Leaves are swimming

It was another sunny day in Vancouver. The weather is still cold but if it is dry and sunny, we are playing outside.

We met up with one of Cole's friends and played at the park. This park has a fountain and a stream of water that gathers into a big pool at the end of the park. Cole loves to walk along the water and look in and see all the bubbles that form as the water gushes and pools into the main water fountain.

Cole and Ella thought it would be fun to throw leaves into the water. What started as a little activity for them turned into a game. They would go gather leaves and throw them into the water and watch as the leaves sank to the bottom. Then they would go off again to find more leaves to throw in to the water.




This went on for close to 15 minutes, which in toddler time, is an eternity. This is especially true for Cole who is constantly moving from thing to another in rapid succession.



They would laugh, hop and dance. They also crouched down by the water to look at the leaves and the water. Such a wondrous and marvellous exploration for them; it was neat for me to see them just so intent and focused and having so much fun with leaves.



This activity can naturally progress into sink and float experiment at home. Fill a big bucket or even a bath tub with water and gather different objects to see which would float and which would sink. I sometimes do this at home during his bath time. I think he is little too young to understand the concept behind this but it never hurts to try it.

Bubbles!!!

A dry day finally. It's been raining for few days with a cold temperature and today was an actual dry day.

I took the boys out to the little courtyard we have in our building. It's not a big space but it is pretty quiet and isolated. They can be quite loud at times and it is good for us to have a space that isn't very intrusive.

I took out a ball and bubble with me. Bubbles are pretty magical. They hold this special hold over little kids; they love to chase them, catch them and try to blow them. Cole haven't mastered the art of blowing bubbles but he does try. And when he does, he looks pretty cute with his cheeks puffed up and sucking them in to blow.




It was pretty fun watching the boys run and chase after the bubbles.

I used bubble solution I bought at a store but I did find this recipe online. I am going to give it a try when I run out of the bubble solution I have at home.


1/2 cup of dishwashing liquid (Dawn or Joy)
2 cups of water
2 teaspoons of sugar

Tracks and Trucks

Despite my attempt to get Cole to like art, he just isn't really into it. He will sit and draw for a minute or two but he won't sit and do art. Yes, I know he is only two and he is like a typical child whose attention span is short.

In order to engage him more in art, I decided to incorporate cars and trucks with paint.

As soon as I got the paint, paper and of course, the cars out, he immediately gravitated towards the paper taped to the floor.

He sat down and I showed him to drive his truck through the paint tray and roll it on the paper. No more explanation was needed after this as he immediately started painting with the cars. He made tracks around, forward and back.

I loved seeing him so focused and interested in the process of creating the tracks on the paper. I tried to point out the different tracks made by various cars.




Materials Needed:

• Paint (washable kind, because you know your kids)


• Roll of paper (I got it at Ikea for under $5.00)


• Trucks and cars ( the ones that can be washed afterwards, so no battery operated toys)


• Tray for the paint

This can naturally progress into water play if you want. Have a bucket of warm, soapy water ready and they can help wash the cars in the bucket.