Pinterest Playtime

This morning started out rough. Tears, screaming, & defiance rough. The terrible twos are starting early! It looked something like this:

(this was taken 2 days ago, but you get the idea)

Thanks to a few evenings spent on Pinterest gathering some sensory playtime ideas from great blogs like Play Create Explore, The Green Fish Chronicles, & Thoughts from the Courage Zone, I was able to turn things around this morning.
I remembered that I had some salt dough leftovers (recipe here) in a plastic baggie. It was pretty gooey, so I decided to put V in the tub. We squished the closed bag of dough around for awhile, then I let her open it. I squished it into her hands and let her fling it around the bathroom. After stepping on it, and squishing it, I got out some cups & containers which I filled with water. We experimented by pouring water on the "blegh" (aka salt dough) and smearing it around the tub. The best part was hearing all V's giggles and "wow" when she squished the dough.

 Notice the drips of gooey dough on the tub & walls. At least it cleans up easy!

She had so much fun getting dirty and then washing off the dough. I filled the cups & buckets using the sink faucet. I put cold water in some containers and hotter water in others. I had her dip her hands in each before dumping them to add another sensory level to this activity.

Finally, I gave her a spray bottle with water and had her help me spray the dough off the walls & wipe it with a rag. She thought this was a lot of fun.
After we cleaned up and changed into dry clothes, her mood was greatly improved-- and mine was too. She even played by herself for a little while before lunchtime.
Do you have some go-to activities when your little ones are bored & cranky? Please share them in the comments!