At the Moment #3

Wednesday, June 17, 2020 BookBairn 1 Comments

It's been a while since I did a little update like this as recently I've just not been up to blogging and been focussing on putting one foot in front of the other. But things seem to be a bit more balanced again and the bairns have spent these last few months perfectly playing nicely with each other and I now get chunks of time to sit and type whilst the play peacefully. (Well for now they do!)

Here are the things that we have been loving at the moment.

Family

Of course this was going to make the list! We have been lucky enough now to see most of our close family in the safety of our garden, complying with social distancing rules. I really needed that and it was good for my soul. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted and although it is strange to stay distanced and not to be able to hug, just being in the same space really has been wonderful.

A bit of freedom

Similar to above, being able to go in the car to some local places for a change of scenery has been amazing and we are fortunate to live near the beach so we have had a few windy walks and play on the local sands. Just being able to go back to places that weren't really accessible by little legs before like our duck pond has been great and we will be going out on a few adventures whenever the weather allows.

Bird Project

BookBairn asked to learn about birds and our family project has really taken flight (pardon the pun!). The kids can name a huge variety of birds - from local garden ones to species from across the world. We have enjoyed using our Usborne spotting book and recording our garden bird spotting on a graph I printed from the educational resources website Twinkl. We have also played a daily game of Bird Bingo and have even been able to play with the bairns' grandparents over FaceTime thanks to the publishers making additional game boards free to download on their website. But most of all we have lovingly painted twelve garden birds to be displayed inthe house. This is the first time that I have seen The Wee Page Turner make more than a scribbled attempt at colouring or painting and his focus was incredible - he was so determined to get it right. Which just goes to show that when children are really engaged in their learning and projects, there's no stopping what they can achieve. I hope to have a blog post of all the birdy books we have enjoyed recently too!

Trampoline

One of the things that we really did not intend to buy was a trampoline. We bought passes to our local outdoor play place that has trampolines specifically so we could use them there and save our garden from one. However, lockdown hit and all I could think was how much fun the kids would have if we had one. But of course they were sold out everywhere by the time I looked. Fortunately we managed to get one this weekend and the bairns are loving it. Worth every (overpriced) penny!

Where the Crawdads Sing

Just finished reading this in three days after hitting a bit of a reading slump! What a fantastic read! The character of Kya was so compelling and following her from childhood through to adulthood mixed this story as a blended "coming of age" book with a murder mystery. You can't help but root for Kya throughout. I loved the way her connection with nature was portrayed and loved all the natural descriptions which made the marsh into another character. Really takes you into another world. If you are looking for a great read I highly recommend this and if like me you wonder what the poetry sections are all about - have faith - it makes sense in the final pages!

How to Give Your Child a Lifelong Love of Reading

So one of the reasons I picked this book up is that I get a mention inside it as one of the author's recommended bloggers for advising about children's books. It totally brightened my spirit to see that and it's nice to know that people out there in the real world appreciate my recommendations. So I really enjoyed reading through this and picked up a few tips here and there, particularly to do with having slightly older children become readers. Obviously at the moment the bairns can't read by themselves yet (though BookBairn is making strides towards it) so we do read a lot together and I do model reading a lot but I love the ideas for engaging older readers and if you have a reluctant reader or are unsure of how to create a reading environment at home then I highly recommend this. It also has a great list of suggested titles at the end for all age groups and interests because the key to raising a reader is to hook them on books and to do that you need to find the right one to resonate with them. If I was a teacher still I would be highly recommending this book to all my parents.

Those are the things that have brought us a little happiness over the last few weeks and we would love to hear of any little favourites below which have brought you a twinkling of joy!

Hope you're all staying safe and well,

Kim x

Disclaimer: Some books were sent from publishers but they were not sent in connection with this post. Their inclusion here is my choice. Because I really do think they are great. Please read our Review Policy if you want to know more. If you click on the image of the book below you will be sent to Amazon.co.uk using an affiliate link. This means that if you choose to purchase on Amazon.co.uk, I will receive a small sum (around 20-90p per book) from Amazon at no extra cost to you. I understand that you may not want to use an affiliate link, but if you like reading our blog post please just think of it as a small tip for a tip-off to an awesome book. And know that your support means I can buy more books! For more information check out our For Readers Section.

1 comment:

BookBairn's Papa C22 June 2020 at 10:36
It’s been great watching the bairns play with each other so much and so well and it’s been fantastic to watch it first hand again rather than on video. Although the video links have been great and I have loved playing Bird Bingo with them. However, I can’t wait to get my first hugs. They’re gonna be huge!!
Their interest in birds is wonderful and they show a considerable amount of knowledge. Well done MummyBookBairn for devising all the bird projects. I will confess to being more than a bit “iffy” about the trampoline but to see their faces full of joy and the exercise they get from it has converted me. Well done on the purchase and the installing. I also read Where the Crawdads Sing recently and loved it. It’s not often I find a book that I find time for over other things but this one had me gripped. I would highly recommend it.