Foreword - Sea of Stories

Foreword
In the past years, I often heard from the people around me: ‘‘which project are
you working on?’’ They looked with admiration and – honest – even amazed
when I was busy again with working out one of my ideas. And yes, I admit:
it also failed sometimes. Final. It caused a lot of hilarious moments, and often
for a lot of mess! But everyone around me encouraged me to go on. All of
them. With sewing machines and drills, with word and deed, with humour and
lots of patience.
I collected the 59 best ideas in this book for you as a brand new mother, father,
grandmother, grandfather, uncle or aunt. I hope this book will inspire you to
freely play with your child. Go on and discover with your child, and neglect the
toys for once.
Playing together creates a bond and has a positive effect on the development
of your child: it stimulates the gross and fine motor skills, social-emotional and
cognitive development, language and creativity.
‘Playing
together is so
important.’
We refer in this book often to the
baby as “he”, because a baby is a
masculine word. If you have a
daughter, you can just change it
with a thick pin to ‘’her’’.
The games in this book are classified according to the seasons and not by age.
Because if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that my child follows it’s own
schedule. And I hope your child too. See for yourself what you want to do and
choose what suits your child at this time.
A few rules:
Danielle de Tombe-van Laar
• Always play the games in this book together with your
baby and never lose him out of sight.
• Store your stuff after playing. Check the materials
regularly.
• Make sure the loose parts are large (enough). Remember
that a baby puts everything in his mouth.
• Do the activities as much as possible at baby-altitude,
usually at the ground.
• Adjust your expectations! Chances are that your child
does something very differently than you had in mind.
That’s fine! And when he does not find it interesting or
when it does not work, then just try it in a couple of
weeks again.
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contents
SUMMER
AUTUMN
8
SEA, SUN AND
ROUND RED APPLE CHEEKS
72
LIGHTS ON, LIGHTS OFF
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10
12
15
16
17
18
20
22
SANDCASTLES
Apple Balloons
Apple Pitt Bags
Picking Apples
Apple tree slices
Discover Basket
Apple Shaker
Rolling apples
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75
76
78
80
82
84
Lights on!
Watching stars
A dark tunnel
Magic with light
Day and night in a bottle
I feel like a star
I see what you don’t see
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108
110
112
114
116
118
86
WINTER WHITE AND
WOOLLEN MITTENS 120
How does a polar bear/fish
feel like?
Swirling snowflakes
Indoors snow
Winter workout
Ice fun
Ice-cold stories
Winter costume party
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124
126
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130
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135
SPRING
SMALL TALK
Collecting all the animals
Dirty with mud
Let’s wash the pig
Feeding time
The chicken and the egg
The cow says Mooh
Your own petting zoo-book
Sticker wall
ALL THE DUCKS ARE
SWIMMING IN THE WATER
24
Sticking and quaking
Stamps with ducks
Quack, quack, quack
Splash splash in the water
Waddle like a duck
And… Swim!
It’s someone’s birthday!
Along the waterfront
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28
30
32
33
34
36
37
40
Rolling beach balls
Make your own sand and
water table
Feet bag with shells
Indoor sandbox
Painting with water
Hear the ocean and feel
the wind
All the ice creams on a stick
Catching fish
FROM HEAD TO TOE
That’s me!
Familiar faces
My Puzzle
My world
Baby-friends
Family Blocks
Funny faces
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45
46
48
50
WINTER
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54
55
56
58
60
61
62
64
66
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LEAVES IN THE FOREST
Feel the autumn inside
Autumn Table
Discover Bottles
Spiders web
Rain Music
Rolling chestnuts
Magnetic board fall
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WORD OF THANKS & COLOPHON
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5
136
Winter
The winter is a season of lights and darkness, from warm
and cold. Contrasts which your baby experiences for the
first time. In this chapter you will find 15 games to play
together in these dark months. From watching stars till
climbing ice mountains.
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chapter
-7-
LIghts
on
Baby fun-fact
Light and dark, black and white. A new-born
does not see more than that yet. He can’t look
much further than 30 centimetres in the first
weeks of his life. As a result, a baby is most
fascinated by everything in black and white.
The greater the contrast, the more a baby sees.
And the sight is, next to sleep, the most
important for the first few months.
You are a magician in the eyes of your baby, because you can
play with light: you can turn it on and off again. You can have
hours of fun together with a flashlight.
lights
off
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on/off,
on/off...
105
Be careful!
- game 1 -
LIGHTS ON!
A baby wants to investigate. He wants to touch everything
he sees. For this game you create your own activities with
board items that you already have at home, such as buttons
and lights. Look in your drawers, and seek for things that are
fun for your child to touch. Don’t you have anything at home?
You can find al kinds of stuff in a do it yourself shop. You can
put the activity board on the wall, or just lay it down on the
floor to play with it.
Make sure that your
child can’t pick the
loose materials
from the shelf.
WHAT TO DO:
To put the objects on the board,
you can use glue. Please note that
your child can’t pick them off. And
you can always ask the grandfather
to screwing stuff. When you use
screws, remember to galvanise
those for safety. Drill a hole of a
few millimetres at the point of the
screw. When you turn it in, it will be
equal with the surface.
When you want to stick the fabric,
you can use a hole saw to saw a
couple of circles from the shelf
and paste the fabric behind these
circles. Make sure you work neatly
and accurate, so that the back of the
shelf is save for your child. You can
make it safe by using a solid piece of
carton in the same size of the shelf.
Mama is
handy too!
YOU NEED:
wheels
ding-don
screws
g
• a shelf (approximately
50 x 30 cm) with a sanded,
smooth surface
• pressure switches, slide
switches, calculator, timer,
doorbell, door knocker,
doorknob (minimum 4 cm)
• a number of substances
that feel smooth, soft,
rough or lumpy (think of a
soft washcloth, a scourer, a
piece carpeted or felt discs)
• glue or screws to put
everything together
glue
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- game 2 -
WATCHING
THE STARS
NICE AND EASY!
You can hold the
flashlight under a
colander for a quick
starry sky at the ceiling.
You can make your own starry sky with this game.
Make sure it’s dark in the room, get a flashlight and
give your child
THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT:
Tape a piece of coloured, transparent foil with adhesive tape on the flashlight.
Sit on the floor or lie down together and put on the lamp. Move the flashlight
gentle for- and backwards while you shine on the ceiling. Look if your child
follows the light with his eyes. Perhaps he tries to catch the dancing coloured
light spots? Point the flashlight to the ground and see if he tries to get the
beam. You can try to catch the light beam yourself when your child is strong
enough to hold the flashlight. Nothing’s better than mom or dad jumping
around the room.
Look for the
teddybear
Also fun!
Play with the
shadows and make
animal figures
with your hands.
colander
You can play this game as well with
a child older than 1:
Hide some stuffed animals, turn off the lights
and search the flashlight together. Call in the
meanwhile: “Would bear sitting behind the
chair? Or under the table? Or in the closet?“
Built the tension. Of course you react elated
when you find the stuffed animal.
flashlight
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