Well it’s finally happened Lego fever has hit our house. This has been a long anticipated event for me. I’ve been waiting and waiting for the boys to want to build with their Lego but it just wasn’t happening. They had a few different sets but they just weren’t playing with them. Then it suddenly dawned on me it was the way it was presented and that’s when I had the brilliant but very simple idea to throw all our bits in one box and let them use their imaginations to build and … It worked!

   
 
By simply throwing them all in this box and letting them use their imaginations all sorts of creations have been made. 

Here is one day’s worth of creations:

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
 
Here is another days worth of creations:

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
 
This has been fantastic for afternoon rest/quiet time as it keeps them occupied and happy. 

So what was it that made the difference? I worked out the boys were looking at the Lego boxes and instructions that came with the pieces and getting overwhelmed by how complicated it looked. We initially made up the trucks and cars as per the instructions for them as the kids wanted them made up but then didn’t play with them after that. So by pulling everything apart and popping them in a box together with no instructions they didn’t get caught up making it try to look like the picture and their imaginations could invent some new creations. 

Admittedly the boys are only 4 and 6 years old but they are still more than capable of creating some awesome vehicles.  

Looking forward to more of their creativity. 

It’s funny how when you’re homeschooling you become more aware of how simple everyday activities can be a teaching opportunity. 

Take for example our latest breakfast time ritual. On the days when we have eggs on toast about twice a week the kids love tomato sauce on toast. 

Somehow it came about that we starting drawing on the toast with the squeeze bottle of sauce. It started off as smiley faces, then the first letter of each person name, then we’ve moved on to numbers. 

  
The younger ones now tell me the letter or number they want written and then we say it together. I’ll usually say the letter sound and we talk about words that start with that sound. 

  
Our oldest writes his own which has been fantastic to practice letter/number formation and also for fine motor skills. It can be quite a challenge to get the letters just right. 

Just recently the kids have been asking for double digit numbers including our 2 year old which is a great learning experience and so much more interesting than just reading it off a sheet of paper. 

What different or weird ideas do you use as “teaching” opportunities?