It’s been more and more difficult to do anything in the kitchen these days with a little explorer under foot. The kitchen isn’t exactly set up for an almost 13 month old’s curious hands, but every day I find I need to get in there to do things. My solution was a kitchen basket. To keep Ellie busy and exploring, I loaded up a basket full of child-friendly kitchen utensils, empty containers, little dish ware and and anything else I think Ellie will find interesting and when Mama’s in the kitchen cooking and cleaning, Ellie is welcome to pull things out of her basket and go to town exploring.

Empty yogurt containers are great fun these days. Ellie tries hard to put the lids on them and they are great for filling and dumping with. We have oatmeal containers for makeshift drums and wire whisks and wooden spoons and ladles. I try and change it up every so often to hold her interest. It certainly gives me a bit more time to prep for dinners or wash a few dishes and it gives her some time to independently play and explore her environment.