Blog
How to Make a Viking Play Tent
Camping under the stars is still a distant prospect for our son, but for now a tent offers him infinite possibilities for adventure. It can become a traveller's camp or a bear's den, an Inuit's igloo or a Viking's tent. It can also provide shade for sunny outdoors and...
How to Make Fairy Furniture from Twigs
Learn how to make fairy furniture from twigs! Made from natural materials and with very simple tools, it's a fun project for older kids and adults. In the previous post, I wrote about making the tree house. I planned it as a playground for Budster's birds, but it was...
DIY Project: How to Make a Fairy Toy Tree House
For a quirky Waldorf-inspired uptake on a dollhouse, make a fairy tree doll house for kids from branches, wood and other natural materials! Lately, my son spent a long time, watching birds out of the window, and so he found some little bird figurines in his Easter...
Birds: Games and Crafts for a Toddler
After studying our inspiring book on birds, Birds of a Feather, it seemed natural for us to play a few games with birds. Budster is very fond of birds at the moment, and if he takes after us, there is a good chance he will stay this way. His favourite birds are...
Birds of a Feather: Book Review
Since Sunday, we have been starting and finishing our days with the same book – Birds of a Feather by Bernadette Gervais and Francesco Pittau. This gorgeously illustrated book won Budster's heart from the first look. It comes to us from France, where the talent of...
Russian Books for Small Children
Some of them are more than twenty years old, and some are new. At first, I preferred those which pages were white and fresh, carefully chosen and delivered from overseas, but as Budster brought me my old books, without bright illustrations, but loved now by the second...
Easter Egg Fun for Babies and Toddlers
It was a week before Easter, and I made up a small chant, based on one of my son's favourite books We're Going on a Bear Hunt, "We're going on an egg hunt! We're going to find a lot of eggs..." But is Budster familiar with eggs? No, when I think back, his experience...
Spring around the World in Books
This year we had a long winter, and even now, as I show grass and leaves on the pictures to Budster, I wonder whether he remembers how it should look when the warm weather finally settles. Time goes slowly for children, and if we think that the winter was long, for...
Bear Snores On and Bear Wants More: Book Reviews
I could have called this blog post Liska's Favourite Books, and it would have been just as fair. For of all the books we collected for Budster over the first year, Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson was without doubt my favourite. Now the choice would be more difficult to...
Sea Life for Toddlers: Books and Games
Last week we decided to check out the aquarium that opened in Toronto last fall. Budster is very curious about the animal world right now, and it seemed like a good place to show him something new. Not that he had not seen fish before – there were aquariums at the zoo...
Books of Few Words: Dr Seuss and Emily Gravett
Did you know that one of the most popular English children's books nowadays was completed using only fifty words? Dr Seuss did just that in creating Green Eggs and Ham, as a result of a bet with his publisher. Here is the list: a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat,...
How to Make a Water Table: DIY Project
At the Early Year Centre, I first saw Budster play with a water table. The basin is deep, and in many activities children are encouraged to use fishing rods, measuring cups or spoons to play with the toys at the bottom. It is also just possible to reach with...
Baby’s First Favourite Books: Reading to 0-1 Year Olds
There are few defined hopes I have for Budster's future. I would like him to be happy. I would like him to be healthy. I would like him to adore books. I believe that if you are a passionate reader, the world is a much more pleasant place. Bigger, too. In the world of...
Julia Donaldson’s Books for Babies and Toddlers
Books by Julia Donaldson are among our favourite on the shelf. The plots are invariably interesting and understandable for Budster, and I enjoy the lively rhythm, humour and dialogues which invite the possibility of turning reading into performing. Many of her stories...
Make a Painting Together with Toddlers
Painting and drawing have always been a big part of my life. At times they comforted me, other times they helped me to visualize my ideas. So I could not wait to share this passion with my son, and I first offered him food-based paints when he was seven months old. He...