If you follow us over on Instagram you will have seen the beautiful new book storage we have for Neves books. Its been a great way to organise key stories that are relevant to the time of years and interests Neve has. It holds an impressive 30 odd stories!
Over the last few months we have had Christmas stories and stories set in Winter popped inside our book display. Now Christmas has passed us by and Neve becoming interested in Space - I have replaced the Christmas books with Space themed stories. Its been great! A couple of stories Neve has been enjoying have been penguin related which led me to set up a Penguin Small World.
On the subject of Penguins - did you see our super cute Foot Print Penguin Cards?
Over the last few months we have had Christmas stories and stories set in Winter popped inside our book display. Now Christmas has passed us by and Neve becoming interested in Space - I have replaced the Christmas books with Space themed stories. Its been great! A couple of stories Neve has been enjoying have been penguin related which led me to set up a Penguin Small World.
On the subject of Penguins - did you see our super cute Foot Print Penguin Cards?
I ordered a set of penguins from Amazon. I was unsure at how they would look detail wise as the cost was so inexpensive (under £1.30). They landed and I must say I can't express how great they are. Real value for money!
I had already prepared for their arrival by utilising some of the packaging we had over the Christmas period. For example the sets that have plastic inserts that hold bottles/ containers etc were popped aside. I filled them with water - half way initially with a sprinkle of artificial snow, allowing to freeze before repeating and filling to the top.
Instead of having one large block of ice I wanted to have different shapes and sizes for the children to explore. ( I'm sure you can picture James face when he was trying to put the food away in the freezer after shopping! So amusing!)
I scattered some snowflakes around the tray that I had picked up cheaply from the garden centres just after Christmas. Its an ideal time to look for items like this as you get some great deals - often half price or less.
I used some shredded sparkly paper to scatter around the edges too, along with a handful of ice cubes.
I used some shredded sparkly paper to scatter around the edges too, along with a handful of ice cubes.
Once the ice had started to melt the blocks of ice that had been frozen inside the packaging slipped out. Neve got them out and started playing. The penguins were slipping and sliding on the ice. She asked questions, expressed her thoughts and it was great to see where her thoughts were at.
She collected the ice cubes and held them in her fingers until they began to drip. I asked why it was dripping and she was able to tell me that the ice cube was melting because her hands were warm.
"It's hurting my hands because it's so cold."
I popped some books that were relevant to the small world behind the scene. It brought it alive and subconsciously Neve was acting out what she could see in the background with her own set of penguins.
There came a point where the cold got uncomfortable for her and she asked if I could pop the ice into the sink and add some warmer water.
She enjoyed watching the ice melt quickly in the water and went on to spent 40 minutes playing in the sink. I added bubbled towards the end and we submerged our hands below the bubbles to search for the penguins that we couldn't see.
Lets take a took at this Penguin Small World:
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