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Showing posts from September, 2014

Theme Week: Fire

Hey, we made it through the holidays!  Toby is now back at preschool in the mornings which theoretically means I have more time to do stuff.  Actually it means I wrote a list long enough to take me the whole year, and then tried to do it all in one week.  So I am writing about the final theme a week after it happened.  The topic may have been apt, as it felt like we were fanning dying embers by this point. Activities 1. Making a "campfire" Here's Toby in best boy scout mode, rubbing two twigs together to make a fire.  Peppa Pig obviously is educational really, because he knew to set up the sticks in a pyramid.  Fortunately his efforts didn't produce any sparks. And where there's a campfire, there must be a tent: 2. The candle trick With all due cautions about not playing with fire, etc, etc, we lit a candle and I showed him how it goes out when you put a jar over it.  We repeated the experiment several times, and he was able to tell Dad, later, abo

Theme Week: Air

A beautifully wide theme which can cover everything from blowing bubbles to spotting planes.  Sorry for the belated blogging! Activities 1. Straw painting Toby loves straws at the moment and usually has at least two in his drink, sometimes up to five!  So I thought he might enjoy a spot of straw painting.  We dolloped watered-down paints onto a big sheet of paper, and blew air through the straw to spread the paint out.  The results weren't quite as spectacular as I'd hoped, but it was quite fun.  2. Balloon on a string Toby had already been introduced to the idea of blowing a balloon up and letting it go whoowheeewhooo around the room, so we tried the next stage up - racing it along a string. Thread straw onto long piece of string. Tie string across room. Blow up balloon. Tape balloon onto straw. Let go.  Wheeeeee! Duck! 3. Paper aeroplanes Yeah.  This and the balloon on a string was my attempt to keep us entertained on a wet Bank Holiday Monday.  Ver

Monthly Munch: August

I feel like you already know a lot of what we've done this month from my theme week posts.  But it's been a busy August, and not all of it fitted into a theme!  It was neatly sandwiched between two trips to my parents' house - the first to use it as a holiday home while they were away, and the second to visit them and go to the Bournemouth Air Show.  In between they also visited us, so it's been nice to see so much of them.  This month we have also seen: friends of mine from school, friends of ours from America, racing trucks, a ruined house, a ring of bells and a rainy reservoir.  Read on! These are the American friends, who have just got married!   Toby - loved going to the JapFest at Donington Racetrack to see Japanese cars with his dad.  The next weekend they went to see truck racing, which he also enjoyed.  I stayed well clear of both! - is starting to learn to ride his big bike, with pedals (having almost completely destroyed his balance bike!)