Silky Soap Dough

The girls and I had a wonderful time making and playing with silky soap dough last week!  We mixed a cup of cornstarch with a half cup of handsoap.  Once it was thoroughly mixed, it was silky and soft!

We had a discussion of measurement to incorporate a little bit of math into this activity.

O(6) loves making bowls out of clay and dough, so I wasn't surprised to see her making a silky soap dough bowl!  She used the fork to make designs in her dough.

Sorting Animals Work

Our toob works are some of E(3)'s favorites!

She really enjoyed this science work in which she sorted the figures according to whether they were birds, reptiles, mammals, amphibians, or fish.  O(6) and I had fun helping her complete this work.  (We used the labels from the animal sorting work from Montessori Print Shop.)

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Musical Instruments Work

The girls received several sets of toob figures from their grandparents for Christmas, and they love them!  I'm excited about the figures because it is fun to incorporate them into our schoolwork.

 Both girls had fun identifying the musical instruments while E(3) matched the instruments to the pictures in the book.

Our copy of Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin is from a Cheerios box, but you can also find it on Amazon (see link below).

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New Orleans Art Museum

One of my favorite afternoons in New Orleans was spent at the New Orleans Museum of Art.  We went on a Wednesday because it was free.

 I packed a sketch book and pack of pencils for the girls, and they each chose a painting to sketch.  E(3) was VERY excited about this activity, and she wanted to sketch EVERY painting on the first floor of the museum.  She kept saying excitedly "I want to sketch this one and that one and that one over there and that one, too!!!"  She especially loved the paintings of mothers and babies and finally decided on this one.  I was amazed by how long she sat on the floor studying the painting and sketching in her book.

The girls, my mom, and I really enjoyed the museum (Elliott was in a work conference, which was the purpose of our trip to N.O.), and I was excited when the girls recognized the works of art from various artists that we've studied.  O(6) was VERY excited to see a painting by Georgia O'Keefe, and E(3) was thrilled when I pointed out a painting by Andy Warhol.  They both recognized a painting by Picasso even though they'd never seen it.

This pic of O(6) hugging E(3) is one of my favorite pictures from the whole trip.  O(6) was comforting her sister because she thought the painting was scary.

It took O(6) a while, but she finally decided to sketch this wall in the lobby.  She worked for a little while, but the allure of the museum gift shop was too much, and she didn't finish her sketch.

The sculpture garden at the museum is also free, and we spent a wonderful couple of hours exploring it.  The girls are looking for their names in this alphabet sculpture.

There was lots of giggling when they saw this sculpture!

E(3) loved touching each sculpture before guessing what material it was made from.  She guessed right almost every time (almost all of them were bronze!).

After this wonderful experience at the art museum, we are looking forward to spending time in our (somewhat) local art museum.  

Magna-tiles + light box = fun!!!

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Fun with a Printer's Drawer

A vintage printer's drawer might seem like an unusual Christmas gift for a 3 year old, but it was perfect for our sweet E!!!! She loves to set up and arrange her vast collection of toob figures on the small shelves.
This simple and fun activity keeps her busy for hours, and I love to listen to her "talk" her figures. She usually likes to play in this space by herself, but sometimes she'll let me join her, so I can have some fun, too!

New Orleans with Kids

We had a fantastic time on our recent road trip to New Orleans.  It took us 2 days to get there, and the girls were great travelers (thank goodness)!  O(6) studied this map as we traveled. She learned the location of many states, and she was especially excited to learn how to spell Mississippi!

On our first day of vacation, we went on a tour of a Creole Plantation (Laura Plantation).  The girls were enthralled and listened intently throughout the tour.

O(6) dug into the crawfish that we had for lunch, but E(3) was a little more hesitant.  Later in the week I bribed them (with chocolate) to try fried alligator, and they loved it.

We went to City Park several times, and the girls loved it every time.

O(6) drew a picture after our trip to see a graveyard.  The girls thought the raised gravestones were very interesting.

Riding on a steamboat on the Mississippi River was a HUGE hit with the girls! They loved watching the paddle wheel and touring the engine room.

Since these girls are obsessed with history, they were super excited to sit next this statue of an "old time" lady in the French Quarter.

Both girls were so excited to choose special Mardi Gras masks!  We read the American Girl Marie-Grace and Cecile books while we were in New Orleans, and the girls are excited about having a MG and Cecile Mardi Gras party now that we have finished the series of books!

The girls played with their Marie-Grace and Cecile paper dolls every afternoon in our hotel room.

O(6) told us that it was her dream to walk through revolving doors, so we stopped and went into this fancy hotel.  The girls were SO excited.  I love that such simple things make them so happy!

Back to City Park!  The girls had fun climbing the trees...

And running, dancing, and playing in this memorial.

The girls were SO excited when this ice-cream truck came by when we were playing on the playground.  They've never seen an ice-cream truck before, so this was a special treat!

The girls were excited to ride a streetcar on Canal Street!

We loved walking around the French Quarter and Jackson Square.  We watched a fun magic show!

The girls threw coins in the fountain and made wishes in front of St. Louis Cathedral.

They were excited to take money to the street musicians in front of St. Louis Cathedral.

When we asked the girls what their favorite part of the trip was, they said that swimming in the hotel pool was the best!  I'm not surprised!  The hotel pool is the best part of most of our trips :)

A Ballerina at Work

While E(3) is in dance class, O(6) has fun doing her schoolwork at the desk in the dance studio dressing room. We save math workbook pages to do at dance, and O loves this!

Revolutionary War Studies

I just found this post that I wrote and saved a few months ago, but never published.  Hope you enjoy it :)

O(6) was excited to receive her American Girl fun pack last month, and we've been studying Felicity ever since.  She received Felicity paper dolls, Felicity short stories, and parchment paper and a quill pen.  Both girls loved writing with a quill pen.


We've enjoyed reading the Felicity Mystery book, Felicity short stories, and listening to the Felicity audio books via Tales 2 Go on our ipad.  In addition to the Felicity books, we've read many, many books related to this time period.

Both girls love playing with Redcoat and Continental Army toobs.  E(3) is somewhat obsessed with General George Washington, and she loves to play "George Washington and the Drummer."  She has had her fairy toob figures teach George Washington to fly, which has been very entertaining.

We have several of these "If you lived at the time of..." books, and they are fun to read.


George the Drummer Boy was one of E(3)'s favorite books.


She loves playing with our drummer boy.  I'm always the drummer boy while she is George Washington.

While I was reading the book, E said "turn back, turn back!" I turned back to an earlier page, and she quickly matched  a figure to the page.


E's favorite book about George Washington is George vs. George.  This is a wonderful book, and we've all learned a lot from reading it.

Both girls liked Sam the Minuteman. 

We all LOVED reading Sybil Ludington's Midnight Ride.  We returned this book to the library about a month ago, and E still talks about Sybil.