a compost bin, it kind of creates a mess, and doesn’t break down as quickly, especially now that it’s getting cold.
So, I hired a local service–Bennett Compost–to pick up our compost once a week. $15/month. Not bad, though it felt odd to pay someone to take away our veggie scraps. It was going to good use, however (other people’s compost and soil). I think this is a great solution if you are looking to reduce your landfill contribution but don’t have the space for composting.
Then some neighbors told me we have a community composter in our community park (Northern Liberties rocks!). I canceled the pick-up and the problem is solved.
I think Anjali would have eventually thought of a solution, as she is always crawling into the kitchen, going for the compost bin and standing up. If not her, then her friend Uma would have:
Give It Up For Wood Toys!
Madhavi and I decided early on that we did not want a lot of gadgety electronic toys or tons of dispensable (not safely disposable) plastic toys. We made this decision for mainly 4 reasons:
- Negative effects on the environment: They end up in some landfill as a result of planned obsolescence.
- Negative effects on our daughter’s health: Toxins in toys…Toys in baby’s mouth…Toxins in baby.
- Limited Space: There’s only so much room in our house. If we start loading up on these toys now (at 6 months), where will we walk when she is 2 years old?
- Effects on our daughter’s development: Toys with lots of “beeps” and “boops” may be entertaining, but how might this affect a child’s neurological development? With our less-is-more mentality, we are fostering more imaginative play, which we feel will have more positive developmental and and social effects for Anjali.
So now is where I pimp the awesome the most recent Ikea wood toys we got for Anjali. Both of these are only $8:
How A Musical Papa Plays With His Daughter
Over a few days I have been recording a song I wrote and sing to Anjali. It’s her name song. Anjali and Madhavi have been helping on the recording.
It is likely Anjali has no concept that we were recording, but I encouraged her to be a part of it nonetheless. I dumped out a basket of my smaller percussion instruments on the floor for her to play with (most of which eventually end up in her mouth of course). 
We had all kinds of shakers and fun drums to hit. She liked that. I did too. I like being surrounded by drummy toys. I recorded several tracks of different drums, and based the rhythm on a “rhythm poem,” a style my friend Josh Robinson coined (You can read and listen to more about a music workshop we did with middle school kids recently here. We incorporated rhythm poems with them). A rhythm poem simply takes a phrase and translates the syllables into a drum rhythm. In this case I used a long phrase to create the rhythm of the drums: “My name is Anjali; my name is Anjali Dyen.” Okay, the concept may seem a bit esoteric, but see if you can hear it in the rhythm…
Anyway, the next day we discovered we have a couple of recorders (woodwind instruments). 
We both tinkered around on them and I figured out how to play the melody of Anjali’s Name Song.
Finally, yesterday we did some singing. Madhavi helped out with that too. You can also hear Anjali “talking” if you listen really closely. She gets super excited at the end. So this is our first family recording!
