The art of play

Warning - pic heavy post ahead!!

I've mentioned before that we ascribe to a theory of "learning through play" here at chez 'And So I Sew'.

Put simply, this means that the girls are encouraged to make, create, explore and discover through open-ended play experiences.

That is, they are (largely) given toys or items that have no one set way of using them, but rather can be used in a multitude of ways based on the extent of the girls' imagination.
This is aside from those that encourage role play - such as their home corner with kitchen stove and the like.

I try to learn as much as I can about how to help the girls learn in a play-based way and came across this book at the library.

This book is an absolute winner as far as I am concerned.
In it the author explores the relationship between work, play and love for children as well as adults.

I knew it was my kind of book when early on I read this:
"Play, then, is the dominant and directing mode of learning during this age period (2-6 years), and children learn best through self-centred learning experiences.

We also don't push alpha-numeric learning - so no charts filled with numbers and letters.
That's not to say there are not puzzles with the alphabet on them and cards with characters to count - the older two girls are madly into all things letters and numbers and when they ask - their questions are always answered.

But we don't push it.
It's at their pace, self-directed.

I know I could have them doing basic math by now but that's not what we want for them, there's plenty of time ahead for that.

To again quote David Elkind's book "Certainly young children can learn letters and even sight-read a few words. But this is work and should make up only a small part of an overall hands-on, self-directed early childhood curriculum."


We are also very lucky to have the girls in a kindergarten that teaches according to Reggio Emilia principles - so it supports the type of learning we want for them.
(A Google search will bring up lots of references if you want to read more about this.)


Our older two girls will continue to go to kindergarten next year rather than starting school.

This was a decision we deliberated over and we decided that while they are certainly more than ready to start school next year, it's not just about now, it's about when they are 13 and 14 and 15 years old and could be up to 14 months younger than their peers.

If in a composite class where they are in the younger group, this age gap could stretch out as far as 3 years.
We felt that they were going to be better off in the long term being among the older children in the class (we have found that it is likely there will be a number of children who will be older than them anyway), rather than younger and maybe having to work a lot harder to keep up.


(Fabulous vintage swap cards mounted and framed for Miss G for her birthday by our friend Blogless Judy!)

This means I will have the pleasure of their company for three days a week next year as well as the 4 days they are home this year. For this reason I felt it was important to have space in the house where they could go to create what they want, when they want to.

So out went the old bookcase and a table that was really a dumping ground, and in came the new children's creating space.

I got the table and stools from Ikea, they are called Sansad and with a personal storage area under each stool where they can keep their treasure, the girls love them.

I also picked up a Trofast drawer tower and drawers and in this there are things like coloured paper of various sizes, pieces of fabric and ribbons, pipe cleaners, sequins and beads, flowers, large blank drawing books, envelopes and stickers.

In the highest red tub are the things that require a little more supervision such as paints and beaded bracelet/necklace sets for threading.

The lower red tub is filled with puzzles.

The bookshelf contains magnetic storyboards, more puzzles, exercise books and threading beads and the things they are most excited about - their own stapler and sticky-tape dispenser.

There is a magnetic board on the wall with a string underneath it where they can peg up or display using a magnet, their many artworks, drawings and puppets and cards.

Or to hang things they find interesting such as coloured leaves or things they find outside.

Under the magnetic board we got an Asker rail and three ceramic pots where the pencils,scissors, pens and crayons are stored. This is from Ikea's kitchen range, I pinched this idea from a friend.

Now each morning (and afternoon, and evening) the girls can be found at their own table making things, doing fuzzy felts, playing with magnetic storyboards, putting puzzles together or enjoying playdough.

It's their own space and they can come and go as they please, and they are responsible for tidying it up at the end of the day too.

It's been a huge hit, they have taken real ownership of this space, and if you are going to have small children at home with you for an extended period I urge you to set up a small space just for them, I am sure it will be appreciated.

Wordless weekend

Flying high

Still no camera here, but it made me think about things I have not yet blogged, and should have!

Remember these little fellas?


This is the resulting mobile I made for Miss G's room before she was born.

A mobile is a hard thing to photograph, so the pics are not that great.

I have been hoping the man of the house would lower the mobile for me but as that still has not happened I thought I would share the pics with you anyway.

This was a lovely project to work on as each of the birds is hand-sewn so I was able to do them in the car, at the hairdresser or just on the couch in the evening.

The pattern is available on the Spool sewing blog (in the sidebar, scroll down a little) which is where I saw it.

The branch came from a tree in our garden and then my father-in-law and I played around and balanced the birds and attached them with fishing line.

When it is in motion it has a lovely, gentle swirling action - which tends to almost hypnotise the youngest in the house.

She loves it - looks up at it when she's lying back feeding just before bed and now chats away to the birds when I lie her down to sleep.

A big tidy up

It's been coming for a long time.

It had reached the point where the fabric, patterns, interfacing, scissors and various other bits and pieces had started to seep out from the sewing room across the floor and were threatening to take over other parts of the house.

So I labelled, boxed, rolled, folded and filed, and now it's all spick and span.

As strange as it sounds, I find it much easier to think in there now.

Of course I unearthed a few WIP's I had forgotten about and am now suffering crafters guilt over them. (I bought all that stuff for that thing I HAD to make and it never got done. Should I shelve it now or finish it?? Is it useful, will it still fit, do I even still like it???)

I wish I could say I have one of those amazing spaces like Heather Bailey or Paula Prass, a 'studio' , but I don't.

Things don't quite match and there are a number of shoe boxes serving functional purposes, but I am extremely lucky to have a room that is entirely dedicated to my hobby.

And for this I am very grateful.

In the interests of giving you the entire picture - these are the boxes on top of the shelving - another WIP you could say.

It also means that the room is neat enough for me to show you the other part of my birthday present from my mum, aside from the fabric I showed you way back here.

Despite the money you spend on buying a quality overlocker and/or sewing machine they come with super-cheap and flimsy plastic covers.

So mum took the time and put in the effort to make me these fabulous patchworked covers for both my sewing machine and overlocker.

I have never done any quilting at all and so can only imagine how long it took to make these with the different panels and sides and of course they are fully lined as well.

Not only do they protect my machines from dust and dirt they also keep out curious little fingers. I can now tell when they have been there, they usually leave one of the edges pushed up!

Thanks Mum, they're great and I love them.

One day soon I will repay the favour and make you something requiring a little more time than just a pincushion!

A wim-o-weh

In the jungle, the mighty jungle....

Miss G sleeps with her friends the lion, zebra and giraffe.

Isn't it great when you have talented friends who give you amazing gifts like these.

My good friend and old work colleague Jacki is a very talented graphic designer who creates children's artworks in her spare time.

She did some gorgeous little girl prints for L and A when they were born and came to visit recently with this fantastic trio for Georgia's jungle animal-themed room.

I know, I know I never did show you the bird mobile (which turned out pretty well I must say!), or the stuffed giraffe toy from Melly and Me that are now part of her nursery, but who cares - look at these!!

Having worked side-by-side with Jac for a number of years I know how much time and effort she puts into every illustration she does, so I can only imagine how long these took her to complete.

They're Miss G's first original artworks, created just for her.

Thanks again Jac, we love them.

Check out Jacki's other fabulous work here - she set up a business with another designing friend, Anita so you can all have some of her work on your walls.

The sweet smell of success...

It's not my success, no, not at all. There was no help from me at all in fact.

It's the success of my lovely husband, who despite the odds, has moved our huge daphne bush from the backyard to the front garden, without it dying!!

Everyone said it wouldn't work as the bush was about to burst into bloom, and so was the wrong time to move it. He did regardless, and the leaves got yellower and yellower and we all feared the worst. But with some advice and plant food from the lovely folk here it survived.

The flowers are starting to come out, the yellow leaves have gone, and boy does it smell sweet.