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Let's be honest...the weather isn't great. In fact, I can't believe we are in June and I am still in winter boots! The shorts came out the drawer for a total of 24 hours last week but have now been washed and packed away ready for winter because let's face it, are we really getting the hottest summer? Probably not.  When it was just George and I, we braved the rain. It didn't really matter. He would be in the pushchair under the rain cover and I would be in my coat. If it poured we could dive under shelter as quickly as I could move. Then along came Rosalie. At 8 weeks, we are now really finding our flow in getting out every day to go somewhere to avoid the dreaded cabin fever. That was until this week. When it has rained...it has poured. Now, I would like to say that the rain won't stop us but it has. Having tried it once, I determined that I am unable to now move like a stealthy cat and dash to the nearest shelter. As Rosalie is in the pram, George no longer has the pushchair and nor would he want to get in it if I had a double one. George unfortunately loves the rain and therefore has no desire to get out of it before he gets soaked. Rosalie is perfectly happy under the cover but I on the other hand am drenched attempting to drag along a toddler trying to jump in puddles without wellies on, push the pram and carry whatever bags I have decided to pack for the trip out (take note: after a couple of these experiences I have now bought a changing bag big enough to fit a house in!) So this week has been a no go. We made it to the park for 10 minutes yesterday morning before the heavens opened and to be honest they don't appear to have closed yet. I had to quickly come up with a plan to entertain a toddler for a week as apparently that's how long this weather is supposed to last. Anyone with a toddler will know how difficult they are to contain and if your little one isn't quite at that age yet then get planning for those rainy days! Here is my plan for a sensory week (after a quick search on Pinterest), some of which have already gone down very well and some which we are yet to attempt.  1) Visit Dinosaur World. George is into Andy and the Dinosaurs at the moment so I have decided to continue with this as a theme for our play. On Sunday we visited dinosaur world in Torquay and would recommend it for those dinosaur lovers. George loved it! 2) Visit the library. We went to get some dinosaur books. I imagined our trip to the library to be calm and relaxing, sharing a couple of books together before bringing some home for bedtime stories. Nope. George decided to chase the other children around the library instead so after a quick scan of the shelves I chose 7 books and scanned them out. We lasted in there about 15 minutes before coming home...but at least we left the house.  3) Play with our dinosaur small world sensory tray. This has been great to leave out in the playroom and keep coming back to. So easy to play with together or let George explore by himself. 4) Make dinosaur masks. Great for developing his motor skills. George was able to do the sticking...we are working on our cutting skills!   5) Make dinosaur bones. This was great except George wanted to eat it! Taking a toddler into the kitchen to make salt dough which to them looks very tasty brought its own challenges. I then managed to forget about them and they were a little burnt however I think it adds to the effect...well that's what I will tell daddy anyway. Of course it was done on purpose! 6) Draw dinosaur shadows. Now this activity technically requires sunlight which is somewhat lacking at the moment but we do have some dark rooms because of it so a simple torch does the trick. We will see how these turn out tomorrow. 7) Dinosaur pictures with shapes. A nice, quiet, rainy day, educational activity with minimal mess. We will try it with different textures too. By the end of this week we will be all dinosaur-ed out but through some great sensory activities. Why not have a go at some of them yourself and show us on our Story Sense page. Would love to see your sensory creations too. (Rosalie was present through all of these activities, mostly attached to me in a sling. Sadly she didn't appreciate any of the above and looked pretty bored of the dinosaur talk. One day it will be something of interest to her...or she will have to learn to love dinosaurs!) 
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