Things we do after nap :: indoor "leaf" pile

I've been fascinated lately by "things we do after nap" going on over at Sew Liberated, mostly because I've found it hard at times to find creative activities to do with a 13 month old that aren't completely exasperating for one of both of us. Jack is old enough now for independent play which gives this happy momma a little more time to get some things done around the house. Jack isn't quite old enough not to put things in his mouth, or pay attention for more than a few minutes in any kind of guided environment. He is however, beginning to understand simple instructions and I wanted to encourage that by doing something a little more specific together. I was inspired by both a recent trip to the park and a recent trip to the mail box. Jack and I were admiring the lovely fall colors and I was reminiscing about making piles of leaves in my parents front yard as a kid. All that jumping and throwing was a blast. We only have evergreens in our yard so piles are unfortunately out. When we went to get the mail that afternoon and I saw the ridiculous stack of junk mail I had my ah-ha moment (the light bulb, not the band... but now I need to listen to "take on me").

Here's what we did. We tore all the junk paper into strips together.

And made our own indoor pile of "leaves". We threw them about and stomped around.

And then practiced putting them away in a paper bag.

I'll save this scrap paper for more indoor play as the weather continues to get less friendly around here and when we're finished Jack will hopefully be old enough for his first simple paper mache project. I do love me some paper mache. Theres recycling at its best my friends!