Learning Through Play

Watching your child playing is magical. When they are very young you can sit for ages watching them peacefully sleeping, similarly when they start to get older watching them play without a care in the world. I find it incredible how quickly children learn and discover new skills overnight, every day brings a new discovery. It is as much a learning curve for me as it is for my child.

We all know that children use their imagination to play with whatever may be to hand. Recently I was unpacking the food shopping and my little helper was actually being 'helpful' on this occasion. Apart from showing his incredible strength lifting all the bottles (shown above) onto the work top he also started counting them, well in his own way 2,3...2,4,3. They learn through through experimenting and through what they see from others, mimicking.

It's sometimes hard to not want a mess in your house but one lesson I have learnt with having a toddler is that you have to resign yourself to some degree of messiness. Kids need to learn and although it's clearly not permitted to draw on the wall, some mishaps are inevitably going to happen. I still remember being caught painting on my sisters carpet when I was small, I am not sure what thoughts were going through my mind but certainly not fear of repercussions! Here Beastie is having a go with Playdoh, it turned out he was more interested in the pots themselves...

The most prized possessions at the moment are his fleet of cars/trucks/trains. As long as they can be carried around at all times and lined up in an orderly fashion, without being touched without prior permission then we will have a smooth running day. A day can be anything from building towers with his Mega Blok table to as much as sitting in a garden container to watch CBeebies. In actual fact I would say this garden container was the best £5.98 I have ever spent! It just needs a little imagination...oh to be a kid again.

This post has been written for March Tots 100 Blog Hop