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Posted on 11/05/2017

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Exciting news! I'm hosting @get.creative.with this week and my theme is EVERYDAY ITEMS! 🐝
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When Heidi @the_harmony_tree_house
and I launched @everydayplayhacks, we wanted everyone to be able to get involved with crafts and activities. The idea here isn't to use fancy pants, expensive items but take a look at what you have around the house and get creative!
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There are really no limits here: make a castle out of cardboard, use egg cartons to make a sorting game or even make a junk sculpture. I can't wait to see what you come up with 😍

To join in the fun this week, tag your posts with
1️⃣ @get.creative.with #getcreativewith
2️⃣ be following this week’s judge @teach.investigate.play and your hosts @littlebuttondiaries and @ohcreativeday
Sian will spotlight her fave ideas on Sunday and we’ll be sharing loads of ideas throughout the week.
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#everydayplayhacks #creativemum #creativekids #recycledcrafts #kidmade #kidsart #kidscrafts #simpleandfun

Problem solving 💡 Do you immediately rush to your little ones aid when they struggle with an activity? Or do you let them try to problem solve?
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When H (my eldest) was small, I had the tendency to rush in and help straightaway but over recent years I've learnt to hold back and let the kids figure things out for themselves. This is because problem solving helps boost cognitive development.
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Here Z wanted to build a 'really tall tower' out of Duplo but she couldn't reach the very top. She tried a lot of different methods from standing on her tippy toes, combining smaller towers together and turning the tower on its side.
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After giving it a solid try, I suggested another way to build the tower. Whilst it's important that she gives activities a good go, I also don't want her to get really frustrated either. By helping to scaffold her learning, she'll be able to give method 2 shown in the second photo, a try by herself next time.
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This activity was entirely child initiated but comment below if you'd like to see some ideas for problem solving activities on my feed ❤️
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#childledlearning #problemsolving #cognitivedevelopment #childinitiated #playschoolathome

What's this, mamma? ❤️
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For a bit of tummy time exploration this week, I popped some sea creatures in a Voss bottles, then filled with water and food colouring.
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As the weather is now getting warmer here, I actually put this bottle in the freezer for a few hours so that baby E could explore 'cold' but it would work just as well with without being frozen.
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Here are a few benefits of this #babyplay activity:
✔️ Exploring the senses
✔️Helps teething babies (E loved mouthing this bottle!)
✔️Gross motor: E is at the stage where he is reaching and grabbing for everything. A rolling bottle is a great way to explore that.
✔️ Tummy time fun. Helps to occupy babies whilst working on their head and neck strength.
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Elliott is 5 months old here. I would recommend this activity for when your baby has good head and neck control. Never leave a baby unattended whilst they play ❤️
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#everydayplayhacks

Are you okay today? Like really okay?
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When asked this question I nearly always respond with, 'yeah fine.' Even when I've had a crap day. I don't usually get personal on this account, but by talking about my own feelings, I hope to encourage others to do the same.
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Parenthood is magic in many ways BUT it's also okay to admit that it's super hard. Right now, as I type this, I'm taking a 5 minute breather away from the kids because I was literally up every hour of last night with baby E. Right now he is crying because I'm away from him but I just need a little space. (Edit to say, it took so long to write this that they're all in bed now!)
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We're also in the midst of preparing for a massive international move so I've found it incredibly difficult to put my usual enthusiasm into activities when there are just so many things to achieve before we leave at the end of October. I worry about my eldest son, who has made so many friends here. I also worry about making my own friends in a country where my grasp on the language will be limited.
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This instagram community has been more valuable to me than you could ever know. Most of my days are spent alone with the children. My introvert nature means I don't have all that many 'real life' friends and so the isolation can get pretty tough at times. I have beautiful friends on this platform that I can really confide in and even though they live all across Australia and even the world, it means that I don't feel so alone.
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If you are like me and don't have a real life 'village' around you, I would encourage you to use this platform to reach out and find your tribe of people. It's exactly why I started this account. Its grown more than I could ever have imagined but what's even more valuable than the number of likes and follows is the genuine friends I've made.
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Head on over to @ruokday for advice and information on how you can reach out to your friends. Not just today but everyday 💛

$WATER PLAY . Water play is one of our go-to activities. Why? Because it's super duper easy to set up and tends to get played with for ages! . All we did this time was use some of the leftover flowers from a recent nature walk along with our regular pots and pans, making this activity completely free of any extra costs. Winner! . Water is a great sensory activity for calming down fractious toddlers, cooling down on hot days and even adding a bit of mathematical thinking with an introduction to capacity ✔️ . Have you been following @everydayplayhacks? Heidi @the_harmony_tree_house and I are looking for a #everydayplayhacks hero, so go check out the Friday Feature post and contribute your opinions. I'll put a link in my stories 🐝$

EXPLORING COLOURS
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Every week we explore colours in a variety of ways. My personal opinion is that plenty of exposure will lead to better understanding. I don't want Z to just learn her colours (or anything for that matter) by rote.
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I set up an 'invitation to play' using only shades of yellow from a recent nature hunt along with some other items - swipe left to see. I've been learning a lot from the @fairydustteaching summer conference and one of those things is to be a little more intentional with the direction of our invitations ❤️
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Here Z chose to make a yellow flower garden with some lemon scented playdough, wattle and narcissi. Can you tell spring is blooming in Australia? 😍

SNAPSHOTS OF PLAY 📸
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Amazing things happen when you turn off the TV. Whilst we aren't strict 'no television' people, we do have a rule that it doesn't go on before school or straight afterwards. I find this helps the routine and the 9 year old is altogether more with it.
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This rule also helps the kids become more creative and inventive. Yesterday after school H was busy testing out his paddle pop bridge to see how much weight it could take whilst Z colour sorted items with the help of the @grimmswoodentoysau rainbow and semi circle boards.
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This morning, the rainbow was used as a ramp to test how far the toy cars would travel. He predicted that the wooden floor would be a better surface than the carpet and both kids spent most of the morning before school testing out that theory ❤️
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This was entirelyirely child initiated and he didn't need any guidance from me - I love how open ended toys provide these kinds of learning experiences.
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If you're looking for more STEAM based inspirations this week, check out @learning_with_mali_and_v who is hosting @tagfromtheheart this week ❤️

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