Month: March 2022

Easter break is coming up soon and spring has sprung, or at least it’s trying to spring depending where you live. So, in honor of coming out of our winter hibernation the theme this month is ‘Activities’. I thought I would start with three easy and inexpensive activities you can do at home with the kids over the easter break. 

Playdough

A classic kids activity and a winner with all age groups, playdough is easy and inexpensive to make. As an added advantage I find the playdough we make at home is less messy than the store bought playdough, plus the kids get to be part of the activity of making it, not just playing with it. 
You can find an easy recipe here on I Heart Naptime.

Slime

We haven’t tried this yet but plan to over the break. It took me a while to work out what the saline solution ingredient is since I don’t wear contacts, but it’s just as it suggests, the saline solution used with contact lenses. This is apparently crucial for the binding. We intend to try this recipe, also from I Heart Naptime. I’m confident it will be a fun sensory experience however it turns out. 

Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt

An Easter egg scavenger hunt is a great way to turn your Easter egg hunt into a longer activity. We tried this for the first time last Easter and it was very successful. So successful in fact that the girls spent most of the day re-doing the scavenger hunts themselves and making their own clues. You can create your own clues or check out this website for some pre-prepared ones you can use.

While it may sound obvious, my mid month tip is to ‘Read What You Love’. Not just for your own personal reading though, consider choosing literature you find enjoyable to read with your kids. Books for kids of all ages can be more or less enjoyable for the adults who are reading, as well as for the kids. For example, Sarah and I are currently reading Harry Potter together. I was reminded while reading this week what rich, descriptive language the author uses, and how enjoyable this is to read. Anything by Roald Dahl will provide a similar experience. The same can be said for reading with our littlest ones. 

Stories with good rhythm or rhyme will instantly be more enjoyable to read aloud. (such as Where is the Green Sheep by Mem Fox), as well as stories with humor or concepts kids find amusing (such as Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman). Stores that use the illustrations really well (such as Sophie Johnson, Unicorn Expert, Is a Detective Genius by Morag Hood) are also really fun because you get to watch your little one make the connections between the pictures and the text. I recommend steering clear of character books, such as books themed around television characters like Barbie and Paw Patrol. While a few of these are ok, they generally have poor storylines and not very rich language. You will get a much more enjoyable literacy experience out of something constructed more for its story value than its marketing value. 

If you are interested in learning more about how good children’s books are constructed, check out this Video by one of Australia’s most beloved children’s authors Mem Fox.