What do you do when you open a new bag of rice from the supermarket, only to find it has bugs in it?

A.  Throw it out

B.  Take it back to the supermarket and demand a refund.

C.  Colour it and play with it!

The easiest way to colour uncooked rice is to put it into a large ziploc bag with a few drops of food colouring.  Seal the bag up, and toss the rice around inside the bag until the colour has been evenly distributed.  Pour the coloured rice out onto a tray and leave until completely dry.

*   *   *   *   *

Since we had so much rice, we coloured four separate lots.

Once the rice had dried, I poured the colours into separate containers ready for play.

I also spread out a large tablecloth on the floor to assist with cleanup!

I gave the kids a tray each, with an assortment of kitchen items including:

small containers
spoons
cupcake wrappers
egg cartons
plastic cups

They enjoyed carefully layering different colours…

…mixing the colours together…

…and pouring til their containers overflowed!

*   *   *   *   *

This kind of play made a fabulous mess, of course!  The tablecloth on the floor worked wonderfully.  I was able to scoop it all up, and pour the rice back into containers.  The fun of layering different colours could only be enjoyed once, but I didn’t stop the kids from mixing the colours up.  In fact, I didn’t interfere with this play at all.  Both my three year old and five year old played independently for an extended period of time quite happily: pouring, mixing, measuring, layering, and talking to each other as they went.

So all in all, the rice wasn’t wasted.  We didn’t eat it, but we had a whole lot of fun playing with it!

It’s a question often whispered amongst parents.  We don’t want to ask out loud for fear of judgment, but most of us admit to using it.  The TV.  The question is… how much is too much?

I spoke on air recently about screen time.  If you missed it on the radio, you might like to listen to the podcast below:

96Five Radio Podcast

Here are some of my thoughts:

• I’m not against television viewing.  In fact, I quite often review children’s programs here on the blog.  BUT… I think as parents we should select what we allow our kids to watch, rather than leaving the TV to run.
• The maximum time a child should spend looking at a screen is 2hrs a day.  Some new research is suggesting that children under two shouldn’t watch any television at all.  Keep this in mind especially if you have older children watching while your little one is in the room.
• One of the biggest problems with television is what it doesn’t do.  It doesn’t converse with your child. It doesn’t improve your child’s fine or gross motor skills.  It doesn’t give them hands on experience.  It doesn’t replace the real world, or real people.  Make sure your child’s real experiences far outweigh their virtual ones.
• Screen time includes more than TV.  If your child has access to a computer, iPod, iPad, iPhone or other smart phone it all counts towards screen time.  Two hours can pass quickly. It’s up to parents to monitor and limit use.
• Use screen time when it best benefits your routine. For our family, it’s the late afternoon.  Usually the kids play outside in the afternoon, then they come in for some quiet screen time while I cook dinner.  Saturday mornings are the only mornings the TV is allowed to go on.

For a fantastic list of alternatives to screen time to try with your kids, check out this article “Installing Speed Bumps to Television Viewing” by Little Eco Footprints over at Childhood101.

I didn’t choose The Wiggles, even though Dorothy rather considers herself a dino-ballerina.

I didn’t choose Justine Clarke, even though she’s hands down my favourite children’s entertainer.

I didn’t choose a Playschool album, or a Jimmy Giggle album, or any other children’s album.

So what DID I choose?

Haydn, Rimsky-Korsakov, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and Grieg.  Yes, classical orchestral music by some of the world’s best composers.  Despite my love for good qualitychildren’s music, I fear that at times we do our kids a disservice by not exposing them to music beyond this.  It is valuable for little ears to hear different sounds from different places and different times.  Rock music, classical music, folk music, jazz music, choral music and more.  (Of course there is much adult music that is inappropriate for children so you may need to check any lyrics before you push play!)

I spent many hours rehearsing and playing in orchestras myself as a child and as a teenager, and I still enjoy cranking up the volume of a great piece every now and then.  I can’t expect my kids to enjoy classical, or jazz (which I also love) with me if I never give them the opportunity to listen to it.  Or dance to it.

Which genres of music do you enjoy,

and do your kids listen, sing or dance along too?

I love the resurgence of handmade toys, and this book provides an opportunity for older children to have a go themselves.  One Stitch At A Time is recommended for kids aged 7+ and some adult help will undoubtedly be necessary.  Creative kids younger than 7 may be able to attempt softie making with more help.  An EXCELLENT gift giving idea – especially as it retails for under $25.

Black Dog Books are kindly giving a copy of One Stitch At A Time to a SquiggleMum reader.  I’d love it to go to a reader with slightly older kids. Leave a comment if you think you and your kids would like to have a go at softie making!  One entry per person. Winner chosen at random. Comp closes Saturday 9th April, 6pm Qld time.

*I received my copy of One Stitch At A Time courtesy of Black Dog Books.

_________________________________

This competition is now closed.

Congratulations to the random winner: Natalie!

]]> http://squigglemum.com/activities/activities-indoor/one-stitch-at-a-time/feed/ 23 http://squigglemum.com/activities/floor-train-play/ http://squigglemum.com/activities/floor-train-play/#comments Thu, 31 Mar 2011 06:52:45 +0000 SquiggleMum http://squigglemum.com/?p=4995 Many of my friends with little boys have amazing train tables, and I’ve often been just a little envious!  We don’t have the space for one, so I’ve been on the lookout for a trundle train-tray which can be pushed under my son’s bed.  The only ones I’ve seen have been just too expensive – so the search continues.

In the meantime though, something surprising has happened. We’ve discovered there are many advantages to playing trains without a table.  When we play trains on the floor:

• there are no boundaries. The track can run the length of the house if we want it to (and if we have enough track pieces)!  The track can go under tables and around furniture legs.
• the track is constructed, deconstructed and reconstructed many times.  It is tempting with a table to leave the track set up, and not change it.  Much of the learning, problem solving, and creativity involved in train play happens during the track-building process.
• we incorporate other items with the trains.  On a train-table other items don’t seem to “belong” but on the floor, anything goes!  Sometimes we add farm animals and fences.  Other times we make buildings out of blocks.  We find fabric scraps and small boxes useful for all kinds of landscapes.  One day we even made a track from Fairy Land to Dino World.

Here are some images from our last train-play….

The Park

Green paper cut into an irregular shape

Plan Toys trees and streetlight

Natural wood family (Etsy)

See-saw created out of wooden blocks

Our House

House made out of blocks

Plan trees

Natural wood “Mummy”

Driveway and roads made out of long strips of computer paper

The Pond

Water made out of cut blue paper

Fish cut out of orange paper

Patty pan boats

Forest of green blocks

If you have a train table at home – fantastic! I encourage you to try some of the ideas above on the table too. But every now and then, take the play onto the floor and extend it as far as your child wants to take it.  It’s a great way for siblings of different ages to play together too.  And it’s funny how often Dads like to join in on the game…

Don’t forget to enter this comp to win some Seeds For The Future!

There is space to add further “works” to our gallery.  Mr 2 doesn’t have anything on display as yet but will do soon.  I used basic frames from Ikea, and left the wooden frames bare.  I like that these frames have perspex instead of glass. This means that the kids can be involved in framing their works.  (And did I mention they are dirt cheap?)

You might notice the small cards on the wall below each art work.  In galleries these often give some detail about the piece or the artist.  As the kids get older we will include more information such as medium used.  For now though they have title, artist and year, and the centre painting has information about the story in the painting.

Here are some reasons why you should set up a gallery at home too!

• Celebrate the unique creativity of each child in your family.  Having your children’s art works beautifully displayed communicates a strong message not only to visitors, but to your kids as well.
• Give purpose to artwork. Although it is lovely (and important) to paint purely for the joy of painting, as children get older they often produce amazing results when they work purposefully.
• Connect literacy with art by talking to your child about a title for their work.
• Allow the opportunity for others to see from the child’s perspective.  Information on the tags helps visitors to understand where the child is coming from, and they are great too for stopping THAT question, “What is it? Is it a ……?”
• Define great art.  Not every piece an artist creates makes it into a gallery, and not every piece in a gallery is everyone’s taste!  Great art is subjective.  Having gallery space provides an opportunity to discuss with your child why they think a piece should be in the home gallery.
• Memories. Already Miss 4′s drawings have moved on from this stage, but I hope I never forget the sweetness of a felt pen stick figure titled, My Mummy.

So what do you think? Are you inspired to let your kids create with paint this week?  Perhaps even set up a gallery in your home? Does anyone have a home gallery already?! Share your thoughts in the comments below.

]]> http://squigglemum.com/activities/activities-indoor/gallery-at-home/feed/ 19 http://squigglemum.com/activities/activities-indoor/patisserie-play/ http://squigglemum.com/activities/activities-indoor/patisserie-play/#comments Mon, 07 Feb 2011 21:12:53 +0000 SquiggleMum http://squigglemum.com/?p=4770 The whole thing came about with a simple conversation.  Miss 4 shouted from the dirt kitchen “Mummy! Come and buy a cake from my bakery.”  I headed up to the nature cubby and placed my order…

Mum: Mmm, those cupcakes look delicious. I’ll have two of those please, and can I have a loaf of bread?

Miss 4:  Sorry, we don’t sell any bread here.

Mum: Oh? I thought this was a bakery?

Miss 4: It’s a bakery that only sells cakes.

Mum: I see. So you are a baker at a patisserie then.

Miss 4: What’s a pa-sister-y?

Mum: Patisserie. A patisserie is shop where they sell lovely cakes and pastries and little treats.

Miss 4: Oooh, this is sure a patisserie. Can we make a real patisserie one day?

Mum: That’s an awesome idea!

So we did.

I wholeheartedly believe that there is no need to force learning at home. Play is the most natural way for a child to learn! Just look at how much we covered during a child-initiated game with NO pre-planning on my part. Literacy, numeracy, life skills and more. Anything we used was already around the house or in the pantry.

Two Year Old

• Independently select colour of icing
• Stir food colouring into icing with some assistance
• Independently decorate cupcakes choosing from 3 options (sprinkles, tiny bears, mini marshmallows)
• Develop skills in self control (not eating each cupcake when it was finished was very challenging for him!)
• Role play as a shop keeper, copying actions and language of big sister
• Exchange a cupcake for coins
• Count to three

Four Year Old:

• Independently ice cupcakes using a piping bag (!!) and decorate
• Independently write signs necessary for the shop (Patisserie, Open, Shut)
• Set up the shop using our playstand
• Decide on the price of cupcakes
• Count coins
• Perform simple addition with support (one pink cupcake plus one green cupcake)
• Role play incorporating appropriate language (serve, order, change, customer), new vocabulary (patisserie) and social conventions (welcome, smile, polite questioning, good-bye with invitation to come again)
• Wash the dishes after the game

PLEASE don’t think, “Ooh – we must play patisserie at home this week!”  I didn’t choose this play. My children did. I encourage you to instead look for an opportunity to extend your children’s play further, based on whatever they are naturally doing.

There are lots of gorgeous teasets available for little girls, but ones that are gender-neutral, or suitable for boys, are quite hard to find.  I don’t want my son to think that kitchen things are just for girls!  Mr 2 loves to make “cups of coffee” for visitors (or for his Dad) and this wooden set is perfect for him.

This week I helped him to take his “cup of coffee” play a step further, and set up a little table in his room.  The R-O-A-R sign was already on his bedroom wall so seemed the logical place for lions and tigers to catch up for coffee!  I must say the Big Cats were very well mannered. They even blew on their coffee to cool it down.

We might follow up this play with a trip to the library to see if we can find the classic 60′s picture book “The Tiger Who Came To Tea” as well.  It seems rather appropriate, don’t you think? (For another post related to this picture book, jump over to Childhood101).

Don’t forget to enter the Hi-5 Competition! Entries close this Sunday 30/1/11

]]> http://squigglemum.com/activities/activities-indoor/lions-and-tigers-and-tea-oh-my/feed/ 7 http://squigglemum.com/activities/activities-indoor/playing-with-recipes/ http://squigglemum.com/activities/activities-indoor/playing-with-recipes/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:33:56 +0000 SquiggleMum http://squigglemum.com/?p=4427 My independent Miss 4 loves to make up her own recipes in the kitchen.  She has helped me with basic baking for most of her little life, so she has some idea of what a cake needs, and how to go about it.  Today I baked gingerbread shapes ready for Christmas, while my daughter made her own cakes from scratch.

First she wrote out her recipe.  Not a bad effort!!  I try not to do too much “teaching” with her at home. She’ll have plenty of that at school next year.  I simply encourage her to write down any sounds she can hear.  She did ask me how to write a “shh” sound, but the rest she did independently. Oh, and she didn’t have flour in her list.  I suggested adding that might be a good idea!!

Next we read her recipe together and got out the ingredients she needed.  I put the sugar, water, egg, flour and sprinkles into small bowls, in order of her recipe.  She was a tad excited about starting.  (I just love this pic…)

She probably spent an hour making her little cakes, carefully adding a spoonful of this and a spoonful of that. She cracked the egg into the mix herself, and added more wet or dry ingredients to get the consistency right.  SO much learning going on in this play!

She divided the mixture up into 4 muffin pans, then it was into a medium oven for – well, we didn’t really know how long! They looked ready at about 15mins.

Since I was icing the gingerbread shapes anyway, I put a twirl of icing on top of her finished cakes.  What a treat to eat your own creation for afternoon tea!  And how did they taste?  Not too bad actually.  A bit like damper.  With icing.

Do you let your kids “loose” in the kitchen?

• Pasta pictures. I put out small bowls with a handful of different pasta shapes in each.  I also put out sturdy squares of cardboard, and PVA glue.  For Mr 2′s picture I spread glue thinly over his whole page so that he could stick pasta where ever he liked.  “Stick! Stick! Stick!” he said each time he glued a piece of pasta to his card.  He was very proud of his finished product!  For Miss 4, I put the PVA into a small yoghurt container with a cotton bud to use as a brush.  As you might expect with a four year old, she had an idea in mind and set about creating her image with carefully placed pieces of pasta.  As you might also expect with a four year old, I had NO idea what she was creating so had to ask some sensitive, open ended questions to allow her to explain her work.  (Her pasta picture was playground!)

• Pasta Sculptures. The addition of playdough makes 3D sculptures very achievable.  Miss 4 had tried to glue some of her pasta pieces so that they would stand up on the page, but was frustrated with process of making it happen.  This lead us to the idea of using playdough with the pasta.  Again, we shouldn’t make any assumptions about children’s art.  Instead of asking, “What is it?” or worse, guessing “Is that a …?” I usually say, “Can you tell me about what you’ve made?”  I might have guessed the creation above is an echidna, but actually it is an island with lots of rocks and sticks and some very tall trees on it.

• Pasta necklaces.  Both of my kids like dress up beads, and pasta provides excellent threading opportunities.  Large shells with large holes are perfect for little ones who are developing their fine motor skills.  Smaller shells with smaller holes prove more of a challenge for older children.  We also added some pieces of coloured paper simply punched with a hole in the centre for some bling!

Do you have any other pasta play ideas to add? Leave a comment below…