How Does She Learn?

I love watching my grand daughter play.

I love that I have the time to do it.

When I was a young parent with my own children there was always

so much to do.

Now I really have the time to watch 

and see how she learns.

Today I watched as she tried over and over to put the yellow tube into the black one.

Perseverance?

Determination?

Curiosity?

Patience?

These were all going through my head as I watched.

All traits of a good learner.

 She finally got!

 And immediately pulled it apart to do it over again.

She even switched hands and tried it again.

The cool thing about today is that these tubes were from the recycling bin.

I didn't have to buy it or create it.

Something to remember when we are providing for our little ones.

She looked pretty pleased with herself.

Toddler Puzzle with a Surprise

I like to make things for my grand children

and I like to recycle

so when I saw toddler puzzles for sale on the swap and shop
I grabbed them and made this.

A family photo puzzle.

She lifted the first, hesitated

then pointed at the picture and said 'da'.

I think she was excited to look under the other pieces.

It was easy to make.

I printed out the photo then traced the puzzle piece 

(that it would be under)

around it.

I diluted white glue with water and pasted it on the wood.

Let it dry before you put the puzzle piece back in.

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Book - Doggies

Sandra Boynton is one of our favourite children's authors at the moment.

"Doggies" is one of my granddaughter's go-to books because she loves dogs.

To enhance the book I gathered ten toy dogs and one cat to set up as a play invitation.

My son in-law introduced the toy dogs with the book.

They decided which dogs would make which kind of bark.

If you haven't read the book then each dog has a distinctive bark

from woof to yip to n-n-n and more.

She loved all the dogs and playing with her dad.

Another day we moved them back into the bin with other props

and the play ideas grew.

It has been a fun way to introduce counting, size and build her vocabulary,

such as; big, little, long legs, running, sitting, same, different, etc.

New StrongStart, New Fairy News

My granddaughter and I have been visiting a few StrongStart centres

in the Vancouver and Coquitlam school districts.

              

For me it has been very interesting being on the other side of the child as a visitor.

For my granddaughter it is opening the door to socialization and new play experiences.

We really like a few of the centres because their facilitators are very welcoming

and the environment is calm and inviting.

Our favourite centre so far has a fairy corner.

I was thrilled to see my granddaughter was attracted to it.

Back at my house, her interest in fairies inspired me to do something 

with one of my fairy doors.

I asked my husband to build a room behind the door.

He used hinges so it will open and it has a latch to lock.

I decided that it needed some interior decorating so pulled out

scrapbooking paper to use as wallpaper,

plus some paper for flooring.

I'm leaving it as it is till my grand daughter visits and shows

interest in playing with it.

If it was your fairy house, what else would you add?

Treasure Basket - Red

This month's treasure basket was all about 'red'.

I sat and photographed as she discovered everything that was 

in the basket.

A red kerchief is perfect for playing 'peek-a-boo".

A red truck because she has been learning that her Dad drives a truck.

A red heart shape.

A red ball with a smiley face.

Which looks great as a nose,

or was she smelling it?

It does fit in the heart shape.

Back to the basket she discovered a red hammer.

Tap, tap, tap!

A red dog (also known as Clifford).

She loves dogs and took sometime looking this one over.

A red pegkin with it's own bowl.

It took her a few tries to figure out how to fit the pegkin back into it's bowl.
She persevered and this toy has become her favourite of the basket.

Mom joined us just in time to help with a red zippered toy.

It is a bug zipped inside a heart.

My grand daughter noticed the antenna sticking out and tried to pull them out.

When that didn't work she tried to pull the zippered halves apart.

Mom helped unzip it before she became very frustrated.

All of these 'red' items I found in my home,

no extra purchases were necessary.