Both of my girls have been, well still are, nature hoarders. They will find, pick up and cherish rocks and gumnuts. Along with these they will also collect leaves, sticks, bits of mulch, snail shells, snails themselves and all sorts! My car, pram and handbag are never free of some type of organic matter of…
One of the common questions I have been asked by parents lately has been requests for sensory play ideas for toddlers who are still putting everything in their mouth. This being said, there is certainly a lot for a young child to learn from their environment by mouthing so it really isn’t a behaviour that…
Learning letters and numbers doesn’t have to be all text books and flash cards. Your child certainly doesn’t need a pencil in hand to begin to build up skills that will assist them in their handwriting journey either! Allow them to begin this journey with some fine motor fun! With this in mind, we set…
We are celebrating all things farming in our play this week. To kick start off the week we did a milking cows activity! There are so many different learning opportunities when it comes to exploring farms. With such diverse related topics, farm theme play appeals to so many kids. Whether it is the machinery, animals,…
Standing in kitchen this afternoon, I was watching the girls playing nicely but I could see that we were about to hit THAT time of day. Seams were beginning to come undone. We need a sensory small world. The dreaded witching hour… haha… an hour. Oh that’s funny… Between approximately 2pm and 6pm each afternoon…
(Written November 2016) I love my daughter, I really do however the last few months I have wondered if perhaps she has been possessed or had a body swap with a non human being of some type. Thats right, I have a three year old. How to survive a three year old At first I…
Our ‘Out of this World’ play theme for the week has taken us to planets, stars and the moon. This morning we toyed with the idea of a balloon alien! Miss 4s eyes were wide when I explained that some people do believe that there are people who come from other planets and there are…
Exploring space with your children is so interesting. It’s a great way for them to learn about the universe and how it works, and you also get some cool science experiments out of it too! Our Space themed play for the week has been a hit and we are only at day 1. One activity…
Pom Poms are such a versatile little item. They are great for sensory play, crafts, counting, colour recognition, teaching spatial awareness, sorting activities and so much more! Today I thought we needed to get back to basics and ground ourselves with some simple play. Miss 19 months hasn’t been feeling very well with a nasty…
Small world play is always popular at our house. All three children love exploring the sensory medium and the two older ones get lost in a story with influenced by a recent book or their own imaginations. While we LOVE small world play, it can be a bit messy at the best of times. Typically…
We love playing with what Mother Nature has provided us with. I often remind myself (and the children) to be grateful for living in such a beautiful part of the world surrounded by so much nature.We had some time to pass and with Miss 4s new found interest in accessorising herself I thought we would…
Colouring rice for sensory play is so easy and kids just love playing with coloured rice. Not only is sensory play heaps of fun, it’s inviting, engaging and provides your child with so many learning opportunities! Sensory play involves engaging your child’s senses; touch, sound, taste, smell and sight. How to Colour Rice for Sensory…
Emotions printables and DIY activities are a fun way to introduce your children to learning emotions. Learning how to regulate emotions can be overwhelming even for us adults. These activities are a gentle, effective, and fun way to begin exploring emotional regulation. Emotions Printables and Learning Emotions Activities Is your child struggling with their emotions?…
We found another use for our old egg shells! Introducing Egg-Motions! Another little DIY project that gravitates around our Emotion themed play for the week. After collecting, washing and drying some egg shells, we drew some emotions on the shells and matched them with our emotions flash cards. The shells proved to be a challenged…
Learning how to read and interpret facial expressions and body language is a important social skill. From the very get go, babies begin to look at faces. Did you know that a baby can only see about 30cm in front of them? Coincidentally, that is also the distance from a mother’s breast (where little bubba…
We read a LOT of books. Reading is one of the first things we do in the morning and one of the last things we do each evening before bed. We met young Harry only recently. His love for his dinosaur friends was contagious from the very first reading! We have revisited and joined him…
If there is ever a time when I need to choose a sensory medium that will be the last we will ever have in the world, it would be Oobleck. It is such a captivating medium! I often find myself still running my fingers through it long after the kids have finished. What is Oobleck?…
Sensory play is the best! With little Miss 19m getting involved, I am always trying to keep our play medium taste safe or better yet, edible. Here is a flash back to when she was 15 month old. I had been meaning to write this one up but it got lost in the baby brain…
Today I am feeling grateful to be a part of an amazing community of like minded parents who all love to inspire each other with different play ideas. Yesterday one of the lovely mummies shared a beautiful snap of her little one enjoying an activity using pom poms that I just had to recreate. So…
We all know that daily brushing of our teeth is very important for dental health. The recommended three minutes of brushing twice a day can seem like a lot of work for our little ones. This plaque attack activity was just what we needed! Miss 4 was having one of those days when everything was…
