I want to do Peter Says

 A little update to my Simon Says Peter Says entry. When Amie wants to play the game now, she says: “I want to do Peter Says”. Then she does what Peter says, yells “No!” and undoes it. “I want to do Peter Says” is a strange way of asking for the game, isn’t it, because she …

Peter says, Simon says

A couple of weeks ago  We had a long wait at the pizza place and Mama had forgotten to bring her bag of tricks – a folder with coloring sheets, crayons, puzzles, a couple of thin books, and a Manush (playmobil man). Amie became restless – no patience whatsoever. “I want pizza! I want pizza!” and then …

The Letter Box

Letters A couple of months ago, Amie started showing interest in letters. It was rather unavoidable, as we have wooden alphabet puzzles and alphabet fridge magnets. And she sees us reading, of course, and writing on paper (Mama) and on the computer (Baba and Mama). She now also pretends to read her books,  some of which she knows …

2-Year-Old Painting

This is a picture of my little girl, who just turned two. She loves to paint now. To draw, not so much anymore. Even coloring has taken backstage. See the concentration on her face? Painting is “serious” work. I will post some of her paintings soon. They are piling up (and we’re talking large sheets …

Play Dough Experiments: a Guy and a Dog

Ive added the sixth article in the series “Drawing as it develops“. In it you can read about Amie’s experiments with play dough at 23 and 24 months. The idea was to see how she perceives our bodies and the bodies of animals. I’d say we got some fascinating results, some of which seem to support …

Jigsaw puzzle play with under-two-year-olds

I added an article on Amie’s puzzle skills in the Child’s Play section. Beside a short history of how Amie approached her jig saw and fit-in puzzles at around age 16-18 months (a history that is perhaps representative of other kids that age), there is also a funny VIDEO of her solving some jig saw puzzles at …

A game for an almost-2-year-old

I am looking for a board game type of game: something that is fun (duh!) that is “conceptual” in that it requires concept-formation, forward-thinking, memorization, etc. that can be played in a group that is appropriate for a clever and patient 22-month-old. The social aspect is very important: I feel she needs and would welcome something interactive with …

An All-Round Toy for an All-Round Child

David Holmgren, at the beginning of his book Permaculture, Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability (p.7), gives some examples of non-material well-being: When we enjoy a sunset rather than watching a movie, when we look after our health by walking rather than consuming medicine, when we spend time playing with a child rather than buying them …