Smiling like Sunshine

The Freedom to Choose {in the Montessori Method }

2013-06-19T00:24:00.000+01:00

The other day I set up the table for Derin to play with playdough. When he was finished I left it on the table thinking Defne might play with it. I had also prepared a bin full of water beads and put it on the table for them to play. While Derin was napping, Defne started playing with the water beads. I left her alone in the play room and when I came back about 45 minutes later I found this.

She had sorted the water beads according to their colors and the ones that are broken are put in one of the dividers as well. Now, if you would ask any adult to do this, s/he would probably say "Are you kidding me?"
However for a child, it is different. Defne came up with this idea on her own during her play She must have met her need for order or something else that we may not be aware of.
There were still some water beads left in the bin, but she stopped sorting when her needs were met. Also, the beads are slippery so she must have shown great care and concentration during the transfer and apparently she enjoyed doing it.
In a Montessori environment, the child has the freedom to choose what to do. The child is free to move around, to communicate with the adults or the other children, to play or to rest if that is what s/he wants to do.
Respecting and not interrupting a child's concentration is central to Montessori's philosophy. The child needs time and freedom to repeat and to repeat endlessly, until her/his needs are met. Sometimes, we, as adults, tend to think that children are "wasting" their time, they are not "learning" anything. In fact, children learn all the time if we give them that time and freedom. For instance, during her play Defne developed her fine motor skills and math skills (one to one correspondence)
Derin is 3.5 years old now. Recently I have started to set up the same activity for both kids, modifying the activity a little bit according to their age or interests.
When Derin woke up and saw the water beads, he asked for me to set up the "lego slide". He wanted to transfer the beads using the spoon. Each child is different and following the child's interest always helps them to develop and to learn, in their own way and in their own time.

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All Year Round Blog Carnival {Summer}

2013-06-16T22:26:00.000+01:00

I am delighted to announce the beginning of the All Year Round Blog Carnival: Summer, a collection of summer posts sharing seasonal thoughts, pictures, activities, crafts, recipes, books, art, nature study, projects, celebrations and more.

You are invited to join us and link up your old and new summer posts (maximum 5 posts a day per blog). The summer carnival will remain open for new links until the autumn carnival begins in September so you can come back and link up more posts throughout the summer. We hope you'll enjoy visiting the host blogs and posts from the linky for lots of summer ideas and inspiration.

Please link to the URL of your summer themed post. You can find out more about All Year Round and get a button here, and also follow All Year Round on Pinterest and find us on Twitter at#AllYearRoundSummer.

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Organizing a Cupcake Party

2013-06-13T14:34:00.001+01:00

Image credit:Free Stock Photo

I decided it would be great fun to organize a cupcake party for the children before the holiday starts.
Both my kids love helping me in the kitchen. I personally remember the days when my mum and grandma baked cookies together. They used to bake a lot and I just loved that as a child.
Having said that I always bake cookies or cakes. But I am a complete novice when it comes to cupcakes. Baking cupcakes will be a new experience for all of us and it is always great to learn new skills.
I need to buy some cake moulds. There are so many options to choose from. The possibilities are literally endless. Moulds come in all sorts of shapes and size. Cupcake decorations can bring you a whole new world. I like the paper cupcake cases like this

These lavender ones are also very pretty:

And then there is the fancy job of icing the cupcakes and decorating them. There are interesting and beautiful toppers and different kinds of nozzles to create the shape you like.

Love Birds Edible Toppers

I would really love to get creative and experienced in baking cupcakes. They look great and everyone likes them after all,plus they would make beautiful edible gifts.
As always I go to my trusty source when it comes to recipes: BBC Good Food Magazine. I decided to use this Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe which looks perfect for the kids.
Do you enjoy baking cupcakes? I would love to hear your tried and tested recipes or any tips for a beginner.

This post is brought to you in conjunction with MakeBake.

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Getting Ready for the Summer

2013-06-07T07:00:00.000+01:00

The summer holiday is approaching fast and I am slowly getting our bags ready. We haven't been to Turkey for 3 years now so we are all very excited. Shopping lists have been made: What will we take with us? What do we need to buy as presents? Which books/toys to take? The list is long I am afraid but I am sure we will manage it.
The kids are very excited about the sea. We will be meeting up with my sister's family and another friend's family who also has two kids. We will be staying at the same holiday resort so it should be good fun.We are going to the south of Turkey which is quite hot and humid in August. We will see temperatures around 40 degrees. To be honest, I dread it but we can only go during school holidays so we need to embrace it!.
The other day I have sorted out the children's swimwear to see what they have outgrown of and if they need anything new.
Sandals, sun hats,some beach toys, little toys and magazines for the plane trips,safe sun creams (I have written about them here in the past) , citronella for the flies are also on the list. So many things for this mama to take care of!
There are very nice swimsuits on the market with gorgeous designs. A friend of mine has just mentioned me about Zoggs, an Australian company who specializes in children's swimwear with UV protection. I know that although I will encourage the children to stay in the shade we will still be concerned about protecting them from the dangers of the sun's rays.
Zoggs has swimwear for all the family but I especially checked out their children's swimwear . They may not be as pretty as some on the market however they look really professional and for me safety is more important than "pretty". Right now, some of the items are on sale, great value! I will need to buy one for each child.
If your kids are like mine, they will enjoy exploring what is "inside" the sea. Defne already has goggles but I will need to buy one for Derin. Zoggs claim that their kids goggles has an exceptional fit and durability. They also have Fogbuster™ anti-fog lenses – for fog free swimming.
I think Defne will be fine,she enjoys swimming however Derin is not like her. When we go to our local swimming pool, he does not like it much. It takes him quite a while to step in the water. Most of the time he will just ask to sit on the side splashing water. We have been careful about not forcing him. Zoggs has some lovely games, toys and swimming aids to encourage children to build confidence in the water.

For instance,these Zoggy Seal Flips look very interesting. They help children to blow bubbles in the water. This eventually helps them to control their breath in the water. We will need to try them.

Zoggy Seal Flips

Are you getting ready for the summer holiday? I would love to hear your tips for the beach.

This post is brought to you in conjunction with Zoggs.

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British Wild Flower Matching Cards

2013-06-06T00:32:00.002+01:00

I have prepared these British Wild Flower Matching Cards for one of my assignments and they have been a huge hit with both of my kids.

I prepared a collection of 9 pairs of matching cards. One set is mounted on white card with a dot of identifying colour on the reverse side, the other set is mounted on green card. The names of the flowers are written on the back of the white cards.

The objectives of this activity are

To introduce a pairing game
To expand child’s vocabulary by teaching the names of some of the common wild flowers
To refine the child’s power of observation

I invite the child to lay the cards mounted on the green card, out in a row or in a column. As they are being laid out, we chat about each flower. The teacher should extend the child’s knowledge of the flower. When all the cards are laid out, I encourage the child to match the second set of cards (mounted on white card) to the first set of cards.

The 3-6 year old child is eager to learn about the world, other creatures, other cultures and other people. S/he is in the sensitive period for language and this allows the child to easily learn the technical names of the concepts that are introduced in science,geography and history.

Montessori states that children indeed love flowers, but they need to do something more than remain among them and contemplate their coloured blossoms. She adds that they find their greatest pleasure in acting, in knowing, in exploring, even apart from the attraction of external beauty.

Derin (40 months) enjoys looking at each picture and matching the cards. Defne (6 yo) also likes matching them but she is also interested in learning the names and characteristics of the flowers. I especially chose flowers that are widely available in most meadows and parks right now. I am planning to take the cards to the park one day. I think they would enjoy seeing the "real"flowers and matching them with the cards there!

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Family Night In With Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate #CBias

2013-06-04T21:11:00.002+01:00

Last week was half term holiday here. We had a great relaxing time. The weekend however was a bit busy with birthday parties and some errands. Therefore I decided that it would be nice to spend the saturday evening with some small treats for all of us. I decided to make jacket potatoes - a family favourite. I popped the potatoes in the oven and went to my local grocery store Sainsbury's for shopping while the kids and hubby were busy gardening.
I decided to make this Milk Chocolate Mousse so I had to buy the ingredients. Sainsbury's is very close to me and it is one of the shops that I visit quite often. I like that they have a neat lay-out with posters so I can almost always find what I need. The staff is kind and helpful. Also, the staff turnover in this particular store is low. I enjoy seeing familiar faces.
Another thing that I like about Sainsbury's is their brand match policy. It means that they check their prices against Asda and Tesco and if the products I bought happen to be more expensive, they give me a voucher to use next time. Great!

Here are a few photos from my shopping. You can see more photos here at my Google+ Album.

I checked the DVD section to see if there is a film that would suit all of us. However there weren't any films thatI really liked, so I decided to buy some magazines for the kids and the Saturday newspaper for us grown-ups. Children like doing the crafts in the magazine. Always great for some quiet time in the afternoon.

My shopping basket

We always eat our dinner together as a family around 6pm. This gives us an opportunity to connect after a long day. This is especially important during the week, spending time at school or work.We get the chance to talk about how our day went,reflect on our feelings and then there is some more time for us to spend together playing,chatting, or doing an activity before the children go to bed at around 7.30.
While I was preparing the dinner, the kids explored the magazines and hubby had a chance to read the paper.

I prepared the chocolate mousse with Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate, double cream and eggs. The recipe suggested making honeycomb to serve it with. I have never made honeycomb before so I used Crunchies

(another Cadbury product) instead, as per the suggestion of the recipe.

I have been living in the UK for about seven years. So I did not grow up eating Dairy Milk as a child but I know that it is very popular. Personally I really like that it is creamy and intense.

I also added some strawberries and mint for the grown ups. The mousse was delicious and easy to make.

After the dinner, while Derin enjoyed his stickers from the magazine, Defne made two puppets and decided to put on a puppet show which was so sweet!

It was a cosy evening that we all enjoyed. The Milk Chocolate Mousse was a great treat, I will be definitely making it again soon.

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Strawberry Children {Kids Designer Clothes}

2013-05-31T07:30:00.000+01:00

As much as I would like my children to wear comfortable clothes, I also enjoy seeing them in interesting and funky clothing. My children especially my son,even at three years old is quite selective about his clothes.

I buy some of the children's clothes from the high street but I also buy some online.
I have recently learnt about an online shop that sells designer kids clothing:Strawberry Children. They have got a great range of products including designer such as brands Catimini, Monnalisa, Armani Junior, Vivienne Westwood and many more.This Liverpool based shop sells products for boys and girls up to 14 years of age.
Here are a couple of things that caught my eye. My daughter would adore this cardigan and the mac below is just so sweet. My three year old son is very picky about what he wears. He would really like some of the colourful clothes Strawberry Children sells.

{Catimini Girls White Blue and Red Cardigan}

{Catimini Baby Boys Reversible Jacket}

{Catimini Turqoise and Orange Short Suits}

{Catimini Girls White and Blue Clear Mac}

Strawberry Children has an easy to navigate web site. Some of the clothes are expensive but with these kind of items you can be assured that they are in good quality and can be passed down to other children in your family. Strawberry Children also promise to match their prices if you find the same product somewhere else lower than their prices.

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This post is brought to you in conjunction with Strawberry Children.

Father's Day Gift Ideas

2013-05-30T16:45:00.000+01:00

Father's Day is approaching fast and I thought I would share some gift ideas with you today.
Although we are officially entering summer very soon, the weather is still chilly in England. There are some really nice men's leather jackets at John Lewis. They make great gifts. I found these ones quite nice:

Belstaff Panther Leather Biker Jacket at John Lewis

Reiss Rodeo Funnel Neck Leather Jacket at John Lewis

Gift With Style has some nice designer products. For review purposes, they have sent us a Hobo Laptop Bag designed by Lexon. It is quite functional and stylish. I also like that it is eco friendly. Gift With Style has great gift ideas that cater to every budget.

Last but not least, I would like to remind you about the Matchbox Cars that I reviewed last week.I know that some dads are really fond of cars and these 60th anniversary cars in their retro boxes would make lovely gifts.

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This post is brought to you in conjunction with John Lewis, Gift with Style and Mattel.

Music Magpie:A New Way To Recycle Old Clothes

2013-05-29T23:35:00.000+01:00

As it is half-term holiday, we have been enjoying some lazy days at home. I always find such days are a good opportunity to declutter.
I have done a small decluttering operation in December. However having two kids, there always seems to be some unwanted or unnecessary items around. The beginning of a new season is always a good time.
If you find the idea of decluttering daunting, I have got a great tip for you: 5-A-Day. Simply try to find 5 items that you do not need anymore each and everyday and by the end of a week you will have 35 items! How does sound to you? This will certainly lead to some decluttering and organization !
In my house, our children grow out of their clothes and almost always, there are a couple of toys that they are not interested in anymore. I usually give our old clothes to charity but I have just learned about Music Magpie.It allows you to recycle your unwanted items whilst earning some money.

With Music Magpie it's easy to sell your old clothes for cash. Simply,use their drop down menu to enter the type of clothing (skirt,trousers,etc), the brand, the size and there you go! You can immediately get a value for your stuff. Easy peasy! Alternatively, you can use your webcam as a quick barcode scanner. How technology transforms our lives!
What is more, it is free to use their website and when it comes to sending your items, that is free as well. They also accepts DVDs, CDs,Games Tech and Electronics. So if you are organizing your home, moving or simply want to get rid of some unwanted items, consider using Music Magpie.You can choose to be paid via Bank Transfer, Cheque or E-Vouchers and even choose to donate the money to one of their chosen charities.
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This post is brought to you in conjunction with Music Magpie.

Save the Children and Food for Thought

2013-05-29T01:47:00.000+01:00

As you know we love reading and always try to find some time during the day to read to our children. We are lucky enough to have access to a great variety of books, be it from our own collection or from our local library. We take it for granted to have food, a comfortable house and feel secure.However there are many children in the world sadly do not have these opportunities.

Save The Children has just published a Food for Thought Report.25% of the world’s children are malnourished and that makes then 20% less able to read which leads to earning less in the future and therefore not being able to support their own children forming a vicious circle.

It’s time to take action and support Food for Thought – many outstanding children’s author’s are taking action with an open letter to the G8 leaders including Julia Donaldson, Eric Carle and Philip Pullman. Ahead of G8 the UK will be hosting a nutrition summit in London in June we are asking you to join Save the Children and highlight this issue.

This report will form part of the IF campaign where over 170 charities have joined together to call for the G8 to take action on World Hunger. Did you know that the world already produces enough food for everyone? That is why world hunger is such a scandal.

If you want to make a difference to this world crisis, sign the IF petition now.

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Montessori Inspired Initial Sound Cards

2013-05-29T00:41:00.001+01:00

Montessori did not set a particular age or a method for reading. However she explained that, with her method, the teaching of reading is begun simultaneously with that of writing: "When a letter is given to a child and its sound is pronounced, the child fixes an image of it in his mind with the help of his visual and his tactile-muscular senses. And when he definitely associates the sound with the relative symbol, that is, he becomes acquainted with written language.”

When the child has gained experience with the activities of everyday living and sensorial materials and shows signs of phonemic awareness, the teacher slowly invites the child to explore the sounds. Games such as “I spy”, “I hear” help the child hear the beginning sounds of the words. Playing these games on a regular basis will provide repetition and the child will start to distinguish sounds and find more objects beginning with that particular sound in the environment. Memory games such as Kim’s Game help the child develop a visual memory that is necessary for reading and writing.

As I mentioned last week, Derin has been learning the letter sounds. Following his interest, I prepared an animal themed initial sound cards for him. I found pictures of animals for each letter of the alphabet and glued them on to card.

Child is supposed to match each card with the initial sound letter.We used the letters from our large moveable alphabet.

Here is how I present this activity.

Ask the child to lay a floor mat if working on the floor. Alternatively, this activity can be done on a table.
Lay out the sound cards at random starting from the left top corner.
Lay out the letters at random below the cards.
Take the sound card in the first row and say which animal it is. For example: “This is an elephant.” Say that it begins with the sound “e” and emphasize the sound.
Going over the wooden letters find “e” and place it below the card. After a few examples, if the child is willing to take over s/he can do it independently.If not, continue until all cards are completed and then invite the child to do the activity.

There are 26 cards in total and some of the animals will not be familiar to the child. Derin is still quite young and I don't want to discourage him,so we only use about 8 cards at a time. My 6 year old Defne, who is a confident reader also enjoys doing this activity. It has been useful to enrich her vocabulary.

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{Review} Tassimo T40 Coffee Maker

2013-05-28T07:30:00.000+01:00

Do you enjoy drinking coffee? Personally my consumption varies. For the last two years or so I have started drinking more coffee. Not too much, but I do love a good coffee in the morning and at night if I am studying. Some days I like drinking Turkish coffee which is very similar to espresso and some days I like an Americano that I prepare with a cafetiere.
I have never owned one of the coffee machines that are very popular nowadays. Last week,I received a Tassimo T40 and both myself and my partner have been enjoying the coffee that the machine makes.

{Tassimo T40}

Tassimo T40 looks really stylish and it is a very compact coffee maker. I like that it does not take too much space in my small kitchen. The set up of the machine is very straightforward. It is very easy to use and keep clean.

I don't know exactly how the other machines work, but the pods that contain the coffee/tea has a barcode. When you put the pod in its special place, Tassimo T40 reads that barcode. The barcode contains the information about the amount of water, brewing time etc so it is ensured that you have the perfect drink every time.

The drink is prepared immediately with no waiting for the machine to warm up. It takes around 45 seconds for your drink to get ready and then you can prepare a second cup for your partner or guest immediately.

The machine has an automatic mode that enables you to prepare your drink with the touch of a button. But if like me, you find the espresso too strong, you can simply add some more water using the manual button.

The machine not only makes coffee but also hot chocolate and tea. I received two packs of t-discs with the machine: Espresso and Suchard (Chocolate Flavoured Drink). My partner always prefer espresso over coffee so he was very happy to prepare it in no time using the machine.

The mantelpiece is the perfect place for my drink when the kids are around!

A couple of days later I bought Costa Cappuccino t-discs from my local store and I absolutely enjoyed having a cappuccino in the comfort of my home.
Tassimo has a great variety of drinks from Kenco Coffee to Twinnings Tea, there are so many to choose from. I have found out that local grocery stores usually have two varieties so I have just ordered a variety pack that includes 22 different t discs and cannot wait for it to arrive.

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I am a member of the Mumsnet Bloggers Network, a group of parent bloggers picked by Mumsnet to reviewproducts, services, events and brands. I have not paid for the product or to attend an event. I have editorial control and retain full editorial integrity.

The Children's Bookshelf {Sky Colour}

2013-05-27T07:42:00.002+01:00

It's Monday again, time for our weekly link-up The Children's Bookshelf. This week is the last week for the linky but it will be back again in September. Today I would like to share with you an awesome book. We love Peter Reynolds and I talked about his books here before.

Sky Colour is Peter Reynolds' latest books. As in his other books the character is an artist. Her class is painting a mural for the library and she decides to paint the sky, yet these is no blue paint. Peter Reynolds encourages children to think out of the box. Beautiful story.

The Children's Bookshelf is co-hosted by What Do We Do All Day, No Twiddle Twaddle, Smiling like Sunshine, Mouse Grows Mouse Learns , Mommy and Me Book Club ,My Little Bookcase, The Picture Book Review, Sprout's Bookshelf and Meme Tales. You can also follow our Pinterest Board .This post is part of The Children’s Bookshelf, a weekly linky party with the goal of connecting parents with great books for their kids. Do you have a book review, literacy or book-related post that you think will be helpful for parents? If so, link up below.
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Review:Matchbox Cars 60th Anniversary

2013-05-25T00:17:00.001+01:00

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Matchbox cars. To celebrate this,they have created a collectible diecast line of vehicles.The assortment features some of the best-loved classic vehicle models, each of which comes with its own retro matchbox sized box!

We were recently sent two cars by Matchbox.

Aston Martin

Vintage Tractor

Derin loves to play with them. He carries them everywhere so they often end up in my handbag! The Matchbox 60^th Anniversary die cast assortment is suitable for ages 3+, priced at around RRP £3.49 per vehicle. It is a perfect gift for the upcoming Father's Day if daddy loves collecting cars as well.

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DIY Montessori Large Moveable Alphabet

2013-05-21T11:30:00.002+01:00

Derin (40 months) has been very interested with letters from very early on. He has worked a lot with the sandpaper letters. He enjoyed working with the alphabet boxes and he now knows the phonetic sounds of the alphabet. I have just made a moveable alphabet for him. Traditionally, the moveable alphabet consists of wooden lowercase letters with blue vowels and red consonants.

I decided to make an alphabet for Derin and I bought a set of lowercase letters and painted the letters using an acrylic deco pen. I have put them in two storage boxes that I already had at home.

At the first introduction, I gave Derin the opportunity to explore the letters and the box. I sounded out a couple of letters and invited him to find that particular letter.
On another day, we started building words. I provided Derin with a couple of three letter word objects.
I sound out the word and ask Derin "What sound can you hear when I say hat?" He will say "h", then I ask him to find the letter "h" and to put it on the mat or table.

The moveable alphabet is a great tool that allows the child to start writing without actually writing. The little objects are also very pretty and children love them. If you have time and can easily find or make them, great. If like me, you are not inclined to do so, you can find them readily available. I bought mine from here.

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The Children's Bookshelf

2013-05-19T22:50:00.000+01:00

Learning about Patterning - 100 Days of Play

2013-05-15T17:35:00.004+01:00

Today we're excited to be taking part in the 100 Days of Play blog hop organised by Sun Scholars & Life at the Zoo. It features 100 bloggers from around the world sharing different play based activities over 100 days! Each activity offers a simple & fun idea for you to share quality time together with your kiddos.

There are patterns everywhere in the world and recognizing these patterns develops cognitive development. Patterning is a very important skill to learn because there are patterns in maths,literacy and science as well. There are many opportunities to help develop this skill in a playful way.

Derin (40 months) is just starting to understand the concept of patterning.
He is a very musical child so I encourage him to create some musical and movement patterns. Clap your hands, tap your knees, clap your hands,tap your hands etc. He absolutely loves it.

For younger children, it is good to start with easier patterns such as A B A B etc and as they get older, you could create A B C A B C or A A B A A B patterns, or even more complex ones depending on the child's interest. I start a pattern and then encourage my Derin to complete it. After a couple of minutes I let him explore the shapes and create his own patterns.

Anything can be used to create the patterns, legos, beads, shells, legos, pebbles, stones, tesellation patterns anything that your child is interested in. You could also encourage them to create patterns while they are doing some arts and crafts.
Children enjoy this kind of play because it fulfills their need for order and develops their mathematical mind.

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6 Children's Books About Spring

2013-05-14T12:02:00.001+01:00

Today we are joining in with 24 other bloggers to share fun spring learning and play ideas.

With the arrival of spring, we spend more time outdoors in the garden or in the parks and this is a great opportunity for the children to explore the nature and learn about the flowers, plants, trees and birds around them.The nature provides children a learning through all their senses and I like to consolidate their learning with some books.

Here are some spring books that we have been reading recently.

Nature's Miracles is a great series published by Wayland Books. Once There was a Seed tells the life cycle of a seed as a story.

Other titles in the series include,Once There was A Caterpillar, Once There was A Raindrop and Once There was A Tadpole.

2. The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

The Tiny Seed is again the life cycle of a seed with the beautiful art of Eric Carle. Here is an activity we did based on this book.

3.Planting A Rainbow is Lois Ehlert is great for children to learn about flowers as well as colours. We played a simple matching game using Montessori Colour Tablets.

4.Why do plants have flowers? from the Young Explorer series by Heinemann, is a book we borrowed from the library. I like this series as it has simple instructions and beautiful big pictures.

5. First Book of Flowers is a spotter's guide for little ones. It has simple information about the most common British wild flowers with beautiful pictures.

6. I could not end this list without Gerda Muller's beautiful Spring book. If you are not familiar with Gerda Muller's style, this is not story book but it has gorgeous illustrations that gives the child the feeling of the particular season. You could use this book for chatting about the season, it is very open-ended.

And some other books about spring that I shared here last year.

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Children's Book Week 2013 {My 3 year old's Favourite Books}

2013-05-13T21:50:00.000+01:00

It is Children's Book Week so I decided to collaborate with some of my blogging buddies to bring you a Book Week Linky. To celebrate the week, I want to share my three year old son Derin's favourite books at the moment.
If you click on the name of the books, it will take you to a previous post where we reviewed each book.

1. The Way Back Home
2. There are Cats in this Book
3.A Birthday for Bear
4.Monkey Puzzle
5.Giraffes Can't Dance

I hope you also share your favourite books so we can all inspire each other.
This linky is co-hosted by Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas- Smiling like Sunshine - JDaniel4'sMom-Fun A Day-There's Just One Mommy Thank you so much for stopping by! If you enjoyed this post, please join us on Facebook,Twitter,Pinterest and G+. Click on the buttons on the right hand side to follow us on these platforms.

{The Children's Bookshelf }Review: The Hueys in It Wasn't Me

2013-05-13T00:32:00.003+01:00

We LOVE Oliver Jeffers' books here at the Smiling like Sunshine HQs. So we were delighted when we received his latest book: It wasn't Me.

.

The story is funny and anyone who has seen two siblings discuss will feel sympathy. The Hueys argue and they cannot remember what they are fighting about.
The illustrations are lovely but I was a bit disappointed with this book: Although I get the message he wants to convey, I felt the story was just too short. Neither of my kids asked me to read it again. Have you read this book?I would love to hear your thoughts.
You can read our reviews about other Oliver Jeffers' books here.

Review:Me and I {Swedish Design for Cool People}

2013-05-10T00:16:00.000+01:00

We were lucky enough to receive a beautiful t-shirt by Me and I.
Here is Derin's One Moody Frog T-shirt. Whenever he wears it, pretty much everyone comments on how pretty and funky it looks.

Derin absolutely loves the t-shirt as well.

I like that Me and I produces high quality products with interesting designs. We had received a dress from them last year and it is one of Defne's favourite dresses. It still maintains its quality.
Here are some other products that I like:

{Happy Mushrooms Body}

Tractors Everywhere

Disclaimer: We received the dress for review purposes. This review however reflects our true and honest opinion.

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Mindful Parenting

2013-05-07T14:09:00.000+01:00

When I fell pregnant with my first baby, I spend many hours reading parenting books or blogs. Mostly about attachment parenting, natural birth, breastfeeding, co-sleeping... I enjoyed reading and writing about these subjects. I could talk about them for hours.

As I became the mother of two and my children grew up, my interests started to change. I started reading more about the ways that can help me to connect with them at difficult times, about finding ways to stay calm and patient when everyone is tired and grumpy.

{When Defne was 6 months old}

If you are a regular reader of my blog,you probably know that I am training as a Montessori teacher. When I started in October 2011, little did I know that it would be such a demanding journey. Juggling two young kids and training has been very difficult at times. There has been many sleepless nights, busy days with assignments to write, meals to plan and cook, rooms to tidy up ... Many times I felt guilty while I was playing with my kids as I struggled to be there with them. Although I was there with them physically, I couldn't be there with them as I was so preoccupied with my worries and the to-do lists in my head. I struggled to take care of myself whilst looking after my children and many times I regretted that I started this course when my kids were so young. I wasn't always the mother I aspired to be and in the beginning of this year I decided to be more mindful in the ways I parent my children.

My eldest is six year old and I know time flies and I want to savor their childhood. I want to remember these days with joy and I want my children to learn how to handle stressful situations. Therefore I try to spend one to one time with each of them every day. Even if it is for ten minutes, I believe it is very important in establishing a daily connection, especially if it is a school day. I try to be a mindful parent by practising meditation. I try to keep a gratitude journal and I try to smile more. I have just started reading a book titled Buddhism for Mothers: A Calm Approach for Yourself and Your Children. I have only read two chapters yet I have found it to be very inspiring. This is, obviously, a long journey and it takes time but this Mother's Day, I want to celebrate myself for trying to be a better and mindful parent.

Celebrating the differences of Motherhood is brought to you by our host, Inspired by Family, and by the following contributing blogs: Kids Activities Blog, Rainbows within Reach, Powerful Mothering, Fun-a-Day, The Pleasantest Thing, Royal Baloo, Laly Mom, True Aim, Kids Stuff World, Milk and Cuddles, The Imagination Laboratory, Smiling like Sunshine, Teach Beside Me, JDaniel 4’s Mom, Kitchen Counter Chronicle, My Nearest and Dearest, Nate and Rachel, Two-Daloo, Mamas Like Me, Mama Miss, One Mommy. . If you are a blogger and you have a story or something to share on how you celebrated motherhood, feel free to add a link to your post so we can read your story as well. Note: by sharing you give us permission to feature you (attributing of course). .

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The Children's Bookshelf

2013-05-06T10:40:00.001+01:00

Recently Defne (6 yo) has been reading the Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Williems.

These are great books for early readers as each story contains a lovely adventure of the Elephant and Piggie.
Defne has had great fun reading them.

Derin (3 yo) enjoys Harry and the Dinosaurs recently.

4 Ways to Teach Toddlers about Shapes

2013-04-30T23:48:00.002+01:00

I have had my practical exam for my training on the 20th so I am back. Thanks for reading and visiting my blog although I had to neglect this place for the last couple of weeks.

Today I would love to share how Derin (3 years 3 months) has been learning about shapes.
I made some velcro lollipop sticks for Derin to create shapes or letters. They are very easy to make and very handy to pop in your bag for keeping your child busy at the restaurant/doctor's office etc.

He also enjoyed playing with this shape matching game from Mr.Printables.

On a rainy day, we enjoyed using Baker Ross Self Adhesive Foam Sheets. We talked about shapes as I cut them out and Derin sticked them on the paper and created some lovely pictures.

I also introduced Derin to Constructive Triangles: A sensorial Montessori material. These prepare the child for geometry in a sensorial way. Here is a photo of him exploring the Blue Rectangular Box. You can find more info about these materials here.

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Getting Ready for the Summer

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Father's Day Gift Ideas

Music Magpie:A New Way To Recycle Old Clothes

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{Review} Tassimo T40 Coffee Maker

The Children's Bookshelf {Sky Colour}

Review:Matchbox Cars 60th Anniversary

DIY Montessori Large Moveable Alphabet

The Children's Bookshelf

Learning about Patterning - 100 Days of Play

6 Children's Books About Spring

Sponsored Post: Walkers Hoops and Crosses

Children's Book Week 2013 {My 3 year old's Favourite Books}

{The Children's Bookshelf }Review: The Hueys in It Wasn't Me

Review:Me and I {Swedish Design for Cool People}

Mindful Parenting

The Children's Bookshelf

4 Ways to Teach Toddlers about Shapes