MUMMY TO THE MAX

After 10 mins of picking we decided to head back into the house. We both had enough blackberries to last us the next few days.  Although the blackberries were free, I did not want to be greedy and take to many, I thought it would be nice to leave some for another day.

Maxwell and I both washed our blackberries and ate them as a treat after our dinner. We had a great time picking our blackberries and we enjoyed our free desert. I would be interested in making jam or a crumble with the blackberries in the future. This is a free activity which any one can do - there are plenty of blackberries growing in the UK. The public can easily access blackberries for free on the street, in gardens or even on  pick them in places such as parks.

Recently I have been trying to transform our garden. I have been trying to make sure it looks bright as well as fun and last week I decided to buy a few plant pots and some plants. After planting a few of the plants, I find out that I had quite a few plants left over so I decided to go and purchase a few more plant pots and I decided to let Maxwell plant them.

I decided to get some simple flowers which I knew would flower in the winter. I also decided on these plants due to them being easy to maintain and easy for Maxwell to up keep them. I first got Maxwell to add the compost into the plant pot. I explained to Maxwell he had to break the large lumps up and to pat it down to ensure we had a even surface when planting the plants.

Once the plant pot was full, I carefully helped Maxwell add the flowers into the pot. We made sure that there were gaps between the flowers so they had space to grow and we made sure that they were in a neat line. It did not take long to plant them and after we had planted them they looked great.

The flowers were purple, yellow and a creamy colour and stood out in our garden. Maxwell decided to give them a water and then we put them in there places in the garden. I love the fact Maxwell now has responsibility over something even if it is a few plants and  I am sure this task taught him a thing or two. I am looking forward to seeing the plants grow!

To create the game, I laid 3 plastic cups out on a flat space and in front of the cups I added 3 bright coloured stretchy animals. I then gave Maxwell the foam fish and asked him to put them in the cups and match them with the stretchy animal which was in front of them. Although Maxwell got a few wrong, he enjoyed the task and even started to count the fish out.

This game can be made up with many objects which you may find around the home. It is easy to set up and is a great game to get your children learning new skills.

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Today we decided to make a game out of simple bits we found in the cupboard. The idea of the game was to be able to hook a disc around a stick in the middle of the room, the first person to hook the disc would win. I thought this game would be perfect to make with Maxwell as I believed it would help him with creativity. Maxwell adored making the game however once we had made the game Maxwell was able to learn new skills. One of the main skills which Maxwell learnt with the game was hand and eye co-ordination.

To make the game we simply used a old kitchen roll tube and 2 paper plates. Maxwell decorated the tube with paint. Whilst Maxwell decorated the tube I cut the middle out of one of the plates, once this was done I then I got Maxwell to decorate the cut plate again with paint. Once both the cut plate and tube was dry I simply got the tube to hold on to the uncut plate so it was stable and would not be knocked over easily when throwing the cut plate.

At the weekend we popped into Homebase and I saw these foam number playmats. I had always been keen to get a set for Maxwell so when I saw they were priced at just £2.99 I thought they would be perfect for Maxwell to play with in the garden.

As soon as we got them out of there packaging, I knew they would keep Maxwell entertained. The foam mats all fitted with one another and all the numbers removed out of the foam pieces, I knew they would make the perfect puzzle for Maxwell to complete.


First of all  I popped all the numbers out of the pieces and Maxwell decided to but the pieces in a long line, from here Maxwell then figured what number went in to what piece. He had a lot of fun problem solving and he did very well at matching the pieces up.Once the line was complete Maxwell then decided to count each piece, this in turn helped him with his counting skills.

I am looking forward to doing a lot more activities with Maxwell and the foam mats. I am hoping that we will be able to start using the mats as a hopscotch as well as creating a number game.  The mats are a brilliant learning tool and are bright and fun for children to have fun with.

Maxwell is a huge fan of eating cake however he also loves to bake cake with me. Recently we have been making a cake which is easy enough for Maxwell to make on his own with just a little help from me. The cake we have been making does not need to be cooked and is simply made with 4 ingredients.

You will need:
1/2 a pint of milk
Angel delight
Chocolate fingers
Cake base
Jug
Fork
Plate

Carefully empty the angel delight powder into your jug then simply add 1/2 pint of milk and mix well. Mix until there are no lumps in the mixture. Allow the mixture to stand for a few minutes in the jug to allow it to thicken a little.

Once you have completed the following steps above, pour the angel delight mixture into the cake base, make sure it is spread evenly and leave to stand for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes add the chocolate fingers to the top of the cake.

Once the angel delight is set your cake is ready to serve and eat.

Baker Ross sent us a lovely box of goodies recently and inside were some pipe cleaners.I knew instantly I wanted to use them in our 31 days of fun and I set about coming up with ideas on how to use them. I thought about threading beads on to them and number counting however in the end I decided to let Maxwell play independently and allow him to practice his fine motor skills.

You will simply need:
A pack of pipe cleaners
Colander




This activity allows children to get creative but also helps children understand their colours and it can help improve coordination. A great part of this activity is that the pipe cleaners can be reused over and over again and the activity is a cheap activity to do.

I was surprised at how much Maxwell enjoyed this activity and how long he spent doing it.It kept Maxwell entertained for over 30 mins and after he kept going back to it. I will be doing this activity with Maxwell weekly as I believe it will help him identify colours.

Maxwell adores Peppa Pig and love's anything which is associated with her. To carry on our #31daysoffun trend, I thought it would be fun if I could plan a day around her. I knew Maxwell would love his day so I set about planning activities.

For a while now I have been buying Maxwell a Peppa Pig magazine. Maxwell adores his Peppa Pig magazine and we always find lots of fun things to do. From sticking stickers and making amazing pictures, to reading Peppa's adventures, there sure is a lot of things to keep Maxwell entertained. For the first part of our day Maxwell and I carefully flicked through his new Peppa Pig magazine and together we found a lot of activities to do.

After a while we settled down for lunch however I decided we would have part 2 of some more Peppa Pig fun once we had eaten. Maxwell enjoyed pigged shaped sandwiches for lunch, fruit skewers special Peppa Pig crackers. Maxwell also enjoyed a special treat of Percy Pigs from M&S.



After lunch Maxwell settled down to make some music with Peppa Pig. A few weeks ago I had managed to pick up a cheap set of musical instruments for Maxwell to enjoy. Maxwell has always loved making music from a young age so I knew the instruments would be a big success. The musical instruments were just cheap plastic ones however they were Peppa Pig themed which made them extra special.

Maxwell and I spent around 30 mins making music. Maxwell adored shaking his tambourine and moving his feet, he also loved pinging the strings on his guitar however he could not understand quite how to make a noise out of the recorder he was given. Maxwell ended up making noises out of his mouth and pretending to be a recorded rather than making noise out of the recorder.

Maxwell also had fun completing Peppa Pig puzzles in the afternoon and just before tea Maxwell was allowed to watch a episode of Peppa Pig on my tablet. Maxwell really enjoyed his day and I think we will have to have another fun Peppa Pig themed day soon.

After I had made the Gelli Baff mixture up Maxwell climbed in and started playing. He was not keen on having the slime over his feet and decided to lay down in it and play. After a whole he had got a little board of squishing it around in his hands so I let him get out and allowed him to get out of the bath and I let him play with it out of the bath.

Although the Gelli Baff was a lot of fun, priced at £5 a box I think it is quite expensive. The mixture is also a pain to get off the body and once Maxwell had stopped playing in it, I had to shower him as it had stuck to his body. The mixture also leaves a little bit of a mess in the bath so be prepared to spend 10 minutes cleaning after. Overall Maxwell had a brilliant time squishing, sliding and throwing however having a Gelli Baff will not be a weekly event.

Maxwell adores doing crafts and he was recently excited to get a animal classic mask making set sent to him by Home Bargains. The set came with 2 sets of masks and Maxwell was keen to get making the masks. Maxwell adores dressing up so these masks were something which would come in handy for him to dress up in.

The masks which Maxwell was able to make were an elephant mask and a parrot mask. Maxwell decided he would prefer to make the elephant mask first. The elephant mask looked fairly simple to make and there were minimal parts to put together.

First up Maxwell had to fold over the elephants trunk and stick it down with double sided tape. Once folded Maxwell had to simply attach the trunk to the elephants eyes, the elephant eyes and trunk then needed to be carefully attached to a pair of plastic glasses. Once this was done all that there was left to do was add the ears.


 The elephants masks did include a pair of googly eyes to add but once I had added the double sided tape to them to stick them down they had split apart. Sadly we did not have another pair of googly eyes to add however when we made the parrot mask we used strong glue to stick the eyes on to the mask instead of using the double sided tape.

Maxwell adored making the masks and I think he had a lot of fun creating them. Maxwell adored the plastic glasses which came in the packs of masks and as you can see above he looked ever so cute trying the glasses on without the mask.

These packs of masks cost under £1 and I think they are the perfect little activity for children to enjoy this summer, not only are they fun to make but they are also great for the fancy dress box. I will be looking out for more packs which may include different animals when I next visit my local home bargains.

Maxwell was keen to start off with using the roller. Included in the set which I bought Maxwell was a little tub which enabled him to dip his roller in, roll off the excess paint and roll beautiful pictures. Eventually Maxwell got a little bored and ended up wanting to use a different colour paint and was keen to try and use the paint brush. Maxwell ended up dabbing the paintbrush over the picture and managed to create a bright picture.

In the end Maxwell managed to create 3 pictures. I love to see Maxwell using his creative skills and making me things!  I was really impressed with his paint picture and have ended up putting it on the fridge! I am looking forward to seeing some more of Maxwell's creations!

For a few weeks now Maxwell and I have been extremely excited about a certain event which we knew we would be attending. Recently Laura over at Max and Mummy won tickets to the Lollibop festival and asked if Maxwell and I would like to attend with her and her Max, we of course accepted and awaited for the day to finally come around.