No, I only taped the end to keep the wool attached. I hope you can see in the first photograph that we use a large embroidery needle, it is very blunt, I don't see it being a hazard. But of course I would suggesting only doing what you are comfortable with.

Perhaps over the weekend I will get some time to tidy. I'm thinking of keeping a week or so worth of photographs here and then at the end of the week putting them into a photo album which will always been accessible.

Happy birthday to A. Your cake looks amazing. We've used raspberries too for colouring. Recently I found some natural food colourings but the pink really looks like purple! Good luck with the green icing!

This is amazing Charlotte. What a wonderful experience. I have only seen this in photographs so I would be fascinated, as would my children be, to see it in real life in real time. Such a privilege. I'm sure by now they have grown. What did you do with them?

Hi Julia. The round table and stools are from Officeworks (and were very affordable), the coatrack is from Childplay Toys (in Phillip, Canberra) and the shelving is the Oeuf Mini Library (from online somewhere!).

Hello, I purchased the blocks at a local store. I've had difficultly finding similar online. I think most people call them unit blocks. I should have mentioned that it is Caspar (5 yrs) who plays mostly with the blocks. It is Caspar who set up the buildings and people in the above photographs. Otis (2 years) will play with Caspar but he is just following and copying. Otis does like to use the cars and will often knock most of the structures down. In the above photograph Otis has already knocked most of the buildings down and they are just playing with what is left over. I wouldn't worry too much if your son at 22 months isn't really into playing with cars or animals. I think that is entirely normal. However if you feel like it you could play along side him to get him started, but overall I wouldn't worry.

The parachute is more versatile and fun than I first thought. I purchased it online from Modern Teaching Aids here http://www.teaching.com.au/product?KEY_ITEM=KS180&KEY_ALIAS=KS180.

I love this story Emily. Thank you for sharing. I think there is a lot to learn from opening a lock, coordination, concentration...

The calendar is like a temporary wall sticker, it is from Etsy. I can't find our exact one but there are a few listed here http://www.etsy.com/search?q=chalk+board+calendar&view_type=gallery&ship_to=US&page=1

If you are looking for block play inspiration (you might have already read these) this site is amazing http://www.letthechildrenplay.net/search/label/block%20play

My intention was to post it in the main blog also. I have the post as a draft, it's almost finished and I should be publishing it tonight. Thanks for asking (and noticing)!

We have a set of eleven which are the same with the exception we don't have a postman and I would have assumed the nurse is a doctor. I'm still really impressed with the diversity and haven't seen another set of figures that even comes close, please give me your recommendations because I've spend a lot of time looking. Regarding ethnicity I think the diversity is excellent.

I don't use or have an album. I've wondered about it though. I honestly don't know if an album would help without doing the training?? It would be like only having half the information. Do you use an album, I'd love to know if you have what you think about it.

Yes, i couldn't agree more Beth. I have a set of locks (and keys) that I presented to Caspar (http://www.howwemontessori.com/how-we-montessori/2012/03/lock-and-key.html) but he was much older. Perhaps Otis might be interested sooner. For Otis I would need to put the keys on a ring or they would go missing. Otis also loves his lock box (http://www.howwemontessori.com/how-we-montessori/2012/10/lock-box.html) which he uses every day and has probably helped with the skill required to unlock the letter box. No one has ever tried to unlock a door, yet!

It's amazing what a professional photographer can do! The movable alphabet is from Michael Olaf. I wrote about my dilemma on the topic of choosing a movable alphabet for home here http://www.howwemontessori.com/how-we-montessori/2013/02/selecting-a-movable-alphabet-for-use-at-home.html. I'd love to hear your view.

Our puzzle is from Michael Olaf but it's known as a Geometric Shape Puzzle by TAG and is also available at other stores including Amazon, I've included some links above.