talking food with my little man

This was just too cute not to share.
A proud moment where Declan shows that he is becoming more aware about his food allergies and that he does understand.
It's nice to know when they appreciate special home baked treats too :)

Today I handed Declan a homemade honey biscuit topped with chilled chocolate and sprinkles
- a special treat for morning tea.

Declan: "Mummy" (looking at the biscuit)
              "Is this biscuit from a packet?"

Mummy: "No it's not a packet biscuit Declan. Mummy made those special ones just for Declan and   Thalia. They are safe for you."

Declan: "We have to check the packet for the packet ones don't we."

Mummy: "Yes, it's very important to check packets so we can make sure the ones from the shop are safe for you to eat."

Declan: "Yeah, no eggs and nuts. They make me sick!"

Mummy: "Well these ones are very safe, Mummy didn't use eggs or nuts to make them."

Declan: Thank you Mummy, I'm happy it is safe. It's looks yummy!!"

Mummy: "I've very happy that you like the biscuits Declan. You make Mummy very proud when you ask questions about food to check it is safe. When you get older you can help Mummy and Daddy read the packets to check if foods are safe for you to eat.
Your getting very clever!

Declan: Thank you Mummy, I love you (spoken with a mouth full of biscuit and giving mummy cuddles :D)

It's nice to see all the hard work paying off trying to educate him to safely live a allergy life.
Now he has started Sunday school and is attending places with his peers where unsafe food is being eaten, it's very important that Declan knows to always ask about food before touching and eating.

Now that his sister has a Play Kitchen and play foods (safe and unsafe) it's interesting to hear their little conversations and questions when playing about "pretend eggs" and comments like "Thalia, what do we do with eggs and nuts? I think we should put the eggs over here away from the other food so we can keep away".

It makes me happy to see
1. that they are playing nicely together
2. they are enjoying pretend play with the new kitchen and food
3. they both have an understanding of unsafe and safe foods and their allergies
4. they remind each other and others of food issues though both pretend play and real life circumstance's.
5. they are able to learn about allergies through play and enjoy it.

Amen to allergy awareness! :D

"My beautiful BIG world!"

The other day, for some creative indoor playtime I brainstormed with my nearly 2 year old what to play with.

It was way too hot outside  and the kids were in need of some down time.

After much consideration and a biscuit she declared that she wanted to play with horsies (horses).

My brother had given her a set of little plastic horses last year so out they came, we found bits and pieces from around the house to make them a nice home as shown in the photo above.

* blue felt sheet for the ocean

*yellow felt sheet for the sand

*green felt sheet for the grass

*3 very different shells for the sand (spiky, smooth and pointy, white, speckled and brown)

out of our bathroom.

*a small blue container lid for the horses drinking water

*some light brown wool for a hay bale

*2 wooden trays that I picked up from an opp shop last year that make great animal pens

(at 80c and 50c)

*horse set (12 horses, a tree, stables and the horse head lid of the horse container that soon became a horse land rock :P

 Both Declan and Thalia became very involved as the scene was created and both had a say in where things ought to go.

It wasn't long before Declan picked up a shell and asked "Mummy, can I hear the beach in this shell?"...too cute

It soon became a shell listening experience and remembering things about when we went to the beach and what it was like.

After the horses had a tour of the beach, the hay bale was shared around so all the horses had some lunch and each horse had their turn at the drinking water....some of the horses started falling down with all the little hands moving in their land.

Declan decided that "they must be tired Mummy, they need to sleep!".

Some horses got moved to the stables, some in the pens and some said they didn't need a nap at all.

Declan's latest prized possession, a plastic crocodile from Dream world that he named crunch and now sleeps with...soon made his way into the nice cool water.

Declan informed the horses that he was a friendly crocodile and would be nice.

Soon declan started thinking more about the beach and quickly went to the toy box to get some more creatures.

Out came the "deep  sea creatures". Sharks, whales, a crab, seals and land creatures too. Chickens, a goose, sheep, donkeys, a duck, a dog and so on.

We were soon singing Old McDonald's farm taking turns naming the animals in play. Thalia lost interest and went to draw with Daddy but Declan was amazed at this little world.

During play and animals chatting to each other, Declan proudly declared this world "my Big beautiful world!"

It was a great experience for all involved and well worth the little effort of finding a few odd and ends to start the kids imagination go wild! They soon completed their own beautiful world, learning all sorts of things in the process.....the process not the product was where the magic was.

Below is a photo of Declan proudly lying down next to his "beautiful BIG world" :D

I recently found a face book page that creates and sells imaginative play sets that inspire play and promote children's natural sense of wonder...using mostly recycled, re purposed and homemade.

If your interested check them out at Homemade rainbows