World War II Diorama

(Goblin is 4 years old)

The other day Goblin announced that he wanted to make a model of the D-Day landings. I thought he just meant he wanted to play with his WWII planes and soldiers but when I suggested it he 'tut-tutted' me and explained that he wanted to stick the 'model's onto a scene so we couldn't use his toys as that would be "a waste". 

Fortunately we had quite a lot of cardboard kicking about, so following Goblin's instructions I set to work making an array of WWII vehicles. Over the years of working with my son and cardboard, I have come to realise that less is more. He has a great imagination so I don't need to spend ages painting and decorating and making things look accurate. So I did the minimum to depict the vehicles requested. 

To my surprise Goblin took on the decoration himself. He started by drawing Rondells on the Spitfires and used a double pen hold to scribble camouflage on the tanks. Then he asked me to show him how to draw Swastikas for the Messerschmitts. For a child who doesn't like colouring and feels pressured if you ask him to try and write his name, he sure can draw detail when its something that interests him. I experienced a strange mixture of pride and discomfort when I saw how accurately he'd managed them. Lets just hope he doesn't start drawing them at nursery or we'll have some explaining to do.

We even got him to draw soldiers. The one above I'm told is Goblin - he wanted to feature in his own diorama.

 We put all the models together in a big beach and sea scenario with the planes attached to kebab sticks. And Goblin even added some extra detail of planes on fire (on the "baddies" side obviously).

While playing with his diorama he may have reinvented history, in Goblin's version the Allies had a bit of help with their invasion, in the form of birds of prey!

Further reading:
Goblin's fascination with World War II originally stemmed from visiting Duxford Imperial War Museum. Find out more here
We have been building on his interest through further visits, reading books and imaginary play, you can find an example here
Two excellent WWII resources are the Usborne WWII flap book and Second World War Cards
(The two Usborne links above are affiliate links which take you to Amazon. If you purchase products I receive a financial benefit)

We love skate parks

(Goblin is 4 years old)

I wouldn't describe myself as a helicopter mum but at the age of four and a half I am not happy letting Goblin out on his own unless its in our enclosed back garden. Unfortunately since Goblin has discovered a love of scooters, this has meant a lot of effort for me, following him up and down the paths around our estate.

That was until we found the skate parks. I don't know if this is the case in the rest of the UK or whether we are exceptionally lucky but we have not one but four skate parks within a half hour drive of our house.

Most teenagers use skate parks at the weekend and in the evenings which means that during the day when the older kids are busy we get the skate park all to ourselves. Goblin loves zooming around the ramps and it gives me a lovely little rest as I can sit in one place and watch him rather than jogging along side him freaking out every time he veers near the road.

But of course as much as I love a little sit down, I do also like to join in with Goblin's games, so it wasn't long before I invested in a scooter for myself. Although I have to admit Goblin is much braver than I am when it comes to the big ramps.

Black and white mobile

(Goblin is 4 years old)

Recently Goblin has acquired two new cousins. When we went to visit I wanted him to be able to give them something that he had made himself. We decided to make a simple black and white mobile. Really little babies see contrasting colours better so black and white is the easiest option for babies to focus on. 

 We used air dry clay to make spheres that we then flattened and I put a hole in. When I say we I really mean, Goblin did one and I did the rest. I wanted him to do them all and I'd even got out his rolling pin and shape cutters thinking he could make a bunch of different shapes. But he wasn't interested, so I did this bit myself.

 Once the discs were dry (24 hours later) he painted them white and the following day I gave him a squirt bottle with black paint and he went to town.

Finally I strung the discs up with fishing line. I attached them to a colander, the reflection on the inside of the colander will provide some added interest for baby, however if you want to make yours look a little more attractive you can use an embroidery rind and cover the wood in a ribbon.

Crabbing

 (Goblin is 4 years old)

Hublet took us crabbing. Its something he did as a child, I'd never done it before and I have to say its AWESOME! 

Its so simple. All you need is a bit of string, a weight and a hook or mesh bag to attach bacon to. You lower the bacon into the water until its resting on the bottom. Then you wait a minute. It really doesn't take long at all which is perfect for little kids with short attention spans. 

When you gently pull the string up there will usually be one or two crabs attached to the bacon. You can shake them off into a bucket with water.

The first time Goblin went crabbing he was a bit nervous of the crabs and didn't want to pull the string up or touch the bucket with the crabs. But on the day I came too he was feeling brave and did the whole process himself including shaking the crabs into the bucket.

In 15 minutes we caught 38 crabs. This is the photo we took just before they righted themselves and scuttled back into the water.

Birds, birds and more birds!

(Goblin is 4 years old)

Sometimes outings lead to Goblin discovering a new interest - like a visit To Duxford Imperial War Museum which led to his fascination with WWII planes. Other times his interest leads us to seek out good outings to support the subject and build his knowledge.
Anyone who reads the blog regularly will know that Goblin loves the Octonauts. This has sparked an interest in sea creatures. However a recent episode about Pelicans has sent Goblin off on a different tangent - birds!

We have been looking for opportunities to support his bird interest. The zoo is an obvious place to start. They have a great penguin enclosure and a twice daily bird display. During the week we are sometimes the only people at the bird display, and we were lucky enough to be able to chat with one of the keepers about the barn owls. I think he was quite surprised by how many questions Goblin had.

We've also taken Goblin to the local nature reserve that has hydes for bird watching. We took a monocular for him and binoculars for us (Monoculars are easier for little kids to use). The more experienced bird watchers in the hides were very understanding of our rather loud and enthusiastic ornithologist. They helped point out interesting birds to look at - including a kestrel.

Near my parents there is a place called Bird World. I mentioned it to Goblin and of course he insisted we went there. It was a good opportunity to catch up with the Grandparents and Goblin could share his enthusiasm with them too.

Bird World has not one but two different types of penguins. Goblin has recently learned that there are 17 different types and he is interested in where they all live so it was cool that we had African and South American (Humboldt) ones. We even got to see the Humboldt's being fed.

As well as outings we have found puzzles, matching games, books and documentaries to support Goblin's recent interest.