Oooh! CONDENSATION! yum!

This isn't an adventure as much as it is a discovery, but it was too cute to pass up writing about. Each morning when Ashton and I open up the house for the day whenever we open up the curtains we (well I) say "Good Morning... (say the day of the week)". Its just a little ritual we have started and I like it cause its a nice positive way to start each day!

Just recently, as the weather has been getting colder, we have noticed condensation sitting on the window when we open up the curtains. I think Ashton discovered it quite by accident the first time, as his inquisitive hands reached out to play with the window, he liked the way his hand slide from side to side.

After playing their for a while I started to walk away for get ready for breakfast, but this was not the plan Ashton had in mind, he wanted to stay and play. So I put him down on the ground where he would be able to reach the window and continue playing with the condensation. As I sat back to watch him, it was great to see the way he used his hands and feet to play with the water. He was going up and down, from side to side and patting the window too.

Of course no discovery would be complete for Ashton without him testing the subject matter at hand with his mouth! He had no hesitation in leaning forward to give the ranch slider a great big kiss... or suck (whichever you prefer!)

Watch Out, Little Wombat By Charles Fuge

Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm a HUGE Charles Fuge fan . . . so I can't go too long without reviewing one of his books! Today it was "Watch Out, Little Wombat!" This is one of his books I had never read before so I was rather excited to sit down for story time today with Ashton to share it with him.

As always his illustrations are just beautiful! But one of the aspects which I love about Charles Fuge's illustrations is that they are so consistent across his books. This helps to really build the characters that are in his stories, particularly Little Wombat.

This story is about Little Wombat and his friends going out to find an adventure, (another topic that strikes a chord with me!) It is a cute little storyline, and although it doesn't have the lovely rhyming scheme that I enjoy in many of Fuge's books, it is a storyline that children could easily follow and get caught up in with their imaginations.

ASHTON'S FIRST HAKA

Flashback: I never got to Blog about this moment cause I wasn't blogging when it happened but I wanted to have it in our Blog... so I'm doing a flashback!

When Ashton was 3 1/2 months old I got a little bored one Sunday and decided that it was time for Daddy to teach Ashton his first Haka! Much to daddy's bewilderment and thinking "why would we do such a thing" we did it anyway! I got Ashton dressed up in his little All Black outfit that Grandma bought him and we got in place. Mummy behind the camera ready for the action, daddy behind Ashton ready to create the action!

Little did we know, it would be Ashton that would actually create the action! After barely saying the first opening phrase Ashton decided he would puke! Both of us (particularly me!) lost the plot and couldn't stop laughing! We did a 2nd take though and got through it all... very cute.

A CONCERT FOR MY TOYS

Our keyboard jam sessions a becoming a bit of a regular event at the moment. We have figured out a good set up where Ashton can really get into his groove and he holds nothing back!Today he was really excited to explore the percussion sounds on the keyboard. (Instead of it playing the standard sounds of each note, each key will make the sound of a percussion instrument.) He really seemed to notice the fact that each key was playing a different sound as you explored the whole keyboard, moving up and down the keys. He would play a series of sounds in from of him and the use the other hand to play another lot of keys.

At one point Ashton seemed as though he was even pulling a little bit of a song together as he would play a set of sounds then sit back and make a sound (sounding something like singing) and then proceed to lean back in to play another series of sounds. He repeated this pattern for

some time all the while conveying a mixture of excitement and concentration on his face.

During one of Ashton's breaks in the jam session he happened to spot his row of teddies up on the couch. Although this didn't stop Asthon from wanting to play the keyboard, he couldn't keep his eye off his toys. So I brought the toys down to sit on the keyboard so that he could do a concert for them. He really seemed to respond to having an audience and all of a sudden his playing became quite intense with his whole body getting into his playing, his legs kicking, his head swaying, his squeals more intense! It was like he was really putting on a concert for his toys! A moment I will remember and cherish for quite some time, it was definitely a Kodak moment . . . if those still exist ;o)

What will you be? By Simon French & Donna Rawls

I love finding any excuse to dress up. I have always loved dramatic play and it always intrigues me to see the kind of scenes children will re-inact when they get dressed up. Watching children engaged in dramatic play is a fantastic window into their world and how they percieve the wider world they are growing up in and trying to figure out!

So this book took got my attention straight away. Although it is not the most intriguing storyline, it is a great simple read that would be very suitable for a classroom or pre-school setting.

The story is set in a classroom with a teacher who has decided to have a dress up day with the children. He challenges each one of them to wear their most special outfit. Each of the children get busy deciding what they will wear, telling each other what they have decided to be and guessing what others might be.

This would be a great book to read to encourage and facilitate roll play, a special dress up session, or even a discussion around what kids might want to be when they grow up.

Monkey and ME By Emily Gravett

Monkey and Me is a very clever and interactive read. It is written and illustrated by Emily Gravett which means she has really managed to make the storyline and the illustrations compliment each other extremely well.

The illustrations tell as much of the story as the words do as children are encouraged to guess what animal they might see next by looking at what "Monkey and Me" are doing on the page. They can act it out as they go and bring the book to life even more!

It is a simple, yet exciting book that would be great for a group read as well as one on one. (I read it with my 6 month old and acted out the various animals as we saw them and he thought it was very entertaining! He was captivated.)

I also patted out a beat as a read the story, and because of the simpleness of it, I think children would be able to catch on and read along very quickly. Doing a beat alongside the rhyme always helps children catch on easier. What a lovely story.

GIANT GIRAFFE'S and much much more!

During our little trip to Hamilton we also got to stop in at the Hamilton Zoo for one of Ashton's friends birthday parties and what a treat we got while we were there! We got to see their giraffe's having lunch!!! All 6 of them! It was awesome. They were so close to everyone who had come to see them and were bending right down gently eating the bamboo shoots from the children who were holding them. To look up at all of these amazing creatures, it was just a sea of beautiful pattern, with necks gracefully moving around each other. Everyone, young and old were in awe of these amazing creatures! We also got to see some other fantastically unique animals as we journeyed around the zoo, each one more than happy to show off it's special tricks to impress us. As we visited each different animal we read the sign that was placed outside the enclosure and found out lots of interesting facts about each animal. It was a very educational little trip and we all left feeling quite amazed at all of these beautiful animals, and at the wonderful experience Hamilton Zoo offered us! Thanks Hamilton Zoo!

GREAT GRANDMA'S FARM

Recently Ashton and I got to have a little holiday with his cousins in Hamilton. During our time away we went and visited Great Grandma on her farm (this is Ashton's cousins Great Grandma) and what an experience it was! Ashton absolutely loved seeing the animals, he had no fear or hesitation in approaching the animals. Each new animal he saw he would reach out to touch and inspect.

We saw lots of horses, one of which was just as interested in Ashton, as Ashton was with the horse. We saw a goat, who loved the idea of Ashton feeding some grass. We also saw some ponies, some chickens and some ducks! Great Grandma just happened to have a brand new duck called "Donald"! (Fancy that!)

But not only did we see lots of fantastic farm animals, Ashton got to have a ride on a tractor! An Ashton sized tractor! He rode on it while he checked out the chickens and the ducks. This was such a fun little adventure being able to see all of these animals up close and personal... it was also a great 6 month old celebration for Ashton! (Where has the time gone! 6 months already!!!)

Giraffes Can't Dance By Giles Andreae

I fell in love with this book a couple of years ago when I was teaching. It has so many elements that I love... so where do I start!
A giraffe who finds himself with two left feet, or maybe just really long limbs which hinders his dancing ability really wants to be able to dance with his jungle friends at the Jungle Dance. After an embarrassing episode of dancing he finds himself feeling sorry for himself in the depths of the jungle where a friendly cricket helps him change his perspective on things and also on his ability to dance!
This story is a great story to be read one on one but also in a group situation. I love a book that gives you things that you can rein-act or discuss afterwards and this book has lots of those possibilities... As the author describes all of the different types of dances the animals are doing... how much fun would it be to try and do the waltz like the warthogs or the rock n roll like the rhinos!
I really enjoy the part of this story where the cricket coaches Gerald through finding his own rhythm and groove! The language is fantastically descriptive and every time I read it I can't help but encourage the children I am reading it with to try and do the moves Gerald might have done!

I like the different emotions that are explored throughout the story. Embarrassment, sadness, thoughtfulness, discovery, jubilation, excitement! For a children's book, the story really takes you on a journey!

The only negative point that I could possibly bring up is the way the animals mock Gerald by calling him "clumsy" and a "silly fool" But then the whole story is about Gerald not feeling accepted and finding a way to be happy with himself and in turn become accepted. So if addressed and discussed properly it can be turned into a positive point and good point of discusion

Guy Parker-Rees has also done an awesome job illustrating the story, with great colours and images that bring the story to life and compliments the journey Andreae takes you on with the storyline.

PAPER FUN!

Art was on the days plan today! I love art so I have been trying to figure out art activities that I could do with Ashton. With the lack of sleep I had last night the best I could come up with was crayons drawings! Sad, I know... with 13 years+ early childhood experience, all I cam up with was crayon drawings! But we had never done it before so I thought we would give it a go.

I stuck a piece of paper down on Ashton's high chair tray and put the crayon down in front of him. We talked about what colour it was and when he seemed unsure what to do with it, (other than put it in his mouth) I placed it in his hand and showed him how it could make a picture.

I showed him how he could go round and round in circles, (he thought this was funny, he liked holding on to my hand while drew circles all over the page.) We also went up and down on the page, and from side to side as well. After I had demonstrated the possibilities I put the crayon down to let him explore.

This is where the activity took a turn . . . Ashton decided that the paper on his tray was more interesting that the crayons. In his efforts to eat the paper, he ended up ripping it off the tray, which created a lovely ripping noise that he seemed to rather enjoy the sound of. He grabbed the other corner of the paper and ripped it up again. Once he had all the paper ripped off the tray the activity then took on the focus of scrunching the paper up and throwing it around! He was having a great time!

So where I thought I was providing an art activity (all plain as it may have seemed). I actually ended up providing resources for Ashton to formulate his very own exploration of sound and the qualities of paper! ha ha. Unusual but fun and valuable none the less!

Once he had destroyed one piece of paper I placed a fresh new piece on and he went through the same process again, ripping, scrunching, throwing!

EGG SHAKER MANIA

Ashton went crazy with the egg shakers today. While he was in his high chair I put one of the shakers on the tray in front of him, within seconds he pounced on the egg and had a firm grip on it and was shaking it around. (Not long after of course, it ended up... wait for it... In his mouth! The final destination for any object within hands reach for Ashton at the moment!)

He continued to pick up and drop the single egg shaker for a while and then he noticed that I had some other shakers in my hand. He just sat and stared at them, then with his gaze going between his shaker and the shakers in my hand he started to bang his shaker on the tray while reaching out for the other shakers. (I thought this was rather clever for him to communicate what he wanted in this way.)

One by one, I started to place an extra egg on the tray in front of him with a minute or so in between each one. Each time a new egg came onto the tray he would bang his hands around and mix the eggs up, hitting them against each other and making quite the ruckas.

I love these egg shakers, they are just the perfect size for pre-schoolers to get their hands around. They are easily manipulated and make a great sound! This was such a simple little activity but it kept Ashton occupied for ages and I just sat and watched him! It was quite mesmerizing!

SOUND STICKS WALK

We went for a walk with our sound sticks today. It was a beautiful clear morning and the farm seemed to just be asking us to make some noise! And we were more than willing to oblige! So we grabbed our sound sticks and headed out to see what sounds we could find around the farm.

We started with our wooded fence. Just banging along it in different places. I tried to get Aston to hold onto the sticks himself so he could feel the beat as we tapped along . . . this came eventually.

What was really cool about this activity was that there was just sooo many different sounds to explore. Standing in one place and only moving our sound sticks to a different piece of wood, or to a tree we could discover a different sound.

We tapped the aluminum gate, the metal fencing, and the wooden fence posts. We tapped the rocks, the trees, the boat, the garage door, the wooden jetty, the gravel, the grass (which evidently didn't make much noise!) But that was just as valuable to see which objects made loud noises and which made very little noise. Some vibrated, others were dense in sound, and Ashton responded differently to each sound as we found them.

As we tapped all of the different objects we also tried to explore different tempos and beats. We tapped fast and slow. We tapped loudly and quietly. It was lots of fun and made our simple walk very eventful! I think we will do that again!

If you want to watch a bit of our Sound Sticks Adventure follow this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx_Fa2UUzEU

KEYBOARD JAM SESSION

It was jam session time on the keyboard today! And boy did we have fun!!! At first I just sat the keyboard in front of Ashton to let him discover what it would do by himself. With anything Ashton's natural reaction is to reach out and grab the object in his focus and put it in his mouth . . . and the keyboard was no exception! Obviously he hasn't learnt about volume or size comparison yet! But as he reached out and made contact with the keys and the sound came right back to him, a flurry of notes combined together, his eyes opened wide, his back went straight and his hands went banging straight back down in a second attempt to create this bang of sound! You could see all over his body the excitment the keyboard and the sounds he was creating had on him.

I just held him up to the keyboard for what seemed like an eternity (need to work those mummy muscles at bit better I think!) letting him explore the different sounds coming from the different keys. He went up and down the keyboard and on the odd occasion would turn back to look at me and to share the moment with him.

As I saw his interest level start to drop away I re-sparked his interest by changing the sound the notes made to be like a violin. The sound each note made was longer and for lack of a better description "more shrill". But I could see Ashton noticed the difference, as he refocused his attention. I continued to refocus Ashton whenever I saw his attention wavering by introducing a new way of using the keyboard. We explored the backing beats, which really got him jumping around and even playing the keyboard differently. We played the scale over and over, his hand on mine, my hand guiding his fingers, his eyes watching my hand move up and down. We played some simple nursery rhymes or well known children's songs (the extent of my abilities on the piano.) In the end we spent a good 35-40 minutes playing on the keyboard!

Now who said babies have a short attention span! We just need to help them develop it, by refocusing them and keeping learning interesting!

INSTRUMENTS OF OUR OWN

So we don't have violins or cellos, clarinets or flutes but we have got lots of random bits and pieces around the house that we get creative with to make our own instruments! and thats what Ashton and I have done!

We have started by making our own shakers with different containers and different mediums to go inside. We have used dry wheat inside a peanut butter jar, an old bead necklace cut up into a Body Shop Body Butter container, and some colourful pegs put inside an old CD container. Each shaker making its own unique sound when it Ashton shakes it. (There are obviously lots of other options that you can do to make different sounding shakers and if your child is older you could even take it a step further and decorate your shakers with paints or stickers.)

Ashton really enjoyed getting all of the shakers on his high chair tray all at once and banging the shakers up against each other, making an array of shaking sound! We did make a point of exploring each shaker one at a time and listening to the unique sound each one made.

I'm rather excited about using these shakers for more musical exploration and have already got lots of ideas for other instruments I want to try and make with Ashton to explore different sounds. If you have any ideas or experience with making musical instruments with materials that are lying about the house... please share!

A MORNING WITH THE ORCHESTRA

Ashton and I along with Mr Bop, Dez, Dionne and their kid, were able to go and see the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra playing at the Bruce Mason Theatre on the weekend, for their special children's "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" show. I am so glad we were able to attend as all of us thoroughly enjoyed it!

Ashton was captivated and watching the stage intently most of the time. He was jumping around and responding as the music changed tempo and rhythm. All of us were encouraged to help conduct the orchestra (the children were even given little straws as baton's.) The conductor showed us some basic movements that we could do to conduct and all of our children loved being involved in this way.

I loved seeing how the orchestra brought children's songs to life and engaged the children's imaginations as they gave them a little story to go along with each piece they played.

At the end of the show the families were invited to walk through the orchestra as they played and Ashton was looking from left to right at each of the instruments in action around him. It

inspired me to want to come home and explore instruments and different genre's of music with him so that he can continue to develop and appreciation for all types of music and in time use music as a medium for expressing himself and for extending his imagination!

This week I'm going to have a music focus with Ashton! We will let you know what musical adventures we find out ourselves on soon! For more information about the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and when they are performing go tohttp://apo.co.nz/home.aspx

ASHTON'S FRUITY WEEK

Throughout this past week Ashton has been exploring lots of fruit. He is loving his fruit puree’s at the moment so I thought I would explore fruit with him in a way that would start him recognizing what the fruits look like before they are pureed. Before I gave him a particular fruit for one of his meals I sat down with him and let him play with the fruit for a bit. He held it with his hands and of course picked it up and put it in his mouth. He inspected it from a distance and up close.

After his initial inspection seemed to be over I took the fruit and started eating it next to him. Straight away his curiosity and interest in the fruit picked up again, he started watching me intently while I ate, then he started reaching out to me to give him the piece of fruit. So I would give him the fruit and straight away he would start munching on the bit where I had started eating. If I took it away from him or it dropped from his grasp he would get upset that he had lost his snack. He was really starting to enjoy exploring the fruit!

As the week progressed and we kept exploring different fruits or whenever I was eating anything he would start to insist I share with him. He has also begun to enjoy eating a lot more in general.

MIXING, STIRRING, BAKING WITH GRANDMA

Ashton was able to join in the baking adventure with his Grandma and cousins today making salt dough beads and ornaments. Although he watched for most of the time he found it very interesting and followed everything the girls were doing. As they stirred all of the ingredients together and rolled their dough out on the bench his eyes were focused on the action. He was able to sit and listen to the conversations being had about how the ingredients were changing as they were mixed together. Grandma and the girls were using great words to describe what the mixture looked and felt like . . . gooey and sticky, dry and wet.

Once all of the ingredients were mixed together Ashton got a little more involved as we gave him his own bit of flour and dough to work with. He actually explored the flour in a very similar way to the girls picking up the flour and rubbing it between his fingers, or swishing it around on the bench. Once he got his dough mixture you could really see his little hands working as he squished it and squeezed it through his fingers. (You will see in the photos he has his pacifier in his mouth. . . this is not a usual practice for Ashton. It was there to stop him from wanting to eat the dough . . . although he has started on solids; we’re not that far into solids yet!)

This is the first time I have done any kind of baking with Ashton and I think he really enjoyed playing with and exploring the different texture of the ingredients. It was a new medium for him to explore and utilise his senses . . . I think we may explore some more ingredients to mix and stir throughout the week, and see what other smells and textures we can discover!

BIG LEAVES, LONG LEAVES, SOFT LEAVES

Ashton loves to be outside. Being outside has the ability to calm him, excite him and amuse him for great lengths of time. We love to walk around the garden and look at all the different trees and touch the leaves. The more we go exploring the garden the more inquisitive he has become. He has also started interacting with the environment in a different way.

To begin with Ashton would just look around at all the trees and watch them blow in the wind, the movement of the leaves catching his attention. Then he began reaching out to the leaves and as most babies do, would automatically try and put them in his mouth. This he still continues to do to a degree but just yesterday I began to notice that the way he handled each leaf was slightly different. One particular tree has quite small soft leaves, and he would run his hand through these as though feeling them stroke his hand. Another tree has long, hair like leaves, (I call this the Pony tail tree.) This one he holds onto and pulls his hand down the leaves. The trees with spiky leaves or branches he is more cautious with and the leaves with big chubby, rubbery leaves he likes to pat and hit.

This development in the way he played with the leaves made me start talking to him about the differences between the leaves, using words that described them in a broader sense than just "a green leaf". Although it could seem (because he is not talking yet) that my efforts are premature... the theory behind this is that while I am saying these describing words, he will be using all of his senses and putting those words into context.

What could have just been a simple walk in the garden became an exploration of shape, texture, size, colour and nature. We became Science Seekers!!!

IS IT WORTH THE MESS?

It was mine and Ashton's turn to do an adventure video for this week and as I was thinking about what to do, I couldn't stop thinking of painting. I hesitated at first, thinking how it might scare more parents from doing a painting activity than it would inspire them! As everyone well knows, painting with children (especially babies) is never a clean project. And as you will see after watching our adventure video . . . we made a mess!

Which brought me to ask the question afterwards "Was that worth the mess?" and I have to say, I 100% think it was . . . So today I want to blog my case and try and convince those out there who shy away from doing painting projects with their kids, to at least give it a try.

During our 'Tempo Painting' activity, Ashton and I ran into countless learning moments which totally justified the mess at the end. . . we got to physically experience different speeds of fast and slow. . . we sang "The wheels on the bus" and did the actions in the paint as we sang. . . we explored different shapes. . . we mixed colours and talked about the new colours as they evolved. . . we got to feel the texture and talk about how it felt on our hands. . . and, oh the fun when we got in the shower! We got to watch the water change colour all around us, another fantastic talking point!

Those are just a few of the wonderful learning moments we encountered and would have missed if I hadn't been daring enough to take the plunge and get messy for half an hour! (Let me mention that we did go in prepared! We wore our painting clothes, we had a tarpaulin down and a cloth to wipe off excess paint afterwards! - If you prepare well, its not as scary and the more you do it... the better you will both get at it!)

STOP TO SMELL THE ROSES

After a lovely holiday away in Surfers Paradise with my family I am back into Polkadots action . . . well, I'm trying to anyway! I am of the firm belief that you need at least two days to recover and get back into routine after a holiday, especially when a child is involved. Unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, catching up on e-mails, you name it... there are a million things to

do and in amoungst it all, trying to entertain your child so that he knows he is still the centre of the your world!

All of this sparked my BLOG thoughts for today. . . because as I was going about my business, trying to get life back in order, Ashton's baby chatter calls for attention were getting louder and louder. It was at this point I reaslised how quickly our babies and children get caught up in our crazy adult lives. They have no choice but to go with the flow . . . of course we can't stop doing everything and just play with our children 24/7 - BUT! we can stop every now and then to give them pockets of quality time. And if we really think smart we can work our role as teacher to our children in with our role of 'whatever else'. You could take a 15 minute walk (exercise) with your child and stop to smell the flowers. While preparing afternoon tea, talk with your child about the seeds you discovered inside an apple. While reading a bed time story stop half way through the story and ask them to make up a new ending using their imagination. Make the

every day ordinary adult crazy daily life moments... extraordinary. You just need to take a few seconds to think "How can I make this moment a teaching moment?"

We are meant to be teaching our children about our world, preparing them to take on the world and enjoy it. Kids are all about having fun, so if you can find ways to teach your child in ordinary day to day tasks, your crazy day will become a lot more FUN!

OUR ZOO ADVENTURE

I'd like to say that I have a grand adventure to report from our trip to the zoo today . . . but I don't! Ashton fell asleep as soon as we started looking at the animals. :o) So my blog today will be about . . . " how things don't always go according to plan!"

Dionne, Dez, Mr Bop, all the kids and husbands came along to the zoo, so when Ashton fell asleep I thought I might be able to turn my enthusiasm for an adventure at the zoo onto the other girls! But unfortunately the sun came out to play a little too strong and the heat just became too much and everyone just wanted to get into the shade or go home.So we didn't get to talk about what the tiger likes to eat, or what noise the elephant makes. In fact, we missed most of the animals! But that didn't matter because Ashton did wake up just in time to see the giraffes as we were about to leave, and they just happened to be having their lunch! So the one animal Ashton got to see in action was really up close and personal. We got to see the giraffe's big blue tongue, and his big nose and the brown patchy pattern on his back. Giraffe's never cease to amaze me! They're just so BIG!

We could have looked at this trip as a bit of a disaster but we won't, because Ashton got to have an encounter with a giraffe that he never would have had if we had stayed at home! And here's a BONUS to the trip! Kris and I got to have a date at the zoo. ha ha!INTERESTING FACT: Did you know that giraffes don't have vocal chords? - We learnt that while we were writing one of our Science Seeker songs! So next time you ask your child "What noise does a giraffe make?" and they look at you blankly, you'll have the answer. GIRAFFES DON'T MAKE A NOISE!

CATERING FOR YOUR INFANT AND TODDLER

I just got asked a question from a friend via our Polkadots FACEBOOK page about how to do activities with children of different ages (ie. and infant and a toddler)... and I decided to answer it here because it is a challenge most parents who have an infant and a toddler face... and my mind is racing with different ideas, so I needed more space to write. The question is as follows...

"Okay prepare yourself for a long question:) What are your thoughts on including older siblings in the activities? I used one of your activities for inspiration with C today and completely lost F (hes 3 and a half) . I tried to include him but i think he got bored because it was too baby for him (we were lining up toy animals and doing their sounds then sang old macdonald), to the point that he started throwing the toys around and then distracted chase in a throwing/hugging cuddly toys game and I gave up. I am finding the transition from teaching one child to teaching two children different ages quite tricky. I’m trying to teach F his letters/numbers/writing etc and C gets bored and starts crying, or I try do stuff with C and then F starts playing up because hes bored. Everything seems to be a rushed 2min exercise to get through before the other one gets lonely. I don't know maybe I just have needy kids! Any ideas you have would be much appreciated."

(I'm going to bullet point my thoughts or else I could get extremely carried away!)

• Start the activity with an activity that you know both ages will be interested in and can both relate to, like reading a story. Preferably one that relates to the topic of focus that you plan on doing in the activity. This will mentally prepare both children for the activity and give you opportunities to ask questions and talk to both children at their level. You may even ask your older child to help explain or point things out to your younger child so that they feel they are helping.
• Specifically ask your older child to be your helper in teaching their younger sibling. Children like to have responsibilities. Praise them when they do a good job at being a "teacher".
• If you are trying to teach your older child something specific (just as mentioned above - teaching letters and numbers) figure out a way to tie that into the activity for the younger child. Example from scenario above: Trying to teach younger child animal names and noises, but your older child letters or numbers. Put a piece of paper behind each animal and as you point to the animal and make the noise or same the name of the animal for your younger child, have your older child write the letter or name of the animal on the piece of paper. Or you may ask them how many legs the tiger has and they have to write the number on the paper.
• Try to make time where you have individual learning time too, so that each child feels that they have had your undivided attention when it comes to learning and in turn has a positive learning experience. This will make them more inclined to approach the combined learning moments with a more positive approach and won't resent engaging in learning activities with you.
• * (Last one... I could go on FOREVER!) Take photos of your adventures or activities, of your children engaging in learning together and share them with your other family members, with your child. Have your older child share how and what they learned together and how they helped to be a teacher. Reflect on the learning moments and discuss what you might do together next time.

I hope this can help you in some small way. If you want any further clarification or help on anything else! I love sharing... it gets my brain working! Thanks Shannon!

REVISITING, RECYCLING, REFLECTING

With it being Friday I decided to revisit each of the activities that I did with Ashton throughout the week. This morning we went for a walk to visit the animals, and sang 'Old McDonald had a farm' while we walked. Then after Ashton's nap we did tummy time with his animals again. This time Ashton looked straight up as if looking for the animals around him. (With my teacher hat on). . . I'm going back and revisiting these activities because I know it will help Ashton remember and retain all of the new information and skills he is learning

So. . .Whatever you want to call it, Revisiting, Recycling or Reflecting... going back and doing an activity or an adventure that you did the day, the week, or the month before is really valuable. Children need to feel that they are good at something, that they have mastered a skill or acquired knowledge. The more opportunities a child is given to redo an activity, the more accomplished they will feel. When they feel this accomplishment they get "a buzz", a feeling that makes them want to keep learning or keep looking for opportunities to learn. Isn't this what every parent wants their child to feel?

At the end of each day when Ashton's dad comes home from work, he always asks Ashton what he has done that day and (although Ashton can't talk... he tries very hard to) the two of us tell him about our adventures. This is another great habit to get into as it encourages your child to articulate and recall their learning and it involves the other parent, keeping them up to date on what learning is taking place so they can support your child as well.

TUMMY TIME ADVENTURE

With this weeks focus being on animals Ashton and I decided to do 'Tummy Time' outside today. I put down a little blanket so that the majority of his body was on the mat, but still allowing his feet and hands to touch the grass. This was the first time Ashton had really felt grass and there was still a little bit of dew left on it too so his feet and hands were having quite the sensory experience!

I placed all of the plastic animals all around the top of Ashton and lay him on his tummy to begin exploring. At first Ashton kept his head down, but as soon as he lifted his head he discovered his animal friends awaiting him and I think he got a pleasant surprise! He began looking around the line up of animals and making all sorts of chatting noises.

Having the animals placed around Ashton definitely seemed to encourage him to move his head around and look up. The grass on his hands and feet also got him moving a lot more and we managed to get some fresh air and a change of scenery while we had tummy time!

A NEW DAY, A NEW ADVENTURE

One of my new years goals was to do some form of exercise every day! Yesterday I decided to go for a walk with Ashton and while we were out we stopped along the way and looked at all the different animals we passed. Living out on a farm gave us quite the selection to look at and practice doing their animal sounds.

So after doing animals stretches on Monday, a walk where we discovered all sorts of animals on Tuesday and with reading lots of books that revolved around animals we decided that this weeks adventures should just follow the animal theme!

We went for another walk today and this time we took the camera to take photos of the animals we came across. We saw, cows, sheep, hens and their chicks, ducks and a hawk. (I also saw some horses, but Ashton had fallen asleep by that time, so I took a photo to show him after his nap.) Each time we stopped to look at one of the animals I would imitate the sound each animal made. As the animals moved around and made their noises I could see Ashton following the movement of the animals and really taking it all in.

It was adventure for Ashton and I and two days in a row of walking! Wahoo!!! Two birds with one stone! (oh I don’t know if I like that saying?)

BOOKS SPARKS ADVENTURES

Yesterday, after I read the book "Toddlerobics" by Zita Newcome to Ashton, for our animal stretches I found myself searching through our bookshelf looking at the other books I had in there to do with animals. I found some books which are my all time favourites ("I know a Rhino" and "Sometimes I like to curl up like a ball" both by Charles Fuge) and started reading them to Ashton. This just renewed my love for these books and in particular this author!

To me books are a catalyst for adventure and inspire the use of imagination and creativity... while teaching children about truefacts too (depending on what kind of book you are reading.) I often will use a book to inspire my activities or adventures for the day. Where ideas are running low or completely dry, I can always count on a book to get the imagination flowing again and it also becomes a great point of reference for answering questions for children, revisiting ideas and for teaching children about how they can use books to extend their learning. - Sometimes I will use the same book for a whole week, revisiting it each day to look for a new adventure within its pages!

ASHTON'S ANIMAL STRETCHES

As The Polkadots we have just decided to start doing weekly adventures with our children in video format to share with The Polkadots community. Ashton and I were first up, we planned to go on a sensory walk but the weather changed our plans and we ended up doing Animal Stretches with the Animal Stretch song from Body Bop and also with a book found on Ashton's book shelf called "Toddlerobics" by Zita Newcome.

Although Ashton is only 12 weeks old at the moment, I have been waiting a long time to go on adventures with my own child, so I didn't want this to hold me back! He is just as responsive to our adventures as my 4 year old niece is... just in a different way. When we got his animals out to do the stretching activities with, he got all excited and kept pulling them up to give them a hug and a kiss... (I call it a kiss, but really he just wants to put it in his mouth like everything else!)

By starting young Ashton and I get into the habit and skill of exploring our world! Making time for learning moments and quality time together. I have tried to do this with him right from when he was a couple of weeks old and I look forward to this time with him each day... and each day he is responding more and more!