Fun Activities For Toddlers

Our Weekly Rhythm: Planned Possibilities

Weekly Rhythm: Planned Possibilities is a new weekly post that is a review of our weekly activities. You will find lots of fun ideas for toddlers that you can do at home. We have characterised each day by something that happens on that day, this gives a predictable pattern for our week.

I posted have previously posted our weekly rhythm. The idea of having a rhythm comes from the works of Rudolf Steiner (a philosophy I loosely follow in my day-to-day life). The purpose of having a rhythm is to develop a sense of regularity to the day-to-day life of your child. Having a rhythm assists the development of confidence because your child 'knows' what's coming next.

I find that life is so much easier when Chook knows what's happening next. It is easier to talk with him about events because you only need to say "We go to the library after morning tea" or "After your bath, we get into our PJs and then it's time for Story Candle". This really helps his understanding that there is a process, that things don't just happen when you want them to happen. It is a good life lesson. The twins will naturally also benefit from having this in place.

Fun Activities for Toddlers

We're theming it up again. This week our theme is:

Birthdays

Monday is Story Day

We read this awesome picture board book Miss Spider's ABC. Lots of bright illustrations and Chook loved labelling the bugs throughout the story. What's it got to do with birthday's? The bugs are all planning a surprise birthday for Miss Spider! Click on the picture below and it will take you to a Scholastic site with further activities you can do.

Wednesday is Play Day

It was ANZAC Day today. Hubby and Gamer woke up really early and attended the dawn service. Gamer and I made ANZAC Biscuits while the littlies had their nap.

Friday is Discovery Day

Today was Gamer's 14th Birthday. During nap time I made Chocolate Cake

and organised the Birthday Exploration Box.

Saturday is Game Day

Gamer had his sleepover party with his friends today. More party games!

Sunday is Family Day

Today I am celebrating National Scrap Day with an afternoon of childfree scrapbooking at Scrappy Sisters. This little shop opened up around the corner from me at the end of last year. The owners are two family oriented ladies who put on awesome classes for kids and adults alike. My favourite class to attend is their once-a-month scrapbook all in. You turn up with your pages and sit around their huge work table, chatting to other scrapbookers, getting ideas and hopefully finish a page or two. Check out what Rach and Em created on their blog. So my friends, that is what I am up to today. Hubby's looking after the kids!

We're going to keep going with the Birthday theme next week, because it's my birthday on Tuesday! I have got some fantastic additions for the Birthday Exploration box. A new book to read and toddler craft. Look forward to sharing with you all next week!

Other ways to keep up with the fun at Triple T Mum:

Check out Triple T Mum Facebook Page. (I'll like you back!)

Into Pinning...check out Triple T Mum's Pinterest Boards. (I'll follow you when you follow me!)

Sharing the fun with:

Tot School

Kids Co-op #10 & Showcase

Welcome to the Kids Co-op!

Thanks to everyone who linked up last week. There was an amazing amount of bloggers who shared their awesome activities and ideas. I love seeing what everyone's been up to during the week. It is so inspiring. What a wonderful resource you all are for everyone with kids, teaching kids or caring for kids!

Check out my favourites from last week's linky party!

Were you featured this week? Please take a 'Featured at Triple T Mum' badge.

Click on the link to Preschool Projects Discovery Bottles. There are LOTS of discovery bottles listed with list of contents and how to's. Bottles could suit a range of ages...0 - adult easily!

I love this post about Self-Led Potty Training by CAUTION! Twins at Play. It is getting to that time around here with Chook. This post was timely.

Homemade Bird Feeder

Homemade Bird Feeder

Our Titillating Tuesday Activity is making Homemade Bird Feeders with your kids. This project is defiently going on our list of fun activities for toddlers. We could have had the twins involved in this project but we ended up making the homemade bird feeders during their nap time.

Winter is approaching here in Australia and food sources for our local birds are starting to diminish, so we thought it would be a fun, learning project to make a homemade bird feeder for our garden. After making them Chook declared that they were "Happy Cakes for the birds". And so our homemade bird feeders became...

Bird Seed Happy Cakes

Happy Cakes is Chook's label for birthday cakes :)

The hot water is in the thermo cup with a lid.

 On your marks...

½ cup flour

2 tsp gelatine

½ cup hot water

2 – 3 cups of wild birdseed

Length of twine

Foam cups

Go...

 Mix the first three ingredients together into a paste.

 Add the birdseed and mix well.

 Double your twine and knot the ends together.

Make a hole in the centre bottom of the cup. Thread your twine through the hole. You should have a loop emerging from the base (this will be the hanger of your homemade bird feeder).

Spoon  a layer of birdseed mixture to the mold, ensuring the twine emerges through the seed, still in the centre. Press down firmly around the twine.

   Spoon further amounts of the mixture into the cup, covering the remaining twine. Press the mixture firmly down into the cup.

Place cup in a dry place and allow to dry out. We left our homemade bird feeders for two days (that was long enough for an impatient 32 month old!)

We then peeled away the foam cup and hung the Happy Cakes off some branches in the garden.

Chook and I have been inspecting our homemade bird feeders every day, looking for signs that the birds are enjoying our project and from the nibbles it looks like they might be!

Here's another recipe and lovely way of gifting these: Click over to Plain Vanilla Mum and check out the oh so cute cookie cutter bird feeders she made for Mother's Day!

Other ways to keep up with the fun at Triple T Mum:

Check out Triple T Mum Facebook Page. (I'll like you back!)

Into Pinning...check out Triple T Mum's Pinterest Boards. (I'll follow you when you follow me!)

Fun Activities For Toddlers

Our Weekly Rhythm: Planned Possibilities

Weekly Rhythm: Planned Possibilities is a new weekly post that is a review of our weekly activities. You will find lots of fun ideas for toddlers that you can do at home. We have characterised each day by something that happens on that day, this gives a predictable pattern for our week.

I posted have previously posted our weekly rhythm. The idea of having a rhythm comes from the works of Rudolf Steiner (a philosophy I loosely follow in my day-to-day life). The purpose of having a rhythm is to develop a sense of regularity to the day-to-day life of your child. Having a rhythm assists the development of confidence because your child 'knows' what's coming next.

I find that life is so much easier when Chook knows what's happening next. It is easier to talk with him about events because you only need to say "We go to the library after morning tea" or "After your bath, we get into our PJs and then it's time for Story Candle". This really helps his understanding that there is a process, that things don't just happen when you want them to happen. It is a good life lesson. The twins will naturally also benefit from having this in place.

Fun Activities for Toddlers

Monday is Story Day

Our theme this week is Transport. Instead of stories about transport we sung as many transport songs as we could.

• The Wheels on the Bus. Absolute favourite of Chook's. We also changed it to the Wheels on the Car as we got out-and-about during the week.
• Zoom. "Up in the air I fly. Zoom, zoom, a zoom, zoom, zoom...". While you run around with your arms out wide, like an aeroplane.
• And of course Train songs. Train Is A-Coming & She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain.

Kids Co-Op #9 & Showcase

Welcome to the Kids Co-op!

Thanks to everyone who linked up last week. There was an amazing amount of bloggers who shared their awesome activities and ideas. I love seeing what everyone's been up to during the week. It is so inspiring. What a wonderful resource you all are for everyone with kids, teaching kids or caring for kids!

Check out my favourite from last week's linky party!

Were you featured this week? Please take a 'Featured at Triple T Mum' badge.

10 fine motor activities for kids who won't pick up a crayon. A handy resource of activities that encourage fine motor skills that you might already be doing with your child!

Without further ado here are this week's wonderful link-up's to this weeks Kids Co-op. Make yourself comfortable have a look around and if you have blogged about some unique family orientated fun or educational activity we'd love to see it! Link up and maybe get featured in next weeks showcase!

Pumpkin Scone Recipe

Chook and I had so much fun making this pumpkin scone recipe together. It is a great recipe to make together with children and is so easy it deserves a place as a Family Meal Idea. Everything goes into one bowl and you're allowed to get your hands into the mix and get messy! This pumpkin scone recipe made enough for one morning tea for our family of six.

On your marks...

I invite Chook to cook with me.
We go to the bathroom and wash our hands.
Pop on our aprons.

Get all the equipment and ingredients out that are needed for the pumpkin scone recipe.

Have a back-up activity ready for the kids, in case they lose interest in the cooking.

Gotta have:

Weekly Rhythm Planned Possibilities

Weekly Rhythm: Planned Possibilities is a new weekly post that is a review of our weekly activities. We have characterised each day by something that happens on that day, this gives a predictable pattern for our week.

I posted have previously posted our weekly rhythm. The idea of having a rhythm comes from the works of Rudolf Steiner (a philosophy I loosely follow in my day-to-day life). The purpose of having a rhythm is to develop a sense of regularity to the day-to-day life of your child. Having a rhythm assists the development of confidence because your child 'knows' what's coming next.

I find that life is so much easier when Chook knows what's happening next. It is easier to talk with him about events because you only need to say "We go to the library after morning tea" or "After your bath, we get into our PJs and then it's time for Story Candle". This really helps his understanding that there is a process, that things don't just happen when you want them to happen. It is a good life lesson. The twins will naturally also benefit from having this in place.

This week the twins came down with a cold that included lots of night time coughing, fevers and hoarse voices. Ooffa is on the mend today but Strawberry is still suffering. The night time wake-up has meant a quick check of temperatures, medicine (if needed) and a drink of water. Although the lights are off and everything is as quiet as possible, Ooffa is far to energetic to put back to bed after a drink and a cuddle. We don't want him waking Strawberry with his cries of protest so we have allowed him a play in the lounge for about half-an-hour. Well, he has discovered the joy of night time waking to a quiet house and unlimited access to toys! Hoping he doesn't expect this on a regular basis.

Our Planned Possibilities this week were:

Monday is Story Day

We continued with Hairy Charlie and the Pumpkin by Jackie French. This great story has been the inspiration behind the activities on Play Day and Family Day. 

Day 3 of Twenty Days

This task was posted by The Parenting Passageway. My gist of the task is that we're being asked to look into positivity and how we bring joy into the family. It has taken me three weeks to a) get my head around the post and b) even consider that I can be positive about something. Sometimes I wake up and I just think "Groundhog Day". Here we go again. One foot in front of the other, just keep going and don't look down.   

My anxiety has slowly been creeping higher and higher over the past few days. Today the anxiety was high. Behind the anxiety is a sadness, a sadness that gathers and slowly seeps into all aspects of my life. It is so draining, this sadness. It doesn't take much to have it engulf me. So, as I stood in my dining room and watched Chook completely strip a cupboard and fling everything all over the place, I could only walk away and cry. I was overwhelmed. I was going under. Then I got angry.

Kids Co-op #8 & Showcase

Welcome to the Kids Co-op!

Thanks to everyone who linked up last week. There was an amazing amount of bloggers who shared their awesome activities and ideas. I love seeing what everyone's been up to during the week. It is so inspiring. What a wonderful resource you all are for everyone with kids, teaching kids or caring for kids!

Check out my favourites from last week's linky party!

Were you featured this week? Please take a 'Featured at Triple T Mum' badge.

Day 2 of Twenty Days

I have been following along with the Parenting Passageway's Twenty Days Towards Being A More Mindful Mother. Here's my take on Day 2.

It was a teacher friend of mine who pointed it out to me. The obvious.

"Amie, you have the tools you need to cope with the day-to-day raising of your children. Think about the strategies you used when you taught 30 young children. For over ten years you have been a wonderful, calm and confident teacher. What did you do when it felt like you were losing control of your class?"

Well, I thought, for starters there was DOTT and at 3pm they all went home!

But my friend urged me to think deeper and she was right. The tools were right there, ready to be dusted off and implemented into my home world.

How many times have I thought "I can't control him! I can't get him to stop what he's doing! He is driving me crazy!" Any parent of a toddler can totally relate! And do you know what, I am totally right in my thinking but wrong in what I am thinking! Not what you wanted to hear. But stay with me.

Titillating Tuesday

Celebrating Easter with the Five Senses

I mentioned in my St Patrick's Day post that I am developing traditions around seasonal celebrations. The traditions that I want to put in place have to be meaningful and something that we all look forward to.

Our Easter celebration traditions would have to include Hot Cross Buns. This year I have picked Good Friday as the day we make our own Hot Cross Buns.

 

Weekly Rhythm: Planned Possibilities

Weekly Rhythm: Planned Possibilities is a new weekly post that is a review of our weekly activities. We have characterised each day by something that happens on that day, this gives a predictable pattern for our week.

I posted have previously posted our weekly rhythm. The idea of having a rhythm comes from the works of Rudolf Steiner (a philosophy I loosely follow in my day-to-day life). The purpose of having a rhythm is to develop a sense of regularity to the day-to-day life of your child. Having a rhythm assists the development of confidence because your child 'knows' what's coming next.

I find that life is so much easier when Chook knows what's happening next. It is easier to talk with him about events because you only need to say "We go to the library after morning tea" or "After your bath, we get into our PJs and then it's time for Story Candle". This really helps his understanding that there is a process, that things don't just happen when you want them to happen. It is a good life lesson. The twins will naturally also benefit from having this in place.

Our Planned Possibilities this week were:

Sanity Tip of the Week

Three REALLY good reasons to pack away the shaving cream after you've used it in an activity:

Need I say more?

Sharing the fun with:

Tuesday Tots

Kids Co-op #7 & Showcase

Welcome to the Kids Co-op!

Thanks to everyone who linked up last week. There was an amazing amount of bloggers who shared their awesome activities and ideas. I love seeing what everyone's been up to during the week. It is so inspiring. What a wonderful resource you all are for everyone with kids, teaching kids or caring for kids!

Check out my favourites from last week's linky party!

Were you featured this week? Please take a 'Featured at Triple T Mum' badge.

Titillating Tuesday

Shaving Cream Fun

I finally built up the courage to bring out the shaving cream.

While the kids were preoccupied with afternoon tea, I put some sea creatures in the bottom of our water table and then covered them with shaving cream. Chook had so much fun finding sea creatures in the sand that I knew he would get a kick out of finding them in the foam.

 

He really wasn't too sure about this new substance but when he saw one of the creatures sticking out, he got right in there!



He used the water in the tub to wash the foam off the creatures.



Strawberry was next to come over and see what fun was happening.

I love this photo of Chook sharing with Strawberry.

Ooffa was soon over to check it out. I love how Strawberry is showing Ooffa what she's found. She does this all the time. It's so cute.

   

 

Tot School

Chook 31 months, Strawberry and Ooffa 14 months

What a great week we have had! Full of fun, play and lots of learning. I took a different approach to planning this week and it may be a winner! I planned around what 14 month old babies would enjoy and thought of ways it could be extended for Chook. However, Chook was so happy getting in there with what was already going on that I haven't had to extend any activities yet!

We built block towers.

We made Pretend Houses with some sheets and these climbing frames.