Our step stool lives in the bathroom next to the toilet. It is a two step one and Ny uses it to climb up to flush the toilet and also to get to the sink so that she can wash her hands afterwards.
Since having the stool there i don't need to say anything to her and once i help her wipe herself and get her pants back on, she climbs up herself to do both jobs (i just put the tap on and soap in her hands).
I love the independence this gives her, and the way it has taught her hygiene on her own.
Height accessible mirror and cleaning tools in the bathroom (self car station)
Nyla has her own mirror which is perfect height for her, as well as a little shelf which contains a sponge, comb, toothbrush and toothpaste. These being in reach means, again, she needs little help or prompting from me to get washed.
She actually LOVES this area and will just go over and brush her teeth at random times sometimes, but usually first thing in the morning and on our final toilet trip of the night.
Again this has given her great independence as well as good hygiene.
Even with a stool Ny is just a little too small the reach the taps, this extender helps bring the water a little closer to her so that she can wash her hands properly.
I got this on amazon and it is just rubber and slots on the tap easy and can be removed just as easy when not in use.
Height accessible mirror in her bedroom (full length)
Ny likes to help pick out her clothes, so having a mirror in her room made sense. However i didn't want anything heavy that she could pull onto herself, and i am not supposed to put things on the wall.
The mirror pictured here is the same as in her bathroom and are stick on tiles which are super easy to remove when needed, and perfectly safe if she bangs on them as they are plastic and will not break.
A calm zone
You can read all about the calm zone i created for Nyla by clicking on this link here
Open access toys
When she was younger, Nylas toys were kept in canvas boxes in this storage unit. However, as she got older, it was becoming messy and frustrating for her to find what she wanted.
So instead we ditched the boxes and instead she has one toy per cube, and these get rotated based on her interests.
At the moment that is puzzles, colouring and building so she has lots of opportunity to do these. I leave puzzles undone and in tubs next to them, so that it invites her in more and she wants to complete them.
She picks what she wants, takes it to her table or the floor, and sometimes even puts them back in the same place!
Accessible snacks and bowls
I wasn't sure on this idea at first when she got her play kitchen, so i tested her in my own kitchen and made her a snack draw. She surprised me by not trying to eat everything, and so i now have snacks in here too.
She has things like crackers, chocolate, smoothies, crisps and raisins. She also has a cup, bowl and plate.
What i love about this is that she quickly learnt how to plate up her snacks. I have opened her crisps for her in the other room, and come in to find she had put them on a plate and sat herself down with them. Or when she asks for raisins, she always says "bowl" afterwards. When she is done, she puts her wrappers in the bin (sometimes her bowl) but always shows me first so i can follow and see what she is doing.
Somedays yes, she does try to ask for more than one snack in a row, but she accepts when i say no. I refill the snack draw every night before bed, and snacks are available to her between 10am and 5pm.
Her own table for snacking and activities
Of course her own table was a must.
I can hand her a snack/drink in the kitchen and she will carry it to her table herself and sit and enjoy it. She brings crayons and paper over because she knows that that's the only place she can use them, and will sit and do puzzles here as well.
This table sometimes comes into the dining room for her to have her dinner on, but thankfully at the moment she seems content in her highchair at the table with me and so i don't have to keep moving it.
She will wipe her table down too with the cloth i leave out for her (not shown),
Nyla also has her own brush, brush and shovel, and sponge, which is often gets out and follows me around "helping.".
Kitchen Draws
There are 2 draws in the kitchen which belong to Nyla and she uses.
1. Cutlery and Utensils:
This draw is locked with a baby lock whenever i am not in the room or it is not in use. It contains cups, plates, bowls, cutlery including her knives. Nyla has her own toddler friendly knife set, which we use to cut up fruit and veg together. The reason the draw stays locked is that she likes to take everything out to tell me the colours of them. Instead she has just one cup, bowl, and plate out in her own kitchen which she can do as she pleases with. She knows where things go in this draw and if i ask her to put in/take out something she can do this.
2. Extra snacks:
Her main snack draw is in the kitchen and is where the multipacks are. The only things i can not keep in here are crackers and raisins as she has less self control when it comes to these can can happily graze on them all day. Also apples and oranges were in here until she wanted to play with them.
I hope to get her her own mini fridge in the future so that she can have fruit and yogurts in easy access to her as well as she loves her fruit. I don't think she is quite ready to have access to her own water, as we have only just began using an open cup without throwing the last few sips, so i will wait a little before introducing something for this.
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