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Wonder Days

@wonder_days__

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Hello! I’m Jess 🤗

I’m a mum of three little ones (4, 2 and 5 months), a Prep teacher of more than 10 years, and the creator behind Wonder Days.

The idea for Wonder Days began when I was feeling out of my depth as I searched for ways to best support my son’s language development before he started school.

When he experienced speech delays, I became fascinated by the support he received and wanted to do everything I could to help him. At the same time, I was conscious of not making it feel forced or like a chore - for either of us.

As I learned more about the connection between imaginative play and early literacy, I searched for books that could naturally build on his interests and curiosity while encouraging rich oral language.

I wanted something that combined real-world knowledge with imagination and fun, gently introduced first sounds and rhyme, and was simple enough for him to retell in his own words.

When I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for, I decided to create it myself. I started with his passion for all things beach-related and created little books filled with rockpool worlds and characters that he quickly grew to love. Then it continued to grow from there…

Bit by bit, I watched something shift. The right words became easier to find. His sentences became longer. The stories became easier to retell. And seeing the change in his confidence has been worth every minute.

Creating these little worlds and characters has become a creative outlet I genuinely love. As I’ve shared them with other children in our lives, I’ve realised they seem to love them just as much as my own kids do. It’s my hope that if our story resonates with you, then you find as much joy sharing in the Wonder Day worlds as we have 🤍 by @wonder_days__

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a month ago

For a long time, I searched for books that combined real-world knowledge with imagination, gently introduced first sounds, and were simple enough for little children to retell in their own words.

When I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for, I created them.

It all started with my son’s love of rockpools and a handful of little characters who quickly became part of our everyday life. Bit by bit, I watched his confidence grow - and so did this little dream.

Today, those little books are finally here, and I couldn’t be happier to share them with you. I hope your family loves exploring these little worlds as much as mine has 💫🦀🌊🐬🐚🤎 by @wonder_days__

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12 days ago

A little peek at what I’ve been creating 🤎

Wonder Days are collections of books for curious children in the early years - bringing together knowledge, storytelling and play.

The first Little World will be launching this month…

🌊 By the Seashore
Knowledge book + 6 Companion Stories 🪸🦀⚓️

Expect rockpools, tides, seastars, tiny creatures and plenty of new words, questions and discoveries along the way.

Jess x by @wonder_days__

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20 days ago

Welcome to the ‘Behind Wonder Days’ series. Each week, I’ll take you behind one of the intentional decisions that shaped Little Worlds, and explain the thinking behind it 💭💫

First up: Knowledge 🧠

We hear the word knowledge thrown around a lot in education. But what does “building knowledge” actually look like when you’ve got little ones at home?

Long before children decode their first word, they’re learning about the world, growing their vocabulary, asking questions, and building the knowledge they’ll one day draw on to make sense of what they read.

And as a parent… building knowledge is fun! I had no idea the collective noun for sea stars is a constellation 🌟✨ Now when my four and two year olds hear ‘a school of fish’, one day they might think, “That’s like a constellation of sea stars!” Those little connections are what it’s all about 🤗💫 by @wonder_days__

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4 days ago

As beautiful as our salt dough seastars were ✨(the face on Georgie’s was particularly terrifying 🤭) the most beautiful part of this morning by FAR was seeing the difference at the end in how confidently they could chat about what they were making, after just 10 minutes or so of painting, squishing and talking.

Whenever we’re exploring something new, I try to keep the ‘new learning’ to just one or two simple things, then we can play and talk about them over and over. Today it was:
⭐️ Seastars have five arms
⭐️ Seastars have tiny tube feet

The kids loved chatting about their Seastars as they worked on them and there were lots of great chances for me to model language, repeat new words and practice counting with them. Of course it’s never perfect, but it’s not meant to be - it’s just giving them a chance to explore something new and make new little connections 💫🐚⭐️ by @wonder_days__

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5 days ago

Turns out newspaper sails aren’t particularly conducive to the wet weather conditions we’re currently experiencing, but it was a fun discovery nonetheless ⛵️🌧️⚓️😆 by @wonder_days__

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24 days ago

🍃🌟🥰 by @wonder_days__

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2 months ago

This week for NAIDOC Week, from our little home by the sea on Wadawurrung Country, we’ve been exploring stories, Country, animals, art and the incredible knowledge shared by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 🖤💛❤️

Noticing colours, patterns + stories in First Nations artwork 🎨

The Adam Goodes books are well-loved in our house (gifted over the years by their Nanny, a very passionate Sydney Swans supporter ❤️🤍)

Learning whose Country we live on and the connection between land, sea + people 🐚💫

Beautiful books about Uluṟu sparked a lot of questions (and a few holiday requests) 🥰❤️ by @wonder_days__

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19 days ago

“Where’s that cheeky seahorse?” 🙈🪸🐠🦀
Sea animals getting up to mischief this morning in their gorgeous @playsilkies underwater world 🥰🌊🩵 by @wonder_days__

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a month ago

Spending this Wintery morning exploring all the different ways our friends can get to the footy 💫🏉🚁🚌🚂🚤🚗🚕🤎 by @wonder_days__

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17 days ago

Still finding autumn leaves in our hair, pockets and pram 🥰🍁🤭 by @wonder_days__

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2 months ago

The kids were very busy this afternoon with important work rescuing sea animals from empty rockpools 😅🦀🐠🐬🥰 by @wonder_days__

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2 months ago