Games + Activities

I hope everyone has had a lovely day in the glorious sunshine. Why is it that nice weather makes us feel like super fun parents? Kids happily roaming free in the great outdoors, water fights, paddling pools, trips to the beach…do people who live in hot countries find this parenting lark any easier I wonder?

Anyway I digress…

Any Five Minute Mum games going on in your gardens? Let me know if they worked, or even if they didn’t. I love to hear from you and will only share photos on here if given express permission to do so! 😊

So this afternoon we did a game I shared about a year ago on my personal social media pages, so a few will recognise it but for others here it is. Great for introducing car mad kids to letters. Even if they seem totally uninterested in the letters, a little tiny bit will be sinking in. My son was entirely unbothered by his name the first time I tried this much to my disappointment. We did this a few times and suddenly one day he painted a capital E and showed it to me, totally out of the blue. So it does go in, even if sometimes you feel like you’re banging your head against a brick wall!

I did our track today on an old cardboard (Hello Fresh!) box flattened out but I’ve previously used an old roll of wallpaper (they sell single odd rolls super cheap - always worth grabbing if you see them in B&Q or Homebase) or an Ikea roll of paper. A lovely friend of mine suggested 5 bullet points might be easier so people can find the instructions quicker without reading all the blah blah above. So here ya go…!

1. Roll out paper or box flat
2. Write their name(s) across it in dashed lines like a road. Include a car park at the end with space for all 26 letters.
3. If your child is very competitive do two identical name roads and race!
4. Get out lots of toy cars
5. Wait for them to show an interest then play - can they race along their name? Which parking space are they choosing for each car? Or you give them a parking space for them to find. Your car can chase them along the letters. Whatever you like, just free play and let them lead.

Five Minutes of “education” with them, then kick back in the sunshine parent folk - we’ve earned it! As always videos will be on my social media pages…

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