Yesterday was marvellous. I had ordered this pattern blocks kit from Scholastic (the joys of points from Scholastic for doing book orders!) and I decided to get it out to see what everyone thought. An hour later, Pk was whining because she wanted to keep playing and I wanted her for some homework and when dinner arrived, Lb threw a tantrum because he didn't want it to be put away. They talked about shapes, they made the shapes on the tiles and, best of all, they made "Shapeville Parks" using the shapes. Dh actually came upstairs to see what was going on since it was so quiet.
I think I've been inspired to try an afternoon quiet play time - now, to find a range of toys that are only allowed then and we can spend that time together. I can't wait!
This is a great idea! I have a couple of toys I try to pull out only when I really need a few minutes of quiet, but now they ask for them constantly and I almost wish I never pulled them out to begin with (they are supposed to be once in a week type toys...). That shapes toy looks like the kids loved it. TV really isn't as fun as some of these learning toys can be!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea. I made these for my girls & I bet it would work for a similar quiet/small-motor/special activity. Super cheap if you get the fake flowers at the dollar store & we had plastic beads, pipe cleaners, & hot glue on hand. My girls picked multi-colored flowers of various sizes, so the look is a little more tropical than peaceful, but hey, it's all good!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.filthwizardry.com/2012/03/daisy-chain-toy.html
Thank you! That looks like something that would be a huge hit around here. I'm pretty sure that I have some green pipe cleaners so all I will need are the flowers.
ReplyDeleteIt's so nice to have some "special" stuff like that!