This has been quite the hit around here this week.

I actually introduced it last week, and Bean ended up in a puddle of toddler frustration, and then it sat on our shelves for a few days. She had no idea how to get the colored water out. Or in. Or anything. Oh hey, maybe these glass droppers are drumsticks?

The medicine droppers are filled with water and a drop of food coloring each.

I kept on slowly and deliberately demonstrating how to use the dropper, but Bean wasn’t really catching on to the relationship between my fingers subtly squeezing the top and water shooting out/in. She took to banging the droppers on the table to get water to come out, banging the droppers in the bottles to get water to go in. And then giving up and banging the droppers together and singing songs.

After it sat on the shelves for a few days, untouched, she picked it up again and started doing it correctly right away.

Children’s minds are fascinating.

Using the droppers, she can mix red, yellow, and blue to make shades of purple, green, and orange. Then we raise the bowl to the window and look through the liquid at the color she’s created. Sometimes she puts a lot of blue in and the bowl turns teal. Or, she puts extra drops of red in and gets a mauve. Or she puts all the colors in and gets a dark grey.

And once she’s bored of that, she throws elaborate tea party birthday parties for her animals, serving up bowls of green and purple tea.

I love toys that combine fine motor skills, color play, and imaginary play. This one tray will occupy her for an afternoon. Does it get any better?