Concoctions

Currently there is nothing Everly enjoys doing more then making concoctions. I try to avoid giving her a drink with dinner because inevitably it will end up being the base for "soup". Every chance she gets she is squirting soap or cream into containers.

My approach to this has been to hide away all the soap, cream etc. from her reach so I don't have to say no. I am torn between setting up a table with lots of stuff to concoct, and trying to avoid encouraging this. My thinking is this, concocting is a creative thing and I want to encourage her creativity. She enjoys it and I am sure she is learning about volume, texture etc. while doing it. At the same time I don't want her thinking concocting anything and everything is OK, and I have noticed that if we avoid a certain activity eventually it loses it's allure. I suppose I will lean towards doing some structured mix making for her, and just be really diligent about hiding away things I don't want her messing with.

The video from above was taken one morning. I went upstairs to put my hair in a ponytail and left her playing in the living room. Our kitchen was pretty messy and had lots of inviting things on the counter. So I came down to her making "ice cream" for her best friend Amelia. It was so gross!! Anyways I just asked her about what she was making and then redirected her to another activity. I don't see the sense in getting mad. Everly is a smart cookie but I can't expect her to not get into stuff, when I leave it out. I just have to make a note to self - "clean up kitchen unless you want a bigger mess to clean up!"