Letting Go

Today I allowed Joshua to ride his bike outside of the home.

I was completely scared witless, due to the fact that when Joshua gets excited, he doesn't listen, and being outside of the home I have no control over how fast he goes, whether he will stop and wait for me when he's a mile ahead, and also if he will stop if I see approaching danger ( like a car!!)

Well to say the least it didn't go nearly as bad as I though it would. Joshua did listen to instructions, I'm still not 100% easy with the whole riding outside, but at least we had fun. It's all about letting go & allowing your children to grow up.

What have you found hard to let your children experience?

Keep Happy

The Imagination Team

Chalk Family

Joshua had a fun lesson in chalk. It was family day at kindergarten and so when we got home, I continued on with the theme, but made it extra fun with chalk. Being as hot as it was, outside under the cool patio was lovely.

We got everyone in our family to lie down on the patio, I drew an outline with chalk, and then Joshua had to color/fill it in according to what he thought they looked like. He needed to figure out if they needed a skirt (girl) or shorts (boys), what type of hair they had etc. Some of these additions proved harder for him to figure out then others, eg: the shorts/skirts.

We had a ton of fun, adding extra things such as Narla the cat, the goldfish and his fav characters at the moment Wall E and Eva. Joshua just didn't want the game to end. It lasted us at least an hour, then all we needed for clean up was the hose :) Simple, easy & cheap as the bucket of Jumbo chalk only cost me $2 at our local discount store.

Keep Happy

The Imagination Team

Happy Days #1

I have decided to open up this blog again to post about things you can do with your child, that are cheap, easy & fun. Lord knows I don't have the endless bank account to entertain my child with, like most other mum's out there I'm searching for fun things to do with my toddler that don't hurt me in the back pocket.

Today Was Volcano Day :) Joshua didn't want a red one, ours was a blue one.

Materials:

Bucket ( laundry soak bucket)

Sand ( bucket of sand scavenged from beach)

Plastic Bottle ( left over coke bottle)

Bi-carb soda (Pantry)

Flour (Pantry)

White Vinegar (pantry)

Food coloring

So as you can see, for this experiment it cost us next to nothing, I had everything with the exception of the sand, which was an easy trip to the beach. If a beach isn't close by, then sand from your local gardening store is just as good.

Steps:

1. Place sand in bucket, add enough water to make damp & stick together, without being soggy.

2. Place the plastic bottle in middle & form sand around bottle to make your volcano. The 2Lt soft drink bottles give the best volcano's, but just what ever is on hand works :)

3. In one cup mix 2tablespoons worth of Bi-carb soda to 1 tablespoon of flour. In another cup mix 1 cup of white vinegar with enough drops of your desired food coloring to create a vibrant colour.

4. using a funnel, pour your Bi-carb mix into your bottle, then when ready, using the funnel, pour the vinegar in quickly, take away the funnel then stand back & watch your volcano go :)

It's that simple and as you can see, toddlers can get really fascinated about them. The best part of this experiment is that because it's so easy & cheap, you can have a few goes of it. :)

Our Video is uploaded onto our facebook page. Visit us at Imagination

Keep Safe & Have Fun

The Imagination Team

Flower Tinting

This is such a fun activity to do with your little one. It also allows you to show your child how plants drink water through their stalks and where the water goes.

Materials

Clear vase or cup

water

food coloring

White carnation or daisy

Directions

1. Fill a clear vase or cup halfway with water and add enough food coloring to tint the water a bright colour.

2. Add the chosen flower and watch the flower change color over the next few hours. It's that easy!

You can also do this experiment with celery. In fact, this may be a great way to encourage a reluctant eater. After all, purple celery is bound to taste better then the green variety.

Keep Happy

The Imagination Team

Growing Strawberries

Growing strawberries with children makes for an exciting and educational activity. It gets them outside, great for keeping your home tidy, and them in some dirt, which they love. You can also turn this into a learning experience. Watching and recording how the strawberry plant grows and fruits will allow them to see nature at work, and after all that learning, they get to eat all that hard work.

I do recommend growing strawberries in a hanging basket. This keeps them off the ground when it comes to snails & slugs. I have also found it easier to keep ants at bay from eating all those scrummy strawberries before they are ready to be picked. Being in a hanging basket you can also have it at eye level for your little ones, it keeps them fascinated & wanting to keep the plant alive.

Strawberries are very easy to grow, you can get them at any good nursery/ garden centre, Australia wide. Some of the new varieties have pink flowers, but you can also get the classic white flowered plants. *The best time to plant strawberries is during April and May in most parts of Australia, but they can be planted at any time if you find them for sale in the local garden centre. In our warmer climate zones you can plant and harvest strawberries throughout winter.

The ideal spot for growing strawberries is in full sun, in well-drained soil. This is easy to achieve in pots, but if you prefer to have your plants in the vegi plot, that is just as good. If the drainage in your soil isn’t that terrific, create a raised mound of soil and plant the strawberries into the top of the mound. Strawberries are greedy feeders, so get them off to a good start, with either good potting mix, or if they are going into the plot, adding in plenty of compost and well-rotted manure (eg, bagged cow manure or Dynamic Lifter).

The best method to keeping your fruit clean is to lay straw under the plants (yes, that’s where the name strawberry comes from). Prolonged wet weather can cause fungal diseases, if in pots, just move your strawberries to a more sheltered position. For more wild weather I find using covers in the patch a good substitute (eg. 3Lt milk containers with the bottom cut off, weighted/ tied down. Remember to remove once the wild weather has cleared).

Getting your children out in the backyard, isn't only good for running off their energy levels, it also allows them to experience a whole different learning experience. Growing strawberries teaches them things like patience, observation, and caring for other things. Which can only help when they get older.

Keep Happy.

The Imagination Team