Home Preschool - Sand hand print

Quite often when I come up with an activity for the boys I get caught up in the moment and forget to take photos of the process, sometimes it's only after that I think "Oh I had better take some photos for the blog!"  so please forgive the serious lack of development photos, I will try to describe it as best as I can so you get get the picture. 

Following on with our Seaside theme, and thinking about hand and foot prints in the sand I thought it would be interesting for Boris to help make a permanent memento of his little hands in plaster of Paris, but with a beachy, sandy effect to make you think of holidays on the beach. 

To to do this activity I began with a small plastic bowl that I pressed some sand in to.  I then got Boris to press his hand into the sand and I neatened it up after he took his hand away, I had to press it quite firmly in and press in each finger.  

Next in a separate bowl I mixed up some plaster of Paris by pouring in some water then adding the powder until I got a creamy texture, I got Boris to help me scoop the powder and pour it into the bowl and give it  stir with a wooden spoon.   

Next Boris helped me pour it onto the sand and I gave the bowl a little nudge to get any air bubbles out.  

I left it about 15 minutes to set then carefully tapped it out.  I have it a little brush with a dustpan brush to get the lose sand off, and there you have it!  A lovely sandy hand print. 

Don't forget to stay tuned for my brilliant GIVEAWAY coming soon.

7 Days of Vegan Breakfasts - Smoothie bowl

Phew it's hot in this part of the UK at the moment, I am loving it, playing out in the garden, with the water table and running through a sprinkler, when it's sunny it just cheers you up and makes you feel glad to be alive.  It is days like these when I am beyond thankful that I am a full time mum and about to be outside making the most of the weather instead of being in a stuffy office (been there) or classroom (been there too).

So what better way to honour the hot sunny weather than to enjoy a cooling smoothie bowl for breakfast. 

I used frozen berries in mine to make it extra cool and refreshing.

I just whiz it all up in my blender,

And it comes out looking like sorbet,

I add some finishing touches,

The dig in,

It's a thing of beauty!

In this smoothie bowl I used a glass full of frozen mixed berries, topped up half way with orange and mango juice, the added several tablespoons of soya yoghurt and the a squirt of maple/carob syrup blend.  I add this because I just don't find the fruit sweet enough, it's a bit sharp on my palette so the syrup just sweetens it up beautifully.  I then add a sliced banana on top with some goji berries, then I sprinkle on some linseeds, chia seeds, sunflower and pumpkin seeds.  

It's delicious, refreshing, satisfying, a perfect breakfast for a hot summer day. 

Don't forget I will be doing an exciting GIVEAWAY soon, so call back again, you can like my facebook page or subscribe by email to my blog to keep up to date with what's happening. 

Home Preschool themes - Seaside 1

I have been struggling for a while with coming up with ideas for themes that my children would find fun and interesting, but then the sun really started shining, the shorts were on, the flip flops donned, the sun cream slathered. So The Seaside seemed like an obvious choice, why didn't I think of it sooner. 

I got the water table out (this was a really great buy because it's so versatile): 

and filled it with a scintillating variety of sensory stimulating materials including sand, shaving foam, water beads and hair gel!

The hair gel was just 16p from ASDA!  I used 1 1/2 tubs, the shaving foam was £1 also from ASDA, I got the waterbeads and little animals on line and the sand from our sandpit! It probably cost about £5.15 in total, but of course I can re-use the animals and water table.

I really enjoyed setting it up a little bit secretly then bringing the boys out for the big reveal.  They were very curious and tentative at first, not sure about touching the more slimy materials, but soon getting stuck in and eventually very purposefully smooshing it all though their hair!

I really enjoyed watching them play and mostly left them too it, but could have asked them some open questions to get them thinking such as what does the shaving foam/hair gel/water beads feel like? What are the animals doing/thinking? What creatures do you find at the seaside?  What sort of things do you like to do at the seaside? etc.

Boris even did a bit of imaginative play with the little sea creatures which really thrilled me because has just been getting into it and it's so sweet.  This activity was great for stimulating the senses and relaxing, it was also good for fine motor skills with the boys practising the pincer movement by picking up the animals and water beads, they also had to work on co-operation whilst playing together at the table and taking turns. 

Towards the end it had turned into a bit of a swamp!  But it was fairly easy to clean up.  I scooped out and rinsed the water beads in a colander to use again then just hosed out the table. Good clean fun. 

Check back in a few days time for more seaside related activities for toddlers/preschoolers. And if you have got this far, I will be doing a GIVEAWAY in a few days time so be sure to check back.  You can sign up by email on the right side bar, or you can stay up to date by liking my facebook page.