Fun things to do with toddlers - Teddy Bear's Picnic

If you go down to the woods today you're sure of a big surprise,

If you go down to the woods today you'd better go in disguise,

For every bear that ever there was,

Will gather there for certain because,

Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic.

Today we had a little teddy bear's picnic in the living room, inspired by my friend Vicky.  Boris was sleeping when I set up the picnic.  I put down a plastic mat (in anticipation of spills) with a blanket over the top, and laid it with Boris' toy tea set and several teddies.  I boiled the kettle and made tea (cooled down with cold water) in his tea pot, filled the jug with some watered down almond milk and put a bit of sugar in the sugar pot. I put on a CD with the Teddy Bear's Picnic song on it then woke him up with a whispered "something is happening in the living room!"

He was very excited to see the picnic set up on the living room floor, although we have pretended to make and drink tea with his tea set before he wasn't sure what to do so I made a cup of tea then he had a go pouring the tea from the tea pot through the strainer, adding milk and stirring in sugar.  Of course being a toddler he didn't make tea the "proper" way, he poured tea into the milk jug, poured all the milk into one cup, poured all the sugar into one tea cup, poured the tea from the tea pot via the top rather than the spout and slopped all the tea leaves from the strainer onto the rug.  But he seemed to enjoy it and liked making sure that all the teddies had some tea, I certainly enjoyed the magical feeling of it all and the pleasure on Boris' face. 

This was a useful activity for improving Boris' fine motor skills.  When he is a bit older this will be a great activity for learning about turn taking, sharing and table manners.
Have you ever had a teddy bears picnic with your toddler?  I will definitely be doing this again in future, maybe in the garden next time and maybe with food.

Our tea set is this one from Amazon

Mindbomb Monday

In the 1970's the founders of Greenpeace came up with the idea of using electronic media to communicate revolutionary ideas, they came up with the tactic "mindbomb" whereby they would use simple images, delivered by the media, that would "explode in people's minds" and create a new understanding of the world.
On some Mondays I hope to share an image that might be considered a "mindbomb" that could get people thinking throughout the week ahead.  I won't include any words with the image as I hope the image alone will speak for itself.  Sometimes I will use images found online, other times it will be my own photographs and they will reflect something that has spoken to me from the past week.  It might be shocking, inspiring, confrontational or uplifting.
If you would like to join in please share your "mindbomb" in a comment.

On Turning 31

Today I turned 31.
31 on the 31st May; that feels meaningful.
Turning 31 feels different to turning 30, better; 30 hangs in the air like a partially deflated balloon from a party that you should have already left. 31 on the other hand has a sense of purpose to it.  I am now IN my 30's as opposed to clinging hopelessly to my late 20s. The party is most definitely over and it's time to clean up, it's time to get serious.  Oh, that sounds very dull, I don't mean it to.  It's not going to be dull, it's going to be awesome, but it is going to be more purposeful.
I am going to seriously start to enjoy myself, I am going to seriously start to be grateful for all the wonderful things I have, I am going to seriously be positive, I am going to seriously start making meaning in my life and I am going to seriously start crafting a joyful life.
I love that my birthday falls about halfway through the year, it gives me a chance to reflect on the first half of the year and re-focus on my goals, and create new ones. It occurred to me that 10 years ago I was celebrating my 21st birthday, a great milestone year, I had a look through my photos to see what I was up to this time 10 years ago.  I was in my second year of uni at Oxford Brookes studying Fine Art, my house mates and I had a house party with some old school friends and new uni friends. It was an awesome party involving plenty of alcohol, an epic balloon fight, birthday cake and plenty of drunken antics.  Oh now times have changed in 10 years, not just where I am in life but also who my friends are and what I feel is important.  This year all I wanted to do for my birthday was go for a walk in the woods, eat some lunch in a pub, then chill out at home for the afternoon!  No partying here!  But it was all good, it was what I wanted to do and it felt special.  I felt special.  Even hanging the washing on the washing line this morning felt special and different because it was my birthday and it made me realise how important your outlook is on the way you feel.  I have been thinking a lot recently about positivity and more specifically the power of positive thinking, how consciously thinking positively can change how you feel and maybe even what happens to you.  I fully intend on doing some positive thinking in the coming weeks (made easier by the warmer weather and lighter evenings), lets see where that leads!
When we went for a walk in the woods today and I received a message, a little piece of plastic that my husband picked up from the bushes with the words "yes you can" printed on it.  I took this as an answer to a few questions I have had recently.
I feel really good about turning 31 and I think this is going to be a really amazing year. Watch this space!

10 years ago

Now