That Agape Family

Live. Love. Learn.

Month: July 2017

Who Needs Toys, Anyway?

July 26, 2017 / / 0 Comments

My mom (who is amazing, and helps us out whenever we need it) came over on Saturday so that I could hopefully get some cleaning done. Little Miss C (3.5) decided that our roof had a leak (likely inspired by the Berenstain Bear book Too Much Vacation). So, she took every plastic cup, bowl and Tupperwear container we had in the house, and placed them around our living room.

As you can see, we weren’t very far into our cleaning efforts 😀

My mom turned to me and said, “who needs toys?” And it’s true. We don’t have a lot of toys, comparatively speaking. And, because of this, her imagination is allowed to run wild! Next, she created a fort with our freshly washed sheets. Why can’t they use the dirty laundry, right?

And, for the hat trick, she played for half an hour in the dish water – we washed the dishes and the floor!

 

Children don’t need a lot of toys to be entertained. They can, and will, take every day items and see them in a new light, stretching their imaginations, and yours.

What everyday items do your children play with?

Chopped! (Kids Edition)

July 21, 2017 / / 0 Comments

While at one of our co-ops a couple of weeks ago, Little Miss had the opportunity to try out some nylon knives by Curious Chef. I was so enamoured with the idea, that I bought a set for her. We tried it out the evening we got them, and they were a hit! They are really neat because they will cut through fruits and veggies, but won’t cut skin. Here she is prepping some of the green peppers for our fajitas:

She also chopped up mushrooms and my avocado. She was so eager to continue helping that she suggested making lemonade:

The beautiful part? She ate it. Woot! Because, you know, when children participate in food prep, they are more likely to give it a shot when it lands on the dinner table. (Yes, I said “more likely”. There are no guarantees in life.)

Just like that time we made pizza, and she added all the toppings herself. She never eats the whole thing, but she did this time!

How do you include your children in the kitchen?

Mr. Postmouse

July 17, 2017 / / 0 Comments

We love reading in our household, so I thought it would be fun to share some of our favourites as we go along. We utilize our local public library, and refresh our borrowed collection every 3 weeks. I feel as though I’m betraying our current favourite author by not mentioning him in our debut book post. You’ll get the next one, Mo! Promise!

This last trip we picked up 3 books by author and illustrator Marianne Dubuc. Her stories are absolutely delightful, and her illustrations are fun and detailed. I can guarantee you, you’ll find new subtle details every time you read them.

Miss C (3.5 years old) enjoyed The Bus Ride so much that we read it 3 times in a row! It was a hit! Who are some of your favourite children’s authors?

Look Up, Way Up

July 11, 2017 / / 0 Comments

I love and adore experiential learning (learning through experience). You will notice that most of our meaningful learning happens in a casual fashion, through curiosity. So, I am always looking out for situations that occur in our day to day lives, where we can observe, and learn, about the world around us.

A couple of weeks ago, we noticed that the construction site by my parent’s home was active on a Saturday (a rare occurrence). They were removing a large crane that they had built the condo around, and therefore had to remove in a strategic way. It was fascinating to watch the construction workers disassemble the crane piece by piece, and lower the pieces onto large flatbeds like this:

We watched as they precisely lowered the pieces, using hydraulics, onto the trucks, then secured them into place. We discussed physics and engineering in a meaningful context. When have you experienced experiential learning?

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