I have loved Lego since I was a little boy and now I have 2 little ones, I love playing with Lego with them. But Lego is special, it's not just a toy, it's amazingly versatile and here are a few ideas to help your little ones learn with Lego.
1. Fine Motor Skills
Starting out with Lego Duplo from around 1 year old you can help your children develop fine motor skills. There are many Duplo brick shapes and sizes and they all lock together in a secure fashion. Lots of opportunities to build and knock down towers all helping develop hand-eye coordination and motor skills. 2. Social Skills Playing on their own, with a friend or with you, all helps your child to continue to develop their social skills. It could be learning to share and take turns or as they develop to take on the roles of the characters in their sets. They role play because it helps them to learn about themselves and others. 3. Learning Colours Lego is a good tool to begin sorting and organising with your children. Lego Duplo comes in a wide range of vivid colours. Children love to investigate and learn through play from the world around them and what better way than by playing and sorting Lego. 4. Maths Lego comes in all shapes and sizes of bricks. You can use them as counters or to represent values. If your child is reluctant when it comes to Maths then Lego might be a tool which unlocks their potential. 'It's not learning if it's fun,' but it is whether they like it or not. Here is a video showing Lego being used to teach fractions:
5. Stories
There are so many Lego sets available including more well known characters like Star Wars, Batman and Spider-man. These offer lots of opportunities for imaginative play and role play. There are also lots of minifigures and sets to help develop imagination and story writing. You could even try making your own stop-motion video (I can't wait to do this one day with my little ones). 6. Computing Lego WeDo offers children the opportunity to use Lego for science and programming. You can download the software for free and pick up a 2nd-hand set from ebay for around £50. Computing is a fantastic topic to help develop and teach your children problem solving skills. There are also some other great computing sites which are free, that help children learn programming skills: code.org and scratch.mit.edu If you have anymore ideas for how to learn with LEGO then let me know in the comments.
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When I was about to become a Dad, lots of people would say 'Are you ready for the lack of sleep?', I would laugh it off and think I've stayed out till 4.00 a.m., I'm sure I can handle missing a few hours. I was wrong, so WRONG! The lack of sleep you endure as a parent is indescribable, especially to someone without children. Over the years I have tried many things to help my children sleep; I've probably googled and tried every technique. My advice to new parents is to just do what works for you and don't believe all the hype of some 'sleep' experts. Here are a few of things I have tried in my never-ending battle to get my children to sleep: Bath them, Give them some milk, Read them a story, Swaddle them, Use the shh pat technique, Use the gradual retreat method, Let them cry it out (this was not a good idea), Controlled crying and rapid return, Keep them up late (this definitely does not work, they just get tired and angry instead of just being tired), Put a hot water bottle in their bed to warm it up before placing them in it, Placed them precariously in their cot while leaving the room like a ninja, stealth, ghost, Sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Sang Head Shoulders Knees and Toes (continuously at 2.00 a.m. as it was the only thing that stopped him crying), Watched Elmo videos on YouTube, Watched Blue Planet, Teletubbies, Batman... Made fart noises, Downloaded a farting noise mp3 to play on repeat, Downloaded a heartbeat mp3 to play on repeat, Held their hand while they fell asleep, Slept next to them in a sleeping bag, Slept in their bed with them, Slept with them in the sleeping bag, Given in at 3.00 a.m. and just let them sleep in our bed! Getting kids to sleep is not easy, unless you have one of those amazing children that 'have always slept'. I'm not jealous, honestly. If anyone has more tips then please don't let me know because I don't listen to them any more, I just do what works for me and my children now and that's seems to be working okay. I usually get a good nights sleep (once a week). I remember the first time I had to look after my little boy, I was thinking, 'how am I going to keep him busy for a whole day! This post gives a few ideas, some are free and some are not, but all have kept my little boys entertained for at least a few hours.1. Soft Play Always a safe choice, dry, warm and they usually have a cafe you can get a hot chocolate from. As soon as your child can crawl then soft plays are a good choice. There are a wide range around from small ones with a ball pit and a slide to gigantic padded adventure playgrounds with death slides faster than 'the Big One'. I must admit that some I actually quite enjoy as well. 2. Watch A Movie Watching movies is not always a bad idea, I am not a big fan of watching TV all day everyday but watching a movie once in a while is a nice experience. You can choose to watch a movie at home with a few treats or go to the cinema. When I first took my son to the cinema he was around 2 1/2, he was a bit fidgety and I think he enjoyed the chocolate buttons more than the film, but it was a nice Daddy-Son experience. Since then we have seen a few films at the cinema and we often go to the Cineworld 'Movies For Juniors' which are £2.00 a showing for kids and adults. 3. Swimming Depending on how old your child is and whether they have been swimming before, you may wish to choose a heated pool. Heated pools are often found in health clubs, hotels and fitness centres but often have times when they are available for public bookings. A heated pool is a nice introduction to swimming for your child and eventually you can take them to a standard pool. Always check the temperature of the pool and be safe, some heated pools are too warm for babies so it is worth ringing the club first to check. 4. Crafting Pinterest is a fabulous tool for parents. It offers lots of craft ideas you can do at home. These can include making birthday cards or just creating nice craft items to keep. Pinterest is a great tool especially if you lack a bit of creativity. It has pins for food, clothes, art, craft, photography ... the list goes on and there are lots of ideas of things to do and make with toddlers at home. If you've got paint and glue though make sure your kids are not wearing their best clothes and you've put some newspaper down because kids LOVE to make a MESS! 5. Play Outside This is a pretty simple one but my own children love just spending time outside in the garden. Even if it's raining, they love to pop their wellies and all in ones on and have a play in the puddles. If it's nice we have a picnic or go on a bug hunt. 6. Go For A Walk If you fancy a bit more of an adventure then you can go for a walk. There are lots of walking apps out there and if you want to turn your walk in to a bit of a game try Geocaching. Geocaching is where you use GPS to look for items while you're walking, it can make a walk in to an exciting challenge. Another option is go to a National Trust property; we have National Trust membership at £8.25 for 2 adults and kids under 5 are free! 7. Reading Taking time to read with your children is something that I am a big supporter of. You can turn this in to a trip out by visiting a library. Lots of children's libraries offer special events, book readings and facilities to engage children in reading. Borrowing books is free and allows for some great Daddy-Child time. Another option is to turn a book in to an adventure. Go on a bear hunt round your house while you read 'We're Going On A Bear Hunt'; kids love a bit of drama and role play. 8. Build A Den This is another activity you can do inside or outside. Inside all you need is a duvet, a few pillows and something to prop the den up with. Outside a tree, a few sticks and maybe some plastic sheeting or an old bed sheet (if it's not raining). 9. Day Out This is the most expensive choice but kids always love a day out. Day Out With The Kids is a great website for finding things to do in your local area and gives you a variety of activities which can be cheap or expensive. My boys love a good trip to the Zoo or a Farm. If you can get to London then all the museums are free; we have visited the Natural History Museum and Science Museum and both were great for toddlers and kids. 10. Go To The Park This can be weather permitting (but not always). We have spent many an afternoon going to the park, playing on the swings, slide and roundabout. The park always gives some opportunities for some great photos as well. Well that's my 10 things to do with toddlers, I hope I have given you some ideas and if you have any other suggestions then please comment below.
This year I'm not setting resolutions, I'm setting goals. I can't
remember a single resolution I've stuck to and completed. Whereas with goals if I achieve them then I can be satisfied, if I don't then I can see what I need to do better next time. As I start 2016 I want to take steps that improve my life and the lives of those around me, not short term targets but long term changes. I've done some research and there is a lot of support for writing down targets and setting yourself a number of goals rather than just one. Also I've tried to include goals for all aspects of my life. I'll be blogging about about how I get on, any tips and any achievements I make. Fitness This is a favourite for many people in the New Year, but I'm going to make it a focused target. I need to improve my fitness enough to run a 10k and improve upper body strength. To do this I'm going to be running 3 times a week, doing upper body exercises, improving my diet and cutting down snacking. I've started my year off with a walk up the Wrekin in Shropshire, here's to much more exercise in 2016. Be more romantic A bit cheesy, but I know I can be more romantic so I want to show my wife how much I appreciate her and everything she does for me and our family. I think Pinterest is going to be the place to go for this one, however I'm hoping to arrange a nice weekend away by the end of the year. Blog I want to continue my blog, I enjoy it even if nobody reads it. I am going to aim to spend some time each week developing it by researching tips for Dads and fun stuff to do with kids. YouTube I've made a few YouTube videos and enjoyed them so I want to create some more. This will probably be some thing I do every few months by making a new video. Dad Lad UK: Photography I love photography but have not done nearly as much as I would have liked in the last few months so I want to continue to develop my photography skills. Hopefully I'll have some time to practice on my own and try out some new techniques. I am happy to do free family portraits for friends to get practice so if anyone is interested just let me know. Christening This is pretty straightforward I need to get my second son christened. It's just a case of getting organised and getting it arranged. Cycling I want to teach my first son to ride a bike. He's 3 and in the spring I want to spend time taking him out at weekends and encouraging and teaching him how to ride a bike. Even if it's just using his balance bike. Swimming I love swimming, my boys love swimming too so I want to take the boys swimming. I am going to aim to at least take them once a month. Family I want to spend time with my family doing activities, arranging occasions and day trips. If anybody has any recommendations, please let me know. Friends I want to take time to see my close friends more, to really make an effort to see them every few months either with our close families or on our own, just hanging out. Home I want to spend to time this year making our house a home. Putting our stamp on it by doing some decorating, even just putting more pictures up. I've also got some money and work targets but I'll keep them to myself. I've included them in an email to myself just so I can stay focused and reflect on them at the end of the year. Well that's it, any tips or help would be greatly appreciated even if it's just a bit of moral support. All the best to everyone for 2016. |
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