Author: Noemi | Malih nog naokrog
Our Michaelmas Story
OUR MICHAELMAS STORY
The Vipava Valley is a magical place: there is something profound about nature here, something almost mythical about it. It feels it has stories in every hidden corner, and it invites you to read them by sparking your imagination.
With the arrival of autumn, I really adore the fog dumplings in the mornings that cover the waking, yawning valley. There is a little hill above the village where we live, and it looks as if there was the source of the fog. As if, hidden inbetween the trees there was a cave with a spring inside where the white fluid mist started cascading down into the basin. I was so taken by it one morning when we were leaving for the kindergarden, that, I pointed it out to my son: “Look, the dragon is awake, filling the valley with its breath!” His eyes got wide open, and he looked at me with a timid surprise: „How do you mean the dragon?” read more
A Minute of Play: Grapat Weekly Calendar
A MINUTE OF PLAY: GRAPAT WEEKLY CALENDAR
Our hands are the most powerful tools we have. We connect to the world and discover it with the help of them. Most of the learning actually happens through them. It is especially true for children: when they can work with their hands, when they can touch, manipulate, they gain a very concrete understanding of materials. With the help of their hands even abstract concepts, such as numbers or time, become more easily comprehendible. read more
Moments of Art: Painting with Water
MOMENTS OF ART: PAINTING WITH WATER
Do you know one of those Buddha boards that is trending right now in the world as a meditative art tool? It is really lovely: you paint with a wet brush on the surface of the board, and as water slowly evaporates, it leaves you again with a blank slate, inviting you to create a new masterpiece. It almost has a therapeutic effect on people: watching something transforming into nothing is a really powerful experience. It teaches us to live and enjoy the moment, focus on the process of doing things and letting them go, whether with their mistakes or unrepeatable perfection. read more
Sunshine Playdough
SUNSHINE PLAYDOUGH
(with recipe)
August is all about the frolicking dance of water and sun. Our play is always inspired by nature, and this month it is this glistening blue and yellow that, almost instinctively reflect in our toy shelf, nature table or even arts and crafts!
One of the activities we have been enjoying for some days now, in order to survive the height of the heat during the day, is playing with some home made play dough. And of course, it has called for the golden colour, too – on my son’s special request, because he came up with the idea to recreate nothing less, but the Sun!
When we run out of ready-made play dough, we always whip up a batch at home – and it is something so easy to do, that I though I would also share it with you. It is ready in the blink of an eye, it’s as natural as it can be, and stays fresh for a long time in a sealed container! read more
How to Care for Your Wooden Toys?
HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR WOODEN TOYS?
We have written already why we love wooden toys, and shared also a list of things that we think you need to know before buying wooden toys. In this article, we have collected a couple of practical advices, though, that will help you to keep the wooden toys in a good shape and let them enjoy for years to come.
Storage: Humidity and heat can change the structure of wood, deform it and make it more prone to even breaking. Therefore we advice you never submerge toys fully in water – and even if they get wet, dry them slowly at room temperature. In general, keep them away from radiators or humidity when storing them.
Made in Nature: Understanding Your Wooden Toys
MADE IN NATURE: UNDERSTANDING YOUR WOODEN TOYS
We love wood because it is a natural and unique material, making every piece of toy made of it one of a kind. While these days wooden toys are regaining their popularity and are getting rediscovered more and more for their beauty and benefits they provide our children with (a fact that we are incredibly happy for!), sometimes we feel that some of their properties are still forgotten and many times come as a surprise. We are still learning about them ourselves: they are, in fact, different and therefore also need somewhat different handling than mass produced plastic toys. At Malih nog naokrog, we find it important to post once in a while and start a conversation about the questions that arise the most often. So before you would decide on buying wooden toys, you can get to know every aspect of them better, and can make a more informed decision whether they are really for you and your family. read more
Our Reasons Why We Love Natural Toys
SEVEN REASONS WHY WE LOVE NATURAL TOYS
I guess, we will tell you no secret here if we say we are in love with natural toys in our home. It is a love affair that has developed slowly and almost unnoticeably over the last years: and by now we can say we are deeply committed. Natural toys have not only transformed the atmosphere of our home but also the way our child plays and we started thinking about play. In brief, we love them, because they have brought us beauty, joy, respect, and they have also reconnected us with the natural world. But let me explain a little bit more what I mean by it. I have compiled a little list of our (magical number seven!) reasons for slowly switching to natural toys.
1. Natural toys are simply beautiful.
It’s one thing that natural toys come with their own aesthetic appeal, so I don’t feel like hiding them in the bottom of boxes or baskets. But I also believe that beauty and harmony truly matter for a child. Whatever we surround our children with, they will absorb it like little sponges. Or as my favourite quote by Maria Montessori puts it:
Playing a Mother
PLAYING A MOTHER
A birth of a child is the most wondrous and exciting thing in the world – no wonder that little newcomers get a lot of attention! There are millions of appointments, visits and questionings by health care professionals, well-meaning relatives and friends. Just make sure they breastfeed properly, they gain enough weight, they sleep through the night, and develop as they „should”. The system is wired to take care of them, and to make sure they thrive. And it’s great – undoubtedly that’s the way it should be! But while there is a lot of fuss over those beautifully smelling miracoulous little bundles, nobody really thinks of, or talks about the mother. Even though, with a birth of a child another story begins there, too. A story of a new person: the MOTHER.
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