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April showers; chilly and warm. We’ve had all weathers this week.
Lots of puddle splashing and frequent changes of clothes. It’s the perfect weather for getting outdoors.
We’ve accumulated so many tracks. But you can never find the piece you need. Three boys working on tracks side by side is priceless.
Friday Finds is the place to unwind, grab yourself a comfy chair and reflect on your past week then plan for the upcoming one.
With a little something to make you think, for them to do and for us to listen or watch……. We are putting ideas into action. Challenging ourselves to do a little differently. Be inspired.
Enjoy your weekend!
Goodness for the mind: FLASH CARDS OR FINGER PAINTS: SHOULD ACADEMICS OR PLAY BE THE GOAL OF PRESCHOOL?
:: Imagination Soup
Activities for the body: Physical Activity Cube :: Little family fun
Goodness for the ears: Do You Have Family Meetings? :: Happiness Matters Podcast
This week on Raising Playful Tots podcast:: 94. What can we draw?
If you enjoyed this article, get the Play Activities Newsletter. ( It’s free!)
Each year we’ve tried to grow something.
Not because we needed to but because it’s pretty amazing to show the children the tiny seeds and how with a few key things a plant starts to grow. It’s real work nurturing this delicate seed, preparing the containers or the ground. Depending on where we live we need a good schedule for watering, feeding and shade as well as looking out for the insects who would love to eat our new succulent shoots. The amount of local knowledge you need is amazing. After living in high dessert, temperate and very wet ( Don’t you love my technical terms) sometimes you learn the hard way that you need to adjust.
It’s not just the knowledge but the supply of all the right things at the right time.
Working alongside ONE as a #ONEMum our seed planting means more as the focus changed this year.
Millions of people are locked in a vicious cycle of hunger and poverty. Poverty means parents can’t feed their families enough nutritious food, leaving children hungry and malnourished.
We’re linking our seed planting with the THRIVE campaign lending our voice.
Plant a seed of change in the G8!
Together, we can stop malnutrition, not just for one child, but for 15 million. We can end poverty, not just for one person, but for 50 million. Together we can break the cycle.
How do we do this?
1. Sow one- Show your commitment to agriculture in the developing world by planting a seed at home.
2. Send one- By signing the petition, you have added your name to thousands of others who stand together to help reach the goals of Thrive. Go a step further and send a message.
Why now?
In May, the G8 countries will meet at Camp David and agriculture in the developing world is expected to be a big focus. We also know that we have the best chance of success against hunger and poverty when world leaders unite behind good developing country leadership.
Here are a few practical ideas of what we can do now
- Send a letter to your elected officials asking your country’s leader to support effective, sustainable programs that save lives.
- Send people to ONE to sign the petition
- Keep up to date with the campaign by following ONE Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, youtube
- Share a living proof video
- Share updates on your seed growing on your blog and link them here.
Would love for you to participate in the Come Sow With Me Meme by sharing a seed planting activity ( Sow one) and encouraging others to do something by ( Sending them) Come back here and share your photograph and your post on the Linky. Let’s see how many we can do before the G8 at the beginning of May 2012
Let our voice count.
Keep us updated on your seeds progress
What were you doing 12 years ago?
This is one of the new questions I’m asking many of the guests on Raising Playful Tots. Why 12 years ago? 2000 was a significant year. It was when the Y2K bug threatened to turn off all our computers. It was the year I got married. It’s a year that most people can remember where they were and what they were doing.
Time moves so quickly when you have children and we don’t often get time to reflect on the past and plan for the future. Not when we have children under 5 plus multiple demands on our time and energy. I love the glimpse into our recent past and how different our lives were back then. It’s good to see if we’re actually heading in the direction we planned or whether we’ve had a change of heart.
Twelve years ago, What did I know about parenting and raising children other than I wanted to have a bunch someday and definitely not anytime soon?
Fast forward to 2012 and I feel like I’ve come a long long way with plenty of experiences. If I could talk to myself ten years ago before my first child what would I say to myself.
Conversation with myself 10 years ago
- Beware of the comparison trap. It sneaks up on you everywhere. You’re sucked in automatically. You have to decide to pull yourself out every time.
- Follow your own path and be true to yourself ( and family).
- Your experiences are narrower than you believe. Keep your eyes and mind open and you’ll experience more.
- Make a plan for all those ideas. They can’t take flight unless you do.
- Be around people who hold you tight when you’re sad; make you spit your drink with their conversation; inspire you to be better and hold you accountable. Everyone has an influence.
- Listen, observe , ask questions, and learn from many sources. You’ll be amazed at what sticks.
- Establishing your family rhythm takes a while to craft and refine. Refine. Refine. Refine.
- Never be afraid to try and fail. It’s all learning and training.
- Children are young for a season. What we do matters. What we start with them matters.
- Having a family will change everything you know, without exception. They will rock your world. Hold tight.
Bonus: Travel. Take pictures and remember. There is no one way to do things. Besides the kids will ask you what you did before they came along and while you’re having all that fun you’ll have nothing to show them later……perhaps that’s sometimes a good thing. 
What would you tell yourself pre children?
If you enjoyed this article, get the Play Activities Newsletter. ( It’s free!)
The LO is a little wild with the markers, meaning everything is a nice blank canvas including the table, walls and floor. Today we had fun with sharpies and he was so excited. We all, including big brothers, sat together and just experimented with the pen. The LO is beginning to get the feel of watercolour painting. I love how the sharpie work is all bendy and the painting is so straight up and down.
Love the lazy days of Easter. We got a little enthusasitic with our seed buying this year. We’ll just have to see what happens this year. What are you planting?
Friday Finds is the place to unwind, grab yourself a comfy chair and reflect on your past week then plan for the upcoming one.
With a little something to make you think, for them to do and for us to listen or watch……. We are putting ideas into action. Challenging ourselves to do a little differently. Be inspired.
Enjoy your weekend!
Screen free week starts April 30 Find an activity near you :: Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
Goodness for the mind: Child’s play ‘not easy’ after all :: BBC News
Activities for the body: when a child masters balance, it helps unlock the ability to sit still, focus, concentrate, and think! :: Moving Smart
Goodness for the ears: Encouraging Toddler Curiosity and Imagination :: The Parent’s Journal – April 9, 2012-Susan Striker
This week on Raising Playful Tots podcast:: 93. Positive ways to get to play activities bypassing the grumps
If you enjoyed this article, get the Play Activities Newsletter. ( It’s free!)
As a busy mum, it’s easy to get caught up in our own world and not see beyond our little corner.
My eldest son was born with a club foot. Within days my husband and I were up to speed on the Ponsetti approach to treating clubfoot. We knew our little boy needed us. You are immediately immersed into a new world of terminology, equipment and people just like you. Before his birth I didn’t know about the club foot community and now within 36 hours of his birth we were part of something big.
It happened because we talked to others and found community, education and with this new knowledge could make decisions knowing the impact and expected outcomes. Not everyone has access to this type of information or ability to make a change by themselves.
We became advocates. The experience of joining an organization and being part of the experience made it very meaningful for our family and this inspired me to join ONE.
How do you raise global questions with your under 5 child? How do you teach compassion, action and involvement? It’s much more than the telling. It’s in the doing and doing it together.
Blogging in the last six years has shown me how much we all value community. With increased knowledge we can make better choices. Together our voices are stronger So it’s really exciting to be working together, with a group of mums as an ambassador for ONE Mums here in the UK.
What is ONE?
This organisation was cofounded by Bono and other campaigners. It’s a grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, by raising public awareness and pressuring political leaders to support smart and effective policies and programs that are saving lives, helping to put kids in school and improving futures.
The exciting part of ONE.org which have offices around the world including the US and UK, is that they are not asking for money but our voice.
These 2.5 million voices and counting advocate on behalf of those who can’t; the world’s poor.
ONE works tirelessly on many issues including education, maternal and child health, agriculture and HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. Look at the massive impact of ONE voices already.
46.5 million African children went to school for the first time between 1999 and 2008
Maria Mchele, mother and farmer in Tanzania provides not just for her family but educates her neighbours in farming techniques raising them and others out of poverty with sustainable agricultural systems. Watch her story here
Why I’m excited about ONE?
The effective way they advocate through multiple channels.
The most exciting part for me as a parent is how ONE outlines the benefits of this program through their living proof series. Because of this series, I now share with my children, friends and you why it is important to add your voice to ONE.
What happens next?
These videos tell a story. We all love story. We can make a difference with World poverty. Join with the Ambassadors as we’ll be sharing across all our blogs what we can do as ONE Mum with our united voices. Each of us brings a unique perspective and background. You’ll not want to miss what’s happening.
What’s the impact of just my voice?
You’ll be one among millions and with that power we have the opportunity to make real change.
It takes just ONE Mum
Meet the ONE Mums
Jennifer from BritMums :: @jhowze
Michelle from Mummy from the heart :: @michelletwinmum
Alex from Doing It All For Aleyna :: @allforaleyna
Melitsa from Raising Playful Tots + Play Activities :: @playactivities
Kate from Kate on Thin Ice :: @kateonthinice
Michelle from The American Resident :: @Michelloui
Laura from Chez Mummy :: @Chez_Mummy
Go on over to ONE.org. Lend them your voice. Make a date for tomorrow to hear more about ONE
Read more from the ONE Mums:
I’m Just One Mum…
We don’t want your money, we want your voice
Launching the UK’s ONE Mum blogger programme
Are You The ONE Mum That Can Make A Difference?
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