Eggcellent Egg Dying for Egg Tapping

I love Easter!

At Easter time I particularly love egg tapping, a traditional Greek Easter game where 2 players hold a hard boiled egg and tap the tip of the eggs together. The first egg to crack is unfortunately out of the game and the uncracked egg is victorious! Egg tapping is played with eggs that have been dyed red, so the preparation for this game is as much fun as playing it. Even though I’m not Greek I played this game quite a bit as a kid and I absolutely loved it!

Now I’m about to make an admission that would make any Yaya shake a finger of disapproval at me… I love dying and decorating eggs for tapping that AREN'T red. I know it’s breaking tradition but colourful egg dying and decorating is lots of fun and I know your kids will love doing it too.

If you and your kiddos want to give it a try here’s what to do…

1. Hard boil your eggs first (very important! You don’t want raw egg flying around during egg tapping!) Then, allow them too cool.

2. If your kids want patterns or pictures on your eggs, carefully draw them on with crayons or wax pastels. When the eggs are dying, the wax in the crayon or pastel will resist the dye making the patterns stand out. You can also wrap rubber bands around the eggs to make funny lines.

3. In a mug, mix about 20 drops of natural food colouring with 1 tablespoon of vinegar then add 1/2 cup of water. Place your egg in the dye until it’s the depth of colour you desire.

4. Repeat these steps with different eggs to make as many colours as you like. Then for a bit of extra fun use small stickers to make the eggs eggstra eggcellent!

Happy Egg Tapping,

Emma

Educational Toys + Kids = Learning Part 1

What is an Educational Toy?

Many people ask me what constitutes an educational toy. Most people assume that academic based toys like those related to alphabet, spelling, numbers and mathematics are the extent of educational toys, however the spectrum of educational toys is much broader than just academics.

What do children need to learn?

Educational toys, simply put, are those that inspire learning. We are all aware that learning is so much more than academics. During early childhood children learn in many areas. They learn to communicate effectively, interact and socialise, express and cope with feelings, problem solve efficiently, be creative, use and coordinate their body, use their imagination, concentrate and bring all of these things together to be a fully functioning and contributing person within society.

Le Toy Van Excalibur Castle From The Play Hive

So how do children learn all of these things?

Research tells us that play is the way that children learn. Play is essential for growth, development, learning, intelligence and wellbeing. It is the ‘work’ of children and although it may look simple from the outside looking in, complex and sophisticated life skills and competencies are being learned and constructed.

Le Toy Van Honey Bake Baking Set

Where do Educational toys fit within learning?

Children use educational toys in their play as props or, an educational toy can even become the focus of play. An educational toy is one that encourages good quality play by inspiring learning, imagination, creativity, problem solving, thinking and a range of developmental skills. Educational toys also build confidence and foster a healthy self–esteem by sending positive messages to children about body image, appropriate and respectful behaviour and equal opportunity. Educational toys can be structured ie. only one outcome or one way of using it, such as puzzles or board games. Or they can be open-ended ie. used in many ways with a multitude of outcomes, such as wooden blocks, figurines, etc.  

3D Puzzle and Construction 

For a list of the best educational toys please stay tuned for my next post.

Happy playing,

Emma

Teacher's Top 10 Activities for Fine Motor Development

  As a pre-school teacher I provide educational toys and activities everyday to strengthen and encourage my student’s fine motor development. Their little hands develop so much over the course of a year– strength, coordination, control, dexterity, bi-lateral integration (both hands working together) and finger isolation. The educational toys and activities I provide are all based around fun and enjoyment. It’s really just a bonus that they are all so great for their fine motor development.  

My Teacher's Top 10 Toys and activities aren’t rated from 10 to 1. They are all of equal value and compliment each other. The best thing about them is that they are extremely easy to set up at home and are a lot of fun for the whole family. So without further ado, here’s my Teacher’s Top 10. 

 

1. Threading Toys - Beads, Lacing, Sewing

Children practice:

• Eye hand coordination
• Finger control and dexterity
• Pincer grasp to hold string and small beads (using index finger and thumb to pick up or hold objects). This grasp assists with the development of an efficient pencil grasp- the tripod grasp.
• Bilateral Integration– using both hands together to coordinate the string and bead (threading) or the fabric/card and thread (sewing/lacing)
•  

2. Drawing

Children practice:

• Skills using crayons, pastel, pencils, markers, charcoal, pens, etc. Thicker widths are easy for younger children with limited drawing experience. Thinner widths are a little harder and suit older children with more experience. Chunky crayons are perfect for older babies and toddlers.
• Pencil grasp- progression through different grasps to finally achieving the most efficient and mature grasp, the tripod grasp.
• Control and coordination of fingers and of drawing tool 

3. Play Dough and Clay

Children practice:

• Strengthening their hands by squeezing, breaking, molding, pounding
• Control of the small muscles in the hands
• Finger coordination and the ability to isolate the movement of each finger
• Strengthening their arms and assists with shoulder stability (important for all fine motor activity)
• Twisting movements of the wrist when molding or breaking play dough/clay

4. Puzzles and Jigsaws for kids

Children practice:

• Manipulating pieces to fit into holes- twisting, flipping, turning
• Finger coordination and the ability to isolate the movement of each finger to join interlocking pieces
• Eye-hand coordination

Melissa and Doug Pirate Adventure Puzzle

5. Painting with kids or Pasting

Children practice:

• Holding a rod like tool and having to control it. Even though a brush should be held in the same way as a pencil (tripod grasp), the sensation of using a brush is different. This is because the paint/glue will feel different as it is applied to a surface and the technique for application is also different
• All sorts of hand application techniques such as stroking, dabbing, flicking, twisting, twirling, etc
• Eye hand coordination
• Control and dexterity of small muscle groups in the hand 

6. Construction Sets and Building Toys for kids
Children practice:

• Manipulating small objects to snap together, pull apart or balance
• Strengthening fingers
• Eye-hand coordination
• Bilateral integration

Blue Ribbon Arabian Block Set

7. Collage with Paste or Sticky Tape

Children practice:

• Motor planning- having to plan movements mentally to achieve an outcome ie. Picking up paste brush, applying paste to back of collage piece, turning the piece over, finding best place to stick it, pressing it down onto the paper.
• Eye- hand coordination
• Control, coordination and dexterity of fingers and hands
• If sticky tape is used, the dispenser is great for employing delicate finger movements so the tape doesn’t stick together when handled
• Bilateral integration to dispense, hold and stick tape in the appropriate place or to use paste and paste pot together.

8. Scissors

Children practice:

• Open and close motion of the hand
• Steering the scissors
• Bilateral integration- the ability to coordinate both sides of the body to work together. In this case coordinating the cutting hand and paper grasping hand
• Finger coordination and the ability to isolate the movement of each finger
• Eye hand coordination
• Motor planning- having to mentally plan movements to achieve an outcome
• Strengthening the hands

9. Finger Painting

Children practice:

• Gaining sensory feedback and responding physically to what they are feeling
• Using the whole body to move the paint (if they are standing up). Great for upper body and arm strength which in turn benefits their fine motor skills
• Finger work- isolating finger movements
• Bilateral integration if both hands are used to paint

10. Hammering Toys

Children practice:

• Gaining sensory feedback from the vibration of the hammering and using this to control the force employed
• Eye-hand coordination
• Arm and wrist strength that support fine motor activity
• If tacks or nails are being used, eye hand coordination to place tacks in the right spot and bilateral integration to hold tack and hammer carefully at the same time

Peg Hammering Bench

So, would it be breaking the rules to add one more activity? It probably would, but let’s go for it anyway! Lucky last…

   

 11. Peg Boards   

Children practice:

• Pincer grasp (using index finger and thumb to pick up objects)
• Eye-hand coordination
• Isolating movements of the fingers
• Control and coordination of the muscle groups in the fingers and hands

Happy playing,

Emma Butler

http://playhivetoys.com.au/

Terrific Tips for Imaginative Play

Imaginative Play

Children accumulate lots of little toy collections during childhood: Farm animals, dinosaurs, pirates, princesses, knights, fairies, insects, people, toy cars, etc. Although cleaning them up after a big day's play can be tiresome when left on the floor, these wonderfully educational toys promote imaginative/dramatic play with an emphasis on imagination, creativity, problem solving, storyline development as well as social, emotional and language development when used with friends.

I’d like to share with you a ripper idea to make these toys even more fun and inject more developmental and learning opportunities into your child’s play. All you need are a few additions found around your house, garden, local area or that can be bought very cheaply.

Creating A Scene for Imaginative Play

When given the chance kids love setting the scene by creating habitats, houses or environments for their toys. Doing this is lots of fun and actually becomes a creative part of play. These scenes become the inspiration and backdrop for toys and encourage children to play longer giving you time to join in and also dash away to do a few daily chores.

Fun and Fabulous Materials to Use

Through teaching preschoolers, I’ve found that providing kids with a variety of natural and interesting materials they create the most amazing scenes for their toys to play amongst. Here are some materials that kids love to use:

Pine cones, driftwood, small logs, shells, seedpods, rocks (polished and rough), glass/plastic pebbles, cardboard cones and cylinders, fake flowers, small pot plants, wooden blocks, corks, paper doilies, cardboard cones/cylinders and fabric (small and large pieces of different shapes and sizes). Some of the fabric shown here has been cut into shapes: black felt strips to make roads for cars, brown leather cut into a shape to become a mud patch for pigs.

Inspired Play

When the scene is set your child will love to add their little toys and figurines. Watch as the scene changes during play. They will move, add and take the materials away to create new story lines as their ideas evolve and develop. This is a delight to watch.

Mess and Storage

Of course you don’t need to have the suggested materials on hand, a small selection will be enough to inspire your child. You can store these things in baskets, little containers, storage draws or reused gift boxes and keep them in a safe place ready to take out when needed. During play, your child will want to spread these things all over a table or the floor so be prepared for a bit of mess. If you want to contain the scene to an area, lay down a mat, piece of fabric or towel for your child to create their scene on. Upon pack up, the pre-math skills of sorting, matching and grouping are developed as each object is placed back into their storage container with similar/matching pieces.

Inspiration From Kids

Here are some great examples of how children have set their play scenes ready for their toys.

Here rocks, shells, pine cones and fake flowers adorn a wooden block castle. A long piece of blue fabric has been draped over a chair to create a waterfall next to the castle. Time for the king and queen to play in their new home. This scene, developed by a 4.5 year old boy shows creativity and an ability to develop a geometric design.

Here, a perfect habitat for dinosaurs has been created by a 3 year old girl. Some plastic palms have been added to glass pebbles, coloured fabrics and wooden blocks. Red cellophane has been poked into the top of cardboard cylinders to create volcanoes. 

Here puppets are being used amongst some interesting materials and pot plants. Plants are a fabulous way to add extra interest and authenticity to play. Of course your child will need to learn that they’ll need to be careful with the leaves.

If you child hasn’t used materials like these before you may like to encourage them by creating a scene with them. As they become familiar they’ll be off and running themselves. Extending a child’s play in this way will sustain their play for longer bringing about new inspiration, experiences, exploration and learning.

Give it a go at home, It’s heaps of fun!

Happy playing,

Emma Butler

http://playhivetoys.com.au/

Well hello and welcome.

I would love to introduce myself. My name is Emma and I am a passionate preschool teacher and small business owner of The Play Hive an online Educational Toy shop.
This new year I'm taking the chance to try something new and share some of the great
stuff that I have learnt over my many years of teaching young children through this blog.
 

So lets buckle up and start the journey here!...
 

As soon as the clock struck 12 on new years eve you probably had a list of new years resolutions as long as your arm. Did they include doing more exercise, eating less chocolate or starting that new hobby? I'm sure you set these resolutions with such passion and vigour (as we all do in January). Imagine if your kids made new years resolutions. I'm sure they wouldn't be nearly as predictable as ours and would happily resolve to eat MORE chocolate. It's safe to assume that if your child made a new years resolution it'd be to do more of the one thing that makes them feel energised, invigorated and on top of the world. It'd be the one thing that can give them absolutely EVERTHING they need to learn, develop, grow in confidence and work through anxiety. And would you believe it? Above all, this thing is super fun.
 

I hear you mumbling "Oh no, what is this THING she speaks of? Do I have to remortgage
the house to get my hands on this? Will it turn my child into an adrenaline junky?"
Well, if you haven't already guessed the holy grail that can provides children with all of these things and more is... Wait for it... PLAY!   "Oh, is that it?" I hear you say, probably with a sense of relief... Yes, it's THAT simple.
 

As an early childhood teacher for over a decade, I have seen first hand the learning and educational value of play. Not to mention the other benefits to development, health and well being. A lot of us grownups underestimate the value of play and would prefer our children to focus on academics. However, if you cast your mind back to when you were
a kid I'm sure your fondest memories were when you were at play. Was it when you made a cubby out of a cardboard box in the backyard and played in it for weeks on end? Was it playing with your favourite toy? Or was it cops and robbers with the kids in your street? You were having so much fun but there was something that you were doing that you were blissfully unaware of you were learning and developing.
 
So this little blog, is my way of helping every family to use play (in it's many forms) as a fun learning experience. I will share tricks, tips and play inspirations that I've learnt with help of my 4-5 year olds at pre-school to take into your lounge rooms and backyards.
 

Please stay tuned, I have many great things to share with you.
 

Happy playing, Emma