|
October 5th, 2010
|
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
We had many opportunities to visit the Art Museum and now the big art museum is a few hours away we’ve really noticed how much we miss seeing the gallery. Not being on the doorstep of a major art gallery will not dampen our enthusiasm for all things art based. Although we will have to be more deliberate.
The boys are really into straight lines and bold colours at the moment, so it wasn’t difficult to choose Piet Mondrian as our artist.
Read More…
Technorati Tags: Piet Mondrian
We went looking for conkers.
Read More…
|
|
September 24th, 2010
|
Last time I talked about the reasons why you should subscribe to play newsletters. I’d like to share 6 play newsletters you should know. I wouldn’t suggest subscribing to them all. Each newsletter should have an unsubscribe link. If you like them don’t forget to tell your friends and feel free to email the writers.
- Kids craft weekly
Amber writes about ..”new craft ideas that are cheap, educational, child-friendly and fun.” Amber has crafted up amazing newsletters for many years now and archives them on her site as well.
2. Play activities
Here you’ll find open-ended play activities for the under 5s. Many of the ideas are starting points allowing everyone to take the activity in their own direction. I also add in reader submitted activities.
3. Productive parenting
Productive Parenting provides one new activity suggestion each day based on your child’s birth date! These activities are all about fun, creativity and bonding.
4. Refresh
Stef produces a fortnightly or biweekly ezine of encouragement and simple solutions for busy parents. Each issue has a resources or link section and a great story.
5. Kaboose Weekly Newsletter
Kaboose produce a range of newsletters. I subscribed to the Kids’ Crafts & Activities Newsletter. I found the activities interesting but highly polished. So it was good for specific projects but I didn’t find it easy to use them as a springboard.
6. Family Crafts Guide
About.com have a few newsletters. I enjoyed the family crafts guide. The ideas were varied , entertaining and engaging. The activities are great for multi aged families.
Who did I miss that you would suggest?
|
|
September 21st, 2010
|
Play newsletters are great resources for parents who are looking to make the most of playtime especially if you want to be creative, open-ended and seasonal.
If you check into your favourite play based websites you’ll not be surprised to find that they have a newsletter sign up box. Here you can enter your email address and name and then receive play activities through your email.
With more of us on the move we are using our smartphones to keep us informed and they have become our virtual office and diary.
3 reasons I enjoy newsletters
-
I can use them from any mobile device. I can find that “Standing in line” activity while I’m going to the Bank.
Nothing is more frustrating than remembering part of an activity and being away from the source. You fancy that activity you read at home in your magazine, mostly you can now access them online but many of the books you can’t. We have sometimes snatches of time when you can think of an activity but don’t remember everything or want to recommend it to a friend. I like that I can take my smartphone and find an activity without having to wade through just using a keyword search.
-
I can find a suitable activity for a seasonal project
Children love doing seasonal projects but many parents feel stumped on what to do. We can think of a few things but wish we knew something else to do. Newsletters often have a seasonal approach and offer many ideas. Another thing newsletters often do is offer a project based idea. Instead of individual play activities the activities leave ample opportunity for the child or carer to go further in their own way. This starting point is great for encouraging curiosity and helping children to develop the skills of longer projects. Play activities don’t always end after 10 minutes and they don’t always turn out as you intended. When we use books with illustrations kids and parents can often become frustrated with their end product as it looks so different.
-
I can be inspired to try a new idea by seeing first hand how it works or looks
We made our own cash register and another reader saw ours and was sure she could make a better one. We’re glad to have inspired them to make one. Also the idea of stepping out of our comfort zone cooking, crafting or singing. Newsletters bring you ideas.
Do you subscribe to play activities newsletters? Which ones do you like? Share yours here…
Next: Play newsletters you should know
Image credit:????
|
|
September 17th, 2010
|
Scene: The BG, MO and LO playing in close proximity on the floor.
BG: Vrooom see it’s taking off now [saying to the MO]. Character 1= legoship with wheels”You’ll never catch us now” . Character 2= farmer who is playing a bigger role today, “This is not the end!”
MO: Wait….the boat. It’s a boat.
BG: No we changed it remember. It’s a ship now.
MO: NO…….[getting up and yelling]
BG: OK… calm down it’s a ship now and next time it’s a boat. Alright?
MO………………… pause……………. weighing up this response.
Enter LO who grabs the spaceship/boat. Promptly takes off the wheels and throws the wheels one way and the farmer the other, then runs.
MO and BG take off running after the LO …………
Lots of shrieking and laughing from the LO .
MO gets to the LO first. The BG rounds the corner and gives him a big hug and wrestles him to the floor.
Lots of laughing and screaming from the LO and the MO looks on.
BG: You silly. Don’t be taking out boat! Don’t be taking out boat! Don’t be taking out boat!
MO Yeah it’s our spaceship! spaceship spaceship spaceship
Scenes like these happen often… Here I was impressed with many things and how things played out and a few things surprised me.
However many times you separate your fighting children what words you use are powerful because they will repeat them back. Whatever you model they become
Children surprise you with their words and actions you least expect. Sometimes you smile and many times you’ll be disappointed.
They’ll handle things differently than we would like but they have to find their way too. Stumbling at home, finding their voice, being assertive, learning to be flexible I’m glad the boys feel safe to do this type of learning at home.
After this little event I did speak to the MO and the BG at different times during the day. Nothing heavy but wanted to talk about what had happened?
Would you do anything differently? | Did he fill your bucket
? |Do you fill his bucket?
I don’t do this for every event. We are a bigger influence than we believe on our children and especially what comes out of their mouths.
We focus a lot on play activities here but if the children can’t get on with each other how can play occur.
Whatever happened this morning or yesterday? Let’s use our power of influence on purpose today.
Subscribe by RSS
