Mommy & Me Camp: Weeks 5 and 6

We had a shorter "camp" week last week. Since S's first birthday was on the 3rd and it was a holiday weekend, we took a family stay-cation in Williamsburg, VA. The theme for the week was All About Me! S LOVED singing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. It's an especially welcome distraction for him now during diaper changes. To expand on this favorite song, I did a body tracing of S (not as easy with a wiggly one year old as one might think!) and we sang the song using English, Hebrew and Yiddish words. S also loves singing "If You're Happy and You Know It" using actions he can do--like wave or clap his hands. One of his favorite new books is this one that just arrived last month from PJ Library. We are working as a family to learn many Hebrew and Yiddish words to incorporate into our conversations at home. S also reached the exciting milestone of learning his first word in sign language---"more!"

This week's theme is Splish Splash: Fun in the Water! S LOVES all things water--bath time, his kiddie pool, the morning ritual of washing his hands when we daven (pray) with him every day and most of all playing in the pool. His kiddie pool is a favorite activity for him but he positively loves going swimming in "the big pool" with us. This was one highlight of our family staycation--an empty pool in the hotel--and he likes visiting the pool in our apartment complex as well.  I will surely incorporate as much water play as possible this week. Sensory play with kinetic sand will also be a fun activity for S with my supervision since he does mouth things a lot. He doesn't tend to do this in the makeshift sandbox I have for him in our yard, which will also be a fun ocean/beach related activity once I get more sand for the new plastic bin we bought to replace the original, which had an unfortunate run in with a lawnmower...

Discovery baskets are very exciting for S. He loves to explore everything, tinkering, tapping, shaking and otherwise discovering what I put inside the box or basket--and even likes playing with the empty bins. Sometimes I allow him to explore in his own way and other times I get down with him to play. Here's a peek at some of this week's water-themed materials: 

There are some great water related lap rhymes and finger-plays. S really gets a kick out of Row, Row, Row Your Boat either on my lap or sitting facing one another on the floor rocking to and fro. Here are a few other ideas I may try this week:

this mommy craft: 

plenty of sensory play with water and ice like the ideas seen here and here. There is already a collection of unusual things in my freezer right now, like soaked squishy balls and ocean critter shaped sand molds...
Hope everyone has a fun week and stays cool!