Purposeful play week

I am keeping in mind activities to do with Peter to make sure he is getting time devoted to him since thinking about purposeful play and I will post updates every week or so as I don't think it will always warrant a separate post. This is what we have been doing specifically for Peter:

Playing games - Orchard Toys Shopping List and Pop-up-Pirate. Great for memory, taking turns, vocabulary (we discuss what is on the cards) and motor skills (picking up the pieces and placing them in the correct position).

Singing nursery rhymes using puppets and small instruments. Develops sound awareness (we tried to play our instruments loudly and quietly, slowly and quickly) and learning rhyming sounds from the songs.

Counting practice and colour recognition using this lovely book which has lots of different items of the same colour on each double page. Peter has progressed from thinking all colours are blue and I think he now knows orange and red too!

Tipping, pouring and filling using rice krispies and a variety of pots and spoons. I have always found this to be a great time filler when I am busy in the kitchen and you can use all sorts of dry materials. Great for learning about volume, forces, and developing motor skills by using spoons and scoops.

Using some pages of a Cbeebies Octonauts magazine to match stickers to shadows, make an undersea picture and colouring. 

We have also been taking Peter to the under-5's music making session at The Sage Gateshead while Harry is in his Saturday music class. Peter really enjoys these sessions and it's very nice for Stuart or I to spend time one-to-one with him in a place away from home where we are not tempted to get on with jobs at the same time. I think we will continue to go to this most weeks. The Sage is a nice place to spend a Saturday morning for us all too!