Tiny Tales from Week 10

Unhealthy- totally delicious!

Healthy and totally delicious.

Just a little dip.

Heads I win.

Can she see me?

Still warm.

Engineering feats.

Lego Club at the library. More engineering and design. Creativity.

Colour recognition. Fine motor skills. Social skills.

Maths- geometry.

Yeah.... they're 'just' playing.

Wild ride.

Community work on Clean-up Australia day.

Lego at home... mini figure magic.

Oh no... sick on a kindy day.

Unfortunate Zombie invasion. "Brains... BRAINS!!"

Packaging issues. WTF.

Dangerously sweet.

♥

Postcards for Tama

Tama and I have spent a LARGE amount of time watching heavy machinery of various sorts and types and in various locations. I wanted to be able to do something with all the great photos I had taken. Something that both allowed him to enjoy them and also to build on the knowledge that he already had. It needed to be heavy duty to stand up to his attention and I wanted the option to be able to add to it. Hence the project Postcards To Tama was born. I printed a batch of the photos we had so far as 8x6 photos (Hooray for Harvey Norman specials!). I then glued them onto some medium weight thick cardboard. Each week I try and write out 2-3 cards and then post them back home to Tama one every couple of days.

He talks endlessly about the Po-post (Postman), the Ma-may (Mail), and his le-lers (Letters).

Tama knows when the mail is for him-

"T- Tatum" (T is for Tama)

We race inside and he opens them up.

 

  I try and keep to the same format in my text each time:

Dear Tama,

Something about what we saw. 

A question that will lead to some discussion.

Love Mum xo

He opens the letter... checks out today's picture and various conversation ensues about what it is and what it does. Then he turns it over and 'reads' it: 

"Dear Tatum. Luff Mum. Tiss, Ta-tuff"

 

Dear Tama. Love Mum xo

After he's done savouring I punch a hole in the corner of the card and add it to a book ring with all the other cards on it- by the time we're done he'll have quite a collection.

  ♥

♥

Making Mud Pies

 

Les signed Will up to Nature Play WA which is a website designed to get kids outside and doing stuff. He has a little passport and can get 'missions' to complete and earn stickers for the passport.

Making Mud Pies is the first mission we've intentionally completed. (We'd done a bunch of the others before we signed up). The boys especially Will had a great time doing this on Easter Sunday.

♥

Wills Rainbow Art Party The set-up

 

I set up multiple stations inside and outside on the party morning. My biggest fear was that the kids would be all working in different places but it didn't happen that way which was great. I had big kid helpers so that the mums could sit back but to be honest I think the mums kind of enjoyed getting in there- especially the chocolate playdough.

 

 Prepared items included these paper plate angels and foil trees- a simple triangle of corrugated card covered in tinfoil and a hole punched in the top.

 

Santa and reindeer puppets were purchased. Decorations came from our art cupboard stash and my scrapbooking stuff. 

Playdough station - super popular!

Digital printed frames on card for portraits or pictures with felt pens and coloured pencils.

Pass the parcel. We also had other wrapped prizes. Some were for the games and some I awarded to individual kids for being kind, great art works, and being brave etc. That way everyone got one!

The bubble painting isn't something I'd do again it just didn't bubble up all that well. I recycled the pans I used to cook the cake other than that it's paint, water and straws none of which I had to buy. After we had got some of the super hero images printed the girls put away the bubble painting and put our paint on paper plate pallets for the kids to paint their own pictures.

The sleeves from the t-shirts I used to make the Super Hero Capes were put out for making masks and arm bands to go with the capes.

Bubbles- a Tama magnet!!!

Photo studio for super hero portraits.

Capes waiting for heroes.

 

Photo booth frame (Nyttja)- $9 from Ikea. I wanted something a bit bigger and ornate so scoured Op shops but no luck.

Whiteboard we already had and pens from Ikea ($2 a pack on special!)

Our dinosaur environment- Tama was pretty happy to finally have free reign to play with this as well. We threw out the components after the party and will now look at making a new set-up for some other type of environment... maybe a construction site?

Finally the water table with the last of our crystal soil.And the sandpit was open for play too.

All our other toys and playground stuff got packed away so nothing could get trashed and no one could get hurt by someone swinging or coming down the slide like a projectile.

♥