Monday 22 December 2014

Welcome to our Christmas edition of Parenting Pin it Party - pull up a chair and grab a mince pie and browse through some great parenting posts. This week we've choose two posts to share with you.

Christmas is a great time to make 'family traditions'. Having a 'Christmas eve box' Is something that we do - we usually included some Christmas pajamas (meaning the kids are wearing new PJ's in the Christmas morning photo) and a film to watch together. Pop over to Mum in the Mad house to see what they have included in their (and do comment below to let us know what yo put in yours).

I also love this idea for a eye spy bottle - easy to create and great for quiet play - so important for this time of year. Dabbling Momma has made a Christmas themed eye spy bottle.

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The Fairy and The Frog


Thursday 4 December 2014

Child made snow flake decorations

Making Christmas decorations with children is a great way to get in the festive spirit and make memories.

Reading the poem 'Snow'by Walter del la Mare with it's beautifully chilly words inspired us to make some easy paper snow flakes. If you would like to check out the book you can find it by clicking on the affiliate link in the picture

Making the snow flakes is super simple.

First cut a circle (I helped the Fairy and the Frog by doing this step). We found tissue paper worked best.

Next fold your paper in half 4 times.Again I did this step (as its important to be exact to get a good result)

Then get cutting. The Fairy wanted to do more delicate designs so we drew a design for her to cut out.The Frog just liked cutting! It gave lots of learning opportunities to talk about symmetry and predict what the snowflake might look. 


You could hang the flake from a tree or stick them on the window to make it look like it's snowing outside.

This post is part of a series of 10 days of child made ornaments which features 70 + book inspired Christmas decorations, find out more by clicking here.


Friday 7 November 2014

DIY maths investigation area

Have you every thought about setting up a maths investigation area? It's really easy to do and can help build early math and numeracy skills. We set up a nature table with autumn (fall) themed loose part- conkers, seed heads and squash. Then we added some measuring instruments some scales and a tape measure along with some containers.

We then measured


weighed

sorted

and compared items. It gave us lots of opportunities to talk about size, shape and weight.

Possible additions
add a clip board, paper and pencil to encourage your child to record numbers
add a simple number line to encourage your child to count objects
include a ruler or some duplo to use as an 'informal measure'

Have you set up a maths area - please let us know . We would love to see what you've included.


Wednesday 5 November 2014

How to make a pretend play superhero cape #IAmSuperCapes

Superhero capes can make a great addition to a dressing up box and can spark imaginations in pretend play.



When I heard about the charity I Am Super Capes I was keen to get involved. The charity aims to give every child a chance to be a super hero - no matter where they live or what is happening in their lives. You can find out more about them but clicking here.

I enlisted some help from a very lovely friend (including the use of her sewing machine as mine wasn't working) and we made two capes following the very easy pattern which you can find on he Super capes website here.

The finished capes look fab - as seen modeled here on Super Ted!

Then all that was left was to post it to Super capes HQ in order that it can be passed on to a small superhero. Can you sew? Could you make a cape to support this charity?

Monday 3 November 2014

Today its our turn to 'host' the Monday Parenting Pin it party. We get to choose our fav from last weeks entries to share with you.

I love sensory play so it was no surprise when these two sensory play posts caught my eye.



scented foam painting from Mini Monets.


I also love the 'How to make your own scratch art' from Mum in the Mad house. Happy 5th of November!

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The Fairy and The Frog
<div align="center"><a href="http://www.thefairyandthefrog.com/" title="The Fairy and The Frog" target="_blank"><img src="http://jbmumofone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/featured-pinner.jpg" alt="The Fairy and The Frog" style="border:none;" /></a></div&gt

Monday 20 October 2014

Pirate Ice Play

Ice excavation is a great example of  a hands on - brains on learning activity; learning new words through experiencing them and participating in an activity.  Finding hidden objects is also a great way to develop collaborative play and science knowledge with young children, Given that pirates are very popular in our house some gold coins were an obvious choice for treasure to hide in ice .

The Fairy helped me prepare some ice blocks with hidden coins after the Frog had gone to bed. In the morning we revealed the ice, talking about how the water had changed and what it felt like.

The children then worked together to excavate the coins from the ice- talking about what was happening. We used spoon to bash the ice and watched it melt in the autumn sun. 

Using open ended questions like 'Look, what happening now?', 'Why do you think that's happening?' and 'What might happen next?' helps children to reflect on the world around them and to make observations and predictions. 

Extension idea: You could provide the children with some salt to see how that changes the melting process.

As a speech and language therapist I often talk about multi-sensory teaching- children are more likely to learn and retain vocabulary if they experience it. If you like this ice play you may also enjoy our posts on pretend polar ice play ice sun catchers and ice valentines play.

Monday 15 September 2014

For this weeks parenting pin it party featured posts we have a painting theme,

Multicrafting Mummy showed us an old favorite - finger painting 


Mini Monets and Mommies
made some shaving foam Autumn paint


Fancy joining in with the Parenting Pin It Party?
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  • It would be really nice if you visit a few other people who have linked up and leave a comment (it makes my day when I get blog comments - it shows someone's reading!)
We will
  • Visit your post and pin it
  • Choose our favorite post to feature next week (hosted over at Romanian Mum). If you are featured , you might want to 'grab a badge' 
The Fairy and The Frog
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Saturday 16 August 2014

Loose parts play, shells and mirror

We've had some fun exploring reflections and making patterns with some loose parts play. Loose parts play is nothing new. Anyone remember playing with Grandma's button tin when you were little? It is a great way to encourage concentration and creativity. You provide your child with loose 'bits' that can be explored, moved around, combined and experimented with.



The beauty of loose parts is they can literally be anything, promoting creative thinking. Because the 'parts' are not prescribed as something the play time can be open ended- there is no right or wrong thing to do with the items (encouraging a child to develop their concentration span).

We have a rather large collection of shells , to which we added some glass beads. I presented them along with a mirror in some glass jars.


The Frog played with them and enjoyed making patterns, empty and filling the pots. Playing with the items on a mirror The Fairy spotted the play set up as soon as she arrived home from school. Her shells were people and the glass beads we the sea. She created a whole narrative with the loose parts as props.

Do you have a favorite loose parts toys?

Monday 28 July 2014

Welcome to today's Parenting Pin it Party.
Parenting Pin It Party Badge Monday Parenting Pin It Party #21

As the summer hols have just started in the UK (sorry to all our US readers who are nearly starting to think about back to school stuff already), we are on a summery vibe. I love this post from A Happy Healthy Mummy packed with ideas for crafty summer holiday fun.

This post from Mini Monets and Mommies is perfect for experimenting with science and art at the same time.

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  • Choose our favorite post to feature next week (hosted over at Romanian Mum). If you are featured , you might want to 'grab a badge' 
The Fairy and The Frog
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Wednesday 25 June 2014

Concept learning guessing game

This guessing game is super quick and thrifty. Its also great hands on way for teaching concepts.
Whilst I was clearing out the Frogs sock draw I remembered a great way of teaching the concepts that was shown to me by a brilliant teacher.



You just need some patterned socks (we used stars and stripes), preferably in the same colour scheme and an old box. Cut x shapes for the tips of the socks to fit through.

Then you can play. Take turn to guess if its stars or stripes (or what ever patterns you have). For children who have language disorders concepts can be difficult to learn so it is best to teach one concept at a time rather than two at once . You can talk about the concept you are teaching and 'not' the concept (e.g. stars vs not stars rather than stripes vs stars).

After guessing you pull and find out what you have.

The Frog took a while to get hang of the guessing. The Fairy loved it. You could also use this game for teaching colours.

Language Links: not/ stars/stripes
Other skills: Predicting


Monday 9 June 2014

Parenting Pin it Party

It's Monday, which means its Parenting Pin it Party time. 

Parenting Pin It Party Badge Monday Parenting Pin It Party #21


We love book themed activities and crafts. This week this post packed with activities based on the book 'Blueberries for Sal' caught my eye. 

The book is an American classic and this post has games, sacks and craft to accompany it. 

Fancy joining in?
How does it work
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  • We'd really love if if you could follow us on Pinterest. 
  • It would be really nice if you visit a few other people who have linked up and leave a comment (it makes my day when I get blog comments - it shows someone's reading!)
We will
  • Visit your post and pin it
  • Choose our favorite post to feature next week (hosted over at Romanian Mum). If you are featured , you might want to 'grab a badge' 
The Fairy and The Frog
<div align="center"><a href="http://www.thefairyandthefrog.com/" title="The Fairy and The Frog" target="_blank"><img src="http://jbmumofone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/featured-pinner.jpg" alt="The Fairy and The Frog" style="border:none;" /></a></div>
  • You may also like to sign up for our Parenting Pin it Party news letters (we'll only mail you with relevant stuff *promise* )
 


The Parenting Pin it Party is brought to you by Romanian MumKiddy ChartsMum of OneLove All BlogsA Frugal Family and All you need is love and cake .

Tuesday 3 June 2014

DIY airport role play

Dramatic (or pretend) play set ups are not only lots of fun they are great for developing imagination and language skills.

The Frog is super keen on all things transport related so recycled some cereal packets and a big cardboard box into an airport.

The Fairy and I talked about what might be at an airport and searched through our junk box to find appropriate shaped items

When the Fairy saw me writing some signs she was keen to join in - a great way to develop literacy skills in a functional way.






Then it was play time.


Monday 19 May 2014

Crafting with petals

Crafting with natural materials can be great fun. The summer months are fantastic for being able to get outside and get creative (although the spring, autumn and winter months are too as long as you are appropriately dressed!).



I'd love to take the credit for this craft but it is entirely the invention of The Fairy and one of her friends. Whilst her friends mum and I were enjoying a cuppa they were quietly playing out side. When we went to check on them they asked for some extra 'making equipment', they wanted to make with some petals they had found fallen on the ground.


They had spontaneously created a selection of flowers. Lots of creative thinking, planning and experimenting went on as well as practising fine motor skills. Obviously petal art only lasts as long as the flowers but they had fun.


Sunday 11 May 2014

Seafood Paella #Morrison Mum

I'm not particularly loyal to one supermarket - I tend to go where is nearest. Because we don't live really close to a Morrison I haven't been in one for ages. When I was offered some vouchers so I could have a shopping trip last bank holiday weekend I was more than ready to give it a try. I heard some talk in the media that they were cutting prices and economic shopping is something that always interests me.

I had a lovely surprise when I ventured into Morrisons last weekend. The thing that stuck me the most was the range and freshness of the produce in the green grocery section (including some okra, which will be featuring in a craft post very soon). 



The produce was attractively arranged with little signs telling you about it and giving you tips on how to cook it. Some of the veg was kept extra fresh by a vaporising system, something I had never seen before.


I stocked up on my regulars plus a few extra treats. I brought all the ingredients for this tasty seafood paella. I'd like to claim that I cooked it, but I can't take the credit. The Papa made it as a bank holiday treat. Paella is perfect food for relaxing and is great for a party. We usually make paella with chicken but  the seafood caught my eye and was really economical so we had a seafood paella for a change. The Papa particularly enjoyed this chorizo (which he would like me to point out should be pronounced 'chur -rith - oh' - with no 'z').

The Papa tends to make it up as he goes along so these are rough guidelines. We make it the easy way not authentically (but it is cooked by an authentic Spaniard and tastes lovely!) If you want to try our paella this is what we did:


Soften an onion (you don't want to not rush this part as it gives the dish extra sweetness). Cut a piece of cooking chorizo about the same size as your thumb (you want hard chorizo 'ring' for this recipe not the pre sliced chorizo). Peel the paper from the chorizo and cut it into discs. Then add it to the onions. Wait until the paprika colour is released- this means the chorizo is releasing all the flavour. Add some chopped pepper (I found some black sweet peppers which the kids thought were fab, you can use they usual red or yellow if your prefer). Separately cook some rice according to the packet instructions (if you add a pinch of tumeic to the rice it will turn yellow or if you were being authentic you could use saffron). Add a tin of chopped tomato, the cooked rice and seafood unto the chorizo and onions. Add a cupful of cooked peas. Simmer until ready. We made this for £1.21 per portion- bargin!

Disclaimer: We were given vouchers in order to conduct this review. All views are my own.