O's Recent Artwork

O started drawing faces more than a year ago, but it was shortlived, and she quickly went back to creating abstract art.  I was excited when she started drawing animals and people recently.  E always asks us to draw cats and dogs for her, and this is what inspired O to start drawing.  O loves to draw cats and dogs for her sister!  Here are some of her recent drawings...

a self-portrait
















a portrait of me




I love all of these drawings.  I'm thinking of making a photo collage of all of her cats, and she may do some embroidery with one of her drawings...she's very into embroidery lately!

Geometric Solids for Baby

I introduced 5 of the geometric solids to E last week (I left out the ones with sharp points).  I told her the names of the solids and showed her that she could stack them.  Then I sat back and watched.  It is so rewarding to just watch her explore new materials.  She loved stacking the solids, and she kept trying to get the ellipsoid to balance on the top.




That didn't work, so she tried to balance the sphere.




I thought this was a good lesson in physics...until it worked!  It ended up being a lesson on persistence and balance!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

More than anything she loved taking the blocks out of the basket and then putting them back in again.  She spent a LONG time with this activity and was so focused the entire time.  Gotta love Montessori for building concentration and the ability to be completely absorbed by a task!




She was very proud of herself when she got all of the blocks into the basket!

Planting Paperwhite Narcissus Bulbs

The girls and I planted bulbs which grew into these beautiful flowers as an activity from our January box of fun.  I  bought the set including 4 bulbs, a pot, and soil at WM for a little more than a dollar in the after Christmas clearance section.  The girls had fun measuring the water to add to the soil to rehydrate it.  We then planted the bulbs and waited for them to grow and bloom.  They are both very proud of these beautiful flowers.

Chasing Cheerios...The Book!

I turned my blog into a book using blog2print!  This is the first year of Chasing Cheerios, which I started when O was about 16 months old.  Now that E is 16 months old, I can easily find activities for her in the book (I'd much rather read a book than a computer screen).  I plan to make a book for each year of both of my blogs.  O has already said that she is going to use this book to find fun activities when she has children of her own!

Determination and Concentration

E was very focused and determined to get the q-tips into this bear container.  This was not an easy task, but she stuck with it.  I love to watch her when she is so focused on a task!



It is so hard to not jump in and help her, but it is so rewarding for her when she is able to do it by herself.  Her determination, persistence, and ability to concentrate AMAZES me!

Half Birthday Treats

O recently celebrated her 4 and a half birthday.  We always have a small celebration for half birthdays, and this year she got to celebrate at school!  Since O has a summer birthday, she was able to walk around the sun (a candle) holding the globe with her baby pictures for her half birthday.  She was so excited and proud, and so were we!

Here are a few of the half birthday surprises that her grandparents gave her.

Freezer Paper Stenciling

O and I recently freezer paper stenciled a few shirts and a nature bag.  I traced and cut the stencils out of freezer paper and ironed it on the shirts and bag.




I mixed craft paint with textile medium, and O and I painted the shirts.  (you can find the textile medium is in the craft section of WM near the acrylic craft paint).



Since I bought dark shirts (aqua and purple), it required a lot more paint to cover the area than it usually does.  Next time I'll only buy white shirts for this project.















The girls are excited about their finished shirts!

Artist Study...Van Gogh

O and I have started studying an artist a month (this is another great idea from My Montessori Journey).  The first artist that we have studied is Van Gogh.  We looked at Van Gogh's art on the ipad (I downloaded Van Gogh hd, which is a great, inexpensive app), read several books about Van Gogh, and then did a few activities based on one of his paintings.

This great magnetic activity using the painting, Bedroom in Arles, came from the blog, little acorns.  I printed the activity on magnetic paper, and O arranged the pieces to match the painting. 








After O completed the magnetic activity, we had fun coloring a picture of Bedroom in Arles.  It's so much fun to color together!


This week we'll focus on The Starry Night.