Circus Oz

Over the weekend, we took the children to see Circus Oz  which was an amazing show (we had front row seats which made it even more fantastic). Finn was lucky enough to be plucked from the audience to be part of the show. 

Since the show there has been a lot of circus tricks being practiced and a lot of dressing up. 

Felt Faces

About a year ago I had cut out a variety of felt facial features and face shapes in different sizes, shapes and colours (noses, lips, beards, eyebrows, eyes, hair etc). I put them in a zip-lock sandwich bag and bring them out occasionally for Finn to play with.  He comes up with new, and interesting faces every time. 

A light, quiet and clean activity for when you are out and about and need to keep little hands busy. 

If the child is skilled with scissors they could make their own shapes, and glueing is also an option. 

Scavenger hunt

The kids and I like going on Scavenger Hunts around the neighbourhood.

Finn and I decide what we would like to look for on our walks and we write a list together with drawings along side the words.

I find it helps with awareness of surroundings, making observations, using descriptive words and early writing and reading skills.

An Egg Hunt in September

When I was cleaning out the cupboards the other day I came across a stash of plastic eggs that we used for our egg hunt on Easter this year. I thought it would be fun instead of waiting another year- to have another egg hunt with the kids in the garden. I filled the eggs with Tiny Teddy biscuits so there was some sort of chocolate reward! 

   

When Finn and Evie had found and collected the eggs- it was their turn to fill the eggs and hide them.

 We sometimes play a hide-and-seek game with large plastic animals hidden around the garden which is also great fun for the kids.

Money Bags

I know in most houses there are little cups of coins lying around the house, and our house is no exception. We had about 10 years worth of change sitting in tubs, so as part of my spring cleaning process I sat down with the kids and we sorted the change into separate denominations in small zip lock bags bags. The kids have been sick this week, so it was a nice quiet activity for them (just be careful of small children sucking the money).

We then went to the bank and watched the teller weigh the money to add it up, and deposit into our account.  

It is a good activity for teaching children about the basics of money, counting and categorising.

Finn's Photos

I've been introducing Finn to photography, and have been letting him explore his world through the lens. It's so lovely for me to see things from his perspective, and to see what he finds visually interesting.

This was one that he look today which I thought was really sweet.

Art in the Park

We spent a beautiful (almost) spring morning in the gorgeous Enchanted Forest Park where seed pods are aplenty. I sat down with Finn and Evie and we started creating some shapes with the seed pods they had collected. A few other children joined in, and we enjoyed watching the little creations that took shape. 

Creative moments can happen anywhere and anytime.

POST OFFICE

This weekend Finn has been busy with his Post Office. First we started by creating some mail, by using a stack of envelopes, some stickers and a date stamp (with ink pad). Finn folded up drawings and paintings and some hand written letters.

Finn wore a little felt hat which looked like a postman's, and I cut down and stitched a canvas shoulder bag and so it was a good size for little hands to reach in to distribute the mail.

We then made a Post Box out of a cardboard box with a hole cut in the front.

A delivery van (little car or bike) is also useful for this activity. Finn spent most of the afternoon delivering, sorting and creating his mail, and his little sister also enjoyed being involved in the posting frenzy.

This is a fun activity with opportunities for language development through role play and enhancing literacy (reading and writing) skills.

dot stickers

This was a quiet, low-fuss activity I did with a group of 6 children (aged 2.5 - 4.5). I gave them access to some sheets of stationary dot stickers in various colours and sizes, and some cut up sheets of translucent coloured contact (self sticking plastic). 

I gave them some coloured cardboard to work on and some drawing implements to work into their artwork if they wanted. Every child had their own way of working with the stickers- some overlapping, some very ordered, some random. 

Two boys made 'laptop computers' by folding the cardboard in half and using the dots as keyboard and the contact as the computer screen. They then played  'games' with their laptops set up on a table.

 

neighbourhood adventures and outdoor drawing

This afternoon we went for a little explore around parts of our suburb that we hadn't been to before.

We discovered beautiful rainforest walking tracks, burbling creeks with wooden bridges, a 'secret' playground, some horses in a paddock and a wonderful community garden.

 

I took my uni notes with me hoping to get a chance to read while the children played (of course it didn't happen), and I brought along a clipboard, some paper and a crayon roll-up (instructions to make one here) full of  Stockmar beeswax stick crayons (they have such beautiful, rich colours and are smooth and easy for children to draw with). Finn did some gorgeous drawings in the fresh air.

  



  

We also made some clover chains which took me back to my own childhood. 

Hide and Seek- Botanical Gardens

Some photos from our lovely morning at the Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens, following the Hide and Seek Trail.

http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/facilities-recreation/parks-gardens/brisbane-botanic-gardens-mt-coot-tha/attractions/hide-n-seek-childrens-trail/index.htm

Robot Puppets

A simple idea and lovely way to preserve childhood drawings. I divided an A4 sheet of paper into three segments, then asked Finn to draw three different characters (he chose Robots) in each section. I then cut out the outlines of the drawings and put them through the laminator. Once out, I trimmed each one and Finn and I attached them to craft sticks.

Peg Family

My one year old loves looking of photos of people she knows, and she also loves holding little figures and toys in her hands. I thought I'd make some little peg dolls of our family so she can play and hold them. I sewed up little angled dresses for the pegs (so the base became more stable) and laminated some clear photos our faces. I attached the faces with by wrapping some sticky tape around the face and head of the peg.

Washing Babies

A beautiful warm sunny winters day in Brisbane, so I decided a bit of water play was in order. Finn has enjoyed this activity from a young age, and Evie loves playing with dolls.

I set up a tub with some warm water with a few drops of bubble bath solution. I gave them a selection of plastic 'babies' to wash, some sponges, towels to dry and a change of dolls clothes. 

It entertained the two of them washing, playing and chatting side by side. 

This activity helps promote gentleness, how to care for something, mirror adult activities, and help with fine motor skills (when dressing & undressing their dolls). Playing with water is also very soothing for children.

Bubbles

Evie finds bubbles fascinating, and Finn loves blowing them. Here are some links to some bubble solution you can make at home: http://bubbleblowers.com/homemade.html

posting pegs

Another fast, clean and free activity for the children- posting pegs. I cut holes in an egg carton and asked the little ones to deliver pegs into the holes - I didn't think this would interest a three year old- but he loved it. I also gave them other containers to drop the pegs into (an empty juice bottle worked well).

Box train

I came across this photo that was taken when Finn was about 20 months. He had the best time in his box train. I had collected different sized boxes from the checkout at Bunnings, and joined them together with some pipe cleaners (or string). We added a smoke stack using a smaller box, and a steering wheel using a paper plate. I looped a material belt through the front of the first carriage so I could pull him along from station to station.

If you would like to get updates from this blog via email- please comment with your email address.

Lake Wivenhoe

On the Queens Birthday long weekend this year- I discovered my new favourite place in Brisbane for a day trip. Lake Wivenhoe is not highly promoted, but it is just gorgeous. 

A bag of Rice

Because both Finn (3) and Evie (1) have such different skills and interests, I try to think of activities that they can do happily together. Water, sand have always good, but I've discovered a bag of uncooked rice brought some lovely learning experiences for them.



I set them outside on the deck on a plastic mat, and gave them a variety of implements to scoop, sift and move the rice with. Finn loved moving piles of rice with his little dump trucks, and Evie loved pouring and touching and rolling around in the rice grains.

Letter box

We made a really simple mail box (inspired by the wonderfully creative blog Lila a) from a flat pack box and hung it on Finn's bedroom door. Such a simple activity created a huge amount of excitement and joy for the afternoon.

We delivered each other little surprises wrapped in newspaper and used envelopes, including letters and drawings, little toys that we found around the house, and for extra special treat I delivered Finn a couple of jelly snakes (see the beaming face below).