Toddle Table Tuesday - Builders

My posts for Toddle Table Tuesday I tend to write a week behind so this was from Tuesday past, just a few days following Little Boy Blues discharge from hospital (it also should have been posted yesterday). Our Toddle Table Theme was Builders which is a favourite theme due to Papa being a builder.

Although still recovering Little Boy Blue still made the most of his Toddle Table time and we added in a DVD Here Comes A Digger by Littlebig TV which we picked up at the charity shop the week before.

Our Toddle Table for builders had to have our collection of Bob The Builder toys, our Busy Bag with nuts & bolts and a basket of blocks.

Book List: Topsy & Tim Busy Builders by Ladybird, Building a House by Tom Sutton, The Big Concrete Lorry by Shirley Hughes, Toad Makes a Road from Usborne Phonic Readers Collection, Busy Building Site by Melanie Joyce, Focus on Building Materials by Graham Rickard, Houses of Bark by Bonnie Shemie and Lets Build A House from the Wonderwise Collection. 

The puzzles included a large floor puzzle of a tipper truck, Bob the Builder wooden peg puzzle and a soft foam tool box book puzzle. Little Boy Blue also had his tool box and builders hat so he too could be a builder for the day. Amazingly five minuets after exploring the Toddle Table a digger and truck pulled up outside the house with builders fixing the road, couldn't have timed it better even if I'd planned it myself!

We had a great view of the work going on from the upstairs bedroom window and spent some time watching them set up and popped back every time we heard an interesting noise. Then it was down to the serious work of some building.

Even the big brothers Book Worm and Bug Boy got involved helping with the floor puzzle and building a great city scape.

It is amazing how children bounce back after an illness while we as parents can take some time to get over them being ill and back to normal, at times like that we have pyjama days as you can see.

Challenge Yourself

I have been challenged again and again to 'get out of my comfort zone' more often. For those who read one of my previous posts (http://littleboybluetoddleschool.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/out-of-my-comfort-zone.html) you will know what I'm talking about and rather than avoiding those things I'm trying to embrace them. So each week I plan to try activities that get me 'out of my comfort zone' and last week the things that took me out of 'my comfort zone' were:

Arts and Crafts with the boys.

Here we have some glitter ('cringe' it gets every where!), clear contact paper, black card and a tub. We cut out our shapes on our card and covered one side with the sticky contact paper. We then placed the card (sticky side up) in the tub.

Little Boy Blue and Book Worm (L 8 yrs old) and Bug Boy (S 6 yrs old) had fun sprinkling glitter on top. Most of the glitter did manage to stay in the tub (one happy mummy)! We then stuck another piece of contact paper over the top to seal in the glitter. Hay presto one jewelled heart sun-catcher gift.

The dilemma then was what to do with the cut outs? I do hate waste. Then I remembered something from my own childhood - alternative stencilling or back to front stencilling as we called it because we weren't colouring in the gap in the middle but around the outside of the shapes. So we used a light tack putty to stick the cutouts to black paper and got out our chalk box, we even rubbed it with our fingers!

The effect turned out better than I thought even if I do say so myself! We were all so pleased with it.

Out in the woods.

Last Thursday a friend very kindly had my two older boys Book Worm and Bug Boy over to play. While they were away for the day with their friends I donned a pair of wellies 

Very fetching!

and went for a walk with Little Boy Blue in the woods near our house. It did start off poorly.

So windy his hat came off.

Soft moss & a hole, cool!

We were soon having lots of fun, it was very windy and the noise through the trees was phenomenal, we listened for birds, found sticks for dogs, felt the soft moss, looked in holes for animals and splashed in puddles.

Sticks for dogs!

Unfortunately Little Boy Blue fell into this puddle but I waited till he was back up before taking a picture!

Splish splash.

Our outdoor expedition has been inspired by this excellent blog:

http://nosuchthingasbadweather.blogspot.co.uk/

You may know from my last post that Little Boy Blue was ill on Sunday and some may say no wonder if he was doing this on Thursday but after reading this news paper article http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/9810865/Parents-think-its-too-dangerous-to-let-kids-outside-in-snow.html I am becoming more convinced that (with some common sense) allowing my children to explore, climb, get dirty and fall down will teach them life skills and lessons that they may otherwise miss out on. There was no way of knowing that if we hadn't gone out in the woods that he would not have exacerbated an existing condition and it won't stop us from being out and about again once he's back to full health and strength. 

As parents we do naturally worry "what if" but do we balance this with "what if we don't"?

Mother Knows Best

I know I am running behind with posts, here is the long winded reason why.

Prior to being a stay at home, home educating mummy I had another life in a dedicated, fulfilling and respected profession - I was a R.G.N (Registered General Nurse). I enjoyed my job and found working in I.T.U (Intensive Care) very rewarding, highly challenging and very fast pace dealing with life and death situations minute by minute at times. You would think that with this background I would be brilliant at dealing with my own children's health needs. How wrong you could be!

Approximately a year and a half ago while on holiday Little Boy Blue took ill with what seemed like a typical cold, he was labouring in his breathing a bit so I took him to the Out Of Hours GP where they gave him a nebuliser, said it was probably brochiolitis and sent us off saying "If it gets worse just head to the hospital". He seemed to improve but still have cold symptoms so we happily finished our holiday and headed home.

With in two weeks his cold was back but it was winter and he was run down and it was 'just a cold' you can't really take anything for a cold, Doctors normally find parents going to them for a cold - time wasters! I did as always for a cold the 'nurse' thing - steam inhalations, infant paracetamol and menthol rub. During the night my sons breathing became more laboured, his colour poor and he was lethargic but who wouldn't be sleepy it was the middle of the night! I tried sleeping sitting upright with him on my chest. Nothing seemed to work so I called NHS 24 who sent an ambulance for us and took him in to hospital. They gave him nebulisers and oral steroids and as he improved they prescribed him an inhaler. Two days later we were sent home and told if he is disturbed by coughing in the night or is wheezy when running around to give him the inhaler.

He still hadn't shaken this cold so we went to the GP who told us he didn't think our son needed an inhaler at his age anyway. My husband and I went out on a 'date night' and left Granny to babysit, again Little Boy Blue had a cold (two weeks since leaving the hospital) but it's 'just a cold'. The sight of my mother on return was one I won't forget she was pacing at the front door, child in arms and the phone hand set in hand. She had been trying to contact us and again I did the 'nurse' thing - steam inhalation, paracetamol, menthol rub and sleeping up right with Little Boy Blue on my chest and gave him his inhaler. By 2.30am (2 1/2 hrs later) he was getting worse and we were using his inhaler every hour so we called NHS 24 and they sent out an ambulance. While waiting for the ambulance Little Boy Blue went limp, his eyes literally rolled in his head and had long gaps in his breathing!!! 

WHAT DO YOU DO?

I tried to wake him, pumped his inhaler into him like there was no tomorrow and hubby dialled 999! For the next 12hrs I sat in the hospital with a nebulizer and oxygen mask over his face, they gave him oral steroids, when that wasn't working they tried to find a vein and couldn't! I melted down, then he needed an x-ray and a drip for medication if that didn't work then they were going to intubate! Thankfully the drip medication worked and Little Boy Blue slowly bounced back, after a few days we got home with an inhaler plan (plus a daily inhaler) and we had a clear plan of what to do, when to do it and signs to look for. 

We have had a few instances since then like our trip to hospital on Sunday but I now focus on my 'mummy' instincts instead of the 'NHS nurse' I once was. Mother really does know best and I embrace my motherhood more and more thats why we didn't need to stay in overnight and we are managing his condition. It is very difficult at times to give inhalers to young children, if Little Boy Blue decides not to co operate then we do have to make him take it, I'm sure the neighbours think he's being tortured but I would do anything not to redo that awful night. Sometimes needs must!

Little Boy Blue being co operative, this time!

First Ever Product Review and Giveaway

Firstly let me thank Lindi at Trunk of Treasure (http://www.facebook.com/trunkoftreasure) for allowing us to review a few of the products available from her web site http://web-print.biz/Worksheets/. Also for giving our blog it's first opportunity to have a giveaway! (see below for how to enter)

Sometimes as a home educator here in the UK it can be difficult to obtain resources that are hands-on, engaging and reinforce or introduce concepts, that is why I love the internet and web sites like Lindi's where the resources are available via downlodable pdfs at very reasonable cost. 

If you are a home educator don't be put off buy 'group' or 'classroom' style resources because they can still be used by multiple ages or adapted for single player use as you will see in this post.

We were sent four such pdfs of math games appropriate for our age ranges to review.

2 yrs +

Bee & Fish Math Counting Games

Both packs contained game mat/board, counters, score card and rules. Once printed out all you need are dice, I laminated my parts for durability and used a dry wipe pen for the score card. 

The aim of the math game is for pictorial number recognition (1-6), counting and adding. The packs are easy to follow, brightly coloured, engaging and could be used as part of a cross curriculum theme about either topic. The Bee Math Game has two score sheets one of which had the child count the 2 different bee counters then add them together to get the total so gives the game an added dimension for future use. 

Little Boy Blue had a great time playing these games with his big brothers and as he gets older he will get more out of these games. I do suggest for little ones that you get them to throw the dice into a box to stop it going all over the place, with excitement and enthusiasm ours ended up all over the room!

For independent (single player) play you could write the number on the plat mat/board and have the child put the correct number of counters on the board like the example below.

You may sometimes wonder what Little Boy Blues big brothers get up to while he is having his Toddle School, well now you will get a chance to see them in action!

6 yrs +

Marching Ants Math Game

The pack contained a task sheet (grid), cutout sheet of play pieces and instructions all you need to add is glue and scissors. 

The aim of this game is to improve fine motor skills by cutting out and glueing and skip counting in multiples of 5. Again the pack is easy to follow, brightly coloured, engaging and could be used as part of a cross curriculum theme. My 6 year old S loves bugs so this was a good one for him. S loved the theme and it helped him to independently reinforce his skip counting and also allowed him to cut and glue (what child doesn't like that?)

As I said earlier these resources are so adaptable to your own requirements. I laminated the task sheet (grid) and the cutout sheet pieces then I cut out the pieces and made it into a file folder game for an independent activity centre (see pictures below).

8 yrs +

Multiplication Memory Game

The pack contains multiplication algorithm card (or the sum as we say) and answer cards, all of which I laminated before cutting out, covering 1 times tables to 10 times tables. The cards are bright and colourful and instructions are easy to follow. 

The game is played by placing the algorithm cards (sum cards) on one side and answer cards on the other all face down, players turn over an algorithm card then an answer card if they match then they keep that pair, the player at the end with the most pairs wins. You can choose how many cards to put out and what multiplication table depending on the students ability.

This is a brilliant way to reinforce multiplication facts, I also think that multiplication is something that students struggle to recall with speed and can be very dry and boring but this game makes it an enjoyable thing to do. This pack is going to be an invaluable part of out multiplication learning process.

Unfortunately in our house my eldest L is the only one who has started some multiplication facts so he had to play against me! He is a sore loser and you really don't want to see his grumpy face when he lost! However this pack also lends its self to be adapted for single player use by being made into a file folder game much like the Ant Marching Game (see picture)

Web site

Lindi is based in Australia and her web site is so easy to navigate, she also has a 'wish list' section where you can contact her and request individualised printables, for someone like me who has no ability or time to generate their own resources this is a great facility. Prices are very reasonable for the quality of service and product (please remember to convert prices).

Prize Giveaway

You now have the opportunity to win one of the math games feature in the above review thanks to Lindi at Trunk of Treasure.

The winner will be notified within 48hrs from the end date and time, they will then be able to chose one of the above math games which will be sent to the winner via email (please make sure you give the correct email account). 

Terms & Conditions

We ask that copywrite be followed in that these resources become yours to use with your students and reproduced for your students as necessary, but not be resold or copied or emailed onto someone else.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Toddle Table Tuesday (Farm)

Toddle Table Tuesday - Farm Theme

This weeks Toddle Table Tuesday followed a farm theme, with Little Boy Blues grandparents being farmers there has always been an interest in all things farming related.

I put together various toy farm animals, Mega Blok Farm House and Carousel Tractor & Trailer (which plays 'Old McDonald Had a Farm' and makes animal noises when the animals are put in the correct place) for Little Boy Blue to play with naming them and making the noises as he did.

Together with a peg puzzle and a more complicated 35 piece farm scene puzzle which we did together.

Our books: Farm board book by Bright Baby, That's not my tractor... by Usborne, A Day at Greenhill Farm by Sue Nicholson, The Story of a Tractor by Angela Royston, Farmer for a day by DK along with a couple of small board books.

This week Little Boy Blue had the opportunity for creativity with farm stencils, stickers, paper, farm colouring book and colouring pens. These were all safe for him to play on his own while I did some work with his big brothers.

I love watching to see how Little Boy Blue interacts with what is out on the table. He loved putting all the farm animals in the farm bag and matched the toy animals with the animals on the farm scene puzzle.

I also made a farm animal matching game, I traced pictures of 6 farm animals and wrote the names on & I then got all the toy farm animals and the fenced pen. The instructions were to put the fenced pen on a picture card and put those animals that belonged there into the pen. Little Boy Blue really enjoyed doing this game and each time he collected a set of animals exclaimed "Did it!"

During his break 'L' sat with Little Boy Blue and read some of the farm books from the Toddle Table, it was lovely to witness the care he has for his little brother and they both seemed to enjoy this time together.