Day 7 of 30 Days to Transform Your Play

by Kate from An everyday story and Rachel from Racheous.

Oh, I am really falling behind following this series. Being a part time working mum does not allow for as much time spent with your children; and sometimes the days spent together are all about attention seeking. 

For creating playdough invitations for this series, I decided to address Mr A's current interests (insects and vehicles). Miss R is always happy to join in, still being at that 'I like to eat playdough and make mess' stage - she likes to squeeze it, make balls and throw them around, and finally put some in her mouth.

A couple of days ago I presented freshly made playdough on perspex mirrors with some fresh rosemary and dry larch twigs, wooden beads and plastic butterfly toys. They both loved it. 

Mr A created two different forests with butterflies resting on the ground and cocoons hanging of the branches. This carried on into making caterpillars out of playdough and some pretend play, until the grand finale when a monster truck arrived, got stuck in the remaining playdoug and the game was over (butterflies luckily unharmed). One most love children's imagination!

Miss R stuck a couple of branches in the playdoug, did her usual thing with tearing off playdough and throwing it around, but then proceeded to licking the mirror and chatting to herself in the mirror.

 

The following day, I prepared a tractor orientated invitation. Mr A didn't seem impressed. He bluntly ignored tractors and demanded butterflies from the day before. He stuck all of them in the blob of playdough and declared that he was done for the day. Retrospectively, I should have kept building up on the butterfly theme... Rather than playing with playdough, they both joined me at preparing some bolognese sauce for dinner. Failure or success? Well, I've learned something new about their play... and they know what goes into a bolognese sauce. 

Updated on 16/04/2014

The children like to help daddy in the mornings, while he is performing his ritual of making an espresso. So lately I have been putting out the playdough together with a manual coffee grinder, some cups and fairy cake molds. In that way, the children make their own pretend coffee and playdough cupcakes for everybody. 

The day after I posted about our playdough explorations, Mr A keenly ground the coffee, made the cupcakes and we sat together to enjoy the coffee. However, minutes afterwards he returned to playdough, brought out the butterflies and asked me for some plants. It was lovely to see him creating his little imaginary world, chatting to butterflies, feeding the caterpillar... He was so engaged, he even asked me to sit down with him and play with his favourite butterfly. I am glad he revisited the original invitation by himself.

Days 5 & 6 of 30 Days to Transform Your Play

I am a bit behind following the interactive series 30 days to transform your play by Kate from An everyday story and Rachel from Racheous.

Day 5 & 6: Preparing for Next Week

It is half term and Mr A is spending a few days with the grandparents. I would like to wait for him with a new creepy-crawlies related playdough invitation, so in the meantime I will hopefully continue with improving our play space. 

I am planning to make some fresh playdough tonight, while clay is already waiting for the forthcoming explorations.

Until Mr A returns back, I will continue using the existing playdough to prepare some simple invitations for Miss R . 

Polka dot painting

My idea: 'A hand-painted polka dot cotton table cloth for the children's table.' 

My children's idea: 'Lots of paint mixing and smearing, handprinting, hiding under the tablecloth and a few random dots.'



Still like the outcome, though.

I don't want to paint! You do it mummy!

'I don't want to do painting! You do it mummy!' This is Mr A's typical response to most of my invitations to painting. I have figured out by now that if it is not on a big scale or it does not have a specific purpose or it is not incredibly messy or it does not include cars, then it will not work. 

The following worked for us recently :)

Window painting...

Feet painting, followed by rolling in paint...

Bubble wrap monoprinting...

Painting a bird house... 

Painting a garage for cars and then some wheel painting...

Insects and reptiles are my favourite animals (Project II)

'Do you want your children or students to love learning? Don’t say “Here, we know what’s best for you — sit down, be quiet, and listen.” But also don’t just say “Go, do whatever you want.” Do better than that. Support their interests and their self-chosen work fully — with your attention, your time, your space, and your cold hard cash. Invest in their interests. Invest in their talents. Instead of letting them ride in the back seat while you take them on a wonderful adventure, show them how to drive the car.' (Project Based Homeschooling)

Over the last few months, Mr A's main interest has slowly shifted from Sea Life (Project I) to Terrestrial invertebrates and Reptiles (Project II). 

I am learning to step back and observe. Then I help him find real material of interest (soil with earthworms, stones with woodlice, caterpillars, frogs), tools for exploration (books, magnifying glass, microscope), take him to places (museums), show him online resources documentaries, you tube videos). 

Mr A makes it very clear whether he likes something or not. Whenever we pick up a book, he bluntly ignores all the fluffy mammals and feathery birds saying 'I don't like those!'. Also, he always speaks about specific group/species which I find quite fascinating; Johnston's chameleon, Tokay gecko, gharial, dung beetle, stag beetle, trap-door spider, orchid pray mantis,... Even Miss R can recognise a gecko now... She has been told so many times :)

And this is what we have been up to.

We watched our caterpillar turning into a chrysalis and then into a moth. How lucky is this! And how precious to witness those AHA moments in your children...

 

We had a gecko birthday cake. 

We did a little bit of alphabet work (very little indeed). See how the selection of animals reflects Mr A's current interests :)

 

We explored various crocodile species at the crocodile zoo. Children were able to handle a baby Nile crocodile, which was exciting. 

                                                

                            


We visited the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, which reopened after 14 months of renovations works. Mr A really enjoyed exploring various animals, while Miss R just kept running around and poking her nose into heating vents. On our visit, they had a workshop with live insects, which fitted really well into Mr A's current interests. 'Leaf insect is my favourite.'

We painted, sculpted with playdough and played with loose parts.

                                

I drew a gecko outline for Mr A to paint, decorate with glue and fabric, colour in,...  And this is want happened. He picked up a red felt tip pen and scribbled all over. And then he explained: 'The dots mean this is a Tokay gecko. The circle on the tail is an egg, where a baby gecko will come from. The red lines are veins with blood, which carries oxygen. Some of the veins popped out.' 

We were pretending to be geckos climbing trees (barefoot of course) and hiding under a suspended bench. And much more animal pretend play with daddy... Usually fairly noisy...

                               

We love love exploring our garden. There is never a shortage of earth worms, spiders, woodlice, ladybirds and if we are extremely lucky we even get frogs, toads and newts.

                            

We have been watching youtube videos about a range of reptiles and terrestrial invertebrates and Mr A finds this dung beetle video absolutely hilarious. There is so much giggling that I end up laughing just watching him...

I am not scared

Please stop asking my children if they are scared while touching spiders, stick insects, cockroaches or baby crocodiles... And don't call them brave either...

If they were scared, they wouldn't touch... What has bravery to do with stroking some harmless animal anyway?

And yes, they will become scared if every person asks the very same question...

Children by nature are extremely curious and not scared at all. Perhaps just refrain from any comments...

...

Dear stranger, why do you call me a boy?

Is is because of my goretex boots? You know, I like to walk in puddles and mud...

Is it because of that bruise on my forehead? You know, I just fell over while exploring...

Is it because of my coat? You know, this used to be my brother's coat...

Is is because I've been running up and down the church for an hour? You know, some girls are wild too...

Is it because of my short and tangled up hair? You know, I like to paint and bake and get incredibly messy...

Is it because my face is covered in mud? You know, I just kissed a mud puddle...

Is it because of my loud squealing? You know, I got excited about the bus passing by...

Is it because you would expect a clean face, framed in pink and glitter? You know, I like to dress up and play tea parties, but I don't want to be pretty and neat and quiet all the time...

So dear stranger, I ask you again, why do you call me a boy?

You know, I am a happy little girl... A wild one...

Not so harmonious baking...

Making bread is a very straightforward task, unless you have little helpers.... 

A toddler, who wants to take all the flour out of the mixer or bang on the mixer while operating... 

A preschooler, who attempts to add whole hazelnuts to the mixture, fix the mixer with the biggest kitchen knife or eat the yeast and the dough...

But the bread turned out just perfect...

                                      

My little girl...

My little girl doesn't wear white tights, glittery shoes and fluffy coats...

Her hair is rarely neat and tidy, and her fingernails aren't clean...

My little girl crawls in mud, eats sand, kisses puddles of water, paints her face and kneads playdough...

Her clothes are usually stained, her hair is tangled up and her fingernails reveal evidence of the most recent exploration...

But she is a happy little girl 

Handprints on the patio door

There is something immensely beautiful in children's play, rosy cheeks, muddy hands and handprints on the patio door...

Priceless...