I feel bad that I’ve been neglecting my blog lately. The personal side of my blog. The moments that make us Mums and Dads. The little moments, the big moments. I confess that I’ve been neglecting my writing becauase I’ve been, well, busy. Crazy busy. Busy working as a Deputy Principal, busy designing prints (here is an unashamed plug to my new NAME IT range here), busy being a Mum! Like all of us, the days seem to be rolling into weeks and months quicker than I can keep up. When I write the date, I literally have to stop and think what number I need to write. Whilst it’s currently July, I’m totally sure that I will wake up in the morning and it will be December. Far out….being busy is exhasuting!!!
Well now that school holidays are here (cue clapping sounds), I have a few moments more to spend on the things that I’ve missed, like writing about being a Mum and the things that we can all relate to. Something that has been keeping my mind really occupied lately is how to keep Miss Ella engaged and happy in those moments that Im helping Hudson, settling, cooking dinner etc. Whilst I’m partial to rely on my good old friend Mr iPad, I am becoming more and more conscious of the screen time she is facing each day. Whilst it is a great tool for learning, there is no substitute for other ideas that get her to use her senses. Being immersed in activities that encourage her to use her hands, her eyes, coordination, fine motor skills. It’s hard to think of ideas, and its even harder to find places to store the never ending supply toys, puzzles and games that seem to be filling our house. So what to do???……..
After attending Masada (also known as baby sleep heaven), we were encouraged to create ‘busy bags’ for our toddlers whilst we were busy settling our babies. Busy bags are small games that can be easily created that focus on fine motor skills, and keep toddlers engaged (ideally), thus giving you a moment to do the things you need to do. Obviously it would be great if you too can sit down with your toddler and play together, but there are just some times that you need time to do things around the house, and you need your toddler to be busy doing something on their own. I’ve recently made a few busy bags for Ella and I can tell you that like all things new, she really finds them fun and engaging.
All you need is a printer, laminator and some other crafty things like popsical sticks, pom poms etc. and bobs your uncle. There are loads and loads of ideas on the web and today I thought I’d share some of the activities I’ve created with you. Best thing of all, these are FREE to download and print.
So if you need some ideas to keep your little one busy whilst you are, then feel free to download and print away. All you need is a snap lock back to keep everything in it’s place….or you will be very busy cleaning up!
Click on each link to go to the game…
Sillouhette
Matching Game
Enjoy!
