Under the Sea

Under the Sea

Hi all sorry it has been so long since I last posted what with having a toddler, decorating bedrooms and becoming more and more pregnant it has been hard to fit this in. 

However I'm really excited to share with you some of the things Oscar and I have got up to recently. 

Since going part time (dropping one day) I have found that most of our focused learning takes place on a Friday when I have Oscar to myself.   

This post all stemmed from reading this little book I got given in the early weeks of Oscars life.

He absolutely loves it so I thought what better than to focus some learning activities around it. 

The hole in the bottom of the sea.

Other books

The Snail and the Whale

Finding Nemo

I bought a bag of little sea life creatures from Ebay for only £3 what a bargain. 

We then set about our activities with them.

This magic sand is so good - Blue Kinetic sand from Amazon

Kinetic Sand

We explored making prints with the animals, hiding them under the sand, counting how many we could find, naming the animals and discussing if they go under the water or stay near the edge. There are so many different things you can do with a packet of small animals and the conversations you can have are endless. 

Bath Time

I decided to freeze a couple of the animals so he could play with them at bath time too. He was very excited to see the frozen pots and couldn't wait to put them in the bath. As he watched the ice melt away from the animals he tried to pull them out so we discussed how the heat and steam from the bath melted the ice. The excitement on his face was priceless especially as he could pull them out of the ice blocks. 

He liked to line the animals up along the bath side which again was great as he told me what he thought each one was. We counted them on and off the self as they dived back into the water. 

Imaginative play 

He loved playing with the penguin and dolphin and began to make up stories as though they were talking and swimming in the water together. Isn't it adorable watching the ideas and imagination flow in their little heads? Of course mummy then had to use the shark to be nasty shark. We discussed about sharks being more of the predators of the sea. 

Using material as props

One Friday morning Oscars clothes were drying on the radiator as they do. As we were focusing our learning on sea animals I decided to use his blue clothes to resemble the sea. Oscar loved this idea so off I went on the hunt for more blue clothes. We hid the animals in the water, counted them in and out of the water and then started to talk about legs on people and animals as Oscar pointed out the legs on the octopus. He now plays with this little octopus every night in the bath and we always talk about its legs comparing them to how many legs Oscar etc has. 

Positional language

As part of the early learning goals children are encouraged to learn and use positional language for example on, under etc.

In this picture we named the seals- Mummy seal, Daddy seal and Oscar seal. We then used the language of next to, behind, in front and in the middle. Oscar preferred to put Oscar seal 'next to' Mummy seal :)

Since this little activity he has began to use this language a lot within his imaginative play. 

I hope this has given you just a few ideas you could do with your little ones. Please share it with any friends or people you know who have young ones especially with it being the summer holidays. If you've enjoyed this post please take a look at my previous ones. I'm hoping to get some more up over the next few weeks all depending on when Baby M number two comes along as i'm due at the end of August. 

Thanks again 

Sam

x

All things colours

All things colours

Our world is filled with so many beautiful colours so I thought what else better to do my next blog on. I've been so busy lately and not quite feeling myself as we are expecting our next bundle of joy eek due in August. We are so excited but i'm struggling again with morning sickness. I can't wait to start blogging about our outings with Oscar and his baby brother or sister. 

So this post includes activities I have done with Oscar from a young age to now.

Bath crayons

I have mentioned these fantastic bath crayons before in previous posts - they are Mothercare

bath crayons and this must be like our 4th packet as Oscar likes to play with them so often. He has now learnt to clean them off with a baby wipe. So easy and brilliant for your little ones to learn colours but also begin to mark make. Please see my previous blog on 'mark making' for more ideas.

Places to visit

This is the Space Centre Preston, Lancashire. Such a great place to take your children from all ages. Oscar even had his first birthday party here. I love how they set mood lighting using lots of colours through a  projector. 

I gave Oscar some plastic letters and every time we stamped them in the play dough we discussed which colour we were using. Even though at this age I knew he wouldn't be able to say the colour and remember it there and then, I knew the repetition and discussion helps so much with their development rather than just leaving them all the time to free play. 

Paint and Crayons

Painting eek - see the picture in the top left hand corner? Genius. I found this idea on pinterest (my favourite places to browse for ideas) put blobs of paint on some paper and then wrap it in clingfilm. then just leave your little one to smudge and feel the paint move around the paper NO MESS!!

Wax crayons are a must when it comes to colours - Oscar loves to colour. I always ask him to pass mummy the red crayon etc. Again using colour names all the time. 

Try matching crayons to paint bottle colours - another easy and fun activity.

Books and Puzzles

Books - there are so many books out there to help your little ones learn colours. We don't have that many colour books as sometimes I feel learning colours in a book is a hard concept. We have so many shades and varieties of colours that don't always match the colours in the books. E.g not every flower is pink,

Puzzles - I just love this Dear Zoo Puzzle not only do they learn how to match the colours but put the pieces together and learn about zoo animals. 

Stacking puzzle - when Oscar was younger he loved being able to stack the circles but now he not only knows how to stack all the shapes he can also pick up the right coloured circle etc when I ask him.

Duplo

Every now and then I sort Oscars duplo into colour groups and suggest us building a green house etc.

Also try giving your little ones a tray  - this not only helps them separate the blocks and colours but encourages their fine motor skills and precision of placement. 

Mega blocks in the bath

VTech roads

Discuss the colours you are connecting. Ask your child to find a red piece etc.... can you connect all the yellow pieces?

Buckle toy buster

The is one of my favourite toys that we got Oscar for Christmas. A buckle toy buster - they are £17 on Amazon but I got ours on Ebay for like £7 BARGAIN. I don't know about your children but Oscar loves trying to clip things together all the time. His fine motor skills are amazing. This little cushion not only teaches your little ones to connect the correct colours (which Oscar mastered in a day) but on one side it has a face and on the other it has numbers within shapes. We thought it was a perfect toy for in the car or one for the baby bag to entertain him whilst you are out and about. 

Thank you for stopping by and reading my latest post.

Please leave any comments you have. I hope I have given you even one idea to try with your little ones.

Sam x

Mark Making

How many ways can a toddler make marks?

What resources do you need?

Does it just have to be crayons and paper?

 These may be some of the questions you ask yourself. 

I wanted to write my next blog on 'mark making' mainly because being a Primary School Teacher I know how important this skill is in their future lives. Give your children as many opportunities as you can from the youngest of ages. Its taken me awhile to get these photos together. As you can imagine teaching full time, having a toddler and trying to get ready for Christmas hasn't been the easiest.

I have tried to show you a variety of different ways with a range of materials.

Here I set up a messy play activity in the garden. 

Using a cheap shaving foam on a tray allow you little one to explore using leaves, sticks, vegetables etc. Oscar particularly liked rolling his pumpkin in the shaving foam and then along the grass. 

Trailer of rice - let them see how the grains separate as they wiggle their stick through it.

Play dough - stick anything in it and when they pull the items out they are left with the holes.

Sellotape a piece of paper to a tray and give them a bunch of crayons. 

Remember to draw with you children as they love to learn from you. They will looked at how you hold a pencil and even how you mark the paper. 

We had previously gone on a walk before drawing and saw lots of trees so I decided to draw a tree linking it back to what we had seen.

Writing their name.

I do this nearly EVERYDAY. I really believe it is so important for children to see their name written. I write it nearly everytime we do drawings. He has already started to remember a few letter sounds from his name which is amazing for 20 months old. He even spotted an 'o' on a street sign the other day. (Proud mummy moment)

Play dough

Is a great resource for not only mark making with any utensils you can find but also for find motor skills - squeezing, pushing, squashing, picking etc

I made two different play doughs here - one with glitter and one without.

Bath crayons

Mothercare - £6

We are now onto our third pack of these. They are honestly one of the best things we ever got given for Oscar. He absolutely loves them and must draw in the bath 5 days a week. It does take a little extra time to get the marks off the bath but all you need is a baby wipe. He is actually really good at cleaning the majority of it off himself now. 

Vegetable patch

Using an old plastic container, fill it with soil and a variety of vegetables. Allow them to move the vegetables how they please and watch them make marks and holes in the soil with rakes etc. 

Painting

I will be honest, I have hardly painted with Oscar. I think i'm actually scared of what my kitchen will look like at the end of it. So I came across this method of using clingfilm. Put bits of paint on the paper then cover it with clingfilm. Pass the board over to your little one and watch them spread they paint all over WITH NO MESS :)

Sand

As you've hopefully seen on my previous posts the sand and water pit from Mothercare is one of our favourite things. We use it in so many different ways. Children mark marking in sand is perfect as they can mark and rub away.

My childminder told me about the KINECT SAND. Wow, if you have seen it try it.

We bought the 'Sand alive' version. It's brilliant  - a great sand for them to use in doors as well wet and cold days. We just put it on this messy play mat again from Mothercare.

Messy play mat

Thank you for taking time to read my blog. I hope you have enjoyed it and maybe want to try some of the things we have done together. 

If you have enjoyed reading this please look at my previous blogs. My next one will be colours.

Thanks 

Sam

x

Autumn Adventures

Don't you just love the sound of crunchy leaves underneath your feet and the change of colours autumn brings?

I've been so excited to do this blog knowing that it meant it would be October half term and I get to spend a week with my boys. We began our week with lots of walks through the leaves talking about the colours and sounds we could see and hear. Autumn is such an amazing season for your little one to explore their senses in so many ways. Oscar has loved climbing on stones, playing hide and seek behind trees and picking up lots of sticks...the bigger the better. 

 Every time we cross a bridge it has become the norm to say "Who's that trotting over my bridge?" after reading 'The Three Billy Goats' book. Not only has he learnt the trotting over the bridge phrase but every time I now say one, two he finishes off the counting with threeeeeeee.

Conker hunting 

I've never really been conker hunting before so after asking a few friends they told me maybe the beginning of October would have been better to go but with being so busy we decided to go on the hunt anyway. We went to Ashton park in Preston as it is only a short drive away from us. We found lots of horse chestnut trees :) after a bit of searching I found plenty. Oscar wasn't as interested as i'd hoped he would be but he had fun with his STICK moving the leaves around. However after a short amount of time this bench became his favorite thing. I can't blame him can you?

Sand Dunes in St Annes

It's been one of the coldest days so far today but we still decided to go on an adventure to the sand dunes. After taking some Year 3 children here years ago I thought I would take Oscar and my hubby for a different afternoon out. We wrapped up warm and set off. Oscar had so much fun playing in the sand, digging, mark making, throwing sand and following our footprints. 

Creative play

Conkers in old tins

Not only did Oscar love putting the conkers in and out of the tins he also threw them in the air using the lid, used the tin as a rattle and tried to balance the tins on top of each other. I love watching him being so imaginative with his play. Don't you wish sometimes you could jump into their little heads to see what they are really thinking?

Messy Play

I decided to set the garden up using the idea of Autumn 'things' and textures. Below is a list of things we used:

shaving foam on a tray

rice in his trailer

a tray of Autumn items - leaves, sticks, small pumpkins, acorns and conkers

his water and sand pit

play doh 

balls

plus anything else he has out in the garden

This was my favourite part when he picked up his pumpkin then rolled it in the shaving foam before covering it in rice and finally dunking it in the water. Imaginative play at its finest. 

A trip to a pumpkin farm to get us in the Halloween mood.

Oscar thought he was so strong bless him and tried to pick up this big pumpkins. 

Very excited Oscar sitting on the pumpkin. I think he preferred using it as a slide :) weeeeeeee.

We played a lot with the pumpkins this year....counting them, making proper pumpkins, feeling and talking about the textures and the most fun of all was hiding the pumpkins in different places, encouraging Oscar to look for them around the house. 

Thank you so much for taking time to read my blog. Please comment below if you have a blog or know of any blogs you would recommend me reading.

We haven't manged to do as many things colours to complete a blog on it so we combined colours in Autumn and my next blog coming up soon on mark making.

Thank you

Sam