To accommodate our holiday guests in our tiny dining room with its four-top table, my husband ordered a new camping table from Amazon.com. It arrived in a cardboard box big enough for a 7-year old boy and a 4-year old girl to lie down in. How do I know this? Because my kids got in the box, of course.

In an excellent post about the most basic and universally loved toys on GeekDad, the author says:

Boxes can be turned into furniture or a kitchen playset. You can turn your kids into cardboard robots or create elaborate Star Wars costumes. A large Box can be used as a fort or house and the smaller Box can be used to hide away a special treasure. Got a Stick? Use it as an oar and Box becomes a boat. One particularly famous kid has used the Box as a key component of a time machine, a duplicator and a transmogrifier, among other things.

He notes humorously that this toy can be procured easily from Amazon.

[They] include one with virtually every order I place there.

Here are a few inspirational photos of cardboard boxes, the most versatile toy in your house this week.

from The Imagination Tree

to make while keeping your box-sitting toddler company: cardboard thank you postcards (via designsponge)

homemade marble run – this one is from a cereal box by Made by Joel

Cardboard shape sorter from Parents.com (this article has 11 more box ideas, but is super annoying to navigate due to the ads and one-idea-per-page format.)

I love the Dr. Seuss feel of this silly bedroom set. Make a few “frames” for kids art? via Tip Junkie who has 32 cardboard box ideas posted.

Probably not feasible for most of us, but we do have a handful of small people, furniture and animals who could inhabit a box, via Busy Being Fabulous

Another one from Parents.com. Unless you are a stylist for Parents magazine, your cardboard kitchen won’t look this cute, but it doesn’t hurt to try.

Have you come up with anything cool to do with cardboard?

Update: Two fabulous friends shared their boxes with us over on our Facebook page.

Cori’s kids show us in fast-motion what fun a box can be.

Mike knocks our socks off with this pirate ship he made for Emme to navigate puddles at the park.

Too wet to go out? Too cold to play ball? Too sick for preschool? With a can of shaving cream or a bar of soap, here is lots of good fun that is funny:

Microwave Ivory Soap. Take a cue from our friend Wendy and put a quarter bar of Ivory soap in the microwave for 90 seconds. Ooze. Squish. Awesome. Great for preschoolers through adults. Though it is incredibly cool, Wendy cautions, “Be forewarned — it only takes about 5 minutes, so don’t plan your day around it or anything.” Do it yourself or click the picture to see the incredible results.

Squishy fun. For toddlers who can’t grasp the amazement of microwave science, spray a dollop of shaving cream into a bowl and let them go for it. Sensory nirvana. Details and more pictures at champuru.net.

Santa beard. Seasonal fun for all ages. Pant on a shaving cream beard and take pictures. Could this be your very clever holiday card?

I’ll be sharing a few foamy art projects in two weeks, in the meantime, what clean fun can you get into with shaving cream or soap?

[photos by wendolonia, champuru, and portraitsimple]

Are you ready to see some big smiles? Or looks of horror? Be prepared for either.

Our babysitter taught us the following method for putting Julian on the slide when he was too young to slide sitting up:

• Put baby on tummy, feet down, mid way up the slide.
• Place his hands up near his face, not down at his sides. Hopefully he is holding his head up so that you are not about to smear his face against the metal as he goes down.
• Let him slide down to the bottom.
• Repeat. Repeat. Repeat until your back feels like you need a week at a spa.
• Then sit down and let baby play in the sand while you think about that spa you’re never going to visit.

This is pretty safe (please note I am not a doctor or a paramedic) and after you get comfortable with it, you can let go and let him slide to the bottom.

Taking your baby to the playground to try out the slide is your 39th challenge for rookie moms.

If you’ve already made it to the playground with your baby this week, congrats! Not ready for this challenge? Go back and start with an easier one.

If you’re up for making a quickie toy for your toddler to push around, read on to find out how to make a doggie rolling toy from a simple paper plate.

Materials:

• flimsy paper plate
• markers or crayons
• scissors
• hole punch
• drinking straw
• two small empty spools

Instructions:

1. Fold the plate in half. Draw the outline of the profile of a dog’s head and body on the plate so that the fold will run down the center of the dog’s back. Cut out and decorate your dog with markers or crayons.
2. Hold the front legs together and punch a hole in them 1/4 inch from the bottom. Do the same for the back legs.
3. Cut the drinking straw in half. Slip one piece of the straw through a hole in the front leg. Put a spool over the straw, then put the straw through the hole in the other leg. Even out the straw and trip so 1/2 inch sticks out from each leg. Repeat this process for the back.

Now your dog will stand up on the spools. Give him a little push and watch him roll.

Extra fun variations:

• Make other four-legged creatures like cats, cows, or horses.
• Make two roller toys and race them. Which is faster, the tortoise or the hare?

This post is reprinted from Make These Toys: 101 Clever Creations Using Everyday Items by Heather Swain by arrangement with Perigee, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., Copyright (c) 2010 Heather Swain.

I saw this on my local parenting listserv (no further source available) and couldn’t resist typing it up.

I’m on vacation in Peru! With my husband! Without my kids!

When I was looking at pictures of our destinations in advance of my trip, I thought it would be appropriate to post these while I was gone.

Babywearing is obviously common place in Peru, and older siblings wear their younger sibs, but most different from anything I’ve seen around Berkeley (where sometimes I think I’ve seen it all!) is that the children wear their goats!

Is that crazy cute or what?

photos: first, second

Misty’s found a way for her baby to enjoy some summertime water fun: Fill baby’s high chair tray with water for warm weather splashing!

I love this activity for hot, housebound babies everywhere (especially those of us jailed by an older napping child).

Baby Madeline’s high chair has a very deep lip, enough to hold about half an inch of water. Misty filled that with tap water, stripped her down, and let her splash around as she wants. It is amusing to see her reaction when she splashes herself, and her obvious enjoyment of the new experience.

[This fun trick discovered on ParentHacks]

Taking the baby in the pool is both scary and funny.

A kid’s gotta stick his toe into the water at some point, right?

Baby Anneliese is having a blast with Erin

Buy a package of disposable swim diapers or a reusable one, and plan your outing. This is our 27th rookie mom challenge.

If you are alone, think carefully through the logistics of how you are going to change your clothes, change baby, get in the pool, get out of the pool, get on dry stuff and get back in the car. You are not as smart as you used to be and you will probably mess up part of this process and end up walking out to your car in just a bra and towel holding your baby in one arm and a diaper between your teeth. Let me just help you out: Take your stroller with you into the dressing room. That way you have someplace to put the baby, towels, wet bathing suits and diaper bag while you get dry yourself.

This is also a fun activity with a very pregnant friend.

Do you plan to take your baby into the pool this summer? Have you done it already?

When we have new babies in our lives, it’s easy to go into a self-imposed exile or quarantine, reading only sleep habits books and looking only at the baby. Of course, Whitney and I think that mama needs to leave the house and thus this site was born.

I read the story of how Vicky took her 6 week old daughter, Caitlin, to a bachelorette party at a casino and nodded with recognition (I flew from SFO to Chicago to attend one of my bff’s weddings when Holden was 3 weeks old, so I’m a little crazy). Her amazingly supportive husband, Dave, hung out with the bambino in one of the party rooms so that Vicky could go back and forth between the party and the breastfeeding.

Oh yeah, I would have done that. Maybe it’s awesome, or maybe it’s terrible, but if you don’t even try to go to your best friend’s party, won’t you always wish you did?

Read the logistics and details at SecretMomThoughts post “adventures.” Next time, Vicky, take a picture of you being all wild and not just baby and daddy hanging out.

What are some of the crazy places y’all have taken your infants? Any pregnant mamas with grandiose plans?

Related post: Play poker with your baby

Surely you’ve seen those coffee makers that use little pods for individual servings of coffee. Now, there’s a drink machine just for your baby.

From the website MinuteBuzz.com:

Swiss mums have a new labour-saving device to add to their armoury with the advent of Baby Nes — the equivalent of the cult Nespresso coffee machine, but for baby formula.

The capsules offer customised nutrition for every stage of a baby’s development, and the milk is dispensed right into the bottle at the correct temperature for instant consumption.

See the marketing website for La Systeme Baby Nes (all in French) here.

Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this! Fun? Ridiculous? Stylish accessory for your kitchen?

Your weekly challenge is to enjoy the rainbow of colors at an outdoor plant nursery. Let her touch/listen to the wind chimes on display, tour the orchid hot-house, and watch the koi in the water garden pond (the bright-colored fish swarm up to greet kids because they expect food). A baby carrier is perfect to navigate the tight corners.

In Berkeley, I like the East Bay Nursery for its rows and rows of colorful flowers and funny butterflies. Just watch out for the bees.

This is your 22nd challenge. Did you complete this challenge? Share your story.

• Comment below and spill the details.
• Share a picture with us on Facebook.

Is your baby too old to be worn around in a baby carrier while you describe the difference between perennials and annuals? Toddlers and preschoolers are ready to “help” plant their own favorite veggies in the backyard. Not your style? Choose a different challenge.

I used to see 3-year olds around town dressed in wild combinations of stripes, gingham, rainbow tights and superhero capes. I wondered when my baby would look that creative and charming.*

Then it dawned on me and I began to create wild combinations and increase the creativity in my infant’s wardrobe. If your baby is grabbing, he can help pick out his own clothes, just like a willful preschooler.

We start at the bottom and work up:

• Let the baby “choose” from two or three pairs of socks. The idea is that whichever ones he touches (grabbing or sucking is ok too), he wears. You might need to hold them close to his hand if he’s not flapping or waving his hands about.
• Now allow him to pick from two shirts.
• Let him pick pants, hats, and any other accessories.

Now you can brag that baby picked out his own clothes. Good mommy.

* Now that Holden is pushing six, he doesn’t like to be quite as wild in the fashion arena, he prefers sweats every day. Oh well.