We play

 This is Mein Spatz's playroom.

He sleeps in the family bed.

 Uncle Ben, I still love playing with this.

 Cooking.

And small world play.

Small World Play

 Having a 10 year old dog (who thinks he is a lively puppy) can sometimes cause havoc for Mein Spatz.
He loves to set up small world scenes and then imagination kicks in.

The voice overs full of detail.
Dialogues, drama and concentration.

Then, suddenly an excited dog runs through and messes it all up.

"MAMA! MAMA!
Henry has ruined it".

So I found an old, large coffee table and placed it in his playroom. We put all of his small world baskets and boxes underneath and then everything is to hand.
It was the best idea.
Boy and Dog friends again.
Peace in the house.

Natural Learning

We have booked our tickets to Germany. We will be departing in June and staying for two months. Mein Spatz is a flying enthusiast, to say the least, and is excited that this year will will be on three planes to complete the journey.

He has loved looking at his map with us to find the countries and cities that the planes will fly to.

Adelaide to Kuala- Lumpur

Kuala- Lumpur to Amsterdam 

Amsterdam to Hanover

He uses this map often and will ask questions like;

"Where is......?"
"How big is Russia?"
"What is this little island?"
"Where does Auntie Pip live?"
"Which way is north?"

This then naturally led to role play with his ride on plane.

Engine check

Re-fueling

Take-off  and landing

Small World Play -developing imagination and helping to process feelings

This play started from a Christmas present Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox. Spatz turned the fox into a friend as he does not like the idea of the fox "eating other amimals(sp)- what do you think they are saying Mama? They don't want to be eaten by him not the little mammals. He should be friend with them." 

I think it helps him to organise his thought and give words to his fear in a situation where he has control and a sense of power.

He is really scared by foxes but at the same time thrilled and excited. He woke the other night crying out about the fox chasing the smaller mammals and needed reassurance that Henry keeps us safe and would protect all the mammals on our block. The question is asked "Could a fox eat me?"

"No....! Mien Spatz you are too big and a fox would eat animals that are smaller than it."

It them turned into a farm with a farmer harvesting wheat and taking it to his water mill (made by Vati and Spatz last year out of left over hard wood decking boards).