Nature Night Concert

Finn had a lovely idea to take some chairs outside and listen to the night noises. I asked him to identify as many different sounds as he could- dogs barking, crickets chirping, cars driving. It was a lovely experience for them.

outdoor cubby

The children spent a lovely Autumn morning under a tree tent I made for them by draping some sheets over the low branches and clipping them with pegs. 

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).

Fun with Flakes

This is a great way to spend an afternoon with restless toddler. The tactile activity came from 'The Australian Woman Weekly Art & Craft for Kids' book, and helps to stimulate children's imagination and natural curiosity. 

In a bucket I mixed 1 cup of Lux soap flakes (bought from the supermarket), with about 3 litres of warm water. I gave Finn a whisk and helped him whip the soap flakes into a thick, foamy consistency. 

 

Then I gave him things I found in the kitchen for scooping, straining and pouring. 

He also enjoyed adding a few drops of food colouring into the mixture. 

Play Dough

I was reading about the importance of  play dough in a fantastic book called "Rapunzel's Supermarket', by Ursula Kolbe. 


On page 22: " Give children ample time to get the feel of dough and clay without cookie cutters or rolling pins. Toddlers love to make forms they can squeeze, roll, bend, twist and flatten. If they are not distracted by tools, they quickly acquire skills- a language of hands". 

A good reminder for me, as I tend to let finn go crazy with his box of play dough tools. 

This is the recipe I use for play dough which works every time. If you use 'cream of tartar' it helps preserve the dough for up to 6 months. 

Dough can be used for many children's activities. We borrowed this idea from Play School the other day, and made a little garden using the dough as the ground (on Play school they made a fragrant garden with cinnamon sticks, and herbs like rosemary). For our interpretation Finn added sticks, leaves and rocks that he found on a walk. 

We have also had fun making bridges across two dough islands, and adding little plastic animals to make jungles, and paddle pop sticks to make animal zoos.