Ancient Egypt, kid style

You just gotta love it when kids put their learning into action. Yep, it is endlessly gratifying to watch them employ newfound knowledge in a game, reinforcing their school- and home work.

Today, for example, Little Man's reader was about a magical trip to Egypt in the time of the pharoahs. The children in the book got to make a model pyramid from a special workbook and then travel back in time to see slaves, pharoahs and the Sphinx for themselves.

Now, time travel is beyond my remit, but I did happen to have a 'Build your own Pyramid' workbook right here for when homework was finished. We talked about what the pyramids were used for, how they were built and even took a quick look at hieroglyphics.

Imagine my pride when they started playing Ancient Egypt this evening.

'What's that you're doing guys?'

'Well, we wanted to make a pyramid, so we killed the pharaoh with a sword and now we can put him in!'

Well, quite. 

Secret second lives

There's something strange going on in our house.

For a while now, Little One has displayed all the balance, strength and co-ordination needed to walk, but still he chooses to crawl. He'll stand up to play football, but as soon as the ball moves out of reach he drops down and crawls briskly to his target. 

Until, that is, darkness falls. Then it's straight up on his feet for some intense walking practice. Three steps - bump! Undeterred, he stands again, six steps - bump! Straight up, five steps - bump! This could go on for half an hour at a time. Worn out by bedtime, he sleeps soundly, but come morning he will deny all knowledge of perambulation. 

All day long we try to encourage steps, but to no avail. Content with his ride-on car and the power of his knees and palms he passes a pleasant day, biding his time until dusk - whereupon he is free to display his true abilities once more. 

After observing this for some time, I have drawn the only natural conclusion. 

Little One is, in fact, a ninja spy. We are obviously just part of his cover story. Cute baby crawling around in Mickey Mouse dungarees? Clearly not a threat. Look how excited he gets when he sees a doggie or a brightly coloured ball - the very picture of innocence. Only under cover of darkness can he reveal his true role - Ninja Baby in training. As soon as he's got the walking perfected, we'll move forward to Wax on, Wax off and Dressing All In Black. 

Now, I just hope this blog entry hasn't blown his cover...