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Little Lifelong Learners

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Do you want to see a little sneaky peek behind the

Do you want to see a little sneaky peek behind the scenes here at Little Lifelong Learners HQ?! 🤓
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This is where the magic happens on a week to week basis! Kurtis @mrlittlelifelonglearners and I have a shared office space and play room so that we can work around the kids when needed, though these days we tend to take turns with one of us working and the other being the ‘on duty’ parent 🙊 This week I’ve been sitting here working on a new Play Pack for my Little Play Club members!
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I’ve also finally written an epic blog post sharing how Kurtis transformed our single car garage into a beautiful new combined office and play room!! #WhatADreamboat 🤭
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When I shared snippets in my stories, my inbox was flooded with questions so I’m super excited to bring this post to you this week Head to the link in my bio to see all the before and after photos! 😍

How do you know it’s time to introduce your todd

How do you know it’s time to introduce your toddler to their first jigsaw puzzle? 🤔
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Well we’ve had the same two peg puzzles on Audrey’s play shelves for a few months now and while she still pulls them out most days, I felt like it was time to challenge her a bit more. She’s almost 20 months so this week we pulled out her flesh jigsaw puzzle!
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I grabbed these heads and tails puzzles from Aldi a few years ago (swipe across to see the box). When we introduced this particular puzzle, I gave her just one animal and placed the pieces side by side. I showed her how to connect them and then offered it to her. Sometimes I used my hands to help guide hers.
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For the first week, it was very frustrating for her. She’d try to connect them and then throw the pieces across the room. But just ONE week of later, she’s nailing it! I’ve presented just three animals in a basket for her and today I added a few more new ones to see how she’d go!
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I always recommend using 2 part puzzles for this age range and try to find puzzles that actually connect together like these rather than pieces that just sit side by side. I’ve found they get frustrated when the pieces move away from one another too easily!
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I was thinking of filming an IGTV for you guys around the progression of puzzles with Audrey. Let me know in the comments below if you’d like me to do that! We have quite the collection which I’d love to share with you guys! 🙊

Soooo Kurtis @mrlittlelifelonglearners made the ki

Soooo Kurtis @mrlittlelifelonglearners made the kids the most spectacular mud kitchen and omg! All of their dreams have come true! 🥰
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Swipe across to see it in action, filled with all their favourite things! Lilly is planning on planting some flowers in big pots next to the mud kitchen to use for her mud pies. They also have free reign over the kumquats growing in the garden and any of the herbs they wish to use.
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Kurtis has started working on a blog post with ALL the details ready for inspire you! Our old mud kitchen was very low (made for an 18 month old Lilly!) and featured a recycled sink...but we decided to go with a couple of metal bowls this time to make it easier to clean and to allow more kiddies to play together at once without getting in one another’s space.
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Ahh I can’t wait to share Kurtis’ blog post with you all soon! It’s going to be a big one 😍

Hmm DIY road blocks for under $15?! Keep reading!

Hmm DIY road blocks for under $15?! Keep reading! 💫
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We made these road blocks sometime last year and they’re still a favourite item which the kids use for small world play! Elliot’s little eyes lit up when I suggested we take them outside to play.
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He grabbed some of his favourite monster trucks and off we went. He didn’t play for too long (he mostly launched them off the rocks (hello there trajectory schema 😂 see my last post to read more about that) but Audrey was immediately drawn to them and sat and played for a while.
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So how did we make these road blocks? Well Kurtis just cut some long lengths of timber down to size and then painted them. That’s it! We spent under $15 on this DIY and they’ve been so incredibly loved! Head to google and search for ‘DIY ROAD BLOCKS’ and you’ll see my blog post pop up ❤️

Does your little learner LOVE throwing sensory bas

Does your little learner LOVE throwing sensory bases? Keep reading!
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Today I shared that I do not leave sensory tubs like this out all the time because our almost 4 year old LOVES to throw things. I can set our play expectations over and over but he cannot resist that innate URGE to just throw it everywhere. It’s like he can’t control himself. BUT THERE’S A REASON WHY!
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He’s exploring the Trajectory schema and what this means is that he’s fascinated by movement. Running water, throwing toys across the room, jumping up and down on the lounge/bed/slightly bouncy surfaces. When he explores and plays throughout his day, he is actively seeking out opportunities to explore movement...so you can guess what he wants to do when he comes across a sensory tub. Yep. Fling that shiz everywhere!
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Today he was outside while Audrey and I explored this tub but I left it out anyway. When he came inside, he sat down and I saw his little brain thinking...and suddenly, he was using the scoops as little slingshots and flung that corn right across the room. I could have gotten angry, but instead I reminded him that it needed to stay in the tray. After all, his little scientific brain was working hard! When he couldn’t resist that urge and did it again, I just moved him out of the room. I could have redirected him to some beanbags or balls but it was almost dinner time.
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SO the point of my post this evening. If you’re little learners cannot resist that urge to THROW, FLING, SWING, POUR and BOUNCE...they’re probably exploring the trajectory schema...and you’re probably not going to have a lot of *clean* success with sensory tubs. But you can add some water wheels, funnels and pipes so they can still explore movement freely with the tub!
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Do you have a trajectory seeking kid? Tell me about their favourite play below! 👇🏻 We explore play schemas in more depth over in the Little Play Club! You can pop your name on the wait list at www.littleplayclub.com 🥰

“But can’t I find all these ideas on the inter

At the beginning of the year, we set a goal. We wa

At the beginning of the year, we set a goal. We wanted our children to have a childhood full of outdoor play. But we felt like we couldn’t give them that in our rental home.
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We’d spent years imagining what our forever home would look like. How we’d have established trees to play under and a dry creek bed for the kids to explore in. How the kids would be outside all day long, only coming inside to raid the pantry before heading back outside to play.
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At the beginning of this year, we were determined to make that a reality by the end of 2020. We were going to buy our forever home on a little bit of land. We’d look for a small house just big enough for 5 people but with a nice sized yard. A blank canvas to make our own...
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Little did we know, a few short weeks later we would meet with our bank AND find our dream home within a matter of days! Our offer was accepted the day the house went on the market. And the rest has been a bit of a blur since 😜 In just 3 short months, we’ve built a combined office and play room and made some amazing progress in our yard all during the COVID pandemic...and boy have we been grateful for this yard during this tricky time!!
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But this week it really all came together. We finished off our dry creek bed last week and added some native plants and some beautiful fences and bridges from @educating_kids and next will be a DIY mud kitchen with more space for 3 little people!
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I’m still pinching myself that we’re in this beautiful little home right now. It’s crazy to think that two of our biggest goals for this year have come to life...and now it’s time to set some new goals...and I can’t wait to have you guys join us as it all unfolds! 💫

Today I’d like to share my favourite no cook pla

Today I’d like to share my favourite no cook play dough recipe - you’re going to want to tap the little save icon for this one!
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We make play dough all the time here. It’s one of our go-to activities for when we need a little help parenting our little learners AND want our chosen activity to have some amazing educational benefits too!
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Sometimes we leave it natural, other times we add our @worksatplay powder dyes and some essential oils or food essences to add an extra sensory element. Sometimes we add loose parts from nature and sometimes we add cupcake liners and candles!
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Play dough is a wonderful tool for strengthening the muscles in our fingers and developing those fine motor skills while we play.
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What’s your favourite way to use play dough? Tell us below!

Being a mum is pretty special, but boy is it exhau

Being a mum is pretty special, but boy is it exhausting and all encompassing.
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We carry so much on our shoulders. We worry that we’re setting our children up for *bad* food habits when we head to the drive thru for Nugs after a trying day. We worry that letting the kids watch cartoons all morning after waking at 4am will turn them into TV obsessed zombies. We worry that if we buy the *cheap* versions of quality toys from Kmart, that we’re doing our children a disservice because they aren’t the real deal. We worry that if our children drop the F bomb, that people will think we’re shitty parents. We worry that if we don’t set up beautiful invitations to play for our children, then we have failed them 🤯
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We constantly WORRY that we aren’t doing enough. That we’re too cranky. That the mama on IG that seems to have it all down pat is exactly how WE should be parenting.
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But just remember, those beautifully written captions and images are a split second in someone else’s day. We are all struggling to juggle all.the.things and we’re all doing our very best. Motherhood wasn’t meant to be easy. Motherhood is filled with lots of hard moments with all the beautiful moments sprinkled throughout just to keep us on our toes.
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I hope that on Mother’s Day, you were able to take a moment to slow down and feel all the love from your little people. To them, you ARE their entire world no matter how many mistakes you feel like you’re making. No matter how tired you feel. No matter how much you feel like you’re failing. To them, you are the best mum in the entire world. You are doing an amazing job! 🥰
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Tag a mama below that is doing a mighty fine job parenting some crazy kiddos!

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