Autumn Sensory Box

Here is our Autumn sensory box! It's quite a hit! I filled the box with popcorn kernels, silk leaves, wooden acorns, wooden peg people, small wooden boxes, and a small basket.

Patterning with Beads

We used Halloween colors to make bead patterns today (my bag of 1200 pony beads didn't have any black beads!). I made two patterns on pipe cleaners with the beads, which O copied. Then she created her own pattern on the 3rd pipe cleaner. This was a fun activity that helps strengthen fine motor skills, hand/eye coordination, concentration, and attention to detail.

Halloween Sticker Story

O has enjoyed making "art" with her Halloween craft foam stickers. After she made this picture, she told me a story about it. I typed and printed the story for her. One day I'll put all of her stories in a book for her.

Halloween Lacing Cards

Here's another fun activity to do with greeting cards! I cut the covers off the cards and punched holes around the edges with a hole puncher. Done! O had a great time lacing the cards :)

Halloween Number Sequencing

This activity was inspired by a similar activity on My Montessori Journey. O put the numbers in order from 1 to 12. She used the number line to help her since she is sometimes still unsure of her numbers (she couldn't remember what a 4 looked like today). She really enjoyed this work, and I plan on making the same activity using leaves (just like the one from Laura's blog) after Halloween. After she completed the sequencing activity, she pointed to each number as she counted in English and in Spanish.

Halloween Greeting Card Puzzles

I presented O with this tray of 4 greeting card puzzles, and she really enjoyed putting them together this morning. Elliott bought the cards from Dollar General (2 for a dollar), and I cut the front off of the cards and used my scrapbook paper cutter to cut them into puzzle pieces. This was a quick, inexpensive way to make holiday puzzles, and I'm planning to make a few for each holiday!

Halloween Patterns

O was VERY excited to do this patterning activity. She said "I WANTED to do patterns!!!" when she saw it :) The idea came from my 5 year old niece, which is why O was so excited to do this work :) I cut strips of laminated contruction paper and put foam Halloween stickers on them to create a pattern. I left the last 1 or 2 spaces blank, and O filled in the correct sticker to complete the pattern. Next time we do this work, I'll provide O with a blank strip so she can create her own pattern after completing these patterns.

A Fun Language Experience Activity

I've wanted to start writing letters (with O dictating) to our family and friends for a while, but I've never gotten past the thinking stages...until yesterday. I realized that email was much more doable :) I created an email account for O, and she dictated letters to her daddy and grandaddy (we'll write "real" letters,too...eventually). I prompted her with questions and helped her decide how to say things, but it was basically her own words (and occasionally things didn't make sense to me, but that was ok...it just makes it more fun and unique). O has enjoyed receiving letters back, and I'm sure this will be a fun weekly (if not daily!) activity.

As an added bonus to this activity, I plan to print the letters that O sends and the letters she receives and bind them into a book. This will be a wonderful keepsake for her to have. I keep a journal of letters to O and Ema, but I've always wanted Elliott (and O's grandparents) to do something similar. I've never been able to get them started on a journal for her, but I think this will be the answer. Both girls will have wonderful keepsakes of their early letters and their family members' letters to them :)

Sticker Story

I've wanted to do a sticker story with O ever since seeing it on Let's Explore. We finally found the time to do it last week! O enjoyed making her sticker picture. Then she "read" the picture to me while I typed the story. I laminated the pages (after I took the picture), and we'll eventually bind all of her stories in a book. She wants to be an illustrator when she grows up (as well as a doctor, nurse, recipe-er, hair fixer, mama, etc...she's going to be busy), so this is a good start for her.

Apple Sequencing Activity

I saw this apple size sequencing activity here and thought it would make a fun fall activity for O. She enjoyed it, but it was so easy that I don't know if she'll be interested in doing it again. We'll see... I numbered the backs of the apples so that she could check her work.

Halloween Silly Putty

O and I made orange silly putty in honor of Halloween! O LOVES silly putty, so she was thrilled with this activity. We made silly putty last month, too. This might be a monthly activity!

I left this putty out for a couple of days, and it doesn't seem as sticky as our last batch.

I'm so excited about Halloween this year, and we're looking forward to doing a specialy Halloween or Fall activity every other day or so :)

Sorting Money

O has been learning to sort and identify the different coins lately. She loves to play with the coins and really enjoys this activity.

Homemade Window Paint

O and I recently made window paint, and she has had a great time with it! To make the window paint, I put baby wash into 3 containers (ketchup containers from WM). We then put a couple of tablespoons of powdered tempera paint in each container and shook. Easy enough!

The paint was somewhat translucent, but O didn't mind at all! She had a fantastic time. After she was finished, I just sprayed the window and O with the water hose, and we were good to go :)

I think this will make a fun handmade gift! (I wish I'd bought more of these baskets!) We're also planning to try the paint in the bathtub. I'll let you know how it goes :)

Lion Puppet Craft Kit

E is starting to have a few more breaks between nursing, so O and I have had a chance to do a few activities together. On Wednesday we made a lion puppet using a Martha Stewart craft kit. O was SUPER excited about making this puppet :) This was a quick, fun, and easy craft.

ROAR!!!

Matching States

O has been into geography lately. In this picture she is matching states on her pillow globe to the states on her placemat. She and my mom pretended like they were going on different trips (with one of her small cars), and they talked about each state they would travel through to get to certain destinations.

Creative Play with Marbles

Guh-guh recently bought a bag of marbles at a thrift store (665 marbles for 4 dollars!) and they have been quite a hit! Guh-guh had everyone in the family guess how many marbles there were before she counted them...we were all way off :) The girls (O and my niece) have had so much fun sorting the marbles, having marble parties, playing with shells along with the marbles, having a marble shop and selling marbles, and making signs telling the cats not to eat the marbles (I didn't tell them that cats can't read!). What fun!

Using an Abacus

I recently bought this abacus from IKEA, and O has really enjoyed counting with it. I was surprised by how her interest in counting and numbers has really spiked since adding the abacus to our shelf. I'm looking forward to working with the abacus often in "school" this year!

My Music Girl

My music girl is so happy to have her cd player easily accessible to her. She's gotten quite good at choosing her own cds and putting them in the cd player by herself. We listen to a lot of music!

Zoo Pals Masks

O and I had fun making animal masks using zoo pals paper plates this week! I never buy paper plates, but I couldn't resist buying these plates to make masks after seeing this activity on this blog a few months ago. I used scissors to make eye holes in the masks, and O glued a jumbo craft stick on the back of each mask. She enjoyed using her glue stick, but I also added a little school glue to make it a little sturdier.

Homemade Silly Putty

O LOVES playing with putty, so we decided to make some of our own. It was super easy and fast to make.

To make the putty you just need 3 ingredients...white school glue, food coloring, and liquid starch. (Thanks, EB, for buying the ingredients for us!!!)

1st we mixed a 1/2 cup of white glue with a 1/2 cup of liquid starch. (We originally mixed in just 1/4 cup of starch, but added more later to make it more firm and less gooey.)



Then O added in green food coloring and stirred it with a spoon. We let it sit out to dry for several hours.



Then it was time to play! This putty is MUCH more slimy and messy than the therapy putty that O typically plays with. I'm keeping it on the kitchen counter, so that she only has it when she is closely supervised. I spread out a washed, unfolded cereal bag for a play surface so the putty would not stick to the grout and tiles on our kitchen countertops.



O LOVES this putty, and even though it is potentially very messy, I'm sure we'll be making more soon!