Welcome to 2014 friends! It’s been a great year! Although we haven’t reached our one year blogiversary yet, there has been so much growth and excitement! Whether you’re just joining us or you’ve been with us throughout the year, we are so grateful. Life is busy and we appreciate you taking the time to stop by and visit, comment, and share your experiences. After a month off, we’re back with a fresh blog design and a new direction! I hope you like it!

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The creative ball of light behind Crayon Box Chronicles is my son. His imagination, curiosity, and his need for sensory stimulation drives me to create thoughtful learning experiences through creative play. I’m a research nut, so after I can’t tell you how many books, countless hours online, seminars, and support groups over the fast few years, I’m committing to providing him (you too) with quality play that helps with emotional development, communication, self-regulation, and sensory. My little sensory seeker really enjoys small world play! So, we’re going to go back to our roots to explore more play-based learning. I will follow his lead, open up the lines of communication through meaningful play, and provide opportunities to stimulate emotional learning and two-way communication. We’ll continue to work on fine motor skills and developing those much-needed skills for preschool and kindergarten. As before, we’ll have lots of fun painting and creating art!

Exciting News! Baby number two is one his or her way, so toward the end of next year we’ll be engaging in a variety of baby activities too!

OUR YEAR IN REVIEW

Boy, ow boy we had fun this year! There are so many inspiring and creative people I have had the pleasure of working with this past year.

Thank you Allison for giving me the amazing opportunity to write and contribute at All For The Boys. You’re blog is wonderful! I look forward to working together this year! We’re so excited to be able to continue connecting with your readers! Here’s a few of our past All For the Boys contributor posts.

Thank you Tammy at Housing A Housing for giving us the opportunity to share our Ocean Sensory Pool with you and your readers! You’re work is incredibly thoughtful! And Suji at Blog Me Mom for giving us the opportunity to experience our first guest post! We shared Magnetic Attraction Painting with her fabulous readers!

A huge thank you to All Things Kids moms! I look forward to our new series each month in 2014! You’re all so creative and inspire me so much!

Thank you for reading and I hope you’re just as excited about our new adventure! Let’s take a look back at some of our favorite posts (yours too) from 2013!

SMALL WORLD PLAY

Native American Small World

With DIY mini-stick tepees, a homemade drum craft, and stimulating sensory materials, this small world ranks #1 for us (it’s still in our playroom!) Being part Native American, it was fascinating to teach Little C about parts of our heritage, history, and geography. Grab your paint brushes and let’s get creative! Sensory materials include water beads, sand, rocks, moss, and hay.

Antarctic Edible Small World

We love penguins, whales, and just about anything ocean! Our Antarctic Small world includes reusable DIY up-cycled slides and edible “blue-ice” sensory materials. Our small worlds wouldn’t be complete without a lesson in geography and native animals. For under $5, you can play too! Join us as we dive deep into the chilly waters of the Antarctic Icebergs!

Arctic Snow Dough Small World

Let’s venture up to The Arctic Circle at the North Pole and explore creative messy play with homemade snow dough and a vowel lesson!

Rainforest Small World

From Red-eye tree frogs to dangling Spider Monkeys, this wild small world is a rainforest delight! Come explore the Amazon River Basin full of sensory and imaginative play!

Farm Small World & Barn Craft

Come play along with our barnyard friends and explore the big red popsicle stick barn, rolling hay barrels, the blue duck pond, and cock-a-doodle-doo’n roosters! Keep your eye out for those wild cats, they’re sneaky!

Here’s a full list of all our small worlds.

SENSORY PLAY ACTIVITES

Monster Truck Dirt Sensory Bin

Rev-up your imaginative minds and explore thrilling stunts, tunnel gates, and the ultimate rocky raceway with us! This easy-to-set-up sensory bin is super fun and uses just a few recycled items!

Build-A-Snowman Foam Dough Play

Foam dough is fun! It’s soft, fragrant, molds nicely, and uses just 2 ingredients – cornstarch and shaving cream! You can shape it, cut it, color it, and add a little sparkle too. This activity also helps teach body parts and placement while engaging in stimulating imaginative play!

Dinosaur Goo Game

Can you find the Triceratops in the gooey-globby slime? Goo stretches, pulls, and twists for sticky, gooey sensory fun! Let’s grab our magnifying glasses, put on our Paleontologists hats, and play the name game!

Carpet Square Painting & Sensory Board

We love to paint with everything but a paintbrush! The rug squares double as a paintbrush and sensory squares. Once dry, your colorful picture turns into a mounted sensory board, so bright and inviting!

Concept Sensory Painting

Understanding basic concepts helps strengthen a child’s vocabulary and builds early mathematical skills. Instead of using traditional paper and pencil, we combined sensory materials with a fun twist – squishy toys and glowing neon paint!

Spices & Sprinkles Painting

Simple invitations to play allow children to explore materials freely with no expectations or direction. Spices and sprinkles painting uses basic kitchen supplies and really packs a bold sensory punch!

Bouncy Ball Art

Bouncy balls are so much fun! Our invitation to paint and play is a great sensory experience, encourages movement, and is super messy. Trust me though, this mess is so worth it! Who needs a paintbrush when you have bouncy balls?! It’s bounce, bounce, bounce time!

Here’s a full list of all our sensory bins and sensory crafts and activities.

OUR MOST POPULAR POST OF 2013 (drumroll please …..)

DIY Fireman Air Tank & Pretend Play

Wow, 2013 was an exciting year! We have lots of engaging play-based learning planned for this year! I’m so thankful you joined us today and I hope you come back for more fun!

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