I'm 37 weeks pregnant and it's so difficult and uncomfortable to move around at all.  I feel bad that I haven't done educational type things with dd as much as we used to. My brain is too tired to think creatively anymore. But also I think it's because she has mastered lots of the basic stuff, I just don't know what to do next.  She can read.  We do adding and subtraction a little bit here and there with blocks, toys, fingers, etc.  She has a Kumon book for practicing writing and stuff, and some similar ones I made her.  She's tired of her brachiation ladder and won't go on it anymore.....we used to do countries on the globe and she knows a few, but I guess I feel bored of that...!  We did planets a little bit a couple times....

I need inspiration and help! What can I do with her? She's 2 and a half.

How much are you selling it for?

My daughter is 2 and a half and has 'outgrown' her favorite dvds.  She still likes to watch them, but I'd rather she watched ones where she could learn new things. 

Favorites:
Brainy Baby 123's
Brainy Baby ABC's
Brainy Baby Shapes and Colors
Leap Frog Talking Words Factory (She can read phonetically now)
Fun with Phonics Letters and Sounds
Fun With Phonics Reading
some Spanish dvd's, I guess we could get more of those (I know we have a Whistlefritz one)

I would really like some that teach math, and maybe ones to practice reading?

Can you recommend any that are along the lines of the types we already have? More educational and not just entertaining.

We just got a little trampoline today and dd loves it and spent forever on it! It's not the toddler kind, just the small kind meant for adults.  I hope she continues to spend as much time on it every day as she did today!

Can you get a 2x4 easily?  Here are some uses we have for it, and my daughter is almost 2.5:

1. Balance beam with 2x4 flat on floor, walk forward, backwards, sideways....

2.Tippy balance beam with a couple scraps of wood underneath in the middle, it tips as child walks to other side

3.  Raised balance beam with a couple blocks of scrap wood under each end.

4.  High balance beam- put each end up on a chair

5. Climbing thing.- my daughter likes to climb over it again and again when it is up on chairs

6. Road/bridge- play with cars on it while its up on chairs

7.  Car ramp- put one end up on a chair and cars can go down it.

8.  See Saw- Used in tippy balance beam mode, it can also be a see saw!

There might be more things we have figured out to do with this piece of wood but that isall I can think of now!

I am trying to think of things to help you...maybe you have already done stuff like this, but here is what we are doing now:

I have little flashcards I made and make more as we go along, really just small pieces of thickish paper, with words on them and we make sentences on the floor.  She really likes the silly ones like Ayla is walking on the toast.  Then I substitute words and put the card that says dolly on top of Ayla and now the sentence says dolly is walking on the toast.  I googled for tricky words so I try and use some of those each time for her to learn, like do, here, come, so, her, the, you....  So thats it really, we write sentences on the floor. 

I also just made this poor mans spinny speller   http://theadventuresofbear.blogspot.com/2009/11/poor-mans-spinny-speller.html

and then also made the wooden one out of some blocks we had:

http://littlehandsbigwork.blogspot.com/2009/11/diy-spinny-speller.html

Your dd might be past this, but in the beginning I made a game where we had word cards with animal names on them, and we would lay them out and then she would match her plastic animal to the card with the right name on it. 

Maybe that is not helpful at all but I wanted to reply and see if I could help cause it stinks when you hav a question and get no replies!

Well 6 inches seemed way too close together so we made them nine inches apart and used 3/4 inch dowels and it works great!  Thanks for your reply, but we had already made it!

Old thread, but I will reply anyway.

Everyone I know is very against early learning.  Except one friend who is for it, and another friend who seems to be a bit open.  Everyone else is extremely against it!  They all think kids shouldnt learn anything till they go to school.  Thats just the people I know, though. 

I am so glad to have found this thread!  I have been coming on this site for months and months now, but never knew if anyone else was in the UK.  I am American but have lived here 8 years.  My dd is 2 yrs 4 mo and we mostly do reading and Physically Superb stuff.  Plus I have adopted the idea of teaching a baby/toddler anything and everything, so we work on other stuff like writing, geography, etc.  All my friends think kids shouldnt learn anything except nursery rhymes till they go to school!  So I just keep everything we do a secret rather than get into the discussions.

I am pregnant and got the book How Smart Is Your Baby and almost have all the materials prepared for the baby for when she is born!  My husband is making a brachiation ladder just now for dd and when he is done, I will get him to make a crawling track for the baby.

I have been feeling like I am the only person in this whole country doing any of this stuff and would love to just know you guys are out there too!

Rachel

I live in the UK and feel like I am the only person in this country doing Doman and Doman type things, ie teaching anything to a baby or small child!  There must be more people in this country doing such things!   Anyone out there?  It would be so nice just to know you are there! 

Rachel

Or check this out!

http://babyledweaning.com/

My husband bought the materials minus the dowels and has started making the brachiation ladder.  Our daughter is 2y 4mo and on the smaller side.  We dont know if we should use 1 inch dowels, recommended for a 3 yr old, and how far to space them.  If we make it with 3/4 inch dowels, how hard is it to change them to bigger ones spaced further apart as the child grows?

What did you do?

I emailed the Institutes asking how to get the Brachiation booklet which someone on here recommended and this is (part of) the reply: 'The Bracchiation booklet costs $15.00 plus shipping.  You may either call me to place an order (215-233-2050, ext. 2525)'

That sounds really expensive, but if it's really worth it, I might get it.  Those of you who have it, does it say a lot of extra info that isn't in the Physically Superb book?

We made the doorway hanging bar too, is that the one you are talking about?  We need to fix it because the dowel spins around in the bracket thing, so I have to hold onto the bar on either side while my daughter holds on.  Is that what yours does? My husband says he's going to make the dowel ends square to keep it from spinning.  What did your husband do?

We're doing the research and finding out the cost, and really considering making a brachiation ladder for our 2 yr 4 mo old and unborn baby.  We have a very small apartment, so it will take up a lot of room in our daughter's bedroom. We will totally do it if it's worth it and our kids will get a lot of use out of it though.

Would you say it was worth making a brachiation ladder, worth the cost and space, and your kids use it enough?