Again, and again, and again...

What I just love to observe is how the kids come back to the same activity over and over until they seem to be done.

I have noticed this more so with Nathan (perhaps because Danielle is younger and really only just starting to take on her own strong interests so haven't really seen them pass yet).

The past few months were all about string, knots and their many uses...making pulleys from hooks on the roof with items attached to the bottom (and the difference in weight, likelihood of item jumping off the hook based on weight, whether the item them swung etc), the means of making flying foxes down the hallway, attaching items to the back of trikes and the running bike, making a web of interlinking strings across his bedroom, skipping with, tying things together, asking me to tie fancy knots from our knot book etc and he wants a large rope to attach to a tree branch to tie knots in to scale up which we just haven't gotten around to sourcing yet.

Then there was the sellotape phase - everything was taped up - we still go through tape, but it's more likely used just for constructing the thing of the moment now (although Danielle is still keen on taping and taping and taping lol).

The train track and wooden block phase - when he was 3 the blocks were used to make tunnels and indicate houses etc, and pretty much used daily, then over time until now they help to raise the track up, create hills and become a part of the track opposed to just under it or over it. He uses these less and less these days but then will rediscover them and I notice a shift in the way they are used again.

I suspect he is moving into a more tools based stage at the moment. A few months ago I bought him a small "real" hammer from the Playcentre shop which was the same as the kids use there at the carpentry table. I also gave him a pocket knife that I found while decluttering which I felt he was ready for. At the time he had a go at whittling and just generally checking it out. On Saturday we were just pottering around at home and he came running out of the toilet to ask where his knife was - so I retrieved it for him where it's been for about the last month (on my dresser) and he raced back into the toilet. Being busy doing other things I didn't think what he might actually be using it for, anyhow about 10mins later he announced that he'd removed the broken bracket off the wall that had previously held the toilet roll holder (using the philips screwdriver attachment). He then wanted more things to work on and I had to redirect him away from banging screws into my nice wooden seat out on my porch after retrieving his hammer lol. He then was wanting to carry it around with him and was pondering how to attach it to his belt-loop. After riffling through his junk drawer I found a keyring with a spring attachment thingy so he's been carrying it with him since. He put on a different pair of shorts today that didn't have belt loops so had to put on yesterday's shorts. I can see I might need to attach some loops onto the inside of his waistbands for this purpose... However, the knife came in handy today! We went out this afternoon and I took a couple of whole apples. The kids usually like cut pieces, but rather than chop them up and them not eat them and get wasted I decided to just take them whole for them to eat off the core. Nathan came up with a solution though to use his knife for the purpose.

This morning I saw him catching his sister as she tried to run away by lassoing her with a bike tyre inner tube that DH had left lying around...what will this phase bring?

I have noticed a lot of cut paper lately and that Danielle has taken a real interest in cutting out shapes and mastering her scissor skills. She's loving a lot of the collage type craft at the moment and goes through a lot of glue and sellotape!