Playtime for Samuel!

With Samuel being an only child at this point, I try to think of fun, educational and interesting games and toys we can play with! However, I did listen to my momma who told me that it's important to teach children how to play independently. So playtime at the Raines house is always interesting! First, I have a big basket of toys that Samuel loves to dig through! I usually rotate them a couple times a month in order to clean them and give him something new to play with. His favorite toy in the box is his ball...but there are several close seconds! The older he gets, the more creative he gets with his toys too...he can hold two at once, bang toys together, and throw toys (and retrieve them!) He always likes to share his toys with the dog...who never seem too impressed at a rattling or talking toy being thrown at them! Samuel also has a rocking horse, an Around We Go, and a Leap Frog Music Station that he loves to play with! His favorite activity, which we do multiple times a day, is reading. We read the same books, over and over and over. I read his favorite book, Peek a Boo, I See You, this morning to him 9 times. No matter what I do, whether I read a book one time or nine times he still cries when I close the book...and when I say cry I mean a temper tantrum!!! I spend most Saturday mornings at yard sales looking for toys. I don't want to buy toys from the store since he grows out of them so quickly, and he's just as happy with hand me downs from his cousins and other family members. However, my newest solution...thanks to my mom's suggestion is to let Samuel play in the kitchen. We are in the midst of a total kitchen renovation. So one day while I was trying to sort out a box of five million utensils and Samuel insisting that I hold him I decided to give the old kitchen toys a try. I spread out a blanket, put Samuel on it with a pot and a wooden spoon and I have the happiest child ever! He played and played and played! Sometimes with just the spoon, sometimes with just the pot, sometimes with both! So I've since then expanded his kitchen play to measuring cups, plastic bowls, baby spoons, and plastic cups. Today though, while attempting to make dinner I realized that I should give him a piece of aluminum foil and see what happens! And did he ever love it! I took tons of pictures, and even with my camera set on high speed, all I can get in the picture is Samuel's big grin and a silver streak! I'll never again worry that Samuel has very few new toys, and instead keep him occupied with our pots and pans cabinet :0)