Practical Life Water Transfer Activity

Well...since we already had the water out...

On a whim, I grabbed the baster that was sitting in the same drawer as the hand mixer from the other post today. I just bought the silicon muffin pan at the thrift store yesterday. So Joshy got 2 for the price of 1.

He had a great time transferring soapy water from the big bowl to the small muffin cups. He did a really great job with this activity. I was pretty impressed with the lack of spillage!

That is, until he chose to spill, squirt and pour. Which was fine because he HAD finished his work and we were outside!















Shannon

Practical Life work with a Hand mixer!

I have been meaning to present this work since we began preschool last Fall. I knew Josh would love it but I also knew that using a hand mixer is a bit tricky so I waited until a day like today.

Our weather is GLORIOUS and everyone was in a great mood (read Mommy is feeling a bit less snappish).

So what do you get when you mix a big bowl, water, dish soap, and a hand mixer? Bubbles of course, but also a fun afternoon activity and a great memory. Not to mention a great PL activity that helps him strengthen his hand muscles and coordination.

Shannon

Domino Fun

With no computer for a while I was not quite ready for Basket Friday last week. So the farms will wait. Instead, we learned to play dominoes! He had a ton of fun with this and really did better than I expected. His biggest struggle was placing them without pushing the "row" a little each time. But...with practice he was doing it like a pro by the end of our game.

We also made domino snacks, sorry no photo. All we did was break a graham cracker sheet into its 4 parts. Spread with frosting and add dots with raisins. Easy and delicious!

Shannon

Hammering Work

This is an easy one to do and a MUST for all boys (useful for girls too!). Buy a cheap styrofoam cooler, borrow a handful of tees from a golfer, and grab the hammer from the toy tool bin in your sons room.

When you present it, make sure that you talk about holding the tee with 2 fingers while hammering with the other hand. Josh was tempted to push it through a bit so he did not have to hold it but after a few gentle reminders he got the hang of it!

Shannon

He was a Sk8r Boy...

He turns 4 on Tuesday. I just want to hold him tight and never let go...

Computer Crisis 2008

Just wanted to stop in and say hello! We are having a bit of a crisis with the computer and will hopefully get it straightened out by midweek!

Anyone ever had a swollen capaciter??????

Have a ton to tell you including pictures of fun activities...so hopefully...be back soon!

Shannon

Have a Great Weekend!

View from our front door!

There is actually a male and female (hidden by male) Duck in the picture and a little bird in the feeder. As a matter of fact, you can not see it but a squirrel was hiding behind the tall grass on the right. I think we may need to start making some more bird feeders!

We are going to have a great summer!
Shannon

Thrifty Thursday!

Another great thrift store week!

I found this Easy Corking book and the kit it used to come with, in brand new condition for $.75. And several great books including 2 Magic Tree House Books , The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth , and Origami in the Classroom II . The books are always 20 cents!

I also did great at Garage sales this weekend but won't bore you with the details. Best buy of the day though was a hopping ball like this! New in the box for $4.00. We have wanted to get one for Josh for a while but had not wanted to waste money on another toy! (Ya know what I mean?)

A pretty good Thrifty week if you ask me. We are having another Garage Sale in a few weeks, after that I will need to start donating items when I go to the thrift store!

Shannon

3 Nature Books I Love

Well I finally found 3 books on Nature Study from the Library that I would recommend!

They are
The Little Hands Nature Book by Nancy Fusco Castaldo (If you can only get one get this one!)
Nature in Your Backyard by Susan Lang
My Big World of Wonder by Sherri Griffin

These are all great for a preschool nature study!

But...my favorite by far is Windowsill Science Centers by Lynne Kepler a book I bought at a discount bookstore for $1.99. (LOVE a bargain!)

This is a great resource and requires very little prep or materials and could carry you through the whole year because is based around your classroom window and what you can observe.

I am really anxious to get started, I have some great stuff planned.

We are definitely going to try our hands at keeping a nature journal. However, I want to "design" some pages with activities to include so that he does not just burn out right away...feeling overwhelmed. I will have him find do some sort of activity in the journal one day and do more of a journal activity another.

I also am planning a ton of experiment type activities, like a worm jar, painting a tree with sugar water to attract moths, and making bird feeders.

We will probably get started sometime in June. So what are you planning for this summer? Schooling? Or perhaps a break?

Shannon

Recycled Material Crafts Continued...

Milk Cartons (Plastic and Cardboard)

Several Milk Carton ideas!
Birdhouse
Birdfeeder
Whale
Ball catcher 2nd from the bottom!
Luminaries Could design them for everyday use too!
Scrubber

Plastic Grocery Bags

Jump rope!
Rug

Enjoy!
Shannon

Happy Mother's Day!

Just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day! We have had a busy week preparing for the weekend's festivities. The whole lot of us will gather Sunday for lunch and the exchange of gifts, 3 Moms! We are getting takeout since none of us really cared to cook for a group on Mother's Day! However, I am making a cool dessert, it is 2 tiered mini cheesecakes. I will try to post about it Monday! (Ya know, if they turn out!)

So anyway, here is what we did for gifts...

button flowers necklaces

Josh and I "strung" buttons on wire to make flowers, jabbed them in plants we had repotted in cute bowls. Andrew and I made the necklaces from material cut from Joshua's old nursing pillow. Ooh, let me post a picture that will totally explain why!

This is how Joshy napped for the first SEVERAL months of his life...the ONLY way he would nap! So we all have many memories of that pillow and I hope that the Grandmother's will share my sentimental feelings (and also not notice my lack of decoupaging experience!)

Have a lovely weekend!

Shannon

Thrifty Thursday!

Hey...look at me...posting on the correct day!

Back to my normal thrift store this week! Yippppeeeeee! I did great too!

I found a wooden tray, great for Montessori tray work ($1), 2 weaving looms for potholders ($.25 total), 2 Pfaltzgraff bowls and 1 plate -new fancy dishes for our cats, desperately needed! ($.25 each), and the following books...

Franklin and the Tooth Fairy by Paulette Bourgeois ($.20) this one!
My First Litle House Books: Dance at Grandpa's by Laura Ingalls Wilder ($.20) linky
Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne ($.20) Lazy link here!
and for me...
The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks ($1.) here It was very good, it is a continuation of The Notebook!

I have been wanting to pick up the weaving looms for a while now but feared that it would be a waste of money from a store since I was unsure if he was ready yet but for $.25 I am thrilled. I searched online and there are tons of things you can do with the looms besides make potholders!

Well, hope you got a good deal this week too! Now if only I could find a good deal on ANOTHER bookshelf...

Shannon

Crafts Made from Recycled Materials

So, here is the thing...

I hate those crafty projects where you print something off, cut it out, and glue it on a TP tube or other assorted craziness. You know, why bother! Where is the child being creative with these types of crafts?

However, I do like the idea of reusing all of those recycled items to do crafty projects. I just want the projects to be real and not busy work. So I am compiling a list of ideas using the different types of items I have collected in a big box in our learning room.

Hope you find an idea here you can use too! (I only linked to the ones with pictures, I am very visual especially with making things!)

PLASTIC BOTTLES

• Bird feeder


• Greenhouse


• Fish mobile for much older kids!


• Bug Catcher more a holder after caught but you get the idea!


• Whirligig


• Piggy Bank


• Earth Bottles


• Noisemaker


• Many bottle Biology ideas


• Discovery Bottles


• More Discovery Bottles

EGG CARTONS

• Several different animals


• insects or maybe more accurately bugs!


• Dump Truck So cute!


• Tulips


• Glider and better picture!


• Bird Feeders

TP roll or Paper towel roll

• Binoculars


• Box guitar


• Kachina Doll


• Rainstick


• Rocket


• Sunflower for little ones!


• Knitting Ned?!

Misc... Materials

• Sit Upons! This could be made with tons of different materials and stuffed with anything including plastic grocery bags. I also saw one that was duct taped instead of "sewn."


• Weaving a basket with yarn and a yogurt container!

My eyes are crossing, there is just soo much out there...so much good but so much junk too.

Shannon

Thrifty Thursday

Okay, seriously, I can not seem to actually post this on Thursday! Oh well, there is always next week!

I actually went to 2 thrift stores this week but bought NOTHING! This NEVER happens. I did not get to my normal store and that is the main reason for a lack of purchase. I never realized how great "my thrift store" is, especially with prices! (local friends who are interested in where I go, leave a comment!)

But all is not lost...I got a great deal to share with you anyway! At the Target Dollar Spot I found FABULOUS Dinosaur cards for $1. I plan to do a basket friday in the beginning of June on Dinos and these cards will be perfect. It is intended to be used as a memory game. There are 16 different dinosaurs pairs and I just love the realistic drawings. I can not wait to come up with activities to use with the cards. Don't you just love a good deal!

Oh, and I did not donate this week because today was our garage sale. We did okay despite the rainy/stormy weather. We will see how tomorrow goes!

Shannon