picklebums.com » Preschooler Fun

Online resources for kids.

katef — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 04:30:18 +0000

My kids generally have very limited access to the internet, both through circumstances (crappy country net access) and my personal views on kids and technology and boundaries we’ve set. But with the school holidays almost upon us, winter weather keeping us inside more and the uncertainty of exactly when this baby will arrive making big excursions a little more tricky… well I’m relaxing our net rules a little and I’ll be letting all three kids enjoy a little more computer time than they’d normally get.

Some of things we’ll be enjoying online over the holidays…

Story Nory.
This an awesome site full of free downloadable spoken stories. They have a fabulous selection of traditional stories and fairy tales as well as other stories and when we have the chance we stock up and load up the kid’s MP3 players with stories for bed time, car trips or just chilling out.

Starfall
Starfall is my girls chosen free reading activities web site. They’ll be very pleased to hear they can use it more than once in a blue moon!

Crick Web
Crick web is another favourite free access website, this one has literacy, numeracy, science and more activities in a variety of age ranges/developmental stages. Muski’s fav is ‘scary spuds’.

Do you have a fabulous online resource for young children that you’d like to share?

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We Play.. and Sing Car Songs!

katef — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 06:53:59 +0000

Joining in with Childhood101′s We Play series today.

‘Car World’ was recently constructed in my living room….

At first it was just a line up of cars, then it became some roads, then a bridge which, with the return of the Big Girls from school, turned into a ramp that flew cars off the table and into a tangled heap on the floor.

Then there was a request for songs…. car songs.

Take Me Driving…
Take me driving in your car car…
Take me driving in your car car…
Take me driving in your car, car…
Oh take me driving in your car.

Horn it goes, beep! beep!
Horn it goes, beep! beep!
Beep! beep! beep! beep! beep! beep!
Oh take me driving in your car.

Windscreen wipers go swish! swish!
Windscreen wipers go swish! swish!
Swish! swish! swish! swish! swish! swish!
Oh take me driving in your car.

And our own added verse….
Cars, they go crash! crash!
Cars, they go crash! crash!
Crash! crash! crash! crash! crash! crash!
Oh take me crashing in your car!

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star My Mummy has a Motor Car
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,
My Mummy has a motor car.
Push the button, pull the choke,
Off we go in a cloud of smoke!
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,
My Mummy has a motor car.

Traffic Light Rhyme.
Stop Says the red light,
Go says the green.
Wait says the yellow light
Blinking in between!

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We Play… With Old Technology!

katef — Tue, 04 May 2010 07:03:29 +0000

We’re back for another week of Childhood 101′s We Play!

This time it is the big girls who are playing… with old technology!

We dragged out the old typewriter after school today.

When we were fist given the typewriter about a year ago, the girls were fascinated by how it worked. They immediately got the idea that the typewriter works like tiny stamps… each time you press a letter it is ‘stamped’ onto the page. They were used to a computer keyboard for typing so it took them a while to get the hang of pressing the keys hard enough to make a mark, not to mention accepting the fact that there was no magic delete button when they made a mistake!

They still love the novelty of the typewriter and now that their reading and writing is taking off in leaps and bounds they have re-newed interest and purpose – typing stories.

One types her words out on the page, while the other illustrates the story, then they swap. It’s a story about fairies of course!

The Small Boy had a go too (because anything the girls can do he can do too!). It is really a bit hard for an almost three year old to resist bashing all the keys at once and getting them all stuck together – but with a bit of guidance and support he had a great time too.

They may be old technology but typewriters are heaps of fun!

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Ricebubble Treat Eggs!

katef — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 07:03:40 +0000

We made these Ricebubble (or Rice Krispy if you live on the other side of the world) Treat eggs to give as little Easter gifts to friends and family this weekend. Thanks to Kitchen Simplicity’s Three No-Bake Easter Treats post for the great idea. (found via Simple Bites)

My one tip… pop the mix in the fridge to cool down a little before trying to form them into eggs, otherwise all you’ll get is really sticky ricebubbly hands!

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Threading!

katef — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:45:15 +0000

In a vain attempt to keep my Small Boy occupied long enough to escape tears and the dreaded question (“Are we going to pick up the girls now?”) for at least five minutes, I got out some threading goodies the other day!

Threading can be a big ask for a two and a half year old, but my boy has had enough practice trying to copy his big sisters that I thought he’d probably enjoy having a go.

To make threading activities less frustrating for little fingers make sure you have a stiff ‘string’. We used those lengths of plastic string that you can use to braid and tie fancy things with, but a cheap roll of thin whipper snipper cord works fabulously too. Make sure the items you offer to thread with have big holes and are not too big, so that it is easy to put the strong through the hole and grab the other end to pull it out.

Some things you could thread…
Large beads. (We had foam beads the girls were given as a gift)
Drinking straws cut into short lengths.
Patty pans with holes punched in the middle.
Paper streamers with holes punched in one end
Rolled Paper Beads you make yourself
Scrap paper, card board, recycled materials with holes punched in them.
Anything else you can find that has a hole or could easily be given a hole!

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A House for a Tiger – Imaginative Play

katef — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 05:53:27 +0000

An old box, some sprigs of gum leaves, a few stones, gum nuts, pine cones… and don’t forget the big cats!

Some times it is as simple as setting up a house for a family of tigers (and other animals who came to visit later) to keep a two year old boy entertained while he waits not so patiently to pick up his sisters from school.

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Paint Big!

katef — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:05:32 +0000

What do you do when you get some really big bits of cardboard after an Ikea purchase, but they are not in box form and there is only two of them so all attempts at making a cubby fail miserably?

You paint BIG, that’s what you do!

Ikea is also a good resource for drawing big too!

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Simple Things – Play Dough Revival!

katef — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 03:04:36 +0000

Trying to keep all the Picklebums entertained on a day when it is either too hot or too wet to go outside (and we’ve had both since new years!) isn’t always easy. But sometimes I forget the joy of simple things…

It had been so long since we’d made play dough, and if I remember rightly that might have had something to do with Muski eating a large amount of play dough last time. Not to mention sticking it in some rather inconvenient places and the mess… ah yes the mess. But I am getting over myself when it comes to mess (I do have a fancy new vac these days and that helps) and well everyone is older and wiser and more annoying…. So we made play dough.

I went with the quick and easy microwave recipe –

2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
2 table spoons of cream of tar tar
2 table spoons of oil
2 cups of water
colouring – food dye or paint.

Zap it in the microwave, stirring and checking every minute or so until it appears to come together and seem ‘cooked’. Allow to cool.

This makes enough for my three to have a good lump each. Half this recipe is probably enough for two and more than enough for one. It’s not as lovely and smooth as the cooked on the stove dough, but it’s a lot less stirring. And don’t worry leave the microwave container to soak in some warm water and the horrible looking mess comes of quiet easily.

Even the big girls played for ages. See sometimes it is the old, tried and true simple things that are often the best!

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Wordless Wednesday – The Circle of Life.

katef — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:33:29 +0000

By Zoe.

I play Wordless Wednesday at Five Minutes for Mom. Find more wordless wednesday at Technorati.

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What Can We Do Today? Blow Painting.

katef — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:35:52 +0000

What with wrecked backs and sick kids and crossing off number one on my list I’d totally forgotten to blog this fun blow painting activity that we tried way back in the term 3 holidays!

You’ll Need –
Watered down paint, food colouring or liquid water colours.
A cup or container for each colour.
A spoon or icy-pole stick for each colour.
Straws – one for each child.
Paper

Make sure your paint mix is runny enough to move freely on the paper. Add some food colours to regular tempera paint if you want really bright vibrant colours.

Spoon out a little bit of paint onto your paper, then pick up your straw and BLOW BLOW BLOW! Moving your straw while blowing will make interesting patterns in the paint and blowing one colour of paint into another is interesting too!

Preschool aged kids or older will enjoy this one and can be fairly self sufficient once the activity is set up and you show them what to do.

The two year old in this house had loads of fun having a go. It took him a little while to work out the difference between sucking and blowing, and there was a fair bit of spit mixed in with his paint at the end. He got a little frustrated that his painting wasn’t moving how he wanted it too and in the end enjoyed using his fingers and a paint brush better than blowing through the straw!

Lots of fun for everyone!

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