Happy Easter!  We started the day with a lovely surprise from the Easter Bunny, a basket full of Easter presents!  Ethan got books and toys in his basket.  Then we had an Easter egg hunt (I put a few Cheerios and raisins in each little plastic egg).  




Ethan was great at finding the eggs and putting them in his basket (stopping to snack, of course!) Then in the afternoon we went to Ham House for the Cadbury Easter Egg Trail, walking around together, following the clues to get a treat at the end.  All this searching and finding is lots of fun and great for Ethan's Knowledge and Understanding of the World.


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Today we went to the Science Museum.  We have taken Ethan once before, but he was only about 9 months old and napped for part of the time we were there.  It was very different this time, with him walking around and able to explore things himself.  It was very busy (as it's a Saturday) so we went straight down to the basement.  I knew there was a water play area down there (The Garden), but unfortunately it was flooded, so we explored the other areas.



We saw one area about switches around the home, so we knew that would be a hit!  Ethan just had so much fun walking around, pressing all the buttons and picking up the phones to hear the recordings.  We then went to explore the Web Lab, which Ethan enjoyed again because of the buttons to press, headphones to listen to and touch screens to play with.  Finally we went to watch the Bubble Show, Ethan loves bubbles and it was interesting for us to watch as well, with all the different gases and experiments with bubbles.  A fantastic day out, lots to see and do even for a child as young as Ethan.  We'll definitely be going back there, so much to learn and develop Ethan's Knowledge and Understanding of the World.

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Today we had a busy day, but we managed to find time to play!  We made paper chains in the morning to decorate the house for Easter.  



I had bought some pre cut paper with sticky ends, which made it a lot easier.  Ethan helped me to dip the end of each piece of paper onto a wet sponge and then we made a circle with the paper together and formed a chain.  It wasn't an independent task for Ethan as I had to do most of it, but we had fun as we worked on it and had some nice decorations when we finished.  A good activity for Ethan's Creative Development, and one to try again when he's older and able to make them with less help.

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Today we made crispy nests for Easter.  It was our first attempt at "baking" together.  I thought we'd start simple, basically just stirring!



I got Ethan to help me to break up the chocolate (while in the packet) and while I melted the chocolate and gave him a bowl, spoon and some cornflakes to play with.  When it was ready I poured the chocolate and more cornflakes into the bowl and we stirred it up together.  Of course the temptation was just too much, and he had to try some chocolate covered cornflakes (his first bite of chocolate!) and then I had him help me to scoop the mix into cupcake cases and we placed a few mini eggs on each one.  It was really fun to prepare food with him, he was so interested in the whole process (especially the taste testing).  It was great for his Knowledge and Understanding of the World, learning to prepare food and opens up a whole new world of activities that we can do together.

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Today we made lots of Easter presents and Easter cards, then this evening we played with glowing Easter eggs!  We had a glow in the dark egg hunt, and even took our glowing eggs to the bath tub!





What you'll need:

• plastic Easter eggs
• small glow sticks (we used a glow stick necklace with small beads)

I bought a glow stick necklace and took the individual beads and put one in each egg. You can then tape the eggs shut, especially if you're using small bead glow sticks as you wouldn't want your little one to choke on them.  



Then I let Ethan explore and play with them in the dark and watch while we played with them and juggled them around. Then we took them to his room and put them around the room for him to find.  Finally we put them in the bathtub for him to play with in the dark.  


He was absolutely fascinated from start to finish.  Just exploring things in the dark, walking around in the dark to find the eggs, and having a bath in the dark were such different experiences for him.  He loved exploring and playing with the eggs, a fun activity for his Knowledge and Understanding of the World and definitely something we'll do again.



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Today we decorated an Easter hat for Ethan!  Why should girls have all the fun with Easter bonnets?  We found a simple yellow Easter hat and decorated it with ribbon, Easter bunnies and Easter chicks.



We used double sided tape to stick all of the items on, which we haven't used before, and is a fascinating thing in itself!  So we played with the tape for a little while, and then started sticking things on.  I did some of the trickier bits for him (like the ribbon) but he happily stuck the other items on, with me pointing out where to stick them.  We tried the hat on him between sticking on the items to admire how good he looked in it.  We had fun sticking everything on and creating the hat as part of his Creative Development, and he proudly wore it on his head when we finished.

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Today we used the egg cut outs from yesterdays stained glass Easter eggs to make some more Easter artwork.  We got out the paint, brushes and stampers to decorate the eggs.



Ethan has been loving painting recently, so I am more than happy to let him paint as often as he likes.  It's fun to watch him explore the texture and to see him actually using the brushes and stampers properly to decorate the egg shapes.  Such a great activity for his Creative Development as he learns to paint using brushes and stampers.

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Today we made Stained Glass Easter Eggs.  I have been wanting to use my contact paper for this type of craft since we made snowflakes with it at a toddler group in December.  It was just so fiddly though and Ethan kept sticking it together.  So I was very excited to find this technique on Danya Banya that uses a paper border to make stained glass window Easter eggs that even a toddler can make.  It made all the difference and we were able to make these with no crinkling as Ethan was able to hold onto the paper and easily stick things to the plastic.



Ethan very attentively stuck on confetti, by handfuls and piece by piece to create a lovely Easter egg.  He really seemed to enjoy the activity and loves looking at the finished product up on the window.  A great activity for his Creative Development, especially as he was happy to play with it for longer than he does any colouring activities.

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Today we put more of our plastic Easter eggs to good use!  We made egg shakers with lots of things that we already had around the house, and then had fun playing with them! 



What you'll need:

• plastic Easter eggs
• pasta
• rice
• mini metal cookie cutters (or other small metal items)
• plastic drink lids (or other small plastic items)
• masking tape

We put pasta, rice, metal cookie cutters and plastic lids inside different eggs to make different sounds.  Then we taped them up with masking tape to keep the contents inside.


Ethan loved making the shakers, it's activities like these that show me how much more he's capable of now that he's older.  He was able to help to put the items inside the eggs (I let him dump out the bigger things and put them back in a few times) then he would hand me the egg to close and tape (he even helped with the tape!) and then I would hand it back to him to shake it.  


Such a fun activity for us to do together, and now we have shaker eggs that he can play with and make music with as a part of his Creative Development.


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Today we made Easter cards and presents for Ethan's friends.  On Pinterest I found loads of great ideas to use a piping bag filled with orange jelly beans or chocolate eggs to look like a carrot.  Great ideas, but I made an adjustment to make it more suitable and healthy for the toddlers.  



What you'll need:

• piping bags
• Organix carrot sticks
• green ribbon or cord
• card
• crayons
• glue
• cotton balls

We got the piping bags and filled them with Organix Carrot Stix snacks (organic with no sugar or salt, and the kiddies love them!) and tied the tops with some green cord to look like carrot leaves.  Then we made bunny cards to tie to them.  I printed out a bunny picture onto card, Ethan coloured it in and then we stuck on a cotton ball for the tail.



Ethan was very interested in pouring the carrot stix into the bags (and may have had to try one to make sure they were good :)  He loved sitting in my lap at the computer to choose a bunny picture to print out, and watching it come out of the printer.  He still needs a bit of convincing to do colouring in for more than 5 seconds, but he loved putting on the glue and sticking on the cotton ball.  It was a fun activity for Ethan's Creative Development and made some lovely little gifts for his friends.


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Today we made Spring Daffodil Pinwheels, I found the idea on Nurturestore, a fantastic website full of great ideas for crafts to make with kids.  I chose this because it seemed like the perfect way to celebrate Spring, it didn't seem too difficult to make and I thought that Ethan would enjoy playing with the windmill when it was finished.  



It was a lot more difficult to make than expected, as I didn't have a stapler and especially as my helper wasn't that helpful and kept ripping it!  I had him colour the paper as his contribution to making it and then put it together myself, but it didn't spin!  So my advice is to save this one until they're a bit older and maybe do a trial run while they're napping!  We're off to go buy a pre made pinwheel this afternoon ;)

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Today we did some Easter painting with stampers!  I bought these Easter stampers at a small local shop, but you could make your own potato stampers like we did for Valentine's Day if you can't find any to buy.  



What you'll need:

• paint (I used Crayola Finger Paint but you could make your own finger paints like I did last July to make a Canada Day Handprint Flag)
• Easter stampers
• paper

Ethan was really interested in using the stampers, I put paint on the first one and then held his hand and stamped together.  Of course he then wanted to put his finger in the paint and smear it around, we're not creating masterpieces so I let him explore.  He then wanted another stamp and more paint and became more confident in stamping on his own.  He did create a masterpiece in the end and I am one proud Mommy after watching him learn how to use the stamps so quickly.  A fun activity for Ethan's Creative Development that he really enjoyed and spent some time doing.

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Today we made an Easter egg mosaic.  I printed out an Easter egg (just from Word clip art) and cut out some pastel coloured egg shapes.  I used a glue stick to put glue all over the big egg and then showed Ethan how to stick the little eggs on.



I often find it difficult to keep Ethan engaged with arts and crafts, but this activity was simple and he was free to stick and peel off the eggs as he pleased.  He could also easily walk away and come back to it (with me just adding a bit more glue). It was more about the process than the finished product, but it does look quite lovely.  A fun activity for Ethan's Creative Development.  Now I just need to find a way to display all of his masterpieces :)

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It's only 2 weeks until Easter, so we're starting our preparations today!  We love holidays and celebrations, it's great to have a theme for our activities and inspires me to expose Ethan to lots of different things.  Today we made a simple sensory box filled with Easter themed things that were safe for Ethan to explore.



What you'll need:

• plastic Easter eggs of various sizes
• Easter grass
• chicks
• bunnies
• toy flowers

Ethan absolutely loves the plastic Easter eggs.  Opening and closing them, putting things inside and then shaking them to make a sound.  He dumped out the whole box, covering himself in the Easter grass and then we tickled his feet with it.  He really enjoyed exploring everything in this box and played with it for ages, a great sensory activity for developing his Knowledge and Understanding of the World.


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Happy St Patrick's Day!  We don't usually celebrate, but there were so many fantastic ideas popping up on Pinterest that I thought that we really should do a little something, so we drew some rainbows!  But as Ethan's co ordination isn't quite that good yet we taped the crayons together in rainbow order to make it easier, identifying the colours as we went along.



I taped some crayons together, drew a rainbow for Ethan to show him how to do it, and then let him explore.  Of course he was very interested in taking the tape off the crayons, but once I showed him how he could draw with them he became interested.  He drew some nice rainbow-y squiggles, enriching his Creative Development and made a masterpiece :)

Today we used an empty baby wipes box to do some posting.  The first thing we did was decorate the wipes box with all sorts of stickers (but Ethan kept peeling them off, so it looked a mess and I ended up covering it with tissue paper while he napped).  We had been collecting milk bottle lids, and they were the perfect things to put in our box.



The box has a funny opening, so it was a challenge for Ethan to figure out how to put the lids in. Once he got it he was happily putting the lids in and then trying to figure out how to open the box to get them back.  A great activity for Ethan's Physical Development as he had these challenges to his fine motor control.   I also counted the lids as he put them in, and could further develop the activity by putting numbers on the lids to make it more of a Mathematics activity as well.

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It's Red Nose Day today and we having lots of fun with noses!  Unfortunately we weren't organised enough to set anything up to raise money (and our oven's broken, so we can't even bake!)  But we donated yesterday while listening to Radio 1, and I'm sure we'll donate tonight while watching the show.  Plus we've been buying lots of Red Nose Day goodies!  


So we played with our noses today (I've got a few red noses from past years as well) wearing them, throwing them around, counting them, and balancing them in these great little metal cups!    Ethan's sense of humour seems to be really developing, he giggles like crazy when he sees people fall down and he also found these noses hilarious.  It's so much fun watching him develop and learn about being funny and laughing, a big step in his Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

If you'd like to donate to Comic Relief please click on the link :-)

I've seen this idea floating around Pinterest for a while now, I wouldn't know who to give credit to for creating it as everyone seems to be doing it, but today we gave a try to sticking things in the colander holes.  We used straws and pipe cleaners, both interesting and challenging.



I only had to show Ethan once before he was putting straws in at super fast speed.  We turned the colander the other way around, bent some of the straws and then added pipe cleaners all to add challenges.  Ethan definitely needs to continuously be encouraged and challenged, this was a great activity for his Physical Development as he used his fine motor control to put the items into the small holes.

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Today we had a lazy day at home, neither of us are feeling very well so there was a lot of snuggling and playing simple games that didn't involve too much moving around.  One that Ethan particularly enjoyed and that we played over and over again today was Pat-a-Cake.  What made it interesting was that I was using my hands and clapping with his feet, which also made it absolutely hilarious :)  

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker's man.

Bake me a cake as fast as you can;

Roll it, Pat it and mark it with B,

Put it in the oven for baby and me.

Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man.

Bake me a cake as fast as you can;

Roll it up, roll it up;

And throw it in a pan!

Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man.

Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man.

Bake me a cake as fast as you can;

Roll it up, roll it up;

Put it in a pan;

And toss it in the oven as fast as you can!

Today Ethan created his own activity!  He used a wooden ramp that came with a different toy (a little duck that walks down it) and started making his cars go down the ramp instead.  



The cars would go down the ramp, then off the table and drive along the floor.  I was so impressed with Ethan's creativity in making up his own game, his Physical Development in being able to make the car drive along different surfaces and his Knowledge and Understanding of the World in knowing that all of this would be possible.  Today my little boy taught me something :)

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Today is Mother's Day in the UK, so Daddy and Ethan were in charge of the activities!  We had a fantastic day together, they are both very thoughtful, and they made me a heart that says 'Mom' <3

It means so much to me that they made me something, they worked together cutting, sticking and colouring.  Sweet and thoughtful and wonderful for Ethan's Creative Development.

Today we played with threading beads.  I was reading the Child Development book the other day and saw that for 18 months children should be able to thread beads, but of course we didn't have any for Ethan to practice on.  I searched and most beads seem to say for 3 years and up, these are from 2 and up, so if you do buy them please be sure to keep an eye on your little one while they play.


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We went to the bookshop yesterday and bought one of the World Book Day books for a pound.  We got the Giraffes Can't Dance colouring and puzzle fun book (which of course inspired me to order Giraffes Can't Dance and a few other books by Giles Andreae; Commotion in the Ocean and Rumble in the Jungle, all fantastic books that I loved to read to kids at school and forgot all about).


The activity book has an excerpt from the story, so we read that through and then put on the music and started to dance!  We listened to Even More Beautiful Creatures, a gift that we got in South Africa.  Ethan loves this CD and it's about African animals, so it was the perfect choice.  We had so much fun dancing to the music, pretending to be giraffes, a great Friday afternoon energising activity and fantastic for Ethan's Creative Development.

It's World Book Day and we're reading The Gruffalo, by Julia Donaldson.  It's our favourite book, and we read it today with Ethan dressed in his Gruffalo dressing gown :)



I focused on the description of The Gruffalo and we identified all of his body parts on Ethan.  He's able to point at a few things when I ask (where's your head?) but I would like him to be able to locate a few more, so this was a fun way to learn body parts (even if they are on a Gruffalo!)  I also found loads of great activity sheets on The Gruffalo website, including one to match his features to the words.  We didn't use it in that way as Ethan can't read yet, but I cut out the pictures and we made our own Gruffalo bookmark :)  We've had such fun reading and exploring books in the lead up to World Book Day, all to develop Ethan's Communication, Language and Literacy.

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Today we had a doctor's appointment (sore throat, nothing serious) and while in the waiting room we picked up Supermarket Zoo to read.  Oh how we love a new book!  And in continuing with our week of World Book Day activities it's perfect that we found a new book that we loved and that inspired us to play.



So, after reading Supermarket Zoo we came home and went shopping for animals!  We wrote a list of all the animals that we had to buy, and then picked them all up and put them in our basket.  Ethan loved choosing the animals, I read the list and pointed to the animal and then he picked it up and put it in the basket.  He especially liked dumping them out at the end, and then doing it all over again!  Another great story led activity for his Communication, Language and Literacy development.

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Continuing with our lead up to World Book Day we read The Tiger Who Came to Tea today and I got to have a tea party with a very cute tiger :)



Ethan was dressed in his tiger pyjamas, we got out our tea set and he sat in my lap while I read the book to him.  He happily listened and stirred the tea in the cups.  When it came to the tiger eating all the food we pretended to eat, but Ethan's favourite part had to be 'drinking all the tea from the teapot'.  We are loving making our favourite books come to life, all a part of Communication, Language and Literacy as we read and enjoy reading.


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