Basically not much to this I have just collected stickers overtime and added them to a box. I save this box for particularly challenging days when I am desperate for anything to keep the little one occupied.
Thursday 16 October 2014
Busy Box 6 - Stickers
It never ceases to astound me how much children LOVE stickers. I was recently speaking to a friend of mine who teachers 4 year old kindergarten and she mentioned a parent of theirs worked for a clothing company and donated pages and pages of small round stickers with "s" "m" "l" (small, medium, large). She said the 4 year olds loved them even going home with a small white sticker saying "s" seemed to thrill them beyond belief.
Basically not much to this I have just collected stickers overtime and added them to a box. I save this box for particularly challenging days when I am desperate for anything to keep the little one occupied.
Basically not much to this I have just collected stickers overtime and added them to a box. I save this box for particularly challenging days when I am desperate for anything to keep the little one occupied.
Veggie garden fun
Best way to get kids to eat veggies is get them involved in growing them!
If you are not a gardener I can assure you veggie gardening is easy.
My only tips are
- Start with something simple (I started with 4 different veggies at once which was too many!)
- Start with a good soil base (mix some good organic potting mix in with your soil before you start)
- Make sure they get lots of water.
For about $3 we bought a punnet of Cauliflowers, some turned to seed but most grew well and we had many evenings with home grown Cauliflower for dinner, much cheaper and tastier than what you buy from the shops.
The best part was getting the kids involved. When we harvested our first Cauliflowers, my son (who has refused to eat Cauliflower since he was a bub and it was pureed) ate it raw straight from the plant. Who would have thought veggies have become one of our best home made toys yet!
Can't wait for our carrots and celery to finish growing!.
If you are not a gardener I can assure you veggie gardening is easy.
My only tips are
- Start with something simple (I started with 4 different veggies at once which was too many!)
- Start with a good soil base (mix some good organic potting mix in with your soil before you start)
- Make sure they get lots of water.
For about $3 we bought a punnet of Cauliflowers, some turned to seed but most grew well and we had many evenings with home grown Cauliflower for dinner, much cheaper and tastier than what you buy from the shops.
The best part was getting the kids involved. When we harvested our first Cauliflowers, my son (who has refused to eat Cauliflower since he was a bub and it was pureed) ate it raw straight from the plant. Who would have thought veggies have become one of our best home made toys yet!
Can't wait for our carrots and celery to finish growing!.
Cheesymite Scrolls
These are an absolute hit with kids, they are relatively healthy and freeze well. (I freeze them individually and start defrosting the night before for lunch box). Kids also love getting involved in the making of them, kneading, spreading the vegemite and sprinkling cheese.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/2 Cup wholemeal flour
90g butter
2/3 cup milk
3/4 cup of tasty or colby cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (if you don't have parmesan cheese - just add more tasty cheese)
1 - 1 1/2 Tbsp Vegemite
extra milk
Method
- Preheat oven to 180C. Line a large biscuit tray with baking paper.
- Rub the butter through both of the flours until it is of breadcrumb consistency. Add half of the cheese mix and milk and work into a dough with your hands. On floured bench gently knead (be careful not to over knead) and then roll out into a square approximately 1cm deep.
- Spread Vegemite evenly over the dough and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Roll the dough away from you into a long rope shape. Cut into eight equal rounds and place them on the baking tray. Brush on the top with the extra milk. Bake for about 20 minutes (until just brown on top and cooked through).
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/2 Cup wholemeal flour
90g butter
2/3 cup milk
3/4 cup of tasty or colby cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (if you don't have parmesan cheese - just add more tasty cheese)
1 - 1 1/2 Tbsp Vegemite
extra milk
Method
- Preheat oven to 180C. Line a large biscuit tray with baking paper.
- Rub the butter through both of the flours until it is of breadcrumb consistency. Add half of the cheese mix and milk and work into a dough with your hands. On floured bench gently knead (be careful not to over knead) and then roll out into a square approximately 1cm deep.
- Spread Vegemite evenly over the dough and sprinkle with remaining cheese.
- Roll the dough away from you into a long rope shape. Cut into eight equal rounds and place them on the baking tray. Brush on the top with the extra milk. Bake for about 20 minutes (until just brown on top and cooked through).
Busy Box 7 - matching/sorting game
You can use this games in many different ways for matching, memory and sorting. The games encourage concentration, observation, turn taking and great skill development for 2-3 year olds.
I created these sheets just by picking pictures my son knows, printed four copies and laminated them. I have then kept two as base mats and then cut the other two up into small pieces. We have used the game a number of times to play the matching and memory games with our two and a half year old and he has really enjoyed them. At this point we still have to help a bit with the memory game but he is really improving.
Stage 1 - Matching
Start simple by giving the child one board and one set of cards and find the cards and match them to the place on the board.
Display 2 sets of cards mixed up but right side up and get the child to match together the cards.
Stage 2.
Game 1 - MEMORY
I created these sheets just by picking pictures my son knows, printed four copies and laminated them. I have then kept two as base mats and then cut the other two up into small pieces. We have used the game a number of times to play the matching and memory games with our two and a half year old and he has really enjoyed them. At this point we still have to help a bit with the memory game but he is really improving.
Stage 1 - Matching
Start simple by giving the child one board and one set of cards and find the cards and match them to the place on the board.
Display 2 sets of cards mixed up but right side up and get the child to match together the cards.
Stage 2.
Game 1 - MEMORY
The object of the game is to collect the most matching pairs.
Shuffle the cards. Lay out the cards face down in rows forming a large rectangle on the table or floor. Make sure the cards are not touching each other. They need to be able to be flipped over without disturbing any cards around them. Decide who will go first. Typically it is the youngest player that goes first.
The first player chooses a card and carefully turns it over. Be sure not to bother the surrounding cards. The player then selects another card and turns it over. If the two cards are a matching pair for example two dogs then they take the two cards and start a stack. The player is awarded another turn for making a match and goes again.
Shuffle the cards. Lay out the cards face down in rows forming a large rectangle on the table or floor. Make sure the cards are not touching each other. They need to be able to be flipped over without disturbing any cards around them. Decide who will go first. Typically it is the youngest player that goes first.
The first player chooses a card and carefully turns it over. Be sure not to bother the surrounding cards. The player then selects another card and turns it over. If the two cards are a matching pair for example two dogs then they take the two cards and start a stack. The player is awarded another turn for making a match and goes again.
If the cards are not a match they are turned back over and it is now the next players turn.
The next player chooses their first card and turns it over. If it is a match for one of the cards the previous player turned over then they try to remember where that matching card was and turn it. If they are successful at making a match they place the cards in their stack and choose another card.
If the first card turned over was not a match for one previously turned over the player selects another card in an attempt of making a pair.
If they are unsuccessful in making a match they flip the cards back over and play is passed to the next player.
The game continues until all of the cards have been paired.
* you can start the game with only half the number of pairs until your child gets the hang of it.
GAME 2 - BINGO
The object of the game is to be the first player to match all of the tiles/cards to the squares on their sheet OR first player to match a whole line.
Each player takes a sheet, shuffle the cards and lay them out on the table face down. Each player randomly picks up a card and matches it to their sheet. taking turns one card at a time. When the player completes a line they call bingo and win that game.
GAME 3 - SNAP
Object of the game is to get as many cards as possible. The dealer shuffles the cards and one by one places them face up in a stack. When a matching card is placed on top of it's pair the first player to see calls snap and takes the stack of cards. The dealer continues to place the cards down until another pair is matched.
Game 4 - Go Fish
* you can start the game with only half the number of pairs until your child gets the hang of it.
GAME 2 - BINGO
The object of the game is to be the first player to match all of the tiles/cards to the squares on their sheet OR first player to match a whole line.
Each player takes a sheet, shuffle the cards and lay them out on the table face down. Each player randomly picks up a card and matches it to their sheet. taking turns one card at a time. When the player completes a line they call bingo and win that game.
GAME 3 - SNAP
Object of the game is to get as many cards as possible. The dealer shuffles the cards and one by one places them face up in a stack. When a matching card is placed on top of it's pair the first player to see calls snap and takes the stack of cards. The dealer continues to place the cards down until another pair is matched.
Game 4 - Go Fish
Saturday 13 September 2014
Busy Box 5 - Threading
Threading is fantastic for developing children's fine motor skills.
All you need is
- Large needles and thread ( I used plastic needles, pack of 3 was $3 from spotlight, even through they are plastic they are still sharp so close supervision is required and some old wool).
- things with holes to thread. Start with large things (e.g. pasta and you can decrease the size as children's skill level increases). I used coloured pasta, straws, and paper.
I tied a piece of pasta to the end as an anchor and showed my 2.5 year old how to do one piece and he ran with it. It is up to you if you make items to keep (e.g. necklaces) or simply cut the bottom off and start again each time.
Coloured pasta - I made this by
- Put about 125g of pasta in a plastic bag
- Mix food colouring (enough to reach desired colour) in with 1 tablespoon of vinegar.
- Pour the vinegar into the plastic bag with the pasta and rub until the pasta is covered.
- Tip out onto a tray and leave to dry (about an hour)
All you need is
- Large needles and thread ( I used plastic needles, pack of 3 was $3 from spotlight, even through they are plastic they are still sharp so close supervision is required and some old wool).
- things with holes to thread. Start with large things (e.g. pasta and you can decrease the size as children's skill level increases). I used coloured pasta, straws, and paper.
I tied a piece of pasta to the end as an anchor and showed my 2.5 year old how to do one piece and he ran with it. It is up to you if you make items to keep (e.g. necklaces) or simply cut the bottom off and start again each time.
This necklace took my 2 year old about 15 minutes to make. He made a few, I love anything that can keep a 2 year old occupied for over 30 minutes.
Coloured pasta - I made this by
- Put about 125g of pasta in a plastic bag
- Mix food colouring (enough to reach desired colour) in with 1 tablespoon of vinegar.
- Pour the vinegar into the plastic bag with the pasta and rub until the pasta is covered.
- Tip out onto a tray and leave to dry (about an hour)
Busy Box 4 - Tongs and Things
I included tongs as part of my kitchen play and found they were a hit with all children. My son would walk around the house finding all sorts of things to pick up.
Basically you can add anything that can be picked up with some tongs to this box. I would start by tipping them out and asking them to pick the things up with the tongs and then put them back in the box. As their fine motor skills develop give them smaller containers (e.g. a jar, or tin with a small hole cut out) and get them to pop the things in the top.
Basically you can add anything that can be picked up with some tongs to this box. I would start by tipping them out and asking them to pick the things up with the tongs and then put them back in the box. As their fine motor skills develop give them smaller containers (e.g. a jar, or tin with a small hole cut out) and get them to pop the things in the top.
Wednesday 27 August 2014
Busy Box 3 - Felt Board
Felt boards are great for children to explore imaginative play. You can use them to tell stories, create art and pictures etc. Even better they are clean and quiet.
I have just put a few things into begin with and hope to add to it over time.
I have started with some basic pieces such as shapes body cut outs and clothing. You can basically add anything you want
All you need is some felt pieces and imagination (I also bough a firm felt board from the craft shop for about $1 but you can create one of your own by gluing felt to cardboard.
I have just put a few things into begin with and hope to add to it over time.
I have started with some basic pieces such as shapes body cut outs and clothing. You can basically add anything you want
All you need is some felt pieces and imagination (I also bough a firm felt board from the craft shop for about $1 but you can create one of your own by gluing felt to cardboard.
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