DS3 asking for strange things for christmas...Help!

[Polyluvr]

I'd get a decent size tarp; a plastic bucket; but one that could be used for icing things down~ KWIM? and I'd make up a bunch of chocolate pudding and let him go to town~ in the basement

Good luck~ sounds like a lot of fun

 

[lovesmurfs]

I'd just wait until closer to Christmas to see if he changes his mind. My kids would always come up with something on Santa's lap that he NEVER mentioned at home. Finding a "garbage truck" two days before Christmas is something that made me start taking the kids to Santa before Thanksgiving....

That said, there's a great book, the Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions, which makes all sorts of great types of playdoh, etc. http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Book...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1290463601&sr=1-1

You can get a lot of board books in the bargain bins at Barnes & Noble or even Sam's. Also, if you have a 1/2 price books place (or any of the non-descript "Discount Books" places), board books are easy to find.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I'd combine all the ideas here.

Tarp, kiddie pool then a smaller blow up kiddie pool inside that to keep the mess as small as possible then give him some topsoil from the store and water.

I miss having little ones, enjoy yourselves

 

[golfgal]

When DS15 was 3 he kept asking for this fire truck, which was a popular toy and HARD to find. Every time it was on tv he said that was want he wanted from Santa. He didn't ask for anything else, at all. So, I spent several days looking for the firetruck, finally tracked one down at a Walmart an hour away. Ran up there, bought it. DS opened it at Christmas, set it aside, opened the rest of his stuff. He NEVER played with the stupid truck .

 

[luvsJack]

If the sand table from little tykes isn't to your liking, try a child care center distributer. They sell some great ones. We had a sand table that was really deep. Even sitting on carpet, we never had much of a mess with it and the kids loved it. It was large and would be great for small tonka trucks, mud and a few other toys. Oh, and get a large plastic table cloth at the dollar store to put under it. Much cheaper than a tarp so easy to throw away if it gets really dirty.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I think I would skip the indoor "muddy puddle." I would get him some trucks or cars that he can play with indoors and tell him he can play with them outside in the mud when the weather warms up. It will give him something to look forward to.

 

[marcyinPA]

Aw...he sounds like a very imaginative little guy!!

I don't know if this would be something that you want to give for a Christmas gift, but just as an activity in general...

Buy a large, clear, rectangular storage box...not too deep. The kind they sell for sweaters to store under the bed. Add about an inch or so (you don't need a lot...believe me!) of soil, sand, dried coffee grounds, or make "clean mud" http://www.earthskids.com/sensoryrecipes.aspx#mud .

Add some cars, trucks, small cups and shovels, pvc tube, etc.

Spread a large flannel backed plastic table cloth on the floor (buy at the dollar store or at any store after Christmas for CHEAP!) and either put the box right on the table cloth or put it on a low table and he can stand to play.

When he is done, just put the lid back on the storage box. You can put other things in the "sensory table" as well....macaroni, dried corn, shredded paper, dried beans, water, corn starch mixed with water (ooblick...very cool stuff! It has the properties of both a liquid and a solid at the same time!)
The possibilities are endless!! It does require some supervision, but he will LOVE it!!

(I'm a preschool teacher, and we do these things with our two year olds. I will tell you that they learn the rules VERY quickly. Whatever is in the sensory table MUST stay in the sensory table. If you spill, you stop and pick it up. We use gentle hands...no throwing!)

 

[marcyinPA]

How about brown Play Doh? (Or even homemade play dough?)

My co-teacher is the play dough maker, and I'm pretty sure this is the recipe she uses when we make "mud" playdoh (we use it with dinosaurs and with cars during those themed weeks)...http://www.theideabox.com/Chocolate_Scented_Playdough.html

She also makes pumpkin playdough for the fall, using pumpkin pie spice. It smells JUST like pumpkin pie!! (still tastes yucky though...no sugar!)

 

[luvsJack]

Aw...he sounds like a very imaginative little guy!!

I don't know if this would be something that you want to give for a Christmas gift, but just as an activity in general...

Buy a large, clear, rectangular storage box...not too deep. The kind they sell for sweaters to store under the bed. Add about an inch or so (you don't need a lot...believe me!) of soil, sand, dried coffee grounds, or make "clean mud" http://www.earthskids.com/sensoryrecipes.aspx#mud .

Add some cars, trucks, small cups and shovels, pvc tube, etc.

Spread a large flannel backed plastic table cloth on the floor (buy at the dollar store or at any store after Christmas for CHEAP!) and either put the box right on the table cloth or put it on a low table and he can stand to play.

When he is done, just put the lid back on the storage box. You can put other things in the "sensory table" as well....macaroni, dried corn, shredded paper, dried beans, water, corn starch mixed with water (ooblick...very cool stuff! It has the properties of both a liquid and a solid at the same time!)
The possibilities are endless!! It does require some supervision, but he will LOVE it!!

(I'm a preschool teacher, and we do these things with our two year olds. I will tell you that they learn the rules VERY quickly. Whatever is in the sensory table MUST stay in the sensory table. If you spill, you stop and pick it up. We use gentle hands...no throwing!)

OT: Have you tried rice? I don't know why but our little ones loved the rice. We also filled a tub like that up with jello once (gelled), it was a mess but they had a ball. I don't remember now WHY we used jello but it was at someone's suggestion. My staff used to HATE me when I would come in with these ideas! Chocolate pudding was a fun one too.

 

[marcyinPA]

OT: Have you tried rice? I don't know why but our little ones loved the rice. We also filled a tub like that up with jello once (gelled), it was a mess but they had a ball. I don't remember now WHY we used jello but it was at someone's suggestion. My staff used to HATE me when I would come in with these ideas! Chocolate pudding was a fun one too.

Yup! We've done rice. The cleaning people hate us...it kills the vacuums! We can't do pudding this year...too many kids with milk allergies (among other allergies...) Jello, huh? Hmmmm.... (my co-teacher might not like me if I suggest that one!)

 

[NAB]

Yup! We've done rice. The cleaning people hate us...it kills the vacuums! We can't do pudding this year...too many kids with milk allergies (among other allergies...) Jello, huh? Hmmmm.... (my co-teacher might not like me if I suggest that one!)

At least you have cleaning people to clean it up....

Can't imagine putting a pool of mud in my house so a child could play. Don't get me wrong my house is not close to being perfect and I have toys everywhere in the basement.

My dd always says Santa brought her things she never thought to put on her list.

 

[marcyinPA]

At least you have cleaning people to clean it up....

Can't imagine putting a pool of mud in my house so a child could play. Don't get me wrong my house is not close to being perfect and I have toys everywhere in the basements.

My dd always says Santa brought her things she never thought to put on her list.

Yeah...we clean up the best we can, but our church has a cleaning service and they vacuum nightly. Rice is hard to get up with a broom/dust pan, so the rest goes into the vacuum. Rice is not nice on vacuum cleaners!!