Teaching Toddler: Pick Up Sticks

I guess we can call this Pick Up Sticks, but for toddlers. I was in a time crunch one day while trying to cook dinner and trying to occupy Little Bug at the same time. I didn't want to put the TV on as I try to limit her screen time to 30 minutes to none each day (some days this is easy and others, not so much). So on a whim, I took two mason jars and a pack of Popsicle sticks and created a fun activity for her to work on her developmental skills. 

I placed all of the sticks in one jar and left the other one empty. I then showed her how to transfer the sticks to the other jar, which worked for a little while. Eventually the sticks all ended up on the ground which was fine because she then worked on picking the sticks up and filling the jars. 

Looking back at these photos, I am so glad that I took them. Not just for a blog post but because I feel like she looks so serious about what she is doing. She was really concentrating here and I adore that.

Actually, I just adore this child period. 

While these activities aren't genius ideas created by some fancy teacher, they are still "learning activities" or as I like to say, "creative play" and they occupy and teach my child. This one probably occupied her the longest, which was quite nice for a cooking mama.

I love doing things like this with my Little Bug. I hope there's many more moments and photos like this. She is growing so fast and I love capturing each second of it. I love this little girl so dang much. She may be the sweetest and most adorable thing I have ever seen. And goodness, those squishy, kissable cheeks.

If only she'd just let me cook dinner...

How do you occupy your kids to cook dinner?