Relocating....hopefully

These posts might be few and far between for a little while. We are beginning the home buying process and it has proved to be STRESSFUL. On top of that, our rental house seems to be crumbling before our eyes! So obviously we're trying to get out of here asap. We thought we found the perfect house last weekend but we couldn't make a high enough offer and lost it. We were crushed but we've got a new list of homes to look at tomorrow. No matter where we end up Saetia has already told me she wants a pink floor, wall and ceiling...oh little girls, so precious.

In other news, my little sailor turned 1 on the 21st of April.


And this is Saetia waiting for the party to begin.

Nature to Art Part 2

This activity is creating art with only things you've found outside. Go on a nature walk and collect things like rocks, leaves, moss, berries(make sure they don't eat any!), flowers, sticks, ect. *remember not to pick flowers or anyone's plants. We only collect things that have already fallen on the ground. So gather up your nature supplies and arrange them into anything you want. Use tacky glue and card stock. This art work will shrivel but you can display it for a couple of days. Saetia made a dragonfly. Other ideas are butterflies, turtle, fish, crab, ladybug or spider.

Nature to Art

Yesterday was Earth Day so we've been doing crafts with things we've found in nature or around the house. The first craft we did was a simple lady bug rock. Here's what you need:
*Go on a nature walk to collect flat round rocks
*red and black paint
*googly eyes (optional)
*pipe cleaners (optional)

Have your child paint the rocks red.


After those are dry, paint on the head and spots. You can add pipe cleaner antennas or feet. We didn't add eyes, but you can paint white dots on or glue on googly eyes. We have a grandma that loves lady bugs and she might want these in her garden.

Sound Cylinders

Here is another Montessori inspired lesson called Sound Cylinders. The object of this lesson is to refine the auditory sense. This is my homemade version. Here's what you'll need:
*film canisters
*red and blue construction paper
*things that make different sounds like chick peas, rice, salt, bells, ect.

Most people don't have a bunch of empty film canisters laying around. I went to a place that develops film and asked them for their empty ones. They were happy to give them to me. Ask for at least 8. It's helpful if they're all the same but I didn't want to seem to picky so I just crossed my fingers. I only got one different color. I started off using 8. Cover 4 canisters with blue construction paper and 4 with red construction paper.


Next fill up one red and one blue canister of the same object.


Close the lids. Show your child how to sort the colors and put the reds on one side and the blues on the other in a line. Take one red and bring it up to your ear and shake it. Then choose one blue from the line and shake it. If it's not a match put it back in line. If it is a match put them together to the side. Continue this until they've found all the matches.


After they've mastered those, you can add more sounds. Another activity is lining them up loudest to softest or guessing what's in the container.

Smelling Bottles

I got this idea from Montessori. They have an activity called smelling bottles. You can either have the bottles and match them to control cards or you can have 2 sets of bottles. With 2 sets of bottles you have the option of blindfolding your child and see if they can find the scents that smell the same. Here's what you need:
*empty baby food jars, washed
*hammer and a nail
*cotton balls
*miscellaneous extracts (cherry, mint, lemon, banana, cinnamon, orange, ect.)
*stock card

Put the lids on the baby food jars and hammer 5 or so holes in the top.


Then take the lids back off. Next get your cotton balls and put a few drops of extract on each cotton ball and put these in the jar. I just #3 baby food jars and they were a little too big so I used 3 cotton balls in each. Put the lids back on tightly so your child can't get them off. Then you can either print out a picture of the fruit or whatever scent matches the bottles or draw them on card stock. I wrote the word on them too. I would suggest laminating these. You might need to go through them and let your child smell the bottles and tell them what is in it. Since they might not know what coconut or root beer smells like. I have found at least 10 different scents. You could experiment with other things in the bottle like dirt or something other than food extracts. I would suggest covering the bottles with black paper. My daughter automatically sees what color is on the cotton ball and knows which card it goes with. You want them to use their sense of smell.

Know how to knit?

Those of you who know me and my son, know that he is a SLOBBER MONSTER. I'm serious, I go through tons of bibs a day. So I thought, why not make my own bibs? It's cheap and easy! I came across this very simple Baby Bib Pattern. So grab your knitting needles and give it a try. Here's how mine turned out.



I used whatever yarn I had lying around and vintage buttons.

Leftovers

Time to start using those left over hard boiled eggs from Easter. I scrounged this sandwich up one day when I couldn't find anything to eat. Lets call it a Deviled Egg Sandwich. Here's what you need:
*hard boiled eggs
*mayo (I don't like mayonnaise but can eat Light Miracle Whip)
*a dab of mustard
*dill relish or sweet relish
*2 slices of bread, toasted
*paprika

Chop up 1 or 2 hard boiled eggs. Add some mayo, or miracle whip, until it's the consistency you like. Mix in a dab of mustard. I mean just tiny dab. Squirt some relish in there. I say squirt because I buy the plastic bottles of relish :) Then salt to taste. Grab your toast out of the toaster. This makes all the difference. Having the bread toasted makes it so you're not just eating a mush sandwich! Spread on your mixture and sprinkle some paprika on there.