Just thought I'd share with you one of my Early Years boards from Pinterest. None of these ideas are mine, but I find it a valuable resource, particularly when planning for the continuous provision and independent activities. If you have a fantastic early years board worth sharing, please paste the link in the comments section. I'm always looking for new inspiration.
Showing posts with label early years. Show all posts
Showing posts with label early years. Show all posts
Saturday, 14 May 2016
Saturday, 7 May 2016
Babies and pets.
I have two beautiful cats who I love very much.
Mops has been part of our family since he was 4 months old and has lived with us for the past 5 years. He was a semi wild farm cat when we first got him and he was so terrified of us (people in general) at first. But with a little time, some food and a few warm evenings in front of the wood burner, he began to trust us more and more and started to follow us all around the house. We both have a fabulous relationship with Mops, but him and my boyfriend are BFFs. Mops knows that he can go to Sam for some rough play, he knows he won't say 'ouch!' when he play bites or grabs your hand. He does this thing where he likes to bite Sam on the nose, never viciously, as though to hold him.
Mops doesn't like having visitors round, he usually runs upstairs if he hears the door bell go. But there are some exceptions of course. Anyone who looks after him while we're away or anyone who can offer him a comfortable seat in front of the TV in the evenings. Mops thinks our bedroom is actually his and any opportunity, he will get on the bed and sleep there, all day. His favourite place is to take my place in bed as soon as I'm up, seeing as I did such a good job keeping the bed warm for him all night. He doesn't mind being picked up and just generally loves to spend time with us whatever we're doing.
Sali we've had for about 3 and a half years. She also came to us at 4 months from a friend who couldn't keep his cats as he had to move to a new home which didn't allow pets. I genuinely believe that Sali and I have a very special bond. She takes turn in conversation and trusts me completely. She doesn't get on with Sam as well as Mops does as I think she finds him a bit unpredictable and much prefers my way of play, which is to talk to her and massage her. She often gives me a massage back too. She is the friendliest cat I've ever met and I think sometimes she is a little confused about her identity as she spent the first 4 months of her life living with a dog. Many of her mannerisms are dog like. Sali doesn't like to be picked up usually, but she lets you know when she wants to be picked up and hugged. She is also a little agony aunt for me. She picks up when I feel down and will nuzzle my face and try to climb under my chin.
Luckily both our cats get on very well. Getting them together initially was hard work and heart breaking! Especially as Mops always looked so betrayed. But he soon asserted himself as the boss which Sali is fine with. Occasionally they have the odd scuffle, usually play, sometimes its a little more serious but thankfully they know the rules and accept that they have to live together.
Yep we love them very much. Sometimes I worry that I won't love my baby as much as my cats! (I'm joking obviously.... kinda).
I'm so very worried that introducing a baby into the house is going to really upset Mops and Sali. Sali has always been more interested in children than Mops, Mops seems terrified of them. Sali is fairly laid back so I'm not as worried about her, except for when she wants a hug and I can't give her one for whatever reason. We've tried to make sure that there are plenty of places to for the cats to go to get away from the baby if they need to. They'll pretty much have access to the attic room through the day and will be kept down stairs at night.
I trust these cats completely, but until they have got used to the fact that baby is here, baby is here to stay and baby comes first I will not be leaving the cats unattended with baby. As I said earlier Mops seems afraid of children, when Mops gets spooked he panics and I worry that he might jump in the wrong direction, or may try to play with baby the way he plays with Sam. Sali I'm sure will be quite maternal. She has never ever played rough with people (only Mops). We even tried to get her to grab us with her mouth like Mops does but she just won't. She's very careful around people. However, Sali doesn't realise how sharp her claws are. I mean cats claws are sharp, but Sali's really are like needles compared to Mops. She's also very heavy on her feet. When she walks across the bed at night you know about it. It's like she's wearing steel boots. She loves a snug, warm cuddle so I worry she will get into the baby's basket.
So I'm looking for advice. What have you done to ease the shock of a new baby on your pets? How have you shown them that you still care for them, but baby comes first?
Mops
Mops has been part of our family since he was 4 months old and has lived with us for the past 5 years. He was a semi wild farm cat when we first got him and he was so terrified of us (people in general) at first. But with a little time, some food and a few warm evenings in front of the wood burner, he began to trust us more and more and started to follow us all around the house. We both have a fabulous relationship with Mops, but him and my boyfriend are BFFs. Mops knows that he can go to Sam for some rough play, he knows he won't say 'ouch!' when he play bites or grabs your hand. He does this thing where he likes to bite Sam on the nose, never viciously, as though to hold him.
Mops doesn't like having visitors round, he usually runs upstairs if he hears the door bell go. But there are some exceptions of course. Anyone who looks after him while we're away or anyone who can offer him a comfortable seat in front of the TV in the evenings. Mops thinks our bedroom is actually his and any opportunity, he will get on the bed and sleep there, all day. His favourite place is to take my place in bed as soon as I'm up, seeing as I did such a good job keeping the bed warm for him all night. He doesn't mind being picked up and just generally loves to spend time with us whatever we're doing.
Sali
Sali we've had for about 3 and a half years. She also came to us at 4 months from a friend who couldn't keep his cats as he had to move to a new home which didn't allow pets. I genuinely believe that Sali and I have a very special bond. She takes turn in conversation and trusts me completely. She doesn't get on with Sam as well as Mops does as I think she finds him a bit unpredictable and much prefers my way of play, which is to talk to her and massage her. She often gives me a massage back too. She is the friendliest cat I've ever met and I think sometimes she is a little confused about her identity as she spent the first 4 months of her life living with a dog. Many of her mannerisms are dog like. Sali doesn't like to be picked up usually, but she lets you know when she wants to be picked up and hugged. She is also a little agony aunt for me. She picks up when I feel down and will nuzzle my face and try to climb under my chin.
Luckily both our cats get on very well. Getting them together initially was hard work and heart breaking! Especially as Mops always looked so betrayed. But he soon asserted himself as the boss which Sali is fine with. Occasionally they have the odd scuffle, usually play, sometimes its a little more serious but thankfully they know the rules and accept that they have to live together.
Yep we love them very much. Sometimes I worry that I won't love my baby as much as my cats! (I'm joking obviously.... kinda).
I'm so very worried that introducing a baby into the house is going to really upset Mops and Sali. Sali has always been more interested in children than Mops, Mops seems terrified of them. Sali is fairly laid back so I'm not as worried about her, except for when she wants a hug and I can't give her one for whatever reason. We've tried to make sure that there are plenty of places to for the cats to go to get away from the baby if they need to. They'll pretty much have access to the attic room through the day and will be kept down stairs at night.
Best buds
I trust these cats completely, but until they have got used to the fact that baby is here, baby is here to stay and baby comes first I will not be leaving the cats unattended with baby. As I said earlier Mops seems afraid of children, when Mops gets spooked he panics and I worry that he might jump in the wrong direction, or may try to play with baby the way he plays with Sam. Sali I'm sure will be quite maternal. She has never ever played rough with people (only Mops). We even tried to get her to grab us with her mouth like Mops does but she just won't. She's very careful around people. However, Sali doesn't realise how sharp her claws are. I mean cats claws are sharp, but Sali's really are like needles compared to Mops. She's also very heavy on her feet. When she walks across the bed at night you know about it. It's like she's wearing steel boots. She loves a snug, warm cuddle so I worry she will get into the baby's basket.
So I'm looking for advice. What have you done to ease the shock of a new baby on your pets? How have you shown them that you still care for them, but baby comes first?
Sunday, 24 April 2016
Making a playmat
Play mats can be pretty expensive, and I could not find one that I liked. Then one day I was walking through the market and stopped by the fabric stall. There I spotted some beautiful woodland themed fabric. There were so many patterns coming in a variety of muted colours. I found a delightful fox pattern, foxes wearing blue bows. Perfect! I wanted it, then I thought about what I could use it for. The play mat!! I hurried home an got onto eBay, found some wadding, some blue bias binding to match the foxes bows and some 'latte' fabric which I imagined would match the background pretty well. It didn't, but I'm not much of a perfectionist, I wanted it done and to say 'I made that'.
I didn't have a pattern for this quilt, basically I made it up as I went along and sought advice from the oracle (my boyfriends mother who taught me how to sew). What seemed like a lovely and straight forward thing to make turned out to actually be quite difficult and cost me two sewing machine needles and a lot of patience. Seemingly the issues I had were that quite simply, I needed a walking foot but didn't have one, the tread on my sewing machine could not be adjusted, my sewing machine was probably never designed to make a quilt, and I had no idea what I was doing!
Weeks later and I finally finished it. As with anything difficult, the fact that it's not going to plan really puts me off picking it up. But I really wanted it! It wasn't going to do itself. Several failed attempts to not catch the under fabric on the sewing machine when it didn't quite make a straight enough line (thanks to poor tread, no special foot) meant I had to finish quite a bit of it by hand. It's not my best hand sewing work. To make it even more difficult my cats LOVED IT! Whenever it came out they'd be all over me trying to sit on it. What felt like hours trying to get them off it was slowing me down, so I gave in and just let them sit on it while I sewed around them.
But anyway, it's now complete and lint roller. It doesn't look to bad from a fair distance away. Besides baby won't mind, it's somewhere comfortable for him to be sick on. Most importantly, this play mat come with one important rule: Don't look at the back!!
Now to convince my boyfriend to make one of these baby gyms.
I love the idea of this simple wooden structure. Not only does it look fantastic, it seems as though storing it will be simple and i like the idea of being able to change what stimulus could be hanging, maybe some black and white pictures and shapes first, the perhaps bold colours, moving onto natural materials, noisy things, photos of family. The possibilities are endless and will hopefully mean he won't outgrow it too quickly.
Instructions for the baby gym can be found here http://atilio.metromode.se/2016/02/20/monthly-makers-tra/
I can't read what i think is Swedish either but the photos look pretty self explanatory.
Instructions for the blanket (not that I have much faith in my own instructions)
2 pieces of fabric 1m x 76cm
1 piece of wadding 1m x 76cm
4 meters of bias binding (I overlapped a little)
Sandwich wadding between the wrong sides of the two fabric pieces, pin all around the edges to hold it all in place.
Pin and tack diagonal lines from the centre on the fabric (there was no way I could do this without tacking first as the fabric kept moving).
Sew beginning at the centre and working your way out.
Repeat to make a horizontal and vertical line.
Pin bias binding to the side you'd like as the front of your play mat and sew.
Fold and pin bias binding onto the back of the mat, then slip stitch to finish.
I didn't have a pattern for this quilt, basically I made it up as I went along and sought advice from the oracle (my boyfriends mother who taught me how to sew). What seemed like a lovely and straight forward thing to make turned out to actually be quite difficult and cost me two sewing machine needles and a lot of patience. Seemingly the issues I had were that quite simply, I needed a walking foot but didn't have one, the tread on my sewing machine could not be adjusted, my sewing machine was probably never designed to make a quilt, and I had no idea what I was doing!
Weeks later and I finally finished it. As with anything difficult, the fact that it's not going to plan really puts me off picking it up. But I really wanted it! It wasn't going to do itself. Several failed attempts to not catch the under fabric on the sewing machine when it didn't quite make a straight enough line (thanks to poor tread, no special foot) meant I had to finish quite a bit of it by hand. It's not my best hand sewing work. To make it even more difficult my cats LOVED IT! Whenever it came out they'd be all over me trying to sit on it. What felt like hours trying to get them off it was slowing me down, so I gave in and just let them sit on it while I sewed around them.
But anyway, it's now complete and lint roller. It doesn't look to bad from a fair distance away. Besides baby won't mind, it's somewhere comfortable for him to be sick on. Most importantly, this play mat come with one important rule: Don't look at the back!!
Now to convince my boyfriend to make one of these baby gyms.
I love the idea of this simple wooden structure. Not only does it look fantastic, it seems as though storing it will be simple and i like the idea of being able to change what stimulus could be hanging, maybe some black and white pictures and shapes first, the perhaps bold colours, moving onto natural materials, noisy things, photos of family. The possibilities are endless and will hopefully mean he won't outgrow it too quickly.
Instructions for the baby gym can be found here http://atilio.metromode.se/2016/02/20/monthly-makers-tra/
I can't read what i think is Swedish either but the photos look pretty self explanatory.
Instructions for the blanket (not that I have much faith in my own instructions)
2 pieces of fabric 1m x 76cm
1 piece of wadding 1m x 76cm
4 meters of bias binding (I overlapped a little)
Sandwich wadding between the wrong sides of the two fabric pieces, pin all around the edges to hold it all in place.
Pin and tack diagonal lines from the centre on the fabric (there was no way I could do this without tacking first as the fabric kept moving).
Sew beginning at the centre and working your way out.
Repeat to make a horizontal and vertical line.
Pin bias binding to the side you'd like as the front of your play mat and sew.
Fold and pin bias binding onto the back of the mat, then slip stitch to finish.
Thursday, 21 April 2016
Waiting for an arrival.
Almost 2 weeks into my maternity leave and I'm getting very bored. So I thought it would be a good time to start keeping a blog of the things I like to talk about, but those who are usually available to listen aren't always all that interested.
I'm an early years teacher in my 37th week of pregnancy. Thankfully I've began my maternity leave (with the added bonus of the easter holidays). Tiredness and those tiny chairs were beginning to get the better of me and many mornings as the children came into class I wondered to myself how on earth i managed to get myself into work that day. Then realising I had a full on day of sharing a room 60 (yes 60!) 4-5 year old children.
I always find that I'm looking for information on blog sites, whether that be other's opinions and ideas regarding learning and development (more so for babies than young children now), as well as sewing, and general making ideas. Why not have a go at starting my own?
I'm an early years teacher in my 37th week of pregnancy. Thankfully I've began my maternity leave (with the added bonus of the easter holidays). Tiredness and those tiny chairs were beginning to get the better of me and many mornings as the children came into class I wondered to myself how on earth i managed to get myself into work that day. Then realising I had a full on day of sharing a room 60 (yes 60!) 4-5 year old children.
I always find that I'm looking for information on blog sites, whether that be other's opinions and ideas regarding learning and development (more so for babies than young children now), as well as sewing, and general making ideas. Why not have a go at starting my own?
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