A New Home...Finally!!

My blogs have been very much lacking over the last month or so, but I have a very good reason....
I HAVE MOVED!!

Finally, there were some delays, we had a date then it got moved and it was all a little stressful. We didn't really get into the house until the begining of June which has meant we have missed 90% of the growing season but we've discovered we have VERY sandy soil so the flower/veg bed needs a lot of work before we can get anything started.

I am Childminding, and the kids LOVE all the extra space there is now, and I love not having to bring all the toys down the stairs each morning!

But back to the garden, I have plans formulating in my mind of what I want to do, we face sort of East so the back garden is getting sun all day long which is lovely, I just have to start deciding on what I want to do. It all started with veg veg veg...but I'm now thinking I would like some flowers and colour so I'm thinking companion plants to keep the creepy crawlies away but get the best of both worlds. And as luck would have it, it's my Birthday mid August so I'm asking everyone for soil enrichment and/or labour to dig it in. I think it will be a case of 'All hands on deck' so I can then hopfully start getting some structural bits in for Autumn.

More to come soon....

Big Day out at the Woods!!

Spent another day with Wormseye View today, we had 7 children between us so thought it would be best to get everyone out the house! So where better than getting out into nature with a bit of bug hunting a tree climbing added to the mix!!

First up a quick picnic lunch to build up everyones energy!

Found a den for some exploring!

We counted the rings on a tree which had been cut down, talked about how each ring represented a year of growth. And also possible reasons for it having been cut down! Maybe the other trees near by needed more room, or for making homes for bugs...?

Then we made a fairy house in a stump of an old tree, talked about the story of the earth children, how everything is waking up in spring to make the flowers bloom and the trees grow

The Bluebells are out at the moment, it's a beautiful carpet covering the floor

Then lots of tree climbing!!!

Everyone had a really lovely day and we had 7 worn out children by the end of it! I think we'll definately be making more trips there as we head towards summer!

Weddings and pictures!!

Next news on the house move...? Not until the end of May :-(
It was going to be end of Aril but the current tennants don't want to move out yet so we have to wait another month. Bit of a disapointment but it will make things financially easier, so as my sister-in-law would say, everything happens for a reason!!

But back to what we've been up to!! We spent some time last week with Wormseye-View joining in her theme on princes and princesses and the up comming royal wedding!!

First we dressed up William and Kate...lots of different outfits to try!

Then finished by some dressing up of ourselves! What a pretty Princess!

This week we've been looking at some shapes, I managed to get this Melissa and Doug Geometric Shape Picture maker for a bargin at a local car boot.

It was lovely watching 'I' making her picture, I was helping her a bit talking about the next shape that we need, her understanding is amazing at just 21 months she was going straight to the next colour I asked for and then putting it in the right place

It took 'C' a little longer to get involved in this activety but once 'I' and I had settled at the table he wanted to come join in...then I could hardly get him away from this activety for the rest of the afternoon! He was asking me to take pictures of his creations each time he completed one!

After all this focused creativety we noticed it has started raining outside and as miserable as it makes us adults....

....the kids love it!!

They were outside splashing around for ages, it was really lovely to watch

A Spring Begining...!!

OK so I'm a little late to be blogging about the begining of spring...but the last couple of weeks have been a bit mad and stressful, not that I want to jinx it but we're quite likely moving house!!!! Only about a mile and a half down the road but it is quite a bit bigger soI can start advertising for spaces and be a lot more organised in my planning and preparation and generally have space to breath!!

I wont say any more because like I said I really don't want to jinx it but I'm soooooooo excited!!!

Anyway, to kick off our 'Spring' theme, in which I am including mini beasts, flowers, weather, and anything else that I can think of which comes to mind! I'm sure I've said before the majority of my childminding time at the moment is just for one little girl (20 months) so I sometimes feel quite limited on the 'activities' I can organise for her which are actually going to be of benefit and that she will understand. I was talking to my development worker about her today actually and we both think she is a very bright little girl so I'm going to start looking into activities aimed at around 2 years to see how she does. But this one I have to say she did enjoy...

Started off with making a little garden scene, complete with an army of ants martching through the grass...

...add a few flowers, and bugs of your choice. I laminated coloured in pictures but just as good would be little plastic animals, bit more life like aswell! And then let the creative play begin!!

This one took right off the page!! "flap flap flap flap"

It was really lovely playing with this, 'I' was trying to say 'butterfly' and 'dragonfly' and liked running her hands along the 'grass'. That was until her older brother arrived home from pre-school and decided he didn't want grass, so made his hands into a 'mower' and started cutting it all off.

I love seeing how kids change and adapt things you've set up for them, I always feel like I've got a bit more of an insight into how that child's mind works instead of just telling them how to play with things!!

Beads and Bobs...

So I was looking around the house the other day for something I could quite litterally throw together to make an activety when my eyes landed on my jewellery/sewing box, I popped it open and grabbed a load of beads, buttons, gems, thimbles, couple of jewellery boxes and anything else that looked colourful really.

The result...? An activety which kept Isabelle entertained and amazed for over half an hour, and for an 18 month old I thought it was quite an achivement!

Note,  this needs to be really closely monitored if they are still in the putting things in their mouth stage, things can dissapear into mouths or up noses very quickly!

She loved scooping the beads and buttons into smaller boxes and pouring them back, there were also a few bells which she fished out and shook next to her ear. She put the thimbles on and off my fingers and was amazed when I made a few buttons 'dissapear' from under a box lid and then re-appear from behind her ear.

I just love this age when everything is discovery, and new, and magical, theres no better way to re-connect with our own inner child than through a child close to us.

ANIMALS!!!

I have now decided our first theme is going to be Animals! I thought it would be a nice easy start and tie in nicely to the following theme of Spring/Easter towards the end of the month.

So we started off with making some flash cards which Isabelle just loved having a look at and practiced naming with huge smiles when she got it right

Then using the same flash cards (which we had doubles of) we played a pairing game putting them up on the wall. Isabelle was so proud when she managed to find pairs of ducks and turkeys all by herself!

Next we had a trip out to the library to find some interesting animal books

And then we took the puppy out for a walk!

Lovely animal filled day!

Happy St David's Day!

...or... Dydd Gwŷl Dewi Sant hapus!

This one kind of snuck up on me it has to be said, both of the kids I look after have been down with really bad colds and trying to get all the rest of my paperwork in place meant I obviously didn't look at my planning very closely!

Only had the one little one and after a morning of looking at books for 'World Book Day' we had a crafty afternoon.....

First we had a look at pictures of daffodils on the computer

Then started off some painting some petals and an egg cup middle, with help from Aunty Georgia

Then to glue it all together...

And the finished article!!

Lovely quick activity for any age, I think Aunty Georgia enjoyed it the most!