Play Group

So Alyas and I have come to follow a pretty set weekly routine, which includes Monday and Thursday morning play group. Play groups for toddlers and babies are very common here, even in a small town like Cambridge I could basically go to a different play group every week day if I wanted. This group is sponsored by a local non-denominational church and meets in their office building; only about 4-5 blocks away from our home. The Mums there are very friendly and the kids, although most have chronic runny noses, Alyas loves! The moment we walk in the door he busts through the gate to find some toys. They set up stations for different activities. The babies have their own blanket area to lay on and there are stations for crafts and mats with various different toys. Alyas commonly goes for either the balls, toddler bikes, or play dough first. Since he is one of the bigger kids in the group, both in height and age, I have to keep a close eye on him so he doesn't steal toys from the babies or smaller kids.

Here we are coloring and doing play dough.

Bisects, or cookies as we Americans would call them, are always present at play group and all the kids know where they are located. Today Alyas and I brought homemade heart shaped sugar sugar cookies to frost for Valentine's Day. Alyas is allowed one bisect for the morning but often times consumes 2 1/2-3 depending on who leaves their cookie unattended or which little distracted baby gets theirs confiscated by Alyas' grubby paws!


Trying to decided which toys to play with tractors, cars, building blocks, farm animals, or legos....all while keeping a close eye on the red bike on the left he just dismounted.


The boys tend to dominate the bikes and today they chased each other around until they got stuck in this traffic jam.


Play group ends with a prayer, a story, then singing time. All the kids get shakers and Alyas, although not intentionally trying to be the center of attention, usually stands in the middle and dances while all the other kids sit on their Mummy's laps.

Play group has also been the main way I have come to socialize with the natives, so to speak. Although, strangely, I have found that it's the non-English European women who tend to talk more. That might have something to do with the common stereotype of the English being quite reserved and indirect in their conversational style. I've met women from Russia, Germany, France, Sweden, and Kenya.

My little "show off".



Here we are singing the most popular "Little Bunny Song". The kids absolutely love this one.



Sorry the tune starts in the middle and then you hear the beginning but if you'd like to teach it to your toddler they will be sure to love it!

Lyrics:
See the little bunnies sleeping,
till it's nearly noon.
Shall we go and wake them,
with a merry tune?
They're sooooo stiilllll....
are they illllll?
WAKE UP!
And hop little bunnies,
hop, hop, hop,
hop little bunnies,
hop, hop, hop,
hop little bunnies,
hop, hop, hop,
HOP, HOP, hop-hop-hop!

Here's a you tube of the same tune but with a little different variation. Enjoy!