The Empowered Educator

Inspiring ideas, training and resources for early learning.

Weekend Wanderings….Rainbows at Home….

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Sometimes I’m really glad when we don’t have to ‘BE’ anywhere on a weekend. It was Mother’s Day here  but i was happy just to be able to potter around inside and also get outside with the girls in between rain showers.

There were no expectations of grand gestures…it was the simple joys that i remember from this Mother’s Day weekend.

A pretty flower picked in the garden for Mummy……..
Some very special homemade cards crafted with love….
A little dress sewing was finally completed…. even though they are such a simple design, finding the time to finish projects is still difficult with the toddler twosome apparently needing to be within touching distance of me at all times lately!

 I can’t remember…when does that stage finish? Just between us I’m a little over it now !

There was lots of help picking a small pumpkin from the garden, removing all the seeds and chopping ready to roast for a yummy pumpkin soup! It was actually a really helpful activity for Ruby to practice her pincer grip (which needs some work)…picking up slippery pumpkin seeds is harder than you might think!
There was a lazy Saturday breakfast of fruit, yoghurt and oat bran smoothies and Miss Teen went a little overboard with the blueberries! (Yes i am still working on that promised smoothie recipes post!!)
We pulled out some favourite blocks and the girls enjoyed arranging them in patterns on the tray and naming all the colours as they held them up to the light. Easy rainy day fun!

We were very excited to see how quickly our seeds are growing…hopefully we will get a chance to plant and mulch again in the next few days!
The spinach, rocket and beans are thriving and the broccoli, eggplant, cauliflower, peas and tomatoes are all doing well….I love Winter crops…they just seem to do so much better rather than the Summer ones which have to cope with our hot, humid weather! Have i mentioned i LOVE Autumn!!
I did a little reorganising of  play areas….i keep trying different arrangements of furniture that will suit both our family home and the needs of setting up for Family Day Care. We don’t have a separate space available just as a dedicated play room so i am incorporating little child friendly spaces throughout the house.
I’ll be sharing some of my tips for setting up a family day care business at home soon as i know there are some readers also at this stage…perhaps we can compare ideas!! 

The girls’ favourite activity this weekend was also the simplest! I found this silicone bath mat in our $2 shop and knew it was just the perfect for their current obsession with marbles!

Marble Matching
Toddler Marble Fine Motor Activity

So very simple….i just lay the mat on their table so that one twin could work at each end, added 2 trays of marbles (trust me…one tray just isn’t worth the drama!!) and let them figure out what they wanted to do!
Toddler Marble Fine Motor activity
These aren’t great photos I’m afraid (very hard to photograph these mats i realised!)  but you get the idea…the suction caps that are used to hold the mat in place in the shower or bath made perfect sized holes for their marbles.
Toddler fine motor activity
The were quick to begin filling the holes with their marbles and it kept them busy for quite a while.

I was really pleased with how well the activity kept Ruby’s interest as many fine motor activities don’t interest her for long as she has difficulty sitting and concentrating for the length of time required and can get frustrated very easily.

Picking up the marbles and placing them into the holes was a simple, repetitive action that she seemed to find calming and it really worked her fine motor muscles and grip.

Fine motor marble game
Magically our weekend started with a beautiful rainbow and would you believe we saw another one on Sunday afternoon too. Perhaps a gift for all the Mum’s out there as a rainbow can keep a toddler interested for AGES i found out!!
I hope all the Mum’s (and all the Mum’s to be and the special women trying to become Mum’s) had a lovely day however you celebrated…I know i was just thankful to be exploring rainbows at home……Have a wonderful week!

Warm Wishes

Comments

  2. A very happy belated mother’s day to you, that flower picked just for you looks like an extra special one with Ruby smiling sweetly:) What a clever marble idea, you will be a fantastic family day care provide Jode. x

    Reply

  5. Wow! This looks like a lot of fun. We’ve done this with a little mat and my kids loved it. I’m just imagining how much alone time this would give me. Thanks! Hannah @paint on the ceiling

    Reply

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