Play and Learn Every Day

Halloween Sensory Box

20:23

Happy Halloween! Today Ethan played with his Halloween Sensory Box! He's still not ready for any small bases to the box that he could choke on, so I used rice cereal (I tried to colour it orange and black, but it didn't work, so we went with plain). We put in a monster bowl, orange spoons, the pumpkin carving spoons and black spiders.

Ethan loved using his senses to explore everything in the box. Sensory boxes are great for developing his Knowledge and Understanding of the World. He was scooping up the cereal, stacking up the toys, chewing on the spider (he didn't like that!) and of course having a little taste of the cereal too.

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1 year old

Halloween Finger Painting

14:01

Today we did some finger painting for Halloween! I was inspired by a pack of baked beans (of all things) that had little beans as different Halloween characters, and I thought that would be perfect to do with little finger prints instead.

Ethan had so much fun putting his fingers in the paint and smudging it around the paper! At the end we had a lot of oranges smudges, but I did manage to help him to do some nice finger prints that I was then able to add wings for to make a bat and facial features to make a pumpkin, etc. He had some much fun making a mess and creating a picture, great for his Creative Development and I had lots of fun helping him.

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1 year old

Halloween Pumpkin Carving

14:06

Today we started carving our pumpkin for Halloween! I cut off the top and then just let Ethan at it, scooping out all of the super squishy pumpkin!

Ethan absolutely loved it! He was squishing the pumpkin between his fingers and trying to use the scoop to get out more, he was completely focused and could have probably sat there for hours just playing and making a mess. Such a fun activity for Ethan's Knowledge and Understanding of the World as he used all of his senses to explore the pumpkin.

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1 year old

Pumpkin Picking

18:03

Today we went pumpkin picking! There's a great farm, not too far away that we went to last year as well, it's now one of our family traditions. This year was different, because now we could let Ethan crawl amongst the pumpkins, he got very muddy, but it was worth it!

It was great walking practice for Ethan as well, because he held our hands and did some finger walking amongst the pumpkins, great for his Physical Development. It's also just a great thing for him to see vegetables growing in the ground and begin to make connections as to where food comes from, excellent for his Knowledge and Understanding of the World.

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1 year old

Sharing Toys at a Family Party

14:10

Today we went to a big family party and let Ethan crawl around and meet all sorts of people!

Ethan was very happy and didn't take long to warm up and even made some little friends. It was so sweet to see him playing with some of the older children and happily sharing his toys with them. It's so interesting to see how much Ethan has grown up and that he is capable of much more than we expect as part of his Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

1 year old

Halloween Sensory Bottle

18:13

Today we begin to celebrate Halloween! We went to a special Halloween baby music class (Ethan was dressed as a pumpkin, he looked very cute!) And at home he played with his Halloween Sensory Bottle.

We made it with an empty water bottle filled with rice that I had coloured orange (see directions here) along with an assortment of creepy Halloween things. I put in some tiny black spiders and some foil pumpkin decorations that had come off of a Halloween garland. I then glued the lid on as well as taping it to make sure that it was secure. Ethan is too young to play with small toys like this as he may put them in his mouth, so the perfect option is to secure them in a sealed bottle. I also put a few Halloween stickers on the side, just where the bottle was still sticky from the label.

Ethan mostly likes to shake his sensory bottle to hear the sounds, we put on some music and he shakes it as he bounces, he is quite musical, so I try to challenge his Creative Development by having him follow a rhythm. I also told him all about the different things inside the bottle and how they're connected to Halloween, working on his listening skills - a big part of Communication, Language and Literacy.

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1 year old

Playing in the Autumn Leaves

14:12

Today we went out to play in the beautiful, crunchy autumn leaves!

Ethan hasn't done much crawling around outside since it started getting colder, but I just couldn't resist letting him out today. I got some gorgeous photos of him and he got to expand his Knowledge and Understanding of the World by exploring the leaves. He picked them up, threw them around and crushed them between his fingers, so much fun!

1 year old

Ethan's Very Hungry Caterpillar First Birthday Party

22:00

Today was Ethan's First Birthday Party! We hired a lovely church hall for our Very Hungry Caterpillar themed party. We set up a play area for the children, a big table for food, a table for party bags and pressies and put up loads of decorations.

Decorations:

caterpillar with photos for each month
caterpillar made of balloons
caterpillar made of tissue paper pom poms
cake smash photo collage
weekly photo collage
birthday photo – enlarged
welcome sign
balloons and banners

Food:

apples, pears, plums, strawberries and oranges (from the story)
sandwiches (on little rolls made into a caterpillar shape)
rice cakes and carrot puffs
cupcakes (made into a caterpillar shape)

Party Bags:

party bags
bubbles
little Very Hungry Caterpillar book
insect bath toy
little caterpillar toy from Ikea
homemade play dough

Play area:

foam play mats – letters and numbers
tunnel
ball pool
caterpillar themed toys – links, shape sorter, wooden caterpillars, etc
balls and bubbles for the garden
colouring sheets and crayons (for older kids)

It was so much fun, even though Ethan was having a teething day, he still managed to have fun and it seemed that everyone else enjoyed it as well. We feel very blessed to have had so many family and friends join us to celebrate our wonderful little boy!

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1 year old

Rocking Moose

14:18

We got Ethan a rocking moose for his birthday and had such fun playing with it today!

Ethan wasn't sure at first and just wanted to stand and hold onto the moose's antlers, but he soon let me put him on and have a try of riding on the moose. At first I was rocking him back and forth but he soon joined in, moving his body back and forth to make the moose rock. A fun activity for his Physical Development as he quickly learned how to make the moose move on his own.

1 year old

Happy Birthday Ethan!

14:17

Today is Ethan's first birthday! We had a fantastic day of playing together, eating special meals, exploring the aquarium and watching Ethan have his first bite of cake! It was such a special day and we're so thankful to have our wonderful little one year old boy!

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Halloween Sensory Box

Halloween Finger Painting

Halloween Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin Picking

Sharing Toys at a Family Party

Halloween Sensory Bottle

Playing in the Autumn Leaves

Ethan's Very Hungry Caterpillar First Birthday Party

Rocking Moose

Happy Birthday Ethan!

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