This week my eldest had one of his friends over for lunch & a play, and I set up some messy play for them.
My inspiration came from Pinterest, as always!, and the two boys were very excited when I said we were going to create a foaming car wash.
I've seen lots of reference to Tuff Spots, but on seeing them in B&Q that morning I decided to get two slightly smaller trays which were just as sturdy from the gardening section - easier to store!
I set up one tray with baking soda and the other I filled with water. After letting them shunt their cars about in the 'snow' we then added some vinegar.
The baking soda started to fizz and expand, but it didn't last long and to be honest we were all rather disappointed.
Thankfully, I had also purchased a cheap canister of shaving cream which we squirted into the tray instead. It worked a treat and the three kiddies had great fun.
A recent email from Galt Toys has prompted this blog post. I don't think it will come as a shock to find out that technology has had a negative impact on some children's playtime at home and apparently playtime with mum and dad is less than an hour a day. The statistics are quite frightening.
I've never owned a tablet or laptop computer and rarely spend time on my iMac whilst the children are awake. (I admit that I'm known to send the odd tweet, upload the occasional photo to Facebook or check my emails whilst they're around, but I'm not glued to my iPhone). I made the mistake initially of letting my son play with my iPhone, but he now does not get to use it. I do have some toddler friendly apps downloaded and would use them if necessary to keep him amused but only as a last resort, for example if we had a long wait at the GP surgery.
I definitely believe that traditional playtime is better.
"A parent is a child's first teacher"
You'll find me running round the house or garden on 'missions' or we're escaping from imaginary monsters. We're jumping up and down in fits of giggles on the trampoline or we're at the kitchen table with paints and Play-Doh.
Don't get me wrong, I do think that technology has it's place. We will occasionally sit at the 'big computer' and watch some short videos on YouTube - number songs usually - and we also watch CBeebies or Disney DVDs for quiet time when we've had hectic days and we all need a rest.
What are your thoughts?
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