We Play - With a Mirror

When I found Ed heading up to my bedroom with an armful of cars the other day, I got a little curious.

"Where are you going with those, mate?" I asked

"Oh, I'm going up to your bedroom to play with them" he answered.

"Uh-oh" I thought, "that can only lead to mess and trouble!" Instead of jumping in with a, "No, you're not!" I decided to get to the bottom of why playing in my bedroom was so appealing. I'm glad I ignored my first instinct ...

"Why do you want to play with the cars in my bedroom and not in the lounge or your room?"

"Oh Mum, when I brmmm my cars in front of your mirror, it looks like they're going up the hill and then down the hill" he replied.

What an interesting thing he had observed. I wanted to help him explore this, so I moved my full length mirror down into our loungeroom so he could have some fun experimenting.

He "brmmed" his big car up the hill and down the hill. Then tried lots of different cars in front of the mirror. Then tried those roads I made, that I've talked about before. Then played peek-a-boo with himself, pulled some funny faces and then looked all around the mirror from many different angles.

He played for quite a while, checking in with me and reporting what he had discovered. All the while he was working on his:
- motor skills while he pushed the cars along
- cognitive skills as he tried to determine how the mirror works
- memory skills as he remembered what had happened when he played in front of the mirror before
- language skills as he talked to me about what was going on; and
- self-awareness as he checked himself out in the mirror

Come over and play at the 'Childhood 101' 'We Play' link up

Off for the Holidays

Late last year, I was going through a bit of a rough patch. I was stressed-out busy and my sweet little three year old was giving me a very hard time. That all changed over the holidays and peace was restored to the Butler household. So, I decided this year to not work too much. I love my writing work and my blog, so I decided those two things could stay, under strict time management conditions, but I let every thing else go. And so, this year has been lovely so far. I write while Ed is at Kinder and I spend the rest of my time being a relaxed, in-tune, happy mum (well most of the time anyway). I have to say, I'm really enjoying myself and I'm happier than I've been in a long time (and my sweet little three year old has returned!)

So, in the tradition of my new found peace, I'm going to take the school holidays off. I'm going to enjoy having my 2 children around for 2 weeks without having to worry about getting some time on the computer. I have a deadline for PP to manage, I'll probably check my emails from time to time and I'll be back with a quick link when the Practical Parenting website goes live (things that can all be managed while the kids are resting), but apart from that, I'm going to have a break writing about play so that I have time to play with my children while they're around. Here are some of the things I plan to do:

1. Some Art and Craft

As I mentioned last year, I love doing a structured "art and craft" activity at Easter time. I was tossing around between decorating eggs and making easter baskets, but after I read Liss' post over at Frills in The Hills, the baskets won hands down.

I also want the kids to paint a couple of canvasses for their bedrooms so I've got these ones ready to go. We're going to experiment a bit with paints too.




2. Out and About

I always try to take the kids on a couple of outings through the holidays. Last time we went berry picking and it was such good fun. We're just in time to catch the end of the season, so we'll head off to do it again. If berry picking might be your thing, you can visit to find out what's available in your area by visiting pickyourown.org



I also plan to take the kids on a minature train ride to keep my little train-spotter happy. Here in Melbourne, we like to visit the Diamond Valley Railway

3. Play time

I'm hoping to leave a few days for some home-play time. As I've mentioned earlier, school is running in my lounge room and that has been going on for months. The play has evolved to include a staff room and an office and the kids play in this area drawing, talking and learning every single day. I might take them on a special shopping expedition to get some more supplies.

In my banner above, there is an elephant standing in some grass. I've been thinking about growing grass with the kids again this year. Ed confirmed it the other day when he asked "Mum, can we do that elephant in the grass thing again?". So, we will through the holidays. I'm going to grow the grass in lots of different sized meat trays this time so we can use them as different play spaces. I'm going to be writing to about growing grass for play spaces for PP in the coming months, so I'll keep you posted about that.

Ed has a new found passion for dressing up at the moment. He did it a lot when he was two, but hasn't really enjoyed it for about a year. Then, just yesterday, he was a lady bug, a dragon, a "girly-boy" (?!) and a builder in the space of about an hour. I'm going to encourage this new interest over the holidays too, because it's a great way for him to expand his learning and development.

4. Jet setting

The kids and I are off to Adelaide for a few days too. It's only an hour flight and the kids are pretty seasoned travellers, but I don't want to be complacent about the need for them to be kept busy. So far I've got some small activity and colouring-in books that came from Big W for just $2. If I combine these with a pencil case of new textas each, some Littlest pet shop toys with some plastic conatiners as houses, some matchbox cars and some foam roads, and some tasy snacks, I should be just about set.

I'm really looking forward to the holidays and I'll be back in just over 2 weeks to tell you all about it. Hope you enjoy your holidays, wherever you are, too.

The Animals have Escaped the Ice

Well, the animals were thawed out of their icy prison today. As predicted, there were lots of questions, many lovely little giggles but thankfully, not too much mess.

We got the ice block out this morning at breakfast time and the conversation went a little like this:
Me: "Look Ed, here's the animals we put in the freezer"
Ed: "But how will I play with them now?"
Me: "They've frozen in the ice haven't they? Can you remember what they were in when we put them in the freezer?"
Ed: "No"
Me: "They were in water weren't they. Can you remember what animals we put in there?"
Ed: "A pig, a sheep and a dinosaur"
Me: "Is that one a dinosaur?"
Ed: "No, it's a COW! (giggle, giggle)"
Me: "How do you think we can get them out?"
Ed: "I dunno"
Me: "What if we leave the ice in this bucket, what will happen"
Ed: (giggle with anticipation) "I dunno"
Me: "Do you think the ice will melt?"
Ed: "Yeah it will melt. Ice cream melts mum" (Hooray, this is all starting to make sense)
Me: (very excited) "That's right, the ice melts like ice cream does and then what will the ice turn into?"
Ed: "Water, then I can play with the animals again" (I think the penny has dropped)

We've watched it melting all day and it's almost all thawed out. the animals are free (and are being played with as i write), there is only a tiny bit of ice left in the bucket and best of all, my boy is a little wiser about the workings of the world!

Ice Magic

Ed asked me the other day why I was putting water into ice cube trays. When i explained to him that i was putting the water into the freezer, he asked why i was putting water where the ice needed to go.

When Em was small, I was quite aware of her need to learn about new things and the fact that she didn't (and couldn't) know about things she hadn't experienced yet. I often find myself forgetting this with Ed. It's like I kind of assume that because Em knows things, he should automatically know them as well.

In an attempt to give Ed some of the same experiences I gave Em and to let him discover things about the world for himself, I've set up a little experiment for him that I've done with many of my Kinder kids over the years.

We got a small strawberry punnet without any holes in the bottom and added 3 of our plastic farm animals. Then I 3/4 filled it with water. Ed played for them in the water for a little while, then he helped me put them into the freezer.






When we pull the container out tomorrow, he will see the animals set in ice and then I'll put the animal ice block into a large plastic container so he can watch the ice melt and the animals thaw out and have a better understanding of how the freezer works and what water can do. I'm preparing for lots of questions, quite a few giggles and squeals of delight and probably a little mess, but all in the name of knowledge and good fun!!