Sunday, August 10, 2008

Dress-Up Day

Dylan has been going to two playgroups here in Churchill.

Both are organized by moms and held once a week/fortnight at schools - one at a mission school, and the other at a local kindergarten - they call them "kinders" here. He really loves going to the one at the kinder because it has all the toys and manipulatives, and pretend corners where he can play "masak masak". Outdoors, the kinder grounds also holds much more age-appropriate play equipment than the regular big boy playground in our vicinity.

Although most of the 3 hours will be spent in unstructured play, the moms also would have scheduled a special activity for each session. On Friday, it was dress-up day, and mommies had to find fancy costumes for their littlies to wear.

With our tight budget, I wasn't too keen on decking him out in any of the Spiderman/ Superman suits you can get at the Kmart or Big W.

After some thinking, I decided what better to dress up as than something Dylan absolutely loves?

Out of a cardboard box, some yellow and black wrapping paper, a ball of yarn and a meat tray, I made a miniature digger for Dylan to wear. After all, one of his first words had been "Dig and Throw!" and he is fascinated with construction vehicles.

So, here's the end product:

D the digger

Dylan seemed keen on his new outfit as well when I tried it on him at home, so I was super pumped. All excited to show off to the other moms, we headed for the kinder, only to have the little bubba absolutely refuse to put the costume on because it got in the way of all the other things he wanted to play!

What a disappointment. Well, at least some of the other kids wanted to wear it -
K and kids 2

Still, it was nice to see this little boy having fun.

Playing house - want an orange, mommy?
at the wash basin

Flanked by 2 princesses
which princess?
"Mirror, mirror, on the dresser, which of these two princesses is fairer?"

Is this a dresser or a computer, now?
at the play computer

Snack Time...
snack time! Me and my best bud, Jack!

It was a gorgeous morning, and the kids didn't take long to take full advantage of it outdoors. Our li'l trooper naturally gravitated towards the wooden play truck, where he spent a considerable amount of time even though this mommy tried to divert him to other erstwhile activities like the slide and ladders.

D the trucker

playing truck 2

D and J again
D and J
more truck time

Crossing the play bridge - this is harder than it looks!
bridge area 3

coming down the play bridge

2 little Possum Princesses in a Tree!
2 little possums in a tree

Afterwards, we adjourned back indoors for a tasty - albeit unhealthy treat - chippies!
chippy time!

Sigh, this is the only time you will see the little guy quietly seated, no need for straps and persuasion beyond a bowl of potato chips!
lots of chips!

loving my "tay-toe!"

2 comments:

  1. wow, seems really fun! good for you to interact with other moms too, right?

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  2. Oh yeah, absolutely. Some of the moms are a lot more experienced than I am, with 3 or 4 kids themselves, so it's always reassuring when they say that Dylan's alright. =)

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