07/06/2021
This was the moment....
This photo is the moment, the exact moment, my Tupperware cupboard changed forever. This photo is circa 2016, and a very inquisitive, Aidan who was deep in 'The Balancing Act' stage, is about to destroy this neat and tidy space.
It is now a cupboard that resembles a 'Monica Gellar' wardrobe.
The sharp and glass objects were removed and now I throw and slam the door shut hoping that my sheer force will keep the landslide of containers from escaping onto the kitchen floor.
BUT WHHHHY?
Because it gave, and still does, my two so many hours of pure joy. To name a few, they.....
⭐ Pull it all out
⭐ Take the lids off
⭐ Put the lids back on
⭐ Stack the containers inside each other
⭐ Make a Tupperware tower, and crash it down
⭐ Crawl in the cupboard
Yes, you have to prepare for your cupboard to never look the same again but I CAN promise you countless hot cuppas, funny bowl-on-the-head photo opportunities, and some peace and quiet while you make their next snack!
Tell me, could you deal with the organized chaos of having a YES container cupboard? Let me know below 👇
03/06/2021
High energy kiddo? Swipe 👉 NOW
These are sure to get your little ones moving in and around the house. Busting some of the cooped-up energy in a really productive way!
🦈 WALK THE PLANK 🦈
This is a super fancy balance beam. A plank of wood balanced between a step and a chunk of wood! Over the top of a giant tray of water with some scary creatures inside!
🎾 INDOOR TENNIS 🎾
A sheet of paper taped between two chairs was all it took to turn our playroom into a tennis court! Well, that and a balloon!
🥎 INDOOR THROWING 🥎
I deliberately set this cardboard aim-and-throw board up in the hallway as there is nothing that a rogue ball can get, except the walls!
⚽ HOOP SOCCER ⚽
Half a hula hoop makes an AWESOME soccer goal for the backyard, the bonus is that you end up with two so you can get a good competition going!
🎇 HALLWAY LASERS 🎇
Adding some bend and stretch to moving through the house is always fun, just make sure you don't touch these super hot lasers!
🎈 BALLOON JUMP 🎈
This could be done off a set of stairs, a chair, or any piece of furniture!
I taped two balloons to the ceiling. One to encourage them up the triangle and the other to encourage them to leap off it!
🛁 DAY BATH 🛁
Yup. Having a bath in the middle of the day. It is not about getting them clean it is about giving everyone some much-needed chill! Trust me, this is a favourite here!
That's the end of my 7 days of play sequence. I so hope you got something out of it and it helped you survive a lockdown day, week or month!
👇Let me know below, what would you like to see more of on my feed? 👇
👶Infant activities?
🔨 Handy Hacks?
🍎 Education-based activities?
🤷♀️ Something else?
01/06/2021
7 FINE-MOTOR WORKOUTS
📮 POSTING CHALLENGE 📮
After cutting some holes in an old cardboard box I stretched some elastics to cover the holes. Before Little-Lish could poke the pom poms through she had to manipulate them around, under, and through the bands!
🎈 STICKER DOTS 🎈
2 main points with this one! 1. Make sure you 'w**d' the stickers first, removing all the background sticker bits. 2. You MUST play keepy upey afterward!
♣️ CARD DROP ♣️
It is like a post box but it is less red and the cards don't go anywhere....except in the box!
🍭 POP STICK POSTING 🍭
This is an IKEA TOLSBY frame with the plastic inserts taped to the outside. Then there is a great hole at the top to poke things into! To extend this I have wrote familiar words and letters on some icy-pole sticks so he can say them or find them when he is posting.
🔨 HAMMER TIME 🔨
Yessss similar to the playdough one, but with an egg carton and a splash of colour matching! The 'nails' are wooden golf tees 😍
📎 PAPER CLIPS 📎
Use them exactly as they are intended, to hold paper together! This requires A LOT of skill and can be quite challenging!
📿 BEAD THREADING 📿
Coloured match sticks and some small beads, I mean look at that concentration!!
30/05/2021
🙋♀️ NAME GAMES 🙋♀️
I use these for name recognition but they can also be adapted for sight words etc!
🥎 LETTER BALLS 🥎
I paired these with a muffin tin so they had a 'home' but these were great for running, jumping, throwing and catching and adding some high energy to literacy work!
🧩 CARDBOARD PUZZLE 🧩
To make this you will need two rectangles of cardboard and a sharp knife. In the first piece of cardboard, carve the name and preserve the letter cut outs. Stick the first piece (without the letters in it) to the second piece of cardboard with PVA, wait for it to dry and get puzzling.
📌 NAME PIN 📌
It is what it is! Perfect for those kids who love slightly risky games and great to introduce/reinforce letter formation.
👕 PEG NAME 👕
Super easy and super beneficial for fine motor skills!
🎟️ LETTER STICKER 🎟️
Great way to introduce letters, one at a time or in a word. Cover the letters with the stickers and done! Handy to add letter formation to this one too!
🚽 TP LETTER DROP 🚽
I gathered our magnetic letters, sorted them, and then asked Aidan to sort them further using these TP roll cylinders. Great for letter recognition and sequencing!
🖌️ PAINT YOUR NAME 🖌️
Pretty simple to make just write your child's name on a piece of cardboard or paper. Cover the name with clear packing tape or contact adhesive. Paint! Wipe & repeat
You might be able to see the purple dots and arrows these are the starting points and directions for correct letter formation.
Day 4 of my 7-day lockdown challenge! That means we are over halfway guys 🤞
@ Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
29/05/2021
🖐️ 7-WAYS to PLAY DOUGH 🖐️
Playdough is a favourite because it can easily be purchased from the supermarket, or whipped up in the kitchen with pantry items (see my previous post for a no-cook recipe)
🔨 DOUGH SMASH 🔨
For this game, I rolled some different coloured .co balls, stuck some coloured dots on a cube and let Aidan do the rest! Roll the dice, and hammer the ball. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat!
👷 DIGGERS & DOUGH 👷
Lishy is usually more about animals but when I set this up for Aidan she couldn't resist having a turn too.
Making tracks in the dirt, driving around the road and squishing the dirt with her hands!
🦎 DINOSAUR EGGS 🦎
Some little balls with hidden objects inside for the kiddos to discover! Always good fun pulling them apart and squishing them in our hands to find what was inside.
🏌️♂️ GOLF TEE NAILS 🏌️♂️
A giant tub of dough, a hammer and some wooden golf tees as nails is the perfect activity for your little builder!
🐛 STUCK BUGS 🐛
Push in some bugs, or cars, or people, or whatever you have laying around and encourage your little one to rescue them with tweezers!
🔲 SHAPE DOUGH 🔲
Draw some simple 2D shapes on a piece of paper, make some dough-snakes and build the shapes! Great as a homeschooling activity too....hello maths lesson!
🖌️ DOUGH PUZZLE 🖌️
Some playdough and some loose parts from around the house. I pushed them in, pulled them out and left them for the kiddos to discover. Although I had a matching game in mind Aidan and Evie much prefered exploring the different impressions different objects made!⠀
This is day 3 of my 7 ways to lockdown series! Tag a lockdown legend below to share the love!
@ Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
25/05/2021
Why would you even bother?
Why would I bother making these 'Glitter Letters'?
First, let me start by saying these are my cost-effective version of the traditional Montessori Sand Paper Letters....
Cheaper 💰
Prettier 🙊
NEXT....
Swipe 👉 to see my 'fail' version. Hot tip, use PVA and sprinkle with glitter not hot glue!
But why would you even bother making them?
⭐ They are going to assist Aidan (5y.o) and Evie (3y.o) in recognising letters, sounds, and the correct formation of these letters.
⭐These letters will be used to spell words, for now ordering the letters in their name.
⭐ We will play games with them, find everything the starts with an 'nnnn' sound etc.
⭐ They are visual AND tactile. Remember, the more senses you engage the easier it is for our brain to make neural pathways
Drop a 'yes please!' below 👇 if you want me to give a how-to-play tour with them tomorrow in my stories!
18/05/2021
How many times a day do you say this?
I actually try really hard not to, instead, I say things like....
⭐ That is made of glass.
⭐ You climbed so high! I like how slowly you are moving your feet.
⭐ Can you feel the heat from the fire?
I do this because 'be careful' is so broad that children often ignore it, it also makes them think there is danger which is not always the case. There is usually just something to be mindful of!
BUT. The point of this is that I was requesting the kids to treat their things gently, but in reality, none of the things I offered them would break. Good quality toys - don't break. Plastic cups and plates - don't break. So why do we have to be gentle? Nothing bad happens when we drop/bang things?
Good one Zara 🤦
A few months ago, I put all our plastic plates and cups away. The kids now use our dinner set and I bought them small glass cups from Kmart (just a better size than our big ones).
We sat down and I explained to them that they can break. I explained that I wouldn't be able to fix them if they did.
In the first 2 weeks, we lost 2 glasses. Since then only 1, which was today! Today when it happened, the kids sat safely on the couch and watched me clean up. I showed them the sharp glass and then I vacuumed for all the little bits. Once it was safe, I asked them to make sure I hadn't missed any bits and they vacuumed too.
A little life lesson in cause and effect. Wish I had done this sooner!
Tell me below 👇, would you give your kids glass?
12/05/2021
TEDDY TOWN //
This is exactly what it looks like. A stack of cardboard boxes. With teddies inside. Yup, that is how you build Teddy Town 🧸
My creative process as always was so deep, so meaningful. Picture this....me packing boxes, Evie 'helping', then 💡 moment!
It was actually super fun and she loved it. Trying to fit the big teddies in the small boxes and asking them who they wanted to share a house with, was all incredibly sweet.
But stuffed toys, what is your take? Super cool or kinda blah? Let me know below 👇
10/05/2021
WEEKLY WHEEL //
It is so good it deserves another post 🤣
You will need...
🗳️ One a rectangle piece of cardboard
🗳️ One round piece of cardboard
📍A split pin
🧲 Magnetic tape (thanks )
🗳️ Off cuts of cardboard to make the labels
The rest is pretty self-explanatory!
You can see that in the centre of our wheel there is a funny little cardboard square. That is because it gets used evvvvery day that we wore the original hole out so I had to patch it.
The magnetic tape is new-ish, it used to be BluTac but once again that didn't stand up to the amount it is used!
So good for focusing on what is to come and getting into the rhythm of our week!
06/05/2021
FLOWER-DOT-STICKER-LETTERS //
Ok, my creativity for naming activities is gone tonight so please meet FLOWER-DOT-STICKER-LETTERS, more commonly known as FDSL.
FDSL came about as I was trying to pack up the house, the kids wanted to play, I needed to just finish one more cupboard annnnnd there were dot stickers on the ground. How's that for the creative process?
Any who.... Draw some stems, label the centre of the flower with a letter and get them to attach matching petals to it. Done.
Yes, our packing boxes are going to be full of play memories 🤣
But seriously, how did you manage mum-life with packing and moving? PLEASE leave hot tips below 👇
05/05/2021
CAR WASH //
Ok. Simple cardboard folding back at ya!
Folded some cardboard in 3, cut the arch in it and then tapped a cut up cloth to the inside.
Just like that we have a car wash, which was a brilliant surprise for Aidan today when he got back from an 8 HOUR KINDER DAY!! For a kid who still naps....it was big 🤪
03/05/2021
CARDBOARD EASEL //
Sooooo after our exciting weekend, I HAD to start packing today and with packing comes cardboard.
With packing also comes little hands in all the places so I combined the two and made a cardboard easel to keep the little hands busy!
I literally folded a piece of cardboard in half. Used sticky tape to secure it to the bench and a couple of pegs to hold the paper!
Working on a vertical surface is SO beneficial for little bodies and minds and also SUPER engaging!
Hit the 🏳️ flag to save this little gem
25/05/2021
18/05/2021
12/05/2021
10/05/2021
06/05/2021
05/05/2021
03/05/2021