Autumn Sensory Box

I got this idea from Chasing Cheerios –  a blog I enjoy looking at for activities for the very young. This sensory box really appealed to me because of the seasonal feel, and the colours, and also because I just think sensory things are great!

We used much the same as suggested – popcorn kernals, silk autumn leaf decorations, wooden people, a wooden box, and some small baskets, but also added conkers, instead of acorns. Alfie loves it – but I must say, it’s been a hit with Maya too!

My Nearly 2 Year Old

Being the third, and youngest child , Alfie somewhat gets ignored! I rarely get any time alone with him (albeit Tuesday mornings when we usually go to the open preschool), and he just sort of gets along with things, always wanting to be involved with what the others are doing, and ‘be with’ (as the direct translation from Swedish would be!).

He loves to play with cars and trains, to play with animals, and water, and swing and slide. And now, unbeknown to me, he likes to do puzzles. Imagine my surprise when he sat down to a puzzle and proceeded to complete it not once, but time and time again, with utter joy!

Learning about Skeletons

In Sweden at the end of October it is a tradition that people take lit candles to the graveyards where friends or relatives are buried, to show their respect. As one of Maya’s friend’s family was going to do this, and therefore couldn’t attend the Halloween party, the kids obviously asked a few questions.

I explained to them about this old Catholic tradition, which is to my knowledge also apparent in France , and a little like the ‘Day of the Dead’ celebrations in Mexico. We talked about this and looked at some photos of ‘Day of the Dead’ parades and biscuits or sweets that are eaten.

And so we decided to learn a little about our skeletons, and the names of some of the bones which are inside us! We have an excellent magnetic skeleton puzzle (complete with the names of the bones), and a plastic ‘put together’ skeleton (free in a children’s magazine), and once we had put these together, we proceeded to make some skeletons out of different pasta pieces. It was interesting to see which pieces were used and why – Maya used spiral pasta for the ribs and explained that each spiral was a rib bone!

Homemade Advent Calendars

Having seen a very exciting Lego advent calendar in a shop – and having seen the price (!) – Leon decided to make his own!

He had an amazing way of constructing the calendar by cutting cardboard strips , and slotting them into each other to make a criss-cross structure with 24 spaces – this was then put into an empty cereal box (with one of the big sides cut off). Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of this part of the construction, which is really a shame as it was quite ingenious – and the idea was all his own.

The next step was to take one side of a slightly bigger cereal box, estimate and draw 24 squares where the spaces were, and cut these out with a knife to allow the doors to open (this was tricky and I helped out here). Then he wrote the numbers on.

Lastly he wrapped pieces of lego in foil, and put one in each ‘door’. Each piece of lego used is to make up a specific construction when put together.

And so this morning the first door was opened!

I was so impressed with his idea and how he made it – I just wish I’d got a photo of the first part of it! After making it (which took a few hours), he was very funny and said “Now I know why they cost so much – they’re so hard to make!”

Anyway. one calendar was obviously not enough, so he made another more simple one, using  a Christmas coloured in picture, and cutting out the doors on another plain piece  of paper which he stuck on top. Obviously this one wasn’t as fun to make – it only has 7 doors!

A Windy Day is for Kites

Today it has been so windy outside, so we decided to use the weather for some kite making!

We drew, decorated and cut out a diamond shape …

We stuck some straws on the back to make it stronger, and added strips of crepe paper at the bottom …

And then they were ready to fly!

They flew fantastically!

Our Winter Tree

Just one week ago our big elm tree was covered with leaves, and as if on cue, by the beginning of November, his leaves are all gone. Winter is nigh, and everyone in Sweden is building up their strength for the long dark days ahead!

Halloween Party

Wizard, Vampire (x2), Ghost & Spider - and Alfie the 'wolf'

Later joined by Lily the dragon!

Alfie enjoyed the balloons

Others enjoyed the party games, such as this skeleton one ...

I got the ideas for the party games from the ‘family fun‘ website. The games I chose were ’shrinking islands’ (akin to musical chairs but using towels for islands instead), ’skeleton scavenger hunt’ (I printed out this skeleton twice, stuck a coloured one up on the wall, and then stuck the bones all around the house – the kids then had to find them all and stick them in the right place on the skeleton), and ‘a gift from mummy’ (in which gifts such as toy spiders and rats were wrapped in toilet paper, akin to ‘pass the parcel’). Leon absolutely loved the ‘mummy pass the parcel’, whereas I thought the skeleton game was great fun!

Leon then took the friends one at a time into the ‘haunted cupboard’ – once the kids had made it through the maze of spider webs, glo in the dark articles, and scary masks, they got to pick a skeleton lollypop from inside a pumpkin. I think Leon was a little disappointed that his friends were not more scared, and suggested that next time he should have moving things in the haunted ‘house’!

Dinner time!

(I must remember never to buy those tooters again!)

The highlight of the evening was when each child was given a lantern, and went out into the dark garden with Richard, who told a wonderful ghost story, surrounded by jack ‘o’ lanterns. It also inspired some of the children to open up, and tell stories of nightmares they’ve experienced! Is that some kind of therapy?!

"One dark night..."

The 'babies' enjoyed some cheeky play!

And the party ended with our home made pinata – which worked extremely well! Unfortunately I never managed to get a photo of the finished product, but after painting it white, we just painted big round black eyes and a long black mouth on for a ghost, then filled it with small black spiders and a few spooky sweets in the hole at the top. By making little holes either side of the pinata at the top, and threading a strong piece of string through it, it can be hung easily from the ceiling.

Alfie gets shown how to do it after his first attempt - where he proceeded to rake the floor!

Eight

Being a passionate (ex) teacher of the early years, eight is a new area for me. Seven just seemed to be an extension of six, but eight seems to be something very new. What does an eight year old boy like to do? What do they play with? Of course I CAN answer this question – friends, computer/video games, physical activity and lego. But what do you do if most children are in daycare in the afternoons, but your child is not? What do you do if you don’t own a computer/video game, and are not intending to buy one? What if the weather outside is bad and (again) all your friends are in daycare? And what if you want a change from lego?

This is something that I have been thinking about recently, and obviously something that Leon too has been pondering upon! The other evening he said to me, “It seems we have so little toys now” – ‘What?’ I thought to myself, are my children really spoilt and unappreciative?! “But you have masses of toys!” I replied. “But it seems they used to be so fun, and now they’re so little” he said. And then it dawned on me! The majority of our toys, games and puzzles are really for the early years crowd, and he suddenly feels he is too old for many of them!

Leon has rarely been one to utter the words “I’m bored” or “I don’t know what to do”. I know that to a certain extent, being in school for six hours a day, and having your activities planned out for you, being constantly told what you are going to do next, etc, must surely take away a certain lust to make your own decisions, use your imagination and learn how to use your time wisely. And so I realised that, for practically the first time,  Leon really needed help in finding things to do!

So, we pulled out the 1000 piece puzzle which had always been too difficult to complete, the meccano which hasn’t been touched for a year, and the board game ‘Blokus’ which Leon previously always insisted on making his own rules up for, in order to play. We decided together that he needed to have more responsibility for things, such as jobs around the house, and that I needed to trust him to do such things as cooking, and going to the shop on his own.

The next day he woke up with a new lust for life! He completed his lego model and cleaned up afterwards. He set the table for breakfast. He made biscuits, taking full responsibility for the recipe, telling Maya what to do, and the clearing up afterwards. He sat down to an art project and put 100% into it. He went outside and raked the leaves without being asked. He built and completed a meccano project. And then started on the 1000 piece puzzle.

But I can’t help wondering whether he would have needed this guidance had he still been learning at home? I have read that most children educated at home have a greater ability to take responsibility for their own learning. Comments please!

“Autumn Holiday” in Kungsträdgården

Swedes are not big on Halloween. There is the odd shop which sells some costumes or decorations, but other than that there is just one main shop ‘Buttericks’ which has been around since 1923, selling the most amazing costumes and articles for parties and celebrations. We tried to visit it today with the kids, but unfortunately the queue to get in to the actual shop was so long that we only got a peek in the window!

The ghost hanging around outside 'Buttericks'

We did, however, manage to get in to the large teepee at Kungsträdgården (the main city square) where all the Halloween festivities were taking place …

In this spacious teepee, decorated with ghouls, ghosts and spiders, there was a magician to watch, some games to play, and some crafts to make. All very simple and with a slightly homemade appeal!

Maya ingeniously made a pumpkin lantern – all her own idea! And Leon enjoyed playing air hockey with some kids he met there …

And later on we had a look at the huge pumpkins, and piles of mushrooms in the Hötorget market …

And that’s about the size of Halloween in Stockholm! But tomorrow we have our little Halloween party …

Bedtime Stories

Lately Leon has taken to reading to Alfie at bedtime, which they both really enjoy!