Okay, so maybe this is less revolutionary than my click bait title suggests. Certainly, it's not a "weird" trick. But, in case you're not already employing this one item in your kitchen, let me urge you to. Is the suspense killing you yet?
Add a white board or chalkboard to your kitchen for safe kitchen kid activities.
Yeah. Just add a white board. Or a chalkboard, whichever you prefer. Though it may seem ridiculous, I assure you, it's not. Chalkboard areas in kitchens are popular, and for a reason: they're a life saver. Even in my tiny kitchen, there's space for one - unlike say, for a play kitchen, which a lot of our friends have. In fact, our kitchen is small enough that we have a very strict No Toys in the Kitchen rule - not on the floor, not on the counter, not anywhere. But this white board takes up very little space on an unused wall, and it offers hours of entertainment.
A white board in the kitchen takes up very little space.
And not just entertainment, but education, as well. Lou often writes our grocery list or helps create our menu plan (Really - she's about 1000 times more useful than Bret at coming up with ideas for what to eat, which he'll freely admit. Even if 88% of those ideas are mac 'n cheese). I help her sound out the words while I cook. It's seriously good practice for her, and it's something I can still help her with while I'm busy at the stove.
In this case, I jotted down our list (in case you weren't sure). If I'm writing something that I don't want Lou to erase, I break out my secret weapon: wet erase markers. You know those things that teachers use on transparencies? They have uses outside the classroom. I use them on my menu board (that blue thing on the fridge, which I'll blog about at some point) and on the white erase board for semi-permanent stuff. Lou gets regular old dry erase markers, but washable, like these, which we hang from two magnetic hooks in a white bucket. You can also buy dry erase crayons, which I'm tempted to try, because the daily hunt for missing marker lids has lost its charm.
This system works so well for us, I can't imagine not having it around. It keeps Lou close but occupied when I'm engaged in dangerous kitchen tasks, and she won't grow out of it any time soon. It's also really functional for us. It's a great space to keep a grocery list, which I take a picture of on my phone before we leave for the store, and other reminders. Easy peasy.
In rental spaces, you can skip the wall holes by applying dry-erase removable contact paper (like this) or chalkboard oilcloth, like this. In my next kitchen, I plan to switch over to chalk. I think the chalk dust might be a slight pain, but there's a perfect wall nook to paint floor to ceiling chalkboard, which will give me more space for my stuff and Lou space for hers. Because it's been so useful to have this board be both magnetic and write-able, we'll replicate that with a few coats of magnetic paint underneath the chalkboard paint.
At least, that's the plan. You'll have to stay tuned to see what we really end up doing. One never knows around here. Have an awesome day!