Free Printable - Autumn Leaf Squirrel

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

No comments

Today’s freebie – a craft idea to use the last of the beautiful autumn leaves. We love looking for squirrels in the park, so I decided to create a DIY squirrel artwork and I am sharing the printable so that you can make it, too.

Collect your favourite leaves and stick them on to the squirrel tail outline to make a lovely piece of artwork. On the photo above, I had just placed the leaves on (not stuck them down yet). Pressing the leaves with something heavy like a few books overnight should make them flatter and easier to stick down.

For younger children, you could focus on collecting the leaves together and then you could do the sticking part. You could cut the squirrel out beforehand and then mount it on to a coloured piece of card afterwards. You can download the PDF (US Letter size) below:










Read More

Current Favourite Books - Age 3

Monday, October 25, 2021

No comments


Here are 3 of my son's current favourite books. Most of them have been bought second hand but I have also included links to order them online, where available.

Mama Panya's Pancakes by Mary and Rich Chamberlin

A lovely story about a Mother and Son in Kenya, going to the market and planning to cook pancakes for friends. The words are very nicely written and my son often finishes the phrase is repeated a lot throughout the book 'A little bit, and a little bit more'. There is also information at the end of the book about village life in Kenya.






Fireman Sam and the Bonfire by 

A very old second hand book, published in 1989! I couldn't find it easily online but there may be a used copy on Ebay. All based on reality which is great for my 3 year old son. The story features a little family of mice who need to be rescued and the community being kind and helpful. The book is quite a lot longer than the other 2 on this blogpost, but my son still enjoys hearing it read until the end each time.

.  

The Railway Children by Lesley Sims

This is a simplified version of the original story, with less words and beautiful illustrations. I think that this condensed version is suitable for a 3 year old and my son regularly likes to talk about who is who in the pictures and story.

   





 

Read More

Cutting in the kitchen

Saturday, October 23, 2021

No comments

When we first introduced cutting to my son at 15 months, it was with a plastic dough cutter. The dough cutter + scraper actually happens to cut bananas perfectly! It was not too sharp, either. I modelled cutting a banana slowly and offered it to him to try. He needed a bit of help with how to hold it and push down, but we managed a few slices together. 



We also had a wavy crinkle cutter but didn't end up using it that much. From the age of 2 my son has been using these Kuhn Rikon knives in the kitchen. They are great because they cut well without being very sharp - tricky to explain - they remind me of a kitchen palette knife in terms of sharpness.




You can get just the 2 knives together, which includes a straight blade and a serrated blade (also I love the sweet dog design on them). We bought the set of 3 from Kuhn Rikon and they included 2 dog knives and a pair of duck snippers, for things like herbs. We have been thrilled with them and my son has enjoyed using them. We even got a set each for the grandparents' houses!



 

With things like carrots, my son enjoys peeling them and sometimes needs a hand to start cutting the thicker parts, then he happily cuts them into pieces. We have been including him in vegetable chopping from when he was really small, so that he can be a part of the family and help us cook. 



He stands on our beloved learning tower to work on the kitchen countertops and other times he will be at his weaning table and chair. I recently found a perfect small sized bamboo chopping board from Tiger which works very well with preparing food. I end up using it in the day for cutting things like apples and lemon, too, so it's much used by everyone in our household.









Read More

Free Printable - Nature Scavenger Hunt Card

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

No comments

 





Today's freebie is a Printable scavenger hunt card, to print and take with you on your nature adventures!

The card is 5x7 inches and features detailed illustrations of things to find. I created a similar one recently and everyone enjoyed it. You can bring a pencil with you and tick each one off when your child spots it.












Read More

Bedroom Tour - Age 3

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

No comments

Today's post is a room tour of my 3 year old son's bedroom. We have kept his room very simple, as he spends most of his time in the living room area in our house. Most of these items are second hand but I will link to them (or similar versions) where I can.


His current wardrobe is an Ikea Expedit / Kallax hack, where we took out one of the shelves and added a tension rod to be the clothes rail. We then added childrens' clothes hangers and we aim to have just 2 of each type of clothing out at a time. This helps him to feel that he is choosing his clothes by himself but also so that it isn't too overwhelming, both to choose from and also to put away.

I put labels on his drawers showing simple illustrations of the clothes that are kept in there. I laminated them and put them on with double sided foam tape, so that it's easy to change it again if needed.



In his self care area he has a small standing mirror and two little baskets; one with tissues (I take a pack of pocket tissues and cut each one up into many pieces) and one with his hairbrush. He currently tends to like brushing his hair only on his terms and when he wants to, and not at any other time :)



I keep the clothes in his drawers stored simply and just have 2 of each to choose from. 




Next to his wardrobe he has a laundry basket (from Tesco) and a full length mirror. This is an acrylic mirror and used to be horizontally placed in his room when he was a baby - it's fun to think back to the different evolutions of this room!




There is a double mattress on the floor and this has worked best for us for the last few years. It means my son can get in and out of his bed when he chooses and also if one of us ends up sleeping there too, there is space for us.

We have a tiny stool from a childrens' table and chair set, that works as a low bedside table. On there is a little decorative vase with dried flowers and our beloved amber lamp. We have many of these lamps in the house and they are great! They can stand on their own or can be clipped to a surface (easy enough for a child to use the clip). They have 3 brightness settings and the button is easy to press, plus they are cordless and charge via USB. Best of all, the light from them is a soft amber light - perfect for evenings when we try to avoid blue light where possible to help us to sleep better.


                     




I framed these nature themed printables from My Mega Bundles and placed them into Ikea frames (with acrylic instead of glass).

We have a plate rack to display books, which works really well currently. They are easy to pick up and put back - we usually have 3-5 books there at a time. Here are our current favourites:




                       


               


A reading area with some large cushions plus some built in shelves with current rotations on - including a mini steel drum which sound lovely when played! And a set of transport puzzles, each in a rope basket (from Homesense).







Read More

Free Printable – Mini Postcards

Monday, September 20, 2021

No comments


This week’s freebie is a little postcard, designed to help you write down and remember your family’s favourite moments! I realised in our family that there are many times when something funny or memorable happens, but often it’s not something that is captured by a photo. So I created these little postcards for you to write moments down – it could be a funny thing your child (or anyone in your family!) has said, or something that happened that made you smile. There is also a space for the date at the bottom.

Then you can look back on them (at the end of each year, or any time really) and have a laugh or remember that moment, that may otherwise have been forgotten! I got ours printed online from Printed.com (we are in the UK) and you can just upload the A7 size JPG file on their Postcards section https://www.printed.com/order-wizard/product-options/postcards. Or you could print them at home. I keep the blank and written on postcards with all of our pens and stationery in the living room, so that it’s easy to grab one and write in it anytime.

You can download the individual A7 (105x74mm) JPG file, or I have also created many to an A4 or US Letter page, if you wanted to print them that way and then cut them up. Enjoy!

DOWNLOAD HERE





Read More

DIY sticker scene

Monday, August 9, 2021

No comments

We recently received a kind gift of a WH Smith voucher and it was so fun looking for some Montessori aligned books there! Unfortunately there were not that many that were based on reality but I did find a few (I will post about the others separately) and one of them was this sticker book.


It is full of clear photos of animals and today I decided to create a scene for them, so they have somewhere to go. I used a few sheets of our A2 sugar paper to create some land, grass and a sun and stuck them on with double sided tape. It took me about 5 minutes in total, in the morning, while he watched me. I love this paper as it fits perfectly on to our Ikea LATT table.









Links to products mentioned:


Sticker Book

A2 sugar paper (pack of 250) 

Ikea LATT table (ours is second hand)


Read More