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November In The Kitchen Garden
Planting Overwinter onions, garlic or shallots is a perfect activity for toddlers and preschoolers. We are just planting garlic this year. The cloves are chunky and easy for kids to hold and generally speaking they can survive most mishapscaused by tiny gardeners! Any bulbs you put down in Autumn will be ready in June or July. Prepare Your Beds Garlic, onions and shallots all like free-draining soil. As the bulbs will be in the soil until at least June you must take steps to prevent them becoming waterlogged. The kids helped me to drill drainage holes in the base of our planters. Tip for kids: garlic isn’t all that exciting…
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Cooking with Toddlers: Simple Apple Tart
Finding the perfect Montessori recipe for toddlers can be tricky. I usually find I have to get a bit creative with adult recipes. This apple tart is a combination of a few different ones that I’ve adapted to allow for greater toddler independence. Alfie (3.5y) complete each of the steps and only needed guidance on what to do next. It was really delicious and looked far fancier than it was. Toddler skills Spreading Rolling Peeling Mixing eggs Sieving Ingredients 3 large apples (I used Fuji) 1 sheet ready-made puff pastry 2 tbsp apple purée 20-30g butter 1 egg Few tbsp castor sugar Pinch of cinnamon Method Roll out sheet of…
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Montessori at Home; The Table Tray
Many a meal time have descended into a kind of seated jig for me. I plate up a meal, we sit down to eat and someone needs a drink, or someone forgot a fork, someone needs the toilet or someone wants more juice or in the worst scenarios they don’t like what’s on offer and I’m making something new. Meanwhile my dinner forms a skin and goes cold while my blood pressure creeps ever northward. I’m fairly laid back but this was starting to really grind my gears. So, I looked at our problems and tried to come up with a solution. Part of the problem was a lack of…
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10 Ways Busy Mums Can Practice Mindfulness In 10 Minutes
Has it been one of those days? One of those days when you feel frazzled, the only adult company you’ve had was a wave at the postman and you feel yourself starting to slowly lose your mind? We’ve all been there! I’ve put together this list 10 effective ways to practice self care in 10 minutes, all tried and tested by me. As an added bonus for Mums these can all be practiced in your downstairs loo or at your kitchen sink, because sometimes waiting until the kids have gone to bed just feels like too long to wait. And before we start there are a few things to know;…
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Montessori Toddler Bedroom
A look at our Montessori toddler bedroom
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Dealing with Unwanted Gifts in a Montessori Home
What to do with non-Montessori gifts, alternatives to sugges and what to say when they just won’t listen!
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Montessori with Young Children Close In Age
7 tips from Montessori Moms for doing Montessori at home with two or more children
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Helping Siblings Share
Five Montessori inspired ways to encourage sharing between young siblings
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Recommended Reads – Our Bookshelves in Autumn
Well hi there Autumn! Where did you come from? Here’s a little look at some of the books we’ve been enjoying over the last few weeks. Recently a follower messaged me to ask if I could recommend books with less writing as her toddler didn’t listen for long enough to finish the story. We read lots of long books, usually I abridge them until Alfie is familiar with the story and illustrations and we eventually build up to the whole story. Friends This is a treasure of a book! Alfie is obsessed with farming, in fact obsessed might be an understatement so the setting of this story is perfect. This…
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Montessori At Home – Cooking with A Toddler
In the last few weeks Alfie has started using his Kitchen to make real meals. Needless to say I’ve been cooking up a storm as I try to make the most of this interest – for the very first time in my life I’m baking! Blackberry Picking I was delighted to stumble across a blackberry bush thriving in the hedgerow along our lane. I still can’t believe I live somewhere that has not only a lane but also a hedgerow. For me blackberries are always a bittersweet sight. Their glossy black arrival spells the end of lazy hazy summer days and the scratch of briars was quickly echoed by scratching…
