There are some pretty fun activities to do during the month of October and playing with numbers can be one of them with this fun Batty Printable. Me and the kiddo found about three different ways to play with them. Maybe you and your little one will find even more!

There is a little bit of prep work involved but not too much. Simply print the four sheets out, i recommend using card stock, and cut the bats side away from the number side. After that, let the fun times begin. 

We first played with them like a card game. I put down the bat picture and he put the matching card on top. Then I lined up all of the numbers in a row and he matched them up with the bat pictures. Our favorite by far was our take on the memory game. He was very into the last game and "proud of his brain"! 
Hope you have as much fun as we did!

Click Here to have some batty good fun! 

I completely blipped and missed National Playdoh Day! It was yesterday, September 16th. But that does not mean the you can't break out the tubs and play today! Whether you purchase pre-made or make your own, playing with playdoh is great fun for kiddos and one of our favorite STEAM tools.

In addition to developing and strengthening fine motor skills, playdoh also can be used to learn colors, explore numbers and so much more. And, in celebration, I want to give you a few fun Fall-themed playdoh pages to use with your little one. 

Simply print it out and let the fun begin, I recommend printing on cardstock. I purchased some sheet protectors (0.89 at Wal-mart) to cover the page so we can use it more than once. You can also purchase self-laminating sheets.

Get you Fall Fun Playdoh Sheets.

​Have fun!

In between the rain storms, spring is a great time to start taking your art projects outside. I had seen several examples of having children paint with cars, but wanted to take it up a notch using remote control cars! Same concept, more speed and bigger art. 

First, we laid out a piece of paper the length of the driveway and secured it with some planters. We had roll of paper from a previous purchase at IKEA, you can use whatever you have on hand. Even taping some pieces together to make a bigger piece. This can also be done on a sidewalk, deck or patio. 

Once you have laid the paper out, use washable paint in varying colors and make a good amount of dots along the length of the paper. 

Give your kid the car and remote and let them loose! He played/created for at least 45 minutes! Great way to take advantage of the great weather and get your kiddos creative juices going. 

One of the best things about running Imagination Laboratory is being able to engage my kiddo in the experiments I share on my site and my Facebook page. He is my inspiration for the business after all.  Our last Science Sunday attempt reminded me of what I tell parents all the time, “Enjoy the journey!”After a failed experiment (FYI old Ivory Soap does not “explode” in the microwave), we had to shift gears to a tried and true baking soda, alka seltzer tabs, and vinegar for some fizzy fun. While I was a bit upset that I wasn’t able to get the soap experiment completed to share with you all, I had a blast watching his face light up like it was his first time doing the experiment. It WAS the first time our little experiment bubbled over which elicited big, big belly laughs from him and lots of paper towels from me. In science and art there is required exploration/research to what works and what does not and you make adjustments as many times as you need until it is correct or you step back and come to it. In my stepping back I was able to create a pretty nice memory with my little guy.

April does bring showers and while we have waiting with baited breath for sun, we get rain.....But we have fun anyway! The kiddo was asking to do something fun, so I grabbed some shaving cream (I keep cans from the dollar store for other activities), some food coloring and a glass container.

We talked very briefly about how rain happens. Basically that the water is like the air, and the shaving cream is like the clouds. And as the clouds fill up with water (food coloring), they produce rain.

We added some food coloring to some water.

Starting with the blue, because you know....rain, we used a pipette to start adding food coloring (water) to the shaving cream (cloud). 

The kiddo was pretty excited to see the "rain" start pouring into the glass. I was impressed with how well he handled the pipette. :) 

Of course we can't just stop at one color, we added red as well and had a little Purple Rain. LOL. I hope you try this super simple experiment with your littles. Let me know how it goes. 

Each holiday season, I see those cocoa jars/mugs and think what a great idea. I mean, who doesn't enjoy a good cup of cocoa during the holiday season. Inspired, I thought the concept would be great for a STEAM based gift - play-dough!
Using an awesome recipe from Modern Parents Messy's website and made it into a gift-able activity. 
Click through each picture for steps to create this fun gift. 

Halloween is just a few days away and thought I would set up a "Potion Play" area.  I took advantage our great weather and took the project outside so I didn't have to worry about a mess. This is a plan ahead activity as I had to make the molds and let them dry completely out before using them. 

First things first. Grab some molds. I found these 60% off at Micheal's. Feel free to pick up what ever you like! Mix 1 cup of baking soda with 1/3 cup of water and mix together. It will come together just enough to shape into the molds. 

I also had some food coloring so I sprayed the brains and witch molds black and added a bit of red to the fangs. As you can see, I did not let my bones dry out completely. Don't be like me :) #patience. I also found some Halloween add-ins just to make things a bit more interesting. 

I had some beakers that I purchased last Halloween and test tubes, but any clear container will do. Vinegar is in the test tubes, water is in the two cups and food coloring is in the three little containers. 

Now we create! Adding colors and vinegar to beakers, he created for at least 45 minutes! Would have been longer had I had more vinegar. 

A few notes. 

• While the food coloring cleaned up easily from the beakers, etc. it did stain my kiddos hands.
• Using a bucket or pan makes clean up a cinch.
• Black food coloring turns everything black. So consider using all of the other colors first then introducing the black. 

I have posted several slime recipes to our Facebook page and after finding some great fall themed confetti at Target, thank you dollar spot, thought it would be a great day to some of my own. Slime is actually very easy to pull together and children love it! Below is a step by step on how I did it. 

Imagination Laboratory invites you to our September pop-up event. In addition to our usual materials, Legos, K'nex, Snap Circuits, etc., we will have new STEAM base items for children to explore. 
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Tickets are $10 per child, $7 for each additional child. Parents and children 12 months and under are free. Due to space restrictions, tickets will have to be purchased in advance. We will not be able to accept payment at the door.

Tickets can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/imagination-laboratory-september-lab-pop-up-tickets-37440563734 

Tinker Trays are a great way to engage your little one while you get some things checked off of your to-do list, or if you want to create together. They are simple, cheap and easy to put together. They are impossible to resist once displayed and allow your child's imagination to soar. 

School started this week in our area, so I thought it would be fun to create a school inspired tray. I used a dish that was part of a giveaway years ago, but a tray, platter or even utensil holder will do. I purchased the foam bus pieces from dollar tree. The felt and wooden letters and masking tape are from Target. Markers and glue are from Walmart and everything else is from Michael's 

I did not purchase everything at one time, but because I shop sales, this tray was less than $10 and will be used a few more times by my little one. 

Happy Tinkering!