Yes! it’s time for the green Polkadot to do some blogging this week! How exciting! As I was lying in bed this morning thinking about Brooklyn and what her interests were, one of the first things that popped to mind was food!

The morning routine went as usual but when we were in Brooklyn’s room to get her dressed, she spotted something poking out behind the shelf. It just happened to be . . . a Food Chart! It was a present for her 1^st birthday from her very health-conscious Nanny wanting to pass on her wisdom! Using her manners (and in a most insistent tone) Brooklyn repeated “Eeese! EEEase!” She finally managed to pull out the chart. I was quickly lead to the lounge while a very excited Brooklyn placed the chart down and started to point to the images.

I thought it would be best to tell Brooklyn “We can eat lots of these foods because they are good for our bodies and very yummy!” She put her head down to the fruit and started making little munching noises. Too Cute! Then we named and pointed to each fruit and vegetable. It was so adorable to hear her repeat each name because every word had about 10 syllables! Sometimes there was a little story for each fruit we pointed to. (I’m loving this stage!) The fruit she best pronounced was her favourite fruit of all time ‘naana’.

However, pointing to pictures just wasn’t enough for Brooklyn. So we thought it would be best to take things a step further and actually taste the fruit. There’s nothing like the real thing! So I brought out some strawberries, a banana, and half an apple. She was happy to chomp on her banana as we named them all again. She got quite good at identifying each fruit on the chart when getting her to point to them.

Brookie looking at the Fruit and Vege Chart

Learning the proper names of her fruits and vegetables as well as tasting the real thing, Brooklyn had the opportunity to start recognising healthy foods. The younger she can start learning about healthy food, the more likely she will be to practise a healthy lifestyle later on in life! And don’t we all want healthy children?

I’d like to say that I have a grand adventure to report from our trip to the zoo today . . . but I don’t! Ashton fell  asleep as soon as we started looking at the animals. ) So my blog today will be about . . . ” how things don’t always  go according to plan!”

Dionne, Dez, Mr Bop, all the kids and husbands came along to the zoo, so when Ashton fell asleep I thought I might be able to turn my enthusiasm for an adventure at the zoo onto the other girls! But unfortunately the sun came out to play a little too strong and the heat just became too much and everyone just wanted to get into the shade or go home.

So we didn’t get to talk about what the tiger likes to eat, or what noise the elephant makes. In fact, we missed most of the animals! But that didn’t matter because Ashton did wake up just in time to see the giraffes as we were about to leave, and they just happened to be having their lunch! So the one animal Ashton got to see in action was really up close and personal. We got to see the giraffe’s big blue tongue, and his big nose and the brown patchy pattern on his back. Giraffe’s never cease to amaze me! They’re just so BIG!

Ashton checking out the Giraffe

We could have looked at this trip as a bit of a disaster but we won’t,  because Ashton got to have an encounter with a giraffe that he never would have had if we had stayed at home! And here’s a BONUS to the trip! Kris and I got to have a date at the zoo. ha ha!

Tata family trip to the zoo

INTERESTING FACT: Did you know that giraffes don’t hav vocal chords? – We learnt that while we were writing one of our Science Seeker songs! So next time you ask your child “What noise does a giraffe make?” and they look at you blankly, you’ll have the answer. GIRAFFES DON’T MAKE A NOISE!

I just got asked a question from a friend via our Polkadots FACEBOOK page about how to do activities with children of different ages (ie. and infant and a toddler)… and I decided to answer it here because it is a challenge most parents who have an infant and a toddler  face… and my mind is racing with different ideas, so I needed more space to write. The question is as follows…

“Okay prepare yourself for a long question:) What are your thoughts on including older siblings in the activities? I used one of your activities for inspiration with C today and completely lost F (hes 3 and a half) . I tried to include him but i think he got bored because it was too baby for him (we were lining up toy animals and doing their sounds then sang old macdonald), to the point that he started throwing the toys around and then distracted chase in a throwing/hugging cuddly toys game and I gave up. I am finding the transition from teaching one child to teaching two children different ages quite tricky. I’m trying to teach F his letters/numbers/writing etc and C gets bored and starts crying, or I try do stuff with C and then F starts playing up because hes bored. Everything seems to be a rushed 2min exercise to get through before the other one gets lonely. I don’t know maybe I just have needy kids! Any ideas you have would be much appreciated.”

(I’m going to bullet point my thoughts or else I could get extremely carried away!)

* Start the activity with an activity that you know both ages will be interested in and can both relate to, like reading a story. Preferably one that relates to the topic of focus that you plan on doing in the activity. This will mentally prepare both children for the activity and give you opportunities to ask questions and talk to both children at their level. You may even ask your older child to help explain or point things out to your younger child so that they feel they are helping.

* Specifically ask your older child to be your helper in teaching their younger sibling. Children like to have responsibilities. Praise them when they do a good job at being a “teacher”.

* If you are trying to teach your older child something specific (just as mentioned above – teaching letters and numbers) figure out a way to tie that into the activity for the younger child. Example from scenario above: Trying to teach younger child animal names and noises, but your older child letters or numbers. Put a piece of paper behind each animal and as you point to the animal and make the noise or same the name of the animal for your younger child, have your older child write the letter or name of the animal on the piece of paper. Or you may ask them how many legs the tiger has and they have to write the number on the paper.

* Try to make time where you have individual learning time too, so that each child feels that they have had your undivided attention when it comes to learning and in turn has a positive learning experience. This will make them more inclined to approach the combined learning moments with a more positive approach and won’t resent engaging in learning activities with you.

* (Last one… I could go on FOREVER!) Take photos of your adventures or activities, of your children engaging in learning together and share them with your other family members, with your child. Have your older child share how and what they learned together and how they helped to be a teacher. Reflect on the learning moments and discuss what you might do together next time.

I hope this can help you in some small way. If you want any further clarification or help on anything else! I love sharing… it gets my brain working! Thanks Shannon!

With this weeks focus being on animals Ashton and I decided to do ‘Tummy Time’ outside today. I put down a little blanket so that the majority of his body was on the mat, but still allowing his feet and hands to touch the grass. This was the first time Ashton had really felt grass and there was still a little bit of dew left on it too so his feet and hands were having quite the sensory experience!

Ashton having a chat to the animals

I placed all of the plastic animals all around the top of Ashton and lay him on his tummy to begin exploring. At first Ashton kept his head down, but as soon as he lifted his head he discovered his animal friends awaiting him and I think he got a pleasant surprise! He began looking around the line up of animals and making all sorts of chatting noises.

Having the animals placed around Ashton definitely seemed to encourage him to move his head around and look up. The grass on his hands and feet also got him moving a lot more and we managed to get some fresh air and a change of scenery while we had tummy time!

Ashton on his Tummy Time Garden Adventure