Playtime: Surviving Schemas – Part 1

Well here goes… following on from my previous blog post about my genuine amazement at some of the labels in use today I thought I’d have fun going through some of the schemas and how I’ve dealt with my 3 boys doing all the things random things kids do. This is just my experience and ideas inspired by my boys and my mission to keep my sanity!

Occasionally I give up… 2 pairs of wellies Oren? Instead of socks? – Sure, why not?!

Trajectory: Throwing stuff

All mine have pushed me to breaking point with this phase. Oren still does occasionally and he’s 5. If I’m honest even I’ve got carried away playing with the dog and knocked pictures off the walls before now!

Loki loves throwing random objects around the house, unfortunately they’re generally at the window, his brothers or the dog.

Trying to stop kids throwing I’ve found is a futile exercise. Seriously, that way madness lies. Embrace it instead. When the moment comes I make ball runs, set up skittles etc to encourage him to roll instead of launch. It helps.

The Grimms 12 piece tunnel makes a beautiful noise set up like this picture below; think xylophone… it’ll often buy me 10 minutes while he gets distracted and moves on to something else to investigate!

When Loki’s brothers get home from school, I send them upstairs to get changed and put away any laundry I’ve done during the day. More often than not a sock sorting session often results in a sock bomb fight; this definitely satisfies that need to throw stuff! There is only so much damage you can do with socks and thankfully Skye is pretty good at collecting them all at the end.

My favourite way to embrace throwing though is with balloons. They are just brilliant. As sad as it sounds, my face lights up just as much as the boys faces do when presented with a brightly coloured balloon. Throw them, catch them, they help spatial awareness and coordination along with playing right into the trajectory schemas hands. Balloons are great for introducing turn taking and consequences too. For example if you throw a balloon onto the fire and not to your brother to catch, it will pop and it’s game over….*sigh!

(I try and buy biodegradable balloons wherever possible too.)

Orientation: Climbing/hanging upside down

Loki has always been a climber. This was a game changer for me as his brothers never showed the inclination. I tried everything I could to stop it, but it was never going to happen – it’s definitely in his nature.

Sometimes you just need to know what the world looks like from on top of the dining table or better yet from underneath it! I often retrieve him from tables, stood on a chairs, up on the window seat waving to passers by…I even found him on the stove once!

Short of rearranging my entire house I’ve decided to embrace it. If Loki wants to see what the world looks like from the kitchen table or underneath it then that’s fine with me. I have set up designated climbing areas, swapped chairs around and positioned them deliberately so if he fancies a climbing session he has obvious options open to him.

The wobbel board is perfect for this too as he can move it around by himself and use it however he wants. Sat on top, draped upside down, lay underneath. The wobbel definitely encourages a different view point on things. I can see why all the boys are drawn to it.

Some well placed cushions and blankets offer extra padding should an upside down session end abruptly. I’ve also got my eye on a pikler triangle, they look amazing!

This is a picture from my IG friend Anna’s gorgeous set up and it looks perfect for my wee explorer. Definitely one for the Wishlist! You can find all her lovely pictures here. Playroom goals!

Rotation: Spinning/twirling/circles

When Loki is in the mood I can spend a good twenty minutes watching him rotate the pieces of his stacker round and round on the pole.

He’ll occasionally sneak off and watch the washing machine do it’s thing and run back in tears when the spin cycle goes mental. He also often rolls the Grimms balls over and over between his hands…before aiming them at the dog!

This is one of the many reasons I love wooden toys. They’re so tactile, they really do invite you to play. The Bajo Cars I’ve mentioned before in an earlier blog post are a big hit as the chunky natural wheels spin freely between his fingers.

I often tie scarves around his waist so when he twirls around it will fan out like some of my dresses/skirts; cue much dizzy girly giggling from the both of us. Embrace it, sometimes twirling for 5 minutes can cheer you right up!

We made Loki a busy board earlier in the year and the one thing he is often obsessed with is the giant wheel I attached to it. It’s a shame he’s too wee to have caught on with the fidget spinner obsession!

Also thanks to knowing about this Schema it probably explains why every time I give him peas for dinner he spends more time fiddling with them and rolling them between his fingers, than he does actually eating them!

Transporting: Nests/things into things

This Schema covers a lot when you look into it. Edward was partial to carrying around a wee bag with his favourite toys in, Oren frequently brings things home from outside to add to his collection (seasonal table comes in handy here if you want to embrace it; currently feathers!) and Loki has a penchant for things into things and also has a current obsession with nests.

They’ve all approached this phase differently but ultimately all got the same out of it, it’s genuinely fascinating!

Nests are important to Loki. He often has 2 or 3 on the go at any given time. One is always in plain sight. One is always hidden and a total pain in the arse to find if you’ve missed its creation. One is always mobile; in a portable bucket (sigh…the sick bucket), bag or a wee re-Spiin basket.

Often a nest will have a theme, for example it’ll be toys of a similar shape or size. Sometimes a nest will occur organically and he’ll defend it territorially; socks and nappy boosters often end up hoarded in a pile and he’s fiercely protective of them if you try to interfere or tidy them away.

I try and keep track of where the nests are and what’s roughly in them. I leave our little baskets and bags so he can move things around easily. It’s just his way of figuring out things; more often than not – a passing fixation with something shiny!

Mark wears a small hexagonal film badge on his belt (for work) and this is often a target for Loki when he gets home. Poor Daddy is regularly assaulted in a rather aggressive fashion as soon as he walks in, in a frantic quest to capture it!

Right, rather topically I have a new nest to locate before bedtime, I saw Loki squirrelling away his Nins after dinner in the log-store and out of the 12 I’ve only managed to find 5 so far. Wish me luck!