Bathtub Tea Party and Outdoor Kitchen Sensory Play

Bath time is usually my husband's "job", but occasionally it is my turn, and I like to add lots of fun and learning. Luke loves the water, so bath time is a no-fuss affair. Last night when he got in the water, Luke was pretending to drink the water from his rinsing cup. I had the great idea to have a bathtub tea party.

 I called my husband in to watch Luke while I ran to the kitchen and grabbed two antique melamine cups and saucers from the cabinet. My bathtub tea party was a hit. Luke practiced pouring water from the rinsing cup into the tea cups and from tea cup to tea cup until the bath water got cool. He even poured me some "tea" and held the cup near my mouth so I could drink.  It is always nice when a toddler shares.  Luke is not quite two yet, and he doesn't fully understand how to pretend, so plenty of bath water made its way into his mouth and tummy.  By the end of the bath, though, he was putting the water in his mouth and spitting it out. Progress.

Before Luke woke up this morning, I gathered some kitchen items like a wooden spoon, plastic cups and plates, a plastic measuring pitcher (which I found by the curb a few houses down), and various other containers and placed them on our front porch near the sandbox.  I filled a bucket with water and another container with ice right before we headed out to play. This was also a hit. We added rocks and leaves to our "ingredients", and I made a nice green salad and demonstrated to Luke how we pretend to eat weeds from the yard. I had to take the eating spoons away from the scene, because he was drinking water from them and even tasted some sand.  Oh well, a little dirt won't hurt, right?

This morning's activity was inspired by various outdoor kitchens I've seen on Pinterest and elsewhere.  As soon as I finish Luke's indoor play kitchen (note to self:  I have to get started first if I'm going to finish it), I'm going to tackle an outdoor kitchen for him.  I love the one below.  To see more great outdoor play kitchens and mud pie stations, go check out this blog post from Design Dazzle.