In These Stilettos

Lets see how many times you have googled “activities to stimulate my child” this lockdown… 2, 3, 4? As a blogger who focuses a large portion of her writing on activities for children, I have certainly noticed a huge increase in requests for ideas since COVID changed our world. Yet I still find myself at a loss from time to time at what to do. Working from home during this time has also left me with less quality time with my kids (believe it or not), because I am always trying to juggle between the two. I wasn’t finding the time to prep activities for them or to think in advance of things to do, not to mention my craft supplies were dwindling at a rapid rate.

Enter Wacky Box SA. The Wacky Box is brought to you by the Educational Box Company, and it aims to provide support, promote and empower parents in South Africa, giving them the ability and opportunity to spend quality time with their kids, despite their busy lives. Every Wacky Box is jammed packed with activities and follows a different theme for the month. The activities are tried and tested for each age group, and it comes with a detailed instruction booklet for parents, highlighting the benefits of each activity, as well as ways to step it up. The activities inspire both fine and gross motor skills, sensory play as well as arts and music. The box is designed to be completely used up, if fact, even the box and packaging are used as part of the activities.
Our boxes were themed for “senses”, so we had activities such as sticky jelly play, drawing on sandpaper, “listening” by creating shakers, making binoculars, physical movement and of course music themed activities. We even had cinnamon scented oats!

Double it up

My boys are pretty close together in age, so most of the time, I need activities that will engage both of them. One of the things I love the most about Wacky Box is that you can double up your box for siblings for just R110 extra. No more fighting over who gets to do what activity, now they can both do exactly the same thing.

At a time where we are at home more, Wacky Box has been a lifesaver. I haven’t had to think of themes, everything is provided for you, every piece of tape, piece of paper and inch of glue. The boys particularly enjoyed the physical activities, the ping pong ball races and spider climbing. It also prompted “out of the box” thinking (excuse the pun), letting us get creative by drawing on sandpaper to experience different textures. Another aspect I appreciated is that a lot of the materials in the two boxes (we got 4-6 years and 1-2 years) were actually the same. It was just the way the activities were executed that were different. Take the oats for example, For baby they were more of a sensory experience picking up and scooping, filling containers etc, whilst the boys used them to create art. This is a huge benefit when your little one wants to copy her big brothers all the time!

Toddler Play

I jumped at the chance to get a box for my daughter, who is 14 months old. I find myself at a loss of things to do with her, as everything requires supervision, and she isn’t “old enough” for crafts yet. She is at a bit of an “in between phase”, always wanting to do what her big brothers do. We dug animals out of jelly, painted with bells on a brush to add another learning element (I loved this idea) and even reused our box to learn the concept to enhance fine motor skills. It’s been a treat to sit down with her and allowing her to discover new things.

How does it work?

You an order your monthly subscription at just R380 per month, with a different theme chosen for each month. Simply select your appropriate age group and everything is delivered to your door! There are also once off boxes available as well as gifting options. Delivery across South Africa is free.

For more information visit the Wacky Box website, and follow them on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Giveaway:

We will be gifting one lucky parent with a 4 month subscription to WackyBox , worth R1520.

To enter:

• Like and follow both In these stilettos and Wacky Box SA on Facebook and Instagram .
• Share this article so more people can find out about this awesome service!

For another chance to win head on over to Mommalikeme to enter!

Winner will be announced on 30 June 2020 and the chosen individual must have a child aged between 5 months and 6 years old.

** Disclaimer ** This article was written in collaboration with Wacky Box, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own.