chaalax's Profile

We have a covered balcony play area for our almost 3 y.o. She can't be there unsupervised, but it has still been a great space for her. We've taken care to keep items she could climb on away from the railing area which was a challenge when creating the spot; in our case the enclosure is solid and about four feet high. Ours is also tiled, with a skylight, and has a water faucet (all helpful features). We have an easel with white board, chalkboard, and paper with foam tiles underneath to minimize paint mess. We also have an IKEA kid table and two chairs where we can set up tubs for water and sensory play. We cut a piece of plexiglass for the tabletop - nice for finger painting and other fun. We have art supplies that require adult assistance in a PS locker and accessible creative play items in Trofast bins. We also put up a magnet board with spice containers filled with feathers, stickers, crayons, magnets etc and a rail with buckets for dot paints, chalk, brushes. There is also a line for hanging up finished art. At the inside edge we squeezed in a bistro table for the adults who are outdoors on supervision duty. Although we have a relatively large backyard we find that the balcony gets far more use since we live in the rainy PNW. She spends at least an hour a day, and often longer, out there. Low windows, balconies, and the like are all fall risks for children. Nothing can replace vigilance, but it shouldn't eliminate fun....we couldn't make structural changes since this is a rental, but we've made it work.

Long time reader, first time to comment. A rice table is a great sensory activity for children, in the US or outside of it (where children routinely sort beans, corn, and rice as part of their daily living). We've had a birdseed bin for our kid over the past year now and it is one of her favorite activities; the birds don't seem to mind either. As a person who has spent the past fifteen years working on development issues (including food security and early childhood education) throughout the world I find the comments here enormously uninformed. If you are interested in the challenges facing many US families (which I believe is the primary audience for this site) check out the newest study by Ochs http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/trouble-in-paradise-new-ucla-book.aspx

In light of this, some sensory play for our children seems like something that should be encouraged, not chastised.

The changes to this site in the past few months are disheartening, at best.