Create a machine

This idea is brought to you from Kevin!

Sitting on the sofa on Friday evening, wondering how to entertain Henry on a Saturday morning whilst i was going out, Kevin came up with a great project that Henry found fascinating and a lot of fun.

What you need:

Coloured paper (at least 3 colours)

Scissors & glue

An imagination!

In preparation, Kevin cut out around 20 different shapes that he imagined Henry would identify with as part of a machine - cogs, levers, conveyor belts, switches and funnels, using two different coloured papers to make it more interesting. He then stuck the frame work onto the paper (the box in which he envisaged Henry would make the machine).

With Henry they discussed that they were going to make a machine, what the parts might be that Kevin had prepared and how it might work. after that Henry had a free hand in the design of the machine.

Sticking each piece down individually, Henry came up with a pretty impressive end result....it could possibly even work!

When i got home he took the project off the fridge with great enthusiasm and explained what all the bits did in this "gravity making machine".

Definitely one to be replicated.

Build a log cabin from twigs

A number of Henry's friends have a toy that allows you to build log cabins from perfectly moulded imitation logs, small scale of course. I've not got around to purchasing that toy yet, so whilst out dog walking in the local woods and throwing sticks, i came up with this idea for us when we got home at absolutely no cost.

You will need.

At least 20 small twigs. As long, short, thin or fat as you want, just try & get them relatively similar so that the building process is not too frustrating! We had twigs about the thickness of your smallest finger and about 6" long, they worked very well.

Bark. This is optional for the roof. I came across this on my walk and instantly thought "roof"! Otherwise provide more twigs for the roof.

I built the log cabin first so Henry could see what i was suggesting we did with the materials.

I then dismantled it and said, "see what you can do".

Henry needed a little guidance for the first 6 sticks, then i was no longer needed and the structure grew very quickly. With twigs rolling if not balanced correctly, and the slightest nudge destroying the structure this was a patience building as well as a logical thinking exercise.

Once built i asked Henry who may like to live in the small cabin. He came up with "Warehouse Mouse" from his favourite programme of the moment - Imagination Movers! We discussed what the mouse might do in the house - "eat cheese" and how he would get in and out....hmmm that's a tricky one as this rather crude log cabin has no door. Still suggestions of cutting a hole for the door and using different sized twigs were offered...very logical!

The whole exercise lasted maybe only 10 minutes, but Henry enjoyed it. We got rid of the twigs into the garden, and so will look for some of a different size and length again sometime, to repeat the process.

Cooking: Banana,oatmeal,raisin cookies - Yum yum!

Henry loves getting involved in the kitchen. All too often however it ends in me getting cross and it not being fun, because the recipe i've chosen is not really that kid friendly. THIS ONE IS!

Everything is measured in cups or tea spoons.

Henry measured all the dry ingredients in himself with me just showing him where to fill up to in the cup. Then he stirred them all together.

I then added the wet ingredients, let him stir as long as

he wanted then finished the job.

For measuring out the cookies onto the baking tray there is no exact science. Small piles of dough make small cookies, large make large and so on!

We used two teaspoons and i showed Henry how to scrape one spoon off the other to deposit the dough onto the baking sheet. He did about 5 and got bored, but at least he had a go.

One bit of the process that he really got involved in was the tasting! I got a thumbs up for these, from Henry & Kevin and i've managed a few more than i should have too!

Happy cooking.

Recipe provided by a fellow mum Jill - thanks for this! Taken from www.cooks.com

Makes about 25 cookies.

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup unsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup mashed bananas

1/2 cup raisins

1 3/4 cups old fashioned oats

Add chocolate or nuts (optional)

Mix everything together in a bowl. Drop dough by teaspoon on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

Garfield Park Conservatory - Chicago - Trip out

Our family love this place, and at less than an hour's drive from home it is a great resource we have for fun, relaxation, and learning as a family. A great plus is that it is free! We took a trip out on easter Sunday, and had a great time. Henry was happy to explore the whole location for over about two hours. Taking charge of the map and his parents off we went!

First exploration was in the "sugar from the sun" hall. A great voyage of discovery as we explained how the air

plants suspended above us did not require soil to live, how all the plants needed sunlight to thrive. Great excitement ensued as we all spotted the bananna trees and real fruit - something Henry could relate to as he LOVES bananas.

In the children's garden the emphasis is on using the senses. Once Henry found out how sensitive some plants can be to touch, he couldn't help himself from making them all look dead as he stroked their leaves lovingly then disolved into hysterics as the leaves closed shut and the branches drooped.

Spraying the plants with water from a bottle was a hit, as was spraying me!

The children's garden is full of great resources for learning, books and hands on stuff. A very filthy Henry emerged after playing in the soil, potting plants and uncovering bugs for quite some time. Totally engrossed.

With so much to explore we visited the desert house full of cacti, the palm house, where we found a double coconut tree and chocolate plant.....you could see Henry trying to figure that one out!

Every year the conservatory puts on an amazing display of colours in its show house. A fantasic place to explore colours, smells and just to feel a little spring in the air. We did a few plant identifications with simple flowers like tulips, daffodils, and blubells, played find a flower the colour..... and took some amazing photos.

All in all a great trip out, and a great learning experience for Henry.

www.garfield-conservatory.org

Easter egg treasure hunt

Henry has a love of treasure hunts, which Kevin devotes hours to preparing on demand. So this year, the easter bunny prepared a treasure hunt around the back garden to find the eggs.

We placed the first clue inside an egg in a basket on the back step, and the hunt began. Each time Henry found an egg it had to be opened to reveal the treat and the next clue.

Clues consisted of drawings of places in the garden where the eggs were hidden, with some words written on as well, which Henry was at least encouraged to think about!

According to Henry..."the bunny does the best treasure hunts"!

When we complete treasure hunts in the house we try to make some of the clue drawings a little less obvious (not difficult with my drawings) and write the description of the clue location, and encourage the sounding of at least the first letter to get Henry started on what the drawing may be.

As Henry's reading and sounding of letters develops we will move more to words and less pictures.

Sequencing

When i think of sequencing i think of drawing shapes or colours in a row and getting Henry to try & tell me the next one. This however has a short life as it gets boring pretty quickly.

I get as hands on as possible, encouraging the use of words as well as the act of choosing the next item in sequence. The more Henry can actively touch the better. The following are a few fun ideas that i've done.

Pizza making - we made the pizza together and i took photos of each stage, which i have since printed out and get Henry to order on their own. But while we made the pizza i encouraged the words "next" and "then". I've done a little slide show of the pizza sequence.

Other ideas we have had fun with are:

* Making a sandwich - encouraging the description of what we are doing, but also encouraging Henry to actually work out what physically comes next (e.g. butter before the cheese).

* Getting dressed - lay out clothes and ask what comes first, last etc.

*Using coloured M&Ms for actual sequencing lines on the floor - every time he gets the sequence right he gets one to eat!

* Use socks of different colours to create sequences.

*Pieces of clothing layed out - figure out what comes next - sock, T shirt, sock......

*Playgough shapes - make the first 3 or 4 then get Henry to make the next out of the playdough.

*Favourite books or characters - we do this with Thomas books and Paddington and Dr Seuss. Simple is one after each other, but this can be made pretty tricky.

You can sequence with ANYTHING. Forget the drawings in a book, if you want an attention grabbing exercise that is developing so many areas of learning go physical and touchy feely!

Easter egg tree

So we are making the most of having Easter as our theme at home this week. Yesterday we made an Easter egg tree. I guess you could make the eggs out of anything to hang on the tree, but the following worked well with Henry.

You will need: card, tissue paper, glue, scissors, twigs, sand and a pot.

I cut out loads of squares

of tissue

paper of different colours. Both Henry & i did a page each (moral support and racing each other seemed to improve Henry's attention span).

We then pasted glue onto the card & got sticking. I totally let him do his own colour choices! A few white spaces are no big deal, but look to try & cover the card, and then paint a layer of glue over the top of all the tissue to secure it down & make it shiny.

It took us about 30 minutes to do the sticking, after which

we took a break to let the glue dry.

Once dry, flip the card over & trace around an egg shape as many times as possible on the page. Henry is just learning letters so i wrote "egg" on the back of the egg. Our eggs were about 3" long.

This was the first time I've ever asked Henry to trace anything other than his hand, it took a few goes, but he quickly got the hang of it.

I let Henry cut out as many eggs as he could, but it was pretty tough for

him with the card & stuff stuck on top. He managed 3 which was more than i expected.

We then paired the eggs up so that when they hung they would look good from any angle. We punched holes near the top of each egg, then threaded cotton through the holes & knotted it. I encouraged Henry to do some threading, and he managed a few eggs, though it was a pretty fiddly process, real fine motor skill development & hand & eye co-ordination.

The most fun bit for Henry - running round the garden to find

twigs for our Easter tree, filling a container with sand from hi

s sand box, then making the tree!

Hanging the eggs was really satisfying after such a long process - kept us occupied for a few hours & the tree looks great in our living room.