As you may be aware i'm a nanny for two beautiful children in London. I've been working with them for almost one and a half years now... WOW! It seems only yesterday that i had my first day looking after Bee without his parents or his sister around. I remember the moment he realised that he'd been left with me and his little 12 month old bottom lip stuck out in a pout. After that initial scream i wondered what i'd let myself in for, but here i am 1.5 years on with a 2.5 year old boy and i couldn't have asked for a greater kid to spend my days with.
I realised very early on that he had an insane amount of energy, more so than many other kids i've worked with. His brain seems to work overtime and i knew instantly we would have to fill our days with countless activities inside and out to keep his brain from going into over drive.
It's come to the point now at 2.5 where 'just fun' isn't enough and more educational activities need to be introduced into our routine. Don't get me wrong we do the basics like ABC's and counting, he is quite advanced for his age and has picked these up without much practice at all. But i'm aware he needs more structure in his days and after the half term break i have lots of little activities i've been collecting for us to do.
I still have to be the fun nanny though, i will NEVER give up that title and there is nothing that the little man likes more than bubbles. Seriously he would spend hours with a bowl of bubbles if i let him. It always seems that no matter how much effort you put into activities they always seem to adore the ones that take little or no effort on your part. Hey... i'm not complaining, it makes some days much easier.
So yesterday i needed to fill a few hours of 'quiet time' with bee and didn't have much time to prepare... so out came the 'bubble bowl' and his little dance of excitement made me feel like the best nanny in the world for a brief moment.
I wouldn't reccomend this activity for children who haven't mastered the straw yet, or for children who would easily accidently suck up and swallow the mixture. Bee is quite good with this though, as long as you explain to him that you don't do it he wont. Beauty is you don't even need that much liquid soap, the tiniest amount will create huge overflowing bubble towers. You can also add food colouring for extra fun, give them a straw and away they go.
It's also an amazing tool for calming down tantrum toddlers as it helps to regulate their breathing whilst simultaniously drawing their attention to something else.
Give it a try, you might find you enjoy it yourself. :)
J x
