Writing The skill of writing develops over several years and young children first learn about writing by observing adults writing. A few months ago we started to introduce Daisy to the process of writing by including her in one of our routine activities that requires writing We explained that we were going to go shopping… Continue reading Going Shopping to Develop Writing and Counting Skills
Author: grannysmithsdiary
Introducing letters and letter sounds to your toddler grandchild.
Lately we've been using Daisy’s easel and a set of magnetic letters to play short activities/games to give her practice in learning about letters. To start, I filled the whiteboard side with a random selection of the magnetic letters. We sat together and talked about the colours of the letters and together we sorted the letters… Continue reading Introducing letters and letter sounds to your toddler grandchild.
Pouring activities for hand-eye coordination using gross and fine motor control
From experience I’ve found that one type of play can often inspire another activity a few days later using the same play equipment but with a different focus and different results. Messy play remains a regular activity for Daisy and since their recent introduction funnels have become a permanent part of her activities. Having watched… Continue reading Pouring activities for hand-eye coordination using gross and fine motor control
The National Children’s Gardening Week: gardening with pre-school children
"What doing Grandpa?" "I'm going to put some plants in the garden." "My help?" (Daisy's preferred personal pronoun is 'my', as in "my do it") Daisy squatted down next to her Grandpa and while he sorted out the small geranium plants; Daisy grabbed Grandpa's trowel and started to randomly dig in the soil. It didn't… Continue reading The National Children’s Gardening Week: gardening with pre-school children
50 years of The Very Hungry Caterpillar
We visited our local library again last weekend. Daisy always enjoys exploring the children's area; with its book stands, displays, posters, small tables, chairs and beanbag cushions it’s a very stimulating environment. We introduced a variety of books to Daisy and she took the opportunity to select some books herself. After a while, we sat together… Continue reading 50 years of The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Listening Walks
I'm writing this blog while sitting in my garden, listening to a chorus of birdsong, some distant traffic and the sounds of the breeze blowing through the trees. Last week I read about some recent data that shows, on average, Britons spend five percent of the day (an hour and twelve minutes) outside. While another… Continue reading Listening Walks
Learning in the Garden: Load, Lift and Push a wheelbarrow
When Daisy comes to stay she loves to spend time in our garden and she's now developed an interest in our garden tools and equipment. So when we recently spotted a child's metal wheelbarrow in a charity shop, we knew that it would be perfect for Daisy. Daisy has a toy buggy at home and… Continue reading Learning in the Garden: Load, Lift and Push a wheelbarrow
Letting Go
Guest Blog by Daisy’s Grandpa Just watch Daisy’s face throughout this whole experience: the mixture of anticipation, delight, exhilaration and yes, maybe, a tiny hint of fear. You can see how quickly that small amount of apprehension is washed away by the flight through the air and the soft landing. Its so good nowadays that… Continue reading Letting Go
Taking the messy play outside
Like most children, Daisy loves messy water play. One afternoon, during a recent visit, the sun was shining and so it was the perfect opportunity for us to set up water play outside. You don't need any special equipment to cater for water play activities at Daisy's age. We quickly set up a water play… Continue reading Taking the messy play outside
Scooters Part Two
I took Daisy to the local playgroup last week and it was interesting to see how her play had changed since the last time. First of all she went to play with the large wheeled toys; she likes to sit in the cars or on the tractor and (after a fashion) pedal herself around the… Continue reading Scooters Part Two
Granny Smith's Diary 