December 21st, 2010 Christmas activities that promote family time Posted by Melitsa in Articles, Education, Holiday guide, Homemade, language, play activities, Seasonal play, Sites to visit

I’ve talked before about squeezing in family time, play and routines during the Christmas or holiday season. Yes there are so many more things to fit into our day but it’s also a great time to add in activities that everyone can do together. Christmas holiday time is also the time when there are many more people around.

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Here is our list in no particular order of family time activities that we make sure we stop and do during the holiday time.

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December 14th, 2010 Celebrate Christmas with a trip around the world Posted by Melitsa in book review, Holiday guide, language, Thought of the week

We love our Advent Calendar activities and by now you are probably well into your activities too!

We like to get a Christmas book each year to add to our collection . As they get older the books change.  The story is the same or is it? We all celebrate Christmas the same and differently. My children can’t imagine a Christmas when it’s not snow or cold.

Here are some books I would recommend to share with your family about Christmas traditions around the world.

Christmas Around the World

The Legend of Old Befana

Christmas Around the World

The Legend of the Poinsettia

What books do you have that show Christmas around the world?

October 25th, 2010 Monday links Posted by Melitsa in Homemade, language, play activities, pretend play, Roundups, Sites to visit, Thought of the week

This is what we’re doing during half term….again. It’s been a crazy couple of months. While we are offline, here are some links for calming activities that you will want to do between the mad moments or high energy of children at home.

Make your own family | Play-Activities.com

Why scribbling is fun!

Shaving cream fun | Play-Activities.com

Sensory Play with Rice | Play-Activities.com

Tuesday: Pasta and An Empty Water Bottle | Fun with Mama

Crayon and paint

Autumn Craft and Activity Ideas | Mum in the Madhouse

September 30th, 2010 Toddler play activities with conkers Posted by Melitsa in Articles, Education, language

We went looking for conkers.

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July 14th, 2010 What to do when “there is nothing to do”? Posted by Melitsa in book review, Education, Good reads, language, play activities

How do you come up with play ideas for your kids? And, perhaps even more importantly, how do your kids come up with play ideas for themselves?

During holiday periods I, like many parents, plan ahead for games and activities we will get up to – using blogs I love (perhaps ones I’ve recently discovered via the Raising Playful Tots Index) but I also want to give my kids the tools to plan and create for themselves, and a rich vein of inspiration for my two kids comes in the form of picture books I read to them. Although it doesn’t always happen (and even when it does, it can be weeks after we’ve read the book) often my kids will create their own games and activities inspired by what they’ve read and listened to.

Three great books we’ve recently enjoyed (with my hope that they’ll sow the seed of inspiration when the time comes) are all about what can be done when it seems like there’s nothing to do.

Something to Do by David Lucas

Perfect for toddlers, this simply illustrated book is full of the adventures a baby bear gets up to having bounced on his dad complaining that there’s nothing to do until Dad finally gives in. Using a twig to draw, baby bear and his dad create places to explore, with no set agenda, just following the lines they make with their sticks.

Nothing to Do by Douglas Wood, illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin

Stunningly illustrated with immense detail this book is a delight for slightly older children. Nothing to Do celebrates how wonderful it can be to actually have nothing to do; instead of needing to rush to this activity or onto another class, instead of always being timetabled, days where there is nothing to do are actually something to be relished. Such days are full of endless, exciting possibilities – as you and your kids pour over the glorious illustrations you’ll all come up with ideas of your own, from making toy ships to watching clouds, from making paper airplanes to re-reading your favourite books.

Let’s do nothing by Tony Fucile

A great all-rounder this book will have everyone in the family laughing! Two young boys have done everything they can think of doing and all that is left to try now is – quite literally – doing nothing. It turns out, however, that doing nothing is much harder than anyone had realised! The comic strip style illustrations are full of energy and there are jokes for the adults as well as the kids in this pacey debut from one of the animators behind Finding Nemo and The Incredibles.

One of my stock go-to activities if we seem to have run out of anything to do is to put on some music and just dance with the kids. Here are some great songs that go wonderfully with these three fantastic books about doing nothing:

And if you do want to prepare some activities for your kids taking your cue from these books, here are some I think would work brilliantly alongside reading these stories:

Zoe Toft is a mum of two young girls and they really love words and they really love to make stuff.
Sometimes they make or do something and they want a good book (or poem / song / audiobook) that continues the game, that captures some of the magic we’ve enjoyed. Sometimes it’s the other way round and they read a great book which inspires them to get the glue and glitter out.

Either way, they’ve always got plenty of books around the house, boxes of “crafty stuff” and a desire to have fun. However, her memory is /terrible/ So Playing by the book is Zoe’s way of celebrating and reminding herself of many of the things they get up to as a family, of the books they’ve read and loved and that you might just fall in love with too.