A VERY BUSY PRESCHOOLER

Every month me and Noah have our mummy and Noah days, they're something I look forward too as much as he does. I think it dawned on me over the summer that this time next year, he'll actually be in full time school and no matter how much I want to, I wont be able to just keep him off for a day together like I have done in the past with nursery. Of course we'll have the summer holidays, but so will half the county and it takes away the element of our days feeling that bit more special. That being said, school is just around the corner and with him starting part time in January - the perks of a December birthday, it means we've both taken much more of an interest in ensuring he is where he needs to be in terms of academia.

I'm a nursery nurse, so no matter how hard I try to ignore those instincts, I do have a little voice in my head that knows exactly what he should and shouldn't be doing at each stage of his development. Given the fact I work in Early Years too, it's even more obvious to me if he isn't reaching certain milestones. I'm lucky however, Noah really enjoys learning and he's always been a pretty fast learner at that. Each Sunday we have our time when we sit and we have focus time, whether that's numbers, writing or creative work, we do something. He doesn't always want to do it, but I do push him, I'm most definitely a pushy mother and it's not something I think I'll let up on as I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing. Learning isn't always fun, I think after twenty one years of education I can certainly agree to that. But for a child that is three, it's vital I try to make it as interesting and as fun as I can because the last thing I want to do at such an early age is to deter him. This month, I've had a bit of help in the form of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. A classic in it's own right but one of our favourites too, I think it was ironically the first ever book we bought and read to Noah. Both me and John remember it well from our childhoods, but The Very Hungry Caterpillar has come a long way since the 1990's when we remember reading it. There's a whole new family friendly range that got Noah very excited to learn this weekend.

We very gratefully received a bundle of goodies from the lovely PR team, and I knew those special one to one times were the perfect excuse to get the Hungry Caterpillar involved. It's no surprise that Noah would always opt for getting creative with glitters, glues and pipe cleaners every weekend as opposed to number or letter work. I'm sure tracing around my dotted numbers, or writing his name for the 100th time can get quite boring, fast. So the Hungry Caterpillar have brought out a whole host of activities for little ones, including designing your own place mats which was definitely Noahs favourite thing to do. He could trace around letters, count different fruits, all whilst incorporating parts of the story he loves, which meant to him it didn't quite feel as full on as learning normally does. We finished off our little power hour with a one of their new stories, 'Where is the Very Hungry Caterpillar' it's a lift the flap story, meaning he could join in as well and we've been roped into reading it every single night since so you could say it's another favourite in this household.

Their new goodies doesn't just stop there though, there is a nifty little divider plate which makes for the perfect picnic lunches, something we regularly enjoy. Cloudy apple juices that proved the perfect thinking drinks for Noah, he (and I) were both amazed that he spotted a lot of the letters on the juice carton, that he had just drawn himself. There is also lots of special packs that for us would work great on a longer car journey, a little tin of goodies including stickers, work books and pens, as well as car toys for the smaller members of your household. I think we're going to be seeing a whole lot more of the Very Hungry Caterpillar and I'm certain Noah will be asking for the place mat work book each weekend as opposed to the glitter and googly eyes, a huge win for everyone.

*Gifted