Friday 03 September 2010
The sixth edition of the free publication Literacy Lava has just been released this week. It’s a fabulous resource for parents who want to be literacy-aware, and who want to encourage their children as readers and writers. This time I have an article included on Story Stones. Here’s a snippet:
Stones and rocks have been used in different cultures throughout the ages to tell stories to children and adults alike. Why not have a go at making some simple story stones of your own? Then head outside to enjoy some outdoor story telling. The article goes on to share ideas for using...
Monday 30 August 2010 -
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I wonder how many children will grow up without ever having climbed a tree? More and more in the city I am seeing tree-less backyards. Children aren’t allowed to climb trees in the vast majority of childcare centres or schools either, and kids today just don’t have the free outdoor time we did a generation or two ago. As a result I’m guessing some children will never know the triumph of conquering...
Friday 27 August 2010 -
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I can’t believe it’s the last day of Book Week and I’m only just getting up my Book Week post! The 2010 theme is Across The Story Bridge. Seeing as though we have an actual bridge in our backyard over the dry creek bed, I thought we would take reading outside this week. I spread a small rug on one side of the bridge with a selection of current favourites.
There’s something special about...
Tuesday 24 August 2010 -
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Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best, aren’t they? This week I put a piece of string up and over the branch of a tree, and tied a coloured bucked to each end. Genius. Mr Almost-Two has played with these buckets constantly.
Blue bucket down, yellow bucket up.
Yellow bucket down, blue bucket up, up, up!
And if you’re very, very clever – you can get both buckets to stop half way
and fill them...
Thursday 12 August 2010 -
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It’s Ekka time of year here in Brisbane! The “Ekka” is the annual show or exhibition held in the city with rides, showbags, animals, entertainment and fireworks. One day, I’m sure we’ll take the kids to the Ekka, but for now we are content to take them instead to our local show held on the outskirts of the suburbs. A smaller show has much to offer a young family, without the crowds,...
Tuesday 10 August 2010 -
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Inspired by Jenny over at Let The Children Play, the kids and I set up a dirt kitchen in the backyard. I don’t know why I haven’t thought of this idea before in my list of backyard dreams!
We looked around to see what we had already that might work for our kitchen, and found an old painted box from my classroom days, as well as the piece of laminate chopped out of our real kitchen to make way for the sink. ...
Sunday 08 August 2010 -
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My bird-loving daughter (yep, she gets it from me) found an egg at kindy. According to her the egg is “creamish with brown speckles” and she found it on the concrete under a few trees. We took a photo on the iphone, then googled it at home.
Turns out it’s quite tricky to identify eggs online. We tried looking for an identification guide, but no luck. We tried searching for the eggs of common...
Tuesday 03 August 2010 -
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The kids and I inherited a large box last week. We tossed around a few ideas before finally deciding to turn our big box into a jungle cave. Vines were not negotiable, so I rummaged through the fabric box and found some long strips of green and brown fabric which did the job perfectly. I had visions of attaching leaves creatively, but the kids were keen to use them so I reminded myself it wasn’t actually my...
Thursday 15 July 2010 -
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While doing some weeding around the yard (yes, we have a lot of weeds) SquiggleDad found this frog. He carefully caught the little guy to show the kids. We have a lot of Cane Toads here in Queensland, so our children are cautious about picking up frogs and toads without a grownup. It can be hard for kids to tell the difference! We put the frog into a viewing container and had a close look.
After observing the...
Tuesday 13 July 2010 -
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We affectionately call this tree The Butterfly Tree. The rambling branches tumble over the fence from next door, creating a perfect little natural cubby house underneath. The kids and I love trimming the branches from the under side to make more of the space, and sweeping the floor with branches.
I had tossed around the idea of hanging some bunting inside the butterfly house, but then I discovered I had a bunch of...
