Three Year Old Thursday

I like alliteration, can you tell? At Following Moonshadows we have Silent Sunday, Tasty Tuesday and Wordless (or words for) Wednesday.

It's only fitting that I keep the tradition going with any new series I have right? So I introduce to you '3 Year old Thursday'. A series of activities and fun things for toddlers to do. Now I stress,  these activities are great for kids aged between 2 and 6 (in saying that, I enjoy a lot of them too!) so the '3 year old' part is just to appease my love for alliteration, and because the test subject is now three.

It is really important for me that I give my children good experiences. I love blogs like 'Be a Fun mum' and ideas boards on pinterest of this kind also. Leah has loved it too, which is really encouraging. It's fulfilling to see her so excited about the activities that I have set up for her - the conversation and learning that comes along with it is just a bonus.

I often write about the things that Leah and I have done together, or share photos, but I wanted to make it more deliberate and really showcase the things we've done so to inspire others the way that I've been inspired by other blogs and pinterest boards. And here it starts with a hiss and a roar! Four activities from last week, enjoy.

Fireworks in a dish experiment
All you need for this is milk, a shallow dish, food colouring, dishwash liquid and cotton buds. Everything you potentially already have around the house - my favourite type of ingredient list!

An explanation of what to do is here at About.com. The link also has an explanation of why it does what it does, which is great for talking about it with your little one while you go. We used it as more of a vocabulary building activity, as well as pure fun and getting Leah interested in some more 'scienfitificie' stuff. We love 'speriments now.

Pine cone and Cheerio String feeders for birds
A few months ago Leah and I painted a wooden birdhouse that we bought at a Mitre 10 Mega (A Hardware store here in NZ). We have been checking it now and again, but there were no birdies to be seen. We wanted to make the birdhouse more inviting, so we made them some yummy treats.

For the pine cone feeder we were lucky to be able to find some pine cones in our backyard, but much of the fun is in the finding and it would be a great little excursion to find some on a little bush walk. The other things you need are peanut butter, birdseed and string. Tie the string securely around the pine cone. Using a butter knife cover your pine cone in peanut butter. Pour the birdseed into a bowl or onto a plate and roll the peanut butter covered pine cone in them. Voila! You're ready to hang your pine cone feeder in a tree. It's a good idea to move a wee bit away from the tree to spy on any birds using your feeder.

Cheerio string feeders are another simple activity for toddlers that uses their fine motor skills with threading the cheerios on the string. I think the photos say it all (:

Doctors Emergency Room
Setting up a make believe area for your toddler is a great way to get them thinking about different roles people have. The conversation you have with your little guy while their playing is sometimes the most important part of the learning.

Things you might have in your emergency room:
Patients, including dolls and soft toys (rookie mistake, allowing plasters on soft toys)
A small cot for your patients
Bandages and plasters
A doctors bag - ours is a Doc McStuffins one but I've seen others at dollar stores which look just as good.
A doctors outfit
Clipboards and patient records
Medicine bottles - making these could be a fun activity in itself.

Scissors and Stickers
I'm a sucker for dollar stores, and the day we did this activity, it wasn't planned. I found a cool pair of scissors and cheap stickers with sticker book and away we went.  Easy peasy.

Phew! I don't think I'll be looking to do four activities every week, but it was sure a great way to start. I'd love to hear if anyone does any of these activities, or if you have any ideas for future ones for us.