Montessori?

We are trying to find an area in which to stay for at least a year in Adelaide – but where to start? Well I guessed that ‘T’s happiness is my happiness adn that sending her to a good nursery with good schools nearby was the most important thing for me, so that is leading our search.

I came accross this Montessori nursery and school online and we are really looking forward to looking round it. I think that ‘T’ is very suited to Montessori education, she is a real thinking and is forever ‘sorthing’ her toys, some of  the below pictures were taken the other day when I found her passing her pretend pasta from one dish to the next, time after time, I’m amazed at how she sets up these little activities for herself and keeps herself entertained with these types of activities. I like the structure, simplicity and early education that the Montessori avenue seems to take, and it seems most suited to how we are at home as well.

When she plays with her play frame she ‘sorts’ and arranges her playsilks on the different slats, and she will sit and play with bricks and duplo for up to 30 minutes alone on a good day.

I really think that she is at teh right stage for a structed nursery now – her energy levels are rising, as is her concentration span (and her constant chatting!) I can’t believe how fast this time has gone and as much as I look forward to seeing her excel in a nursery, which ever one we decide on, I know it’s another chapter that will be closed. My little girl is growing up so fast before my eyes and it scares me!

Handmade doll and felt food swap

Do you remember a while I go I did a post about a swap I was going to be doing with Laura from Under Rainbows? In November I noticed that Laura ‘liked’ some of the felt fruit and veg in my Etsy store, so I contacted her and thanked her and had a look at her shop too and noticed that she made the most beautiful Waldorf dolls, I left a note saying I would like one some day for ‘T’ though couldn’t afford one at the moment and then she wrote back with the fantastic idea of doing a swap. I was delighted!!!

I quickly got to work making the food for Laura’s children for their Christmas present. I made:

• a fish
• a pumpkin
• a carrot
• 2 x mushrooms
• 2 x strawberries
• a pepper
• an onion
• an apple half
• an egg
• a lemon
• an apple
• a tomato
• a turnip
• 

to swap with THIS beautiful doll! :

I am SO pleased wih her, I cannot wait to give her to ‘T’ for her Birthday at the end of March – I think she fits in well at home don’t you?! Laura was so kind as she even made an extra dress out of the same material that I made ‘T”s first Birthday dress from as well as her little dungarees, blouse, knitted cardigan, hat and socks.

It has been so nice to take part in this swap, it feels much nicer to trade in this way and to really make something and think of other children opening them on Christmas day – has anyone else taken part in a swap? Oh and we need a name for dolly too – so if anyone has any names then do let me know!

Thank-you Laura for your amazing talent and for making such a beautiful dolly, it will be treasured, looked after and cared for for years to come. x

(PS – I’m hosting 2 x FAB giveaways at the moment – the one here is to win some adorable Japanese fabric and the other one here is to win some Japanese craft books of your choice!)

……………and of course, don’t forget to head over to another week of ‘Handmade Monday’ over at 1st Unique Gifts xx

In the Christmas stocking……….

I’m such a believer in children having good quality toys that are chosen for the right reasons. I’m also a strong believer of not going over the top with toys for children at Christmas for a number of reasons (but then that’s a whole other blog post!) So I have carefully thought about the toys that ‘T’ will be getting this year.

She will hang her stocking at the end of her bed on Christmas Eve and Father Christmas will deliver the following: (so his elves have told me)

• Ostheimer owl
• Ostheimer stag
• Ostheimer doe
• Ostheimer chicken
• Ostheimer hedgehog
• Ostheimer cockerel
• Lyra ferby pencils
• Mini Maisy Mouse Christmas book
• Wooden ladybird necklace and bracelet
• A torch
• Belle and Boo tin
• Belle and boo cookie cutter
• A tub of play doh
• Some slipper socks
• Miniature Cath Kidston bag
• Chocolate coins (T’s first ever bit of chocolate!!!!!)

I can’t wait to snuggle up in our bed on Christmas morning and watch ‘T’ as she unwraps her presents. Apart from the stocking she also has a wooden tool box to keep all of her art things in and a play-frame and some silks, but we’ll save them for after her lunchtime nap. It’s going to be a busy and fun-packed day. (YEY!)

this moment……….

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. – soulemama

(feel free to add a link to your own ‘this moment’ in the comment section below)

 

Clay

After seeing so many ‘pins’ of cute handprints made by little toddlers I decided that I needed to get some air-drying clay for ‘T’ and I to make some things out of. She absolutely loves playing with her play-doh so I thought this would appeal to her (which it did, a lot!) Here are some of the ideas I got from Pinterest (click here to see my boards if you would like to see the websites they are from):

We did several hand prints and a couple of foot prints. She was so proud of the foot ones and kept saying ‘ook’ (look) and pointing to them. It’s so nice to be able to do these activities with her now and I’m really enjoying the almost conversations that we are having, I know it won’t be long before she’s chatting away to herself constantly.

Once the prints have dried we will paint them. Will update in this space once we have the finished pieces!

Beds!

‘Beds!’ is what ‘T’ shouts at me excitedly several times a day………….. she has lately been playing ‘beds’ which is where I have to go to bed and she says ‘shhhh’ to make me go to sleep and then after a few seconds shouts ‘bay-gak!’ (wake-up!) for me to wake up – she NEVER tires of this game and sometimes it can go on and on!

She loves to be snuggled up in our big cosy bed. She has only ever slept in our bed during the first few weeks of her life but she loves being in our bed. I feel very lucky to be able to have the time to sometimes just slow down and enjoy the little things in life as ‘T’ learns about them.

Love you ‘T’, so much xxxx

Dolly walks

A recent favourite activity for little ‘T’ is simply taking Dolly for a walk in her pushchair. I picked the dolly up at a charity store and the pushchair was from freecycle so they are perfect for taking out and about without worrying too much about them getting grubby.

We walk to a park nearby us sometimes, it only takes about 5 minutes if you walk at an average pace but it’s an hour round trip with Dolly in the pushchair.

T loves to show the ducks to the Dolly and last week she saw a snail, stopped and got Dolly out of the pram and said ‘oook Dolly…..nail!’. Oh that melted my heart!!

Sometimes it’s just the simple things that are the most interesting for these little ones and just stopping to look at asnail and go for a walk is so enjoyable for ‘T’, which makes it enjoyable for me too 🙂

Potato painting

It’s getting rainy and darker outside so less trips to the park and more indoor activities are needed. After preparing dinner and a trip to the shops yesterday morning we came back to do some potato painting and tent-building.

The potato printing started off well…………

Got a bit messy……..

But was all good fun!

Now for a stroll in the woods – I think our waterproofs and wellies are going to be needed…………

xx

Wooden play clips and making an indoor tent

I have been looking for some wooden play clips for a while and my friend suggested I look on Etsy for some (why oh why didn;t I think of that myself?!) Anyway – I found some from ‘Birch Leaf Designs’ and they are fantastic! The service was great and they arrived in no time at all.

Here are some photos of our first indoor tent made with the clips:

I also purchased another little something from the same store but that’s hidden away for Christmas!

Wooden Dolls House

Months ago I decided that I’d like to get ‘T’ a dolls house for Christmas this year – I hunted one down for a great price on ebay – it really is beautiful and I had put it away until nearer the time – that was until I came accross this little one today and just had to get it! After much consideration I have listed the previous one on ebay as it is too big for our little house and not as nice as the other one I found today in a charity shop. I’m going to re-paint the roof, give it a good clean and may decorate it too – I’m not sure yet……either way I’m so pleased with it – hopefully it will be in her room for years to come and she’ll get lots of fun out of it.