Play and Learn Every Day - Play and Learn Every Day

Christmas Charity Shoebox

22:00

I have been looking for a while for a way to teach Ethan about charity and helping others from a young age, and I have finally found a way to start. It started with an Instagram post of one of these Christmas shoe boxes, this one in particular was from the Rotary Shoebox Scheme, who I then looked up and emailed to ask about how I could get one of these boxes to fill. If you're not familiar with the shoe box scheme, you basically get a box and fill it with toys (for a specific age and gender of child) or household items and then the charity sorts through them all and sends them to needy children or families overseas. For us this is a wonderful way to share our good fortune, and to hopefully make someone's Christmas a little bit more bright. It is a way to start teaching Ethan about people who are less fortunate than we are and how important it is to help people in need as part of his Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

I decided that the easiest way for us to do this is to make a box for a little boy Ethan's age, that way he will be able to relate to the boy better. I showed Ethan a photo of a little boy from the Rotary website and told him that this little boy lives in Romania (as that's one of the countries that the boxes get sent to) and his family don't have enough money to buy him Christmas gifts, so we're going to send him some toys to open on Christmas morning. We then went out shopping, and picked out lots of things and put them into our basket for the little boy. Ethan did ask for things for himself, but I kept reminding him that today we're just buying presents for the little boy.

In our shoebox (for a 2 year old boy) we have put:

colouring books
crayons
magnetic numbers
2 toy cars
play dough set
'Lego' type building blocks
rubber ducky bath toy
toothbrush and toothpaste
2 pairs of socks
winter hat
gloves

After we got home we filled the box (we have actually bought too much for the box, it's bursting open!) and then decorated the box with stickers and drew on it with crayons. I know that it is quite complicated for Ethan to understand, but hopefully this is the beginning of a new Christmas tradition for our family that he will get more out of every year.

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

20:40

Happy Bonfire Night!

21:04

Foil and Pipe Cleaner Fireworks

20:36

Another Fantastic Birthday Party

17:02

Ethan's First Fireworks

22:00

Tonight we took Ethan to his first fireworks display for Bonfire Night / Guy Fawkes. He absolutely loved it! It was a really different experience for him, being out at night, in a huge crowd and watching very bright and very loud fireworks. Great for his Personal, Social and Emotional Development as he learns about adapting to different situations.

We were very aware that the situation could have gone either way, and that Ethan could have absolutely hated the fireworks, so here's what we did to prepare as best as we could:

Tips for Preparing Toddlers for Fireworks Night

explain to them what fireworks are and build up the excitement - show them videos of fireworks on YouTube (or in our case, just watch some out the windows for the few nights leading up to the fireworks display)
if you're worried about the noise, look into buying some ear protectors / headphones (I actually didn't think of this until too late with Ethan, but he was fine with the noise -- possibly his layers of hat and hood helped!)
play with glow sticks and torches / flash lights at home in the dark to prepare them for how dark it will be outside on the night
bring some lovely glow sticks and light up toys to the fireworks (we bought loads from Poundland, no point in spending a fortune on the night either!)
research the fireworks show that you're going to see, look for one that is the most child friendly

gates open earlier than the fireworks so that the little ones can get used to the area
child friendly food
fun fair and games to add to the fun and excitement
lots of parking (free if possible) so that you won't be parked too far from the gates and to make it easier to leave when the fireworks are over (rather than getting into a packed train or bus to get home with a tired toddler)

dress warm! We wrapped Ethan in layers and layers of clothes and brought hat, scarf and mitts (which he actually kept on, so he must have been feeling the cold)
if possible, don't bring a pram / stroller with you. It meant that Ethan had to be carried when he was too tired to walk, but it was so much easier to get through the crowds without one, and he was happy to be held up during the fireworks as he was close to us and that helped him to feel safe and secure (and I could watch his little facial expressions)
choose a good spot to stand and watch the fireworks (there's no point in pushing to the front as you don't get a better view and it just makes it more difficult to get out if your little one isn't happy)

Ethan loved everything about the night, on the drive there we saw other fireworks displays through the windows of the car, so I think he thought that was it! When we arrived and he got to eat hot dogs and go on fun fair rides, he was over the moon. He just had the biggest smile on his face the whole time! When it came time for the fireworks he was completely mesmerised, he was just staring at them the whole time. He didn't seem to be bothered by the noise at all, and happily waved around his Bob the Builder glow stick. When it was over we waited a few minutes for the car park to clear out, then brought Ethan to the car, where he quickly fell asleep. It was so comforting to be in a nice warm car and to know that Ethan was sleeping soundly and happily all the way home :)

Spooky Playgroup

15:00