Terrific Transport Network owned by kids

One of my children (now 8) who has been with me since he was a baby has quite the train, bus and basically any transport system obsession. He does NOT like or approve of cars however! He has designed a whole transport network for the house and has even made a ticket dispenser, maps and route planners. He and the other children can be heard giving the babies lifts around the house on their ride-on-trucks, saying things like 'if you want bathroom, you're on the wrong train, please change here'. I love the thought that went into this and the confidence he has to run with his ideas and the way he got everyone else on board (sorry!). He has put so much work into it and all the other children were really engaged with this project for several months! It provided lots of opportunities for interesting conversations about the environmental impact, sustainability, building and planning. I absolutely love this and feel so proud of him!

NOTE re the plug sockets: the little babies in my care can't reach these and the older ones who can have learned not to touch them.

Messy fun

Painting is always a firm favourite activity, even if it does mean that most of the paint is on our hands rather than the paper.  Today he spent most of the time asking to do finger painting and concentrated really well on applying the paint to hands and fingers. So pleased with himself! We made some lovely finger painting pictures to take home to show mummy and daddy and learned about colours while we did it. I always keep a big plastic sheet ready to protect the table and the cookie trays at hand as they are brilliant for putting lots of colours in and super easy to wash afterwards.

Thats Not my....

Babies just love the That's Not My....range of books and we have lots of them to keep little ones stimulated and develop their love of books and reading. There is so much learning in these little books and they are so portable and durable too for when we are out at the park, shops or on a school run even. The babies can touch and feel the lovely range of textures, try to find the little mouse who always appears on every page and learn to help turn the pages, taking turns, learning about body parts and animals and colours..... the list is endless. I also find that these books can be useful when children are learning to read as something familiar is comforting and they feel such a sense of achievement when they already know lots of the words.

Helping New Baby settle

We have a new baby and everyone is helping him to settle in by showing him the toys, helping him get things he wants and of course giving him lots of cuddles! Sand pit and cars are always a hit especially when the 2 things are combined! My big girls love helping with the little ones and make them feel like part of the gang very quickly.

Leaving Pressie and Certificates!

I got this! How wonderful to know I'm so appreciated!
We had a lovely party to celebrate the children achieving so much in their time with me and I made little certificates for them to take home. They were super excited and I was only a bit upset to say goodbye (ok a LOT!).

Our Neighbour’s dog!

Meet Rosie our cute new neighbour! Sometimes she pops over the fence, with everyone’s permission of course, and gets a little bit of tickling by the children which we all love. Such a treat getting to experience having a pet nearby. She is very gentle and the children are learning about how to wait and ask before rushing in. We regularly meet her when she’s out having a walk too which is lovely.

Cafe Treats!

One of our treats is to go to a cafe for snack time and sometimes we have baby chinos, even luckier if it's one of those cafes that don't charge for a little bit of warm milk, a ton of tickle froth and chocolate on top of course! Chocolate smiles all around.