Library Kit- Make Believe

Our library kit this week was a make believe kit. The book included was Abiyoyo, which O LOVED! The activity was this set of sequencing cards. We had so much fun with these cards. After O put them in the correct order, we told a story that went along with them. She always wanted me to start the story, so I'd say "First... (while pointing to the first card)." Then I said "Then" and I paused and let her fill in the 2nd part of the story. For the last card, I said "Finally" and she told what was happening on the last card. This was a great activity!

Bendaroos

A reader sent us a pack of Bendaroos to play with and then review a few weeks ago, and we've been playing with them ever since!

The set comes with over 500 pieces of wax coated strings (very similar to wikki stix) that can be used for open ended, creative play. A design booklet comes with the set, but I found the designs in the booklet to be frustrating and difficult to replicate. Obviously, they were impossible for O to replicate (since she's only 33 months old!), and she was not at all interested in even looking at the booklet. She loves to make abstract sculptures and shapes. In this picture, she is making a "flower."




O was THRILLED when I suggested using the bendaroos in conjunction with her sandpaper letters, and she immediately chose the blue pack of bendaroos (blue is her favorite color).




We also decided to make even more letters and shapes with the bendaroos using her pipe cleaner letters. This kept us occupied for a while!




O also LOVED cutting the bendaroos with her scissors. The bendaroos are definitely going to make learning letters, words, and shapes more fun. I also think they are great for making 2d pictures and abstract 3d sculptures. However, we will skip the design booklet ideas :)

Chocolate Flowers

I completely forgot that I planned for O and I to make chocolate flowers for her grandmamas for Mother's Day until I bravely ventured into the guest room/junk room/soon to be baby's room this morning. Luckily, the kit was sitting right by the door, and I knew it was something O would enjoy. She was elated with this project! The girl LOVES chocolate!

The flowers were simple to make. We melted the chips in the microwave, and O helped me squish the bag to get them all melted and soft. Then we squeezed the melted chocolate into the candy mold. O put in the stick, and we put them in the refrigerator to set.




Ta-da! O was so excited that she gave my mom her chocolate flower today. As soon as we got out the car, she was calling "Guh-guh, I have a surprise for you!" She's hoping Guh-guh will share the candy with her :) I love the sense of pride and joy I see on her face and in her actions when she gives a gift she has made :)




Phew! That's it! I'm finally finished with Mother's Day posts. I had one more project that failed dismally. I considered giving it another try, but then I realized that we'd made enough, and I was/am tired!

Another Mother's Day Gift

Are you getting tired of Mother's Day posts yet? I hope not because I have one more after this one :) I bought several plain canvas bags (from Hobby Lobby...when they were on sale, of course) months and months ago for O to decorate for her grandmamas for Mother's Day.

I taped off a frame on the bag and set her loose with a bunch of fabric markers. She enjoyed "making art" on the first one, but lost interest before she did much on the second one. She finished them this morning, and we traced her hand on them, too. This was a fun and easy gift that I hope her grandmamas will enjoy.




Here is the other side of the bag. It has 4 pockets which are meant for pictures, but we put the other small gifts for the grandmas in them. In addition to the things I've already posted about, we made craft foam ornaments. It's not really the right season for Christmas ornaments, but my mom requested a handprint ornament, and we forgot to make it at Christmastime. I decided it's better late than never!

Mother's Day Interview

I saw this Mother's Day Interview on Let's Explore, and I just had to try it with O. It was like pulling teeth to get her to participate, but once she was finally ready, she seemed to enjoy it. I asked the questions several times because she often said "I don't know," or she'd say a made up word. Then I asked her a couple of more times once she got going just because it was fun!

To do these interviews, I cut and pasted the sentence starters from Let's Explore. Then I sat at the computer, read them to O, and typed her answers while she ran around and played. This is definitely something we'll do again! She's already asked when we are going to do the Father's Day questions!

I really love it when my mom looks like a dada.

My mom likes to laugh.

My mom always tells me, "You have to do shelf work."

The best thing she does is rock me.

It makes her happy when she do the computer...she puts nose spray in her nose

My mom loves to relax by me.

I like it when she does things.

The best thing she cooks is chicken.

When my mom shops she likes to buy bananas.

My mom’s favorite household chore is painting.

My mom’s favorite TV show is at the hotel. At the hotel, you love Baby Mama!

If she could go on a trip, she would go to North Carolina.

I love my mom because she makes felt things.


Since O was enjoying this so much, we decided to keep going with Guh-guh...



I really love it when my GG plays with me.

My GG likes to spin.

My GG always tells me stories.

The best thing she does work on the computer with me.

It makes her happy when she does take pictures of me.

My GG loves to relax by me.

I like it when she plays games with me.

The best thing she cooks is chicken.

When GG shops she likes to buy bananas.

My GG’s favorite household chore is bananas.

My GG’s favorite TV show is I don't know.

If she could go on a trip, she would go to Shan.

I love my GG because she does nice things.


She didn't want to stop, so I asked her questions about her Grandmother...


I really love it when my G gives me money for my money bank.

My G likes to play with me...and Grandaddy Harry.

My G always tells me to do something not very nice.

The best thing she does is work paper.

It makes her happy when she does I don't know.

My G loves to relax by lies on the couch.

I like it when she I don't know.

The best thing she cooks is chicken wings.

When my G shops she likes to buy showers.

My G's favorite household chore is i don't know.

My G’s favorite TV show is Ranch Flower.

If she could go on a trip, she would go to South Carolina.

I love my G because she smells flowers.


When I told O that we were finished, she said "ask about me, ask about me," so these are her answers...

I really love it when I does something not very nice.

I like to do a b (drawing a b in the sand).

I always tell my mom, "I want some chocolate."

The best thing I do is play.

It makes me happy when I eat.

I love to relax by dada.

I like it when you relax by me.

The best thing I cook is Ranch (dip-dip).

When I shop I like to buy silks.

My favorite household chore is paint.

My favorite TV show is Ranch.

If I could go on a trip, I would go to SC.

I love me because I do naughty things!

Making Mother's Day Gifts with O

O and I started making Mother's Day gifts for her grandmamas last week. Our 1st handmade gifts were insects made from plaster of paris that she has painted.




We mixed up the plaster of paris and poured it into these insect molds. We also saved Buddy's packaging which was a perfect turtle mold!



After they were dry (the next day), O decided who would get each one and then she painted them. She was adamant that she did NOT want to paint with brushes...ONLY fingers :)




Here are the finished insects! She said she may work on them a little more later :)




I am really excited by how much O has enjoyed painting these plaster of paris insects and animals. I think that a set of these would make a fun birthday gift along with a set of brushes and paints for a couple of friends with summer birthdays. We may also make a bunch of them to have as an art activity/party favor for O's 3rd birthday party in July :)

Handmade Mother's Day Gifts

Mother's Day snuck up on me this year, but I think we are finally through with our making. Everything is handmade this year, and that feels nice. The 2 silhouettes are for O's grandmamas, and the picture is drawn by my niece and is for my sister. Making the silhouette has helped me get a head start on Father's Day gifts since I plan to frame the actual silhouette for Elliott for Father's Day. I think I may make silhouettes a traditional Father's Day gift for him to receive every year :)

Making the necklace pendants was a little frustrating this time around...probably due to the fact that I'm sad, hormonal, and just ready to be finished with a couple of projects from my very long list :) I had a difficult time getting the pictures the right size, and they still ended up being too narrow. Also, I somehow managed to glue my fingers together when I was gluing on the bails. I gave up on the crazy glue and used my hot glue gun instead. They won't be as sturdy, but hopefully the grandmas and my sister will understand that I'd reached my frustration level, so they better be happy with what they get :)

Remembering...

Today was a hard day, but the weeks leading up to it were much worse. We planted a tree to remember our baby today since today was the day that we should have been holding him or her.
We love you forever, baby, and we won't forget you.

Shaving Cream and Food Coloring Art

I've seen this art activity on several blogs and in several different art activity books, and I've wanted to try it with O for a while. We finally had a chance to give it a try on Wednesday, and we had so much fun!

First I sprayed shaving cream on a cookie sheet, and O spread it around with her fingers. Then she chose several different food coloring colors and squeezed the food coloring onto the shaving cream. She swirled it around with her fingers.




She placed a piece of cardstock on the shaving cream and food coloring mixture and pressed down gently.



 We then scraped the shaving cream off of the paper using her scraper from her window washing kit.







Here are our masterpieces!

Spring Matching Cards

I downloaded and printed these Spring matching cards from Montessori for Everyone last Spring when O was obsessed with matching. She's not as interested in matching lately, but we enjoyed discussing the different objects in the pictures. The cards are beautiful and definitely worth printing. I really love all of the free printables at Montessori for Everyone!

Update on Buddy

After 3 days in the water, Buddy outgrew his home. We moved him to a new, bigger container, and he's still growing. He's at least 4 times his original size!

Letter Fishing

O and I went fishing for letters in her rice pit this morning! Unfortunately, the magnets on the letters aren't that strong, so they only worked if they were turned upside down, and it was a little frustrating for O. We took turns fishing for a letter, and we then named the sound, letter, and listed words that start with the letter. After playing for 5 to 10 minutes, O was ready to put the letters away and play with her rice pit toys. The rice pit is one of her FAVORITE things!

Tuesday Morning at "School"

Since it was too cold to play on the beach this morning, I asked O if she wanted to do some shelf work. She enthusiastically replied "yes!" She said "Let's pretend this is school, and you are the teacher. You're name is Miss Linda!" So that's what we did, and we had lots of fun :)

We haven't transferred rice with a spoon in a LONG time, so I added that back to the shelf. O was interested at first, but then decided she wanted to pour the rice. She wasn't thrilled when I explained that the purpose was to practice transferring with a spoon. I told her that transferring with a spoon would help strengthen her hand muscles to help her with writing. She quickly assured me that she could write, and she wanted to show me right then!




O loves the sandpaper letters! She is REALLY into letters and sounds now, so we are having a lot of fun with these :)




She also enjoyed the squeeze and match balloon activity and pouring water. We spent the majority of our time on the letters.

Meet Buddy the Turtle

Meet Buddy, the newest addition to our family! Buddy was a spur of the moment addition to O's Easter basket (2 dollars from Dollar General). You put him in water, and he grows and grows and grows. I was skeptical at first, but he has doubled his size since we put him in water yesterday. O is thrilled, and she loves to frequently check on Buddy. After we remove him from the water, he'll shrink back down to his original size, and then we can put him back in the water to grow again :) Next time we'll measure him before we put him in the water and chart his growth! (I wish I thought of that this time!)