It is the last full week of term. The weather has got a bit better and Easter is approaching. My daughter is now 11 months old and is into absolutely everything! I am so glad we got the playpen for her as she will quite happily play in there while I pop out of the room. I can even put tea on. I come back in the room every 2 mins and only cook things that take a max of 10 mins to prepare at the moment, so my application for Masterchef will have to wait for a while!
My daughter is very good at just getting on with playing by herself. She potters about having a go with her toys and can do this on her own for a while. I don’t know if this is a girl thing or a second child thing because my son only really started playing by himself just over a year ago he always wanted us to join in with him with whatever he was doing. I tell you the games he played knocking trains over on the tracks, setting them up and knocking them over again felt like they went on forever!
Imaginative play and rediscovering an old favourite
My son has been at school all week. But last Sunday night we got his Octonauts toys out of the loft. He was obsessed with Octonauts for a while leading up to the birth of our daughter and then dinosaurs took over. He has recently got back into the Octonauts after a half term trip to Sealife Centre with his Grandma. He has been so excited about the Octonauts toys and has wanted to ply with them as soon as he wakes in the morning and as soon as he has got home from school. He now makes up little stories with them and chats away to them. Yesterday I don’t think he stopped talking to the Octonauts or about them for about 4 hours! His sister has also got in on the Octonauts act!
Music toys and games -Fisher Price Classic Music Box
C was given this record player for Christmas and initially she like trying to eat the records. Now she likes to “dance” when we put the records on, take them out of their compartment at the back, try to put hem on the turntable, and grab the arm. It was a great present for her because she loves music and musical toys and games.
Construction play
I love the children playing with construction toys. It gets them using their fine motor skills as well as their imagination. Of course C’s skills with Megabloks are somewhat limited at the moment, largely to just deconstructing whatever I have put together, but she thinks it’s a great game! She is having a go at putting the blocks on top of each other every now and then though.
Rummaging- Fine motor skills
C’s favourite drawer in our playroom is the one with all of our son’s cars and trains in. She loves a good rummage around and this drawer gives her the best opportunity for rummaging. With her selecting and picking up whichever small vehicle she wants from the drawer it gives her great fine motor skill practice, but is not something I let her do unless I am very close by as the vehicles are all very small with small parts that could come off easily and be swallowed -everything still goes in her mouth. Part of the appeal of this drawer is opening and closing the drawer itself. She is getting g lots of practice at not trapping her fingers. Something she doesn’t always manage.
Using stamps and pattern making
I have mentioned before on this blog that my son loves drawing. He has always loved using this super scribbler to draw on. We have a small, cheap version that he can use in the car too as this one is a bit too big, we have tried. He has recently started using the stampers with this ELC super scribbler to make simple patterns. At the moment just a series of shapes, but he likes to talk through what he is doing as he goes along. It’s quite fascinating to watch.
Introduction to sewing
A few weeks ago we watched some episodes of Creative Galaxy on Netflix and R particularly enjoyed an episode where they made their own soft toys. When I have the chance I like making soft toys with yarn so like the idea of eventually teachers g the children how to do this too. I thought it would be good to take advantage of his interest in the programme and bought this Woodland Creatures Sew and Play bumper box to give him an introduction to sewing. It cones with everything you need to make the creature. The kit has pre-stamped holes to put the plastic needle through to teach simple running stitch. The creature’s features are either pre-printed or stuck on. R quite enjoyed it, but he was on the young side of who the kit is aimed towards and got a bit bored with the sewing. So I finished the sewing off for him. He told me he enjoyed stuffing the hedgehog though. The animals can be bought singly or in a bumper pack of 6.
little hands activities 