Week 3: Watch this space

Not quite ready yet...

My week 3 post is due but the paint is still drying on the wall I had to repaint (well to be honest the wall Mr B repainted). Hopefully it is dry tonight and I can post about how successful or not I was at reproducing an organised kids space just like you see on Pinterest.

If it isn't dry tonight I will post during the week when I get a stolen moment :)

In the meantime if you own a Thermomix and have access to home grown or cheap strawberries (they were 49c a punnet at our local Aldi today) I highly recommend this strawberry jam recipe. So quick, easy and yum, yum, yum. It makes about 1 jar or in my case 1.5 small jars.

My pictures don't do the results justice. Now all I need to do is make some scones and get some cream to go with it.

The Greener Way to Play

Are you trying to live a greener life but still wanting your children to access a variety of quality toys? Or are you simply watching your budget or struggling to find space for new toys?

For us the answer to all of the above questions is yes. We can’t afford to buy unlimited numbers of toys or the space to store them. Even more importantly we have started on a journey to be more sustainable and teach our children to love after and appreciate the world we have.  One way all of us can do this is to consume less and reuse and recycle where we can.

Train sets encourage imaginative play, use construction skills and when more than one child is playing encourage cooperation.

To do this you need the resources and a great local resource is our Toy Library.  For a small annual fee, usually the same as the cost of a new toy, my children can borrow different toys each time we visit. Our toy library allows us to borrow 3 toys per child for 2 weeks at a time.

Wooden Teasets

 

The types of toys children can choose from include constructions, games, puzzles, outdoor, costumes, dolls, doll houses, cars, trucks and so much more. And the best part is that when they are bored of them or they aren’t exactly what they wanted we simply go back and swap them.

Puzzles help with fine motor skills and mathematical thinking.

My girls' favourite toys to borrow at the moment are puzzles and the huge wooden marble run. My favourites are the Waldorf inspired construction blocks and the large water / sand play tables as I can see the opportunity to use them to set up some great “Invitations to play” (See my blog post on Invitations to Play for more information on this topic)

These big water/sand play tables have so many uses.

Being a member of a toy library has also benefited my family by providing information on new toys and the types of toys that are suitable for our children and lifestyle. Our toy library also holds a regular “Stay and Play” session where there is extra room to trial larger toys and they set up activities using the toys available for hire.  During these sessions members of the volunteer committee are on hand to explain the benefits of play and how parents and educators can support their children’s development through play. When I have the time I contribute ideas to these sessions and try to provide links to the Early Years Learning Framework for educators thinking about reproducing the activities in their learning setting.

One of my favourite toys to borrow.

My involvement with the toy library is my last reason why it is a great idea to hunt down and join your local toy library.  While I am more active than most members even for someone who is looking just to borrow regular and not get involved in the weekly running of a toy library (it is important to note that most toy libraries in Australia are community run non-profit groups) just being a member encourages you to feel part of the local community. Until your children start school it is easy to feel disconnected from what is happening in the community around you. If you are lucky enough to be introduced to a cohesive mothers group this might be all you need but this wasn’t the case for me. My mothers’ group disbanded quite early and with a young child and no structured activities to go to the toy library was a god send. We could go there and she could scream or pull everything off the shelf and no one batted an eyelid. I also got to hear other parents talking about their lack of sleep, spending days in their pyjamas, how their children were developing and how it is alright not to listen to the hundred people who try to give you advice on how to be a parent.

I also learnt about the other groups in my community that I could go to with my children such as library story time, play groups and mainly music. All of which were inexpensive and very child friendly. Better yet I got the heads up on what they were like before I went which was a real bonus as after one uncomfortable trip to my first playgroup I was reluctant to try again.

Our Toy Library even has one of these you can borrow for parties.

You will find that most Toy Libraries will have a volunteering component as part of their membership requirements but don’t let this put you off joining. It is often only once or twice a year and you can bring your children with you. During your volunteering session you might be asked to check toys have all their pieces, clean toys or record what people have borrowed. My eldest daughter loves these days as she gets to spend 2.5 hours playing with any toys she wants, she has a constant stream of playmates as they come in to borrow and often stay for about 30 minutes while they choose what to borrow and she gets first dibs on anything that gets returned that day.

In Australia you can find more information on Toy Libraries at

Toy Libraries Australia

Western Australian Association of Toy Libraries

If you live outside Australia and would like to post a link to your local Toy Library association please do so in the comments. Or if you have any other reasons why Toy libraries are great please add them in the comments section.

Week 2: Paper and Straw Rockets

So after the ups and downs of week one, week two has been a little less eventful but just as much fun.

This week I would like to share with you our attempts at paper and paper rockets as ideas shared by Picklebums. Kate, who created Picklebums, blogs about children’s activities, parenting, recipes, living sustainabily and lots of things in between.  The paper rockets we created were based on her printable paper rockets.

 

For this activity you will need:

• Paper

• Pens or pencils to decorate

• Scissors

• Glue

• A pencil to wrap your rocket around

• Straws

Firstly we cut our paper so that it was approximately 5cm by 15cm. I cut one this size as an example and then let the children cut their own, jumping in when needed to help those still developing their cutting skills.

Each child then decorated their paper on one side with a pattern or drawing of their choice.  Once it was decorated they placed it decorated side down on the table and spread glue along one of the long sides. Then starting at the opposite long side they rolled it up with a pencil in the centre creating a tube once the pencil was removed.

Then they flattened one end of the tube, folded it over and glued it down. The final step was to place it over a straw, inhale and blow into the straw to make it fly.

 

The making and creating took only a few minutes even for the youngest members of our group but the flying and scientific inquiry that developed kept us busy for nearly 2 hours. The children started out by seeing which one of them could blow their rocket further but then their natural curiosity lead them to wonder if the rocket was shorter would if fly further, what would happen if they used tape instead of glue, did it fly better inside or outside, did the type of paper we used make a difference and how could we record all of the answers.

Week 1: Pool Noodle Painting

So my first post about my 52 week Pinterest Challenge took longer than I expected to post. While I have been busy attempting loads of great children’s crafts I found on Pinterest; the time to post about them and the pictures to accompany them alluded me.

January is a busy month for me, one where my husband and I swap roles with him becoming a house husband and I go out to tackle the work force, in this case a summer holiday program that caters for 4 to 12 year olds.

In the first week alone the children helped me trial “Fire Breathing Dragons”, “Icy Pole Paintings”, “Story Rocks”, “Hoop Weaving”, “Paper and Straw Rockets”, “Marble Runs”, “Washer Necklaces”, “Photo Booth Props” and my personal favourite “Pool Noodle Painting”.

As you can see I should have loads of activity ideas sourced from Pinterest to review and while I can give you some feedback and ideas about how you might change them, most of the photos of our efforts have been lost. Unfortunately one night after we all packed up and went home somebody broke in and stole our camera along with other items of value. Luckily most of the activities we undertook were so much fun the children were happy to repeat them in order for us to share our efforts. We will be posting a review of each of the above activities in the coming weeks as we redo the activities and take some photos.

For this week I would like to share our Pool Noodle Painting experience (I luckily took a few photos on my phone when we were setting up and cleaning up). There were so many pins showing pool noodle painting I can’t attribute it to just one but if you would like to see more photos of the cheap and fun activity just search “Pool Noodle Painting” on Pinterest.

 

The first part of this activity involved me doing a little set up before the children arrived. While I encouraged the children to help set up and clean up as much as possible there are times (like those that involve sharp scissors or kitchen knives) that I am happy to tackle it by myself.  I started by using a sharp pair of scissors to cut two pool noodles (purchased from the local $2 shop) into rings. I then put some paint out on clean meat trays (recycled from this week’s trip to the butcher) before standing back to see what the children decided to create.

 

 

I had my doubts about whether this activity would engage all the children I work with but I was pleasantly surprised. Even the most easily distracted were intrigued with the idea of using the pool noodles to paint and how they might use them to create an object. My personal favourite was painting by a 9 year old boy who is often reluctant to tackle crafts. He not only gave it a go but was the first to develop his pool noodle painting by asking for a paint brush so that he could turn the two pool noodle stamps on his page into a car. He then also helped others in the group mix colours and decide what they would like to paint.

 

The moral of this activity was that often simple is best and providing invitations to create no matter the ages of the children involved as it can lead to the best outcomes. If you are using the Early Years Learning Framework (Australia) you may see examples of children demonstrating creativity, enthusiasm and imagination (LO 4).

 

 

 

If you would like to see what other activities I am thinking of planning for upcoming Holiday Programs I have started a Pinterest Board just for these:

http://www.pinterest.com/littlemonstars/holiday-program/

52 Week Challenge Intro

In the beginning...

As 2013 comes to an end it is time to finally get this blog started. Like many of my friends and hopefully many of you that will read this I am forever bookmarking, printing and cutting out of magazines ideas for great things to make, activities to do with my children or nifty gadgets to buy to make my life easier. However I never seem to use any of these very useful ideas.

You just have to take a look at all the really useful tips and ideas I have pinned for "later" to see I am addicted to pinning. I pin ideas of ways to organise my house and life, crafty things to make but most of all fantastic ideas for things I can do with my children and the children I work with. With this in mind I have resolved in 2014 to tackle a "52 Week Pinterest Challenge".

Starting Monday the 6th of January I will be sharing my attempt at recreating one of these pins each week. I will be ably assisted by my two Little Monstars (Miss E - Age 3 and Miss A - Age 1) and my personal editor/handyman/motivator Mr. B.

Please join me as I share my good, bad and hopefully sometimes funny adventures in the land of pins.