June has arrived and this marks the start of #30DaysWild. If you haven’t heard of this before, #30DaysWild is an annual campaign run by The Wildlife Trusts, which encourages young and old to get outside each day in June and find some small way to reconnect with nature. It’s a campaign which has been on […]
creative & sensory
- Baby Play
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Messy Play: “Ooey Gooey” Cornflour Gloop
Cornflour gloop is such a simple messy play – easy to set up and easy to clear up, too, since it all wipes off easily with a damp cloth! It’s a great one for doing with babies, since it is taste-safe – although in the end A didn’t try eating much at all, which came […]
- Messy Play
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Messy Play: Car Track Painting
A really quick post today to share an idea that we had a go at last week. I’m always on the lookout for simple messy play ideas and last week I wanted something super quick that I could set up ready for T when she came home from nursery. I cam across this car track […]
Messy Play: The Beginnings of a Mud Kitchen
I’ve been keen to make a mud kitchen for T for a long time. They’re such a fun way to spend time outdoors, and are brilliant for all kinds of learning opportunities: sensory development; imaginative play; language development; learning about capacity and measuring; and scientific exploration as they mix different materials. When T started at […]
Garden Sensory Play
It is so lovely that Spring is finally here! I love the beautiful sunshine we’ve been having and have been admiring the beautiful cherry blossoms coming out down our road. We’ve been doing a few jobs in the garden to get it ready for summer and it’s lovely to be spending more time outside again. […]
Tessellating Prints
I was inspired recently to make some geometric patterned paper with T. I had an idea in mind of what I was hoping we could achieve, but in order to enable her to really grasp the activity and be able to succeed, I needed to lay the groundwork by teaching her about tessellation.
Baby Play: Banging Tuff Spot
I’ve noticed recently that one of A’s favourite pastimes is to bang and to hit objects. For Christmas, T gave him a small xylophone and there is no doubt that it is one of his absolute favourite toys! In particular, he loves the beater, and can often be found crawling around the house armed with […]
Baby Play: Sensory Eggs
I don’t know about you, but I find it much harder to think of ways to entertain A than I do for T! I think a lot of it is to do with the fact that he is at the age where everything will go in his mouth, so everything needs to be taste-safe and […]
Mini Scientists: Invisible Ink
Over the last few months, I’ve become aware of how much T enjoys doing experiments. I’m really keen to nurture this, but as subject knowledge goes, Science is probably one of my weaker areas. (As an aside, it is possible that I once thought petrol pumps were directly connected to oil sources and that central […]
Bread Making with Playdough
I love finding different ways for T to play with playdough. Playdough is so much fun; great for keeping kids entertained; and helps improve fine motor skills by strengthening hand muscles. While the usual play dough cutters and tools are fun, I really like to incorporate different elements in to our dough play, such as toy […]