Embracing creativity

18 months ago, this was my worst nightmare.

Now I secretly quite enjoy this.

Embracing creativity. That's me.

Tomorrow, I continue my "Wing it" series, with something which looks dull but is proving desperately popular at home at the moment.

Reflections

What a wonderful week it has been! The wet middle of half term week didn't stop us having fun and I can return to work on Monday feeling like I had a really good week off.

If you've been reading my "Wing it" posts, you'll know that I've explored some new stuff for E to do (and if you haven't you can read about Activity 1, 2, 3 and 4). Activity 5 needs some more photographs before I can write about it. But on top of that we've done a whole load of other stuff that's made for a memorable week. Firstly, we've spent the whole week at home, no nights away, no packing, no stress. We've caught up with friends, we've gotten our first grazed knees, we've seen my dad, we've (started to) spruce up the garden, we've barbecued, we've played outside loads, we've played with new toys, we've read books, we've been to the farm... And most importantly, the three of us have spent a huge amount of time with each other. Simply divine.

I know I've said it before but E continues to get better and better. She is such good company, so much fun. At the end of every school holiday I reflect on what a good time off I've had and each one trumps the previous one. Goodness me - the summer holiday promises to be the bees knees! 

So, changed afoot this week. E starts full time in her new room on Monday. D is starting his last half term at school before he changes jobs in September. I have some gain time in the absence of Year 11. Some breathing space.

Thought for the week: It gets better and better.

"Wing it" Activity No. 4

iPad apps

Goodness me, what a horrible day it's been! None stop rain and a garden that is impassable as its ready for the builders to work their patio magic tomorrow.

Now I imagine that iPad apps for toddlers are a pretty controversial topics. We're quite anti television and screen time for E but she has a natural curiosity for IT, phones and the like and that's only to be expected when she sees her favourite people using them every day. I don't feel it's something I can say no to. And actually, everything in moderation, right? As long as she's done a lot of physical stuff, read real books, experienced some real life, then a little bit of something educational and developmental is ok with me.

So, having been inside all day, we've had some time on the iPad today. Here are my favourite three.

1. Peekaboo Barn

69p, and E seems to like it. We're been learning about farm animals a lot this week,so this app has consolidated some of the names and noises. She likes waiting to see who is in the barn by tapping on it. My only disappointment is that the voice is a bit coochie coo for my liking and not the clearest for learning. It's ok so long as you're nearby to reinforce it!

Available from
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/peekaboo-barn/id300590611?mt=8

2. Balls

Free! Brightly coloured moving lines, hand eye coordination and some gross motor, looks nice and sounds cool and occupies E well. Unlike other apps, the sound won't work on this app if your iPad is on silent... Took mama a while to work that out!

Available from
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/balls/id303046432?mt=8

3. Sound Box

The lite version is free and you can upgrade. This was recommended to me by a friend and is a whole family favourite. Really interactive without it being too complicated, tap for more balls of different pitches and timbres, hold them down and watch them pop into animals, shake and watch them roll around... I find myself playing too. The dog settling drives out two loopy, and my favourite it's the xylophone sound. A great app to have handy!

Available from
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sago-mini-sound-box-fun-sounds/id640709006?mt=8

Other apps we've explored include a selection of keyboards for iPad, several of the Fisherprice free apps,my favourite being the Animal Sounds one, and Maily which allows your child to draw a picture and then email it to parent predefined addresses. Perfect for cheering daddy up at work and allows older ones some independence too!

Hoping for better weather tomorrow!

"Wing it" Activity No. 3

A homemade blackboard for the garden

Huge apologies. I was already turning myself into a blackboard when I realised my camera was upstairs, and when I went to get it to take pictures of E enjoying the fruits of my labour, the battery was flat after a hard day of snapping yesterday. So here's "Wing it" Acvivity No. 3 with the help of iPhone/iPad, Instagram and a fabulous little app I've just discovered from A Beautiful Mess. 

Quite simple really. Make a blackboard. Have someone who is handy with tools hang it in the garden, get out the chalk and off you go! 

So many things to develop including:

• Gross motor skills & mark making
• Fine motor skills and grips
• Hand eye coordination
• Vocabulary about colours

...and the board could be used as part of other larger activities with older children... Shapes, blending, spelling... I'm going to use it as a photography prop, and no doubt it'll make some good grown up entertainment too! 

The paint cost £6.99, the board which is just shy of 3' x 3' was £7.70. Such a fun project in the sunshine and a product with longevity, I hope! 

And obviously I couldn't help but have a go too! 

"Wing it" Activity No. 2

Bean bags

When I popped into ELC yesterday, I spotted these for £4 and thought I'd see what we could do with them. They say suitable from 2+ but I think there is fun to be had with them at 14 months too... 

This is definitely more of a long term learning activity than the water beads, but even just some playing today has been fun and has developed some new skills, including:

• New vocabulary - "Can you put the bean bag in the bucket? Can you take the bean bag out of the bucket?"
• Throwing - we've had some experience of throwing - mostly dinner on the floor- but also in the garden throwing a ball for the dog but this is throwing we can do inside and requires a little more precision.
• Catching - well, she made a good attempt at catching, and really enjoyed watching us throwing the bean bags back and forward to one another. This will come! 
• Counting - one, two, three, four. 

In time there's more to do, to name but a few:

• Colours
• Hoopla type throwing into chalk circles/buckets/containers
• Juggling (!)

... all of which are good for developing hand-eye coordination, gross motor skills, language, strength and numeracy.

I'm looking forward to more beanbag action! 

"Wing it" Activity No. 1

Fun with Florists Water Beads

So, I decided that as it's half term and we're home for the whole week and E is only in nursery for one morning, I would try and do something new with her every day. In addition, I will blog about it every day, hopefully I'll inspire some others along the way!

Today we explored the possibilities of florists water beads. I bought these just because I liked the colours, they were described as non-toxic and delivery was free, but there are loads of others available. I got 5 sachets for £2.50 and used two of them for playing today. They need to be soaked in advanced and rinsed before use.

I wouldn't advise leaving kids unattended with these! Potential choking hazard - that said, E didn't seem too bothered about eating them, which is unusual for her. 

I let E roll a few beads around the table while she and daddy waited for breakfast. To start with she struggled to pick them up because they're quite slimy, but with practice she was able to grab them and squeeze them. Good for the fine motor skills; fist grip, the four finger grip and pincer grip! They bounce ever so well, so she enjoyed bouncing them off the table screaming something that resembled "bouncy" while she did. They ended up on the floor, but we just collected those up and rinsed them before putting them in the water table to play with later. Popping some in a silicone ice cube tray was fun, briefly until she tipped them ALL on the floor! 

This week I bought a sand and water table from Tesco as it was on offer for £10. It's quite dinky but absolutely fine for some outdoor messy play and our moderately sized garden. It comes with a scoop and a rake and was just what I was looking for.

When it warmed up, we went out to play in the garden and I just poured all the beads into the tray. E enjoyed scooping and raking the beads, pouring them back out of the scoop and watching them fall, moving them between the two sections, and giggling when they fell onto the gravel or bounced away. Scooping develops muscles and hand eye coordination. She picked up beads that she'd dropped on the ground, and after a good 20 minutes of exploring, just stuck her hands in and enjoyed the feel of the beads. They really do feel lovely. Silky, slimy, wet, squidgey and cool! When she finished playing, I put a little extra water in with the beads and put the lid on the table. When I checked them this evening they were still as slimy and plump as they were before lunch. The benefits of mixed colours for older children would allow them to sort too. I'll edit this post to let you know when they come to their end! 

And when she came in for lunch, she wasn't grubby or damp, but we did wash her hands before she ate. 

Fair to say, this was great success for my 14 month old! It's sensory and messy, without really making too much mess and easy to prepare and pack away for. Obviously the downside is that it has to be planned for, to some extent, as the beads take time to soak (although I didn't leave them the 24 hours it advised...). However, it made this toddler smile and giggle, got her outside for that Vitamin A fix and kept her entertained for two good amounts of time this morning. That's a hit in my book!