Quiet Playtime

We have a tradition of "quiet playtime" in our house. It's after the boys have had dinner & their baths & got dressed, teeth & toilet done... all ready for books before bed. As long as there is time (I started it as an bit of an incentive to get all of their bedtime jobs done in a timely fashion without too many fusses) they can choose a quiet activity. Last night it was finger knitting. These photo's are super grainy but I thought it was really sweet. Hug loves to finger knit & in these photos he's trying to teach Lovely, his willing student :)

Locks & Keys

Having made the screwdriver board activity I decided to get off my butt & put together the lock & key activity I've had sitting around my cupboard for months!

There are 3 different locks with 3 different keys (in the glass jar so they don't get lost) & the ring (a bracelet) is for the locks to be locked onto. I realised after I took this photo - actually Lovely pointed it out to me this morning - that this photo isn't the right presentation; the locks should start on the ring & then the challenge is to get them all off, line each lock up with it's key, & then put all of the locks back on the ring before it's returned to the shelf.

The keys are quite small so Lovely has been getting a little frustrated with trying to turn them but I think it will be alright once he gets used to them. If you are going to make this activity then I recommend getting largish locks (if the truth be known I just got the least expensive ones & that's why mine are small).

Screwdriver activity

When the electrician came around this week (tradesmen are like rock stars in our house!) & Lovely wanted to use a screwdriver to be like his new idol (he also changed into boardshorts because I think we got a surf-y electrician ;) I was inspired to create my version of these screwdriver activity boards at Montessori Services.

Saw up a piece of wood.

Add some screws...

And get going!

Holidays :)

We are off for a little holiday! I have a few posts scheduled & will be back in a week :) Happy days!

Continents Box: ANTARCTICA

Lovely chose the Antarctica continent box off the shelf today, discovered the penguins, & ran off to put them in the bath toys basket where they used to live! Hmmmm, still in the sensitive period for order I see. I asked him to (read: insisted ;) that he bring them back because they live in the Antarctica box now. He was dubious.

Then I showed him our map in the reading corner & pointed out that something is missing - Antarctica! We've had "issues" with this map before! And then I got the globe out & showed him where it really is. Now, if only I would make that continents globe I'm planning...

So, as you can see - I don't have a lot in this box, but I do have a cool set of penguin cards that I got from Jo's blog A Bit of This and A Bit of That & a set of penguins that I think I got from The Sunrise Learning Lab :) Lovely & I matched the penguins to the cards which is easier said that done!

What is in your Antarctica box if you have one or, if you don't, what would you put in one?

Continent Box: ASIA

The contents of our Asia Continent Box, a work in progress...

Middle Eastern Nesting Dolls. I think these are wonderful. One of my close friends was living in Dubai for a few years & brought this as a gift for my boys. Unfortunately we lost the tiniest doll - a camel! - the day we got it. I'm sure it's under a floorboard somewhere...

The Vietnamese flag, courtesy of my mama.

Assorted money, mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia.

A coin from the United Arab Emirates (am I the only one who feels weird thinking of the Middle East as part of Asia?)

Brass statues from Thailand.

The incense cones I bought recently. They smelt really toxic (!) when I burnt one so we'll just look at them now I think.

I Ching coins.

A goddess postcard, chopsticks & the tie from the traditional white outfit many boys wear in the MIddle East (I need to ask my friend what it's called because I can't remember) - we have the full outfit in the costumes area.

I also have a great set of cards of children from Asia that C from Sunrise Learning Lab very kindly sent me a year (or more!) ago and probably lots of other bits and pieces that I should gather.

BTW, there is a *back to school* giveaway at Sunrise Early Learning. Go enter!