Home Schooling, it's such a hot topic at the moment and I totally get why! The world feels like it's gone crazy and home schooling feels like a way for us to take back a bit or control and bring a sense of normalcy or routine to our kids lives.

While my eldest is only 2.5 so we aren’t of school age yet, I have always loved the idea of home schooling! Mainly as it would allow me to spend a few more of those precious young years with my kiddos! Its not something I could see myself doing though all of their school years I definitely would love to for the first few!

This mindset has really structured the way we have viewed play from the get go in our home. To begin with this was accidental and started simply by counting blocks when building or colour matching when play with our loose parts.

The older he got and the more I started to follow more home schooling mum's on Instagram I realised that actually that was the start of home schooling. You don’t need to be a teacher or have been a straight A student at school you simple need to teach your kiddos the life skills that you already would.

We are so lucky to have access to some incredible toys and learning resources from so many amazing brands. I’m definitely not expert, like I said my eldest isn’t even of school age yet but these would have to be some of my favourite toys to start that early introduction to learning with your toddler in a way that’s fun and exciting for them!

1. Puzzles - I love puzzles as they are fun and educational! Numbers, alphabet, animals, so many different learning opportunities!

2. Flash Cards - We have quiet a few of these and mr 2.5 loves to grab a set so we can go though them while he calls out which animals / emotions he can see in the picture! Our favourites are the Two Little Ducklings ones.

3. Counters - We use these for counting and for colour sorting! You can get so many different types but we love the metal ring counting chips from Learn and Grow Toys.

4. Books - All different types educational or fictional!

5. Sensory bases - Think coloured rice, dried pasta, kinetic sand ect. These are perfect for small world sensory play, giving the opportunity to learn about animals, landscapes & habitats.

6. Small World Play - Houses, cars, people, animals, all great for encouraging imaginative play and learning about the world around us. We love the Freckled Frog range!

7. Craft Supplies - Colouring, painting, gluing, basically anything they can get creative and make a mess with. Hit up your local Kmart and go crazy!

8. Play Dough - You can get some really cool educational cutters but its also a great wind down activity!

9. Games - There are so many cool educational board games around but we love the Orchard Toys ones!

10. Tracing Boards - We recently got an alphabet one and I think these are perfect for pre writers to start learning!

I still have a lot to learn about home learning but if you are looking to get started those are some of the things we have loved!

Whether we will home school or not is still to be decided but even if we don’t I know I’m setting him up with a great foundation for when he does start school!