Not every activity we do at home gets a mention here on the blog because it either turns out something far from what we expected or we may just not have a photo to put up. What I have noticed in last few weeks is that Little A isn’t very keen enough towards craft activites but shows great interest for any physical play or story telling. He loves nursery rhymes. Which child doesn’t? Since he was born, hubby and I have been singing to him all sorts of rhymes to calm him in the car or just plain entertain him. My guess is he picked that up in last 2 years and now has been singing hickory dickory dock, ba ba black sheep, johnny johnny, twinkle twinkle, goosey goosey gander, chubby cheeks, incy wincy spider, row row row your boat and 5 little monkeys all on his own. And when we try to sing with him, he ask us to keep quiet and starts all over again. He sings lullaby for me and also tell me a story of Freddie Fish and 3 friends -sparrow, mouse and sausage every night. He is already showing signs that of a big boy!
When I listen to him singing those rhymes my minds goes to a time when I would stand in my 1st grade classroom and repeat them with all other children in the class in a chorus. A lot of times, Little A reminds me of my own childhood. Only difference being that I had an elder sister whom I played with along with other cousins and Little A is far away from family being brought up completely in a different environment. And he gets so bored so easily now a days! Which is why I try to do everything I can to keep him engaged as well as let him also learn through some play, as much as I can try though!
As a child I was always very much into drawing and crafts though I didn’t create projects rave-worthy or to perfection. In 8th grade our class was divided into teams and each team had to do a puppet show based on their favorite fairy tale. I don’t remember which story my team chose but what I remember is that we performed so miserably, we didn’t even stood a chance to qualify for the next round! During holidays all of us cousins would get together to make cards for different occasions and pretend play or make peacocks from ice cream sticks or something like that which was always a lot of fun. I had been wanting to make a puppet for Little A for a long time since his understanding is lot better than what it was few months back. Since this was a no sew soft toy he was more engaged in the whole activity and did all the glue part. The other day he pointed out that his closed feet night suit had a small hole near the toe when I changed him before going to bed and he never wanted to wear it again. So I tucked that into my crafts bag till further use knowing well that I can recycle it into something funny and entertaining.
Supplies we used for our Soft Toy -
- Torn closed feet nightsuit or socks
- Glue
- Green tassle (optional)
- Cotton
- A pair of buttons
- Scissors
Cut through the nightsuit from knee to toe; the cut part will look more like a sock. Little A then stuffed it with torn pieces of the same night suit so that it resembled like a face. I then tied a knot at the ankle from where the feet begins. He glued eyes, a string from green tassle curved into a smile and cotton hair, with help and directions from me though. Tada! Our softie was ready in no time.
I later told him a story of a prince (which was a softie we made) who goes to a village in search of her princess. By the looks on his face, I can say he enjoyed listening to the story and in few days he will be repeating the same story to me in his words.
What activities do you carry out with your children. Let me know, so I can do the same with my toddler as we are always on a lookout for something new.
This post has been linked to Let Kids Be Kids.
