It's been a while since I've written anything. It's been a bit crazy (I've realised that I've still not published my graduation blog post or written about my holiday) so a quick update.
I am about to embark on a PhD journey. I will still be researching history although not buses this time (shoes instead haha). If you would like to follow my journey please check out my other blog Claret Clef Family Research which, although has been my familiy history research, will merge into my PhD blog.
Chloe is still cheeky as ever. She is now 26 months old, crazy, energetic and cheeky. She loves books (especially the Gruffalo) and singing (especially the ABC song and Let it Go very loudly on the bus). She was due to start nursery for two days a week next week but unfortunately that has fallen through so she will now be going to a childminder instead in October. This will give her a chance to make some new friends and give me a chance to get some work done. I think it will be good for both of us.Anyway, the main purpose of this blog post today is to review Mrs Mactivity's Provocations. Mrs Mactivity is a website which has lots of creative learning experiences for children aged 3 - 11. There are loads of printable resources with ideas for Tuff Spot Trays or learning resources etc. Obviously, Chloe is a little be too young for some of the activities but there are some great prompts for play that she can explore.
The activity we have been doing is the Tuff Spot Tray: Playdough Provocation. In the download you get two plans; a quick set up and a more detailed plan. Each plan includes prompts to engage and enable conversation, lists of vocabularly to prompt and key outcomes. The detailed plan also links these outcomes to the Early Learning Goals so great if you're a childminder or Early Years Practitioner.
I'm not known for my amazing set ups and Chloe is not the most patient of children, so we just got playing. The good thing with the playdough provocation is that you can use things around the house. We explored what happens with pasta, shells and pinecones as well as the usual cutters and rollers. We talked about colours and shapes as well as making a bit of pasta into a butterfly.
The prompts give you questions that you can ask your children such as " I wonder what would happen if we use the pine cone" which then prompts your little one to explore the outcome. This activity was really good for Chloe as it gave her a focus with the playdoh rather than just rolling etc as well as discovering new things such as the beads and cones.
The membership for the site is £12.95 per year and there are absolutely loads of ideas and prompts to help with all sorts of things to explore. The Provocation plans include playdough, weighing and sorting and art & mathematics.
I'm usually a bit sceptical about play prompts etc because as a busy mum I haven't always got the time to set up lovely layouts for Chloe to play with. However, with these provocations it gives such an all round experience and doesn't necessarily have to mean planning amazing tuff tray displays that are instagram ready (as you can see from my photos, we certainly aren't here). However, this activity kept Chloe entertained for at least an hour and in my book that makes it invaluable.*I have been gifted a subscription in return for a review of the website and in particular these provocations. However, the views are all my own
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