Wordless Wednesday

Simple pleasures ....

We Play with Wooden Toys

I was going to blog about our weekend trip to Rottnest but when we returned a friend, who has been looking after Jack Dog, had kindly left us some fantastic wooden toys.
I'm very impressed with her ability to part with these gorgeous toys because, while I constantly state we need to cut down on the number of toys in our house, I find it impossible to part with wooden toys.
Anyway, the boys discovered these treasures in the play room when we returned from our short holiday and they have been playing with them ever since.
I didn't think I had many wooden toys but I pulled out a selection of what we have and covered the play mat! This doesn't include our box of city blocks or our collection of wooden puzzles. I think I have a serious addiction developing here!What toys have you been playing with this week? “Come over and play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up”

Camping with Junior

This past Weekend Aussie Dad took Junior camping at Karinup Waters Resort. They only went for one night but Junior loved it. He has been asking to go camping for ages and with the weather warming up it seemed like an ideal time. I didn't fancy tenting it with a 7 week old baby so Rascal, Puggle and I stayed home but maybe next time we will go along to.
The highlight for Junior was the swimming pool, spa and jumping pillow but he also enjoyed helping Dad set up the tent and meeting some of the local wildlife.
He also loved using his own sleeping bag and wind-up torch which he got for Christmas last year. Perhaps we will try camping again on the 5th of November when Big4 caravan parks provide a free nights camping with their Come Camp with Big4 night.

Painting with Rascal

Aussie Dad took Junior camping this weekend (photos to come in another post) so I finally got around to doing a bit of painting with Rascal.
Any art project with this little boy is bound to get messy so I have been putting it off. However, the weather has been so warm lately that I set the paper up on the outdoor table and stripped him down to his nappy so he could finger paint without me fussing about where he put those paint covered fingers. He had load of fun exploring the paint and was even more enthusiastic about cleaning up afterwards. I had to rescue the art work before it got "cleaned up" too! We then got the paddle pool out for a bit more "cleaning" and water fun.
What art materials have you been playing with this week? “Come over and play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up”

Papier-Mache

Last week a friend dropped in with a few art supplies for Junior. She had been preparing a papier-mache art project for her two girls and thought we might like some home made paste and balloons to make something for ourselves. This weekend Junior and I finally got around to trying it out.
I must admit that he started out enthusiastically but didn't last too long on the gluing and pasting part of the project so I added a few more layers to his balloon before we hung them up to dry overnight.
However, the next day he was adamant that he wanted to make himself a spider man mask, so with a little red paint and a black marker we had created one in no time.
I did plan to get some blue cellophane for the eyes but I need to wrestle it off him first.
Super heroes are all the go with my 4 year old at the moment! I think I will have to get out the sewing machine now it has been serviced and attempt this beautiful superman cape! What art activities have you been playing with this week? “Come over and play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up”

We Play on the Mat

We have a cheap IKEA floor mat which I often use when we take "inside toys" outside to play. The mat seems to define the play area so we (hopefully) don't end up with Lego etc scattered from one end of the yard to the other.
I have been following "Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning" for a while and particularly love the gorgeous playscapes they set up. So yesterday while the boys were out, I went into the toy room and dug out some Wooden Town Blocks we haven't used in ages. I also found some small cars, stones and wooden dolls and set up a little scene on the mat for when the boys got home. They both found it quite enticing and soon redesigned it to their own liking - giving us a little time to get dinner organised without two boys underfoot. I think I need to rotate some of the toys a bit more because there are a few things lurking at the back of the cupboard which haven't had an airing for a while. With a little bit of imagination I'm sure they will be played with again for many more hours.
What toys have you been playing with this week? “Come over and play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up”