Days 6-12 of Project 365

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This week has been a bit manic with an additional day in work leaving only Tuesday for a The Boy and Me day. Therefore I tried to make the most of it and get a whole load of playing and activities done to make up for the lack of time we should have had together.

6-12 of 365

6. 'Strike!' (Bowling)

7. 'Restless' (A poorly Boy with a persistant ear infection meant his sleep this week has been hot and sweaty, and he's been very disturbed.)

8. 'Taaaaaaarzan!' (We've finished at Tumble Tots as I didn't think he was being challenged anymore, and he didn't want to go up to the next group as parents weren't allowed to be with their children. We've found a 'free-play' gymnastics session where he can explore proper gymnastics equipment and be challenged in his ability and confidence.)

9. 'Squirt!' (I'd prepared some coloured ice cubes for him to play with when I got home from work, and gave him salt and a water bottle. Great fun!)

10. 'Follow My Leader' (This is the Eggy Alphabet app we've installed on the iPad, enabling him to practise his letter formation.)

11. 'Flip!' (For Christmas, The Boy had the PlayMobil farmhouse and shop with two characters who resemble Fiona and Farmer Nick from Coombe Mill. Here, Farmer Nick is making pancakes for Fiona who is having a lie-in. Lucky Fiona!)

12. 'Sleeping Soundly' (This is how I found The Boy sleeping when I checked on him, his knees were up and bent as well. He does have some strange sleeping positions!)

[Amended: Forgot to say which was my favourite. Probably hard to believe but it's the one from Tuesday; what looks like a bad photo is actually motion blur as he swung past me at eleventy billion miles an hour while tightly hanging onto the rope for dear life.]

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Christmas Sensory Box (Learning Through Play)

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It's been a while since I did a sensory box for The Boy (our Autumn one went mouldy when Nana put the lid on the wet conkers) so I decided to create an exploratory festive box for him.

Sensory tray

I used:

  • white rice coloured with red food colouring and baked in the oven for 90 minutes on 90°C
  • cinnamon sticks
  • pine cones
  • red and gold glitter
  • red sand
  • orange slices painted gold
  • gold sequins and jewels
  • a variety of shiny gold and red items; straw circles, jingle bells, chocolate coin covers
  • ground ginger sprinkled all over.

The best bit of this is giving The Boy a magnifying glass and encouraging him to explore the 'buried treasure'. Sensory boxes are great for fine motor skills development and encourage exploration and communication. The Imagination Tree is the grand master of sensory trays and exploratory boxes.

Growing Beyond The Potty List

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In April of this year I wrote a list of things that I wanted The Boy to do before he was three years old. It was based on the National Trust's list to be achieved by the age of 11¾ and I highlighted five things in particular that I wanted to make sure The Boy had done, giving myself six weeks to achieve it:

  • fly a kite
  • make a mud pie
  • get behind a waterfall
  • visit an island
  • hunt for bugs

As you can see I achieved all of my targets apart from one; I had a waterfall in the Brecon Beacons in mind, but the weather turned foul and I wasn't trekking across slippery rocks to tick something off my list. In hindsight, it might also have been slightly too ambitious.

Slightly before the National Trust published their list, the team from Growingupmilkinfo’s created their first ever ‘Potty List’ (a guide to the 36 things toddlers should cross off by the time they're 36 months). Some of the things that list included are:

  • Baked a cake (Have you not seen my blog?)
  • Sung loudly in public (Remembrance Day 2010 in Tesco. Other customers smiled)
  • Made sandcastles on the beach (You can't stop us!)
  • Worn pants on your head (Does a nappy count?)
  • Poo’ed in the bath (Sorry C&G but I'm proud to say he's never done that!)
  • Had a ‘first love’ (Katy from 'I Can Cook')

Those that I chose from the first list are quite seasonal dependent, the Potty List is more achievable!

However, our inability to get behind a waterfall is not the only thing that's reliant upon the changes in season and weather.

You may be surprised to learn that from April to September is the only period during which vitamin D synthesis from the sun is possible in the UK. British toddlers’ opportunities to get vitamin D are severely limited during winter months.

I'm a little bit shocked to learn that in all honesty! I knew that we didn't have much sun during the Winter months, and I knew that Vitamin D is essential, but I didn't realise our time-frame to access it naturally was so limited. It has genuinely concerned me to learn that; we do get out an awful lot (and our Country Kids posts are testimony to that) and I will continue taking him out and about as much as possible because fresh air is still essential, but it has made me reassess where he is getting his required vitamins from. For toddlers between the age of 1-3 years, one of the easiest ways to ensure that they are getting their daily dosage of vitamins and minerals is through two small beakers a day of 'growing-up milk'.

On Monday 10th December (between 1-2pm), @Tots100 is hosting a 'twitter party' with the people behind Growing-Up Milk to create the Winter Potty List which not only includes fun things for toddlers to crayon off before Spring, but also activities to help their with their intake of essential vitamin D.

Growing-Up Milk and @Tots100 would like you to join in with the twitter party to help create this Winter Potty List by tweeting your suggestions as to what are essential activities for toddlers to do before the age of three years old. The fifteen best suggestions tweeted between 1-2pm using #PottyList will each receive a £25 voucher for Asda – perfect for some Christmas treats… their suggestions will also be included in the final Potty List, with credit for their blog.

Nutritionalist Leanne Olivier will also be on hand to help with advice on how to boost toddlers' nutrition and wellbeing during the Winter.

How to get involved:

  • First make sure you are following @tots100 on Twitter;
  • Tweet us between 1pm – 2pm on Monday 10th December with your suggestions for the Winter Potty List, using the #PottyList hashtag;
  • The 15 best suggestions submitted during the party will win a £25 Asda Gift Card from the Growingupmilkinfo team and their suggestions will be included in the final Winter Potty List.

Will I see you there?

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Sunday 7th October 2012 – 'Mummy' (281/366)

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This is the first time The Boy's drawn a full picture of anyone, not just a face. He's also had a go at writing my name underneath. In the past he's drawn a face, but I've never suggested he draw a whole person before and I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

Mary Sheridan (the guru for stages of child development) identifies that a 3yr old child will draw a person with a head and usually indicate one or two other features or body parts. A 4yr old child will draw a person with head, legs and trunk, and usually some arms and fingers.

Most nursery or reception aged children will draw a head with arms and legs coming off it, as to them they are the most important body parts. A body is surplus to requirements at this age and usually is missing. However, The Boy has drawn one on this picture of me. Interestingly though, my arms are coming from my head showing that he's not quite realised how everything connects or that the body has a part to play.

Sunday 2nd September 2012 – 'Farewell Summer' (246/366)

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I'm not ready to say goodbye to the Summer. I'm not ready to go to work tomorrow. I'm not ready to stop having fun with my little boy, to discover our world, to learn new things, to laugh and love, to cry and kiss better. We've had a fantastic time these past six weeks and this photograph to me sums it up; his laughter, his accomplishments.

And yes, if you look towards the end of the pier you can almost see the good ship Summer sailing off to visit other folk, as we pedal towards the crunchy leaves of Autumn.

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