Pattern Blocks on Contact Paper

E(2) and I had fun making designs with pattern blocks on contact paper about a month ago.  I saw this idea somewhere, but I have no idea where (to be honest, the entire month of March is like a blur to me, and the only reason I remembered this activity at all is because I came across the pictures in my dropshots account!)



We taped a piece of contact paper (sticky side out) to the glass door and got to work.  We had fun making boats and starts, and E made a "snowman."  I made the design in the center, and E said "that looks just like a mandala!"  Love my girl!

Homemade Moon Sand....FAIL!

Edit to add:  Our moon sand was great for a few days, and then it turned nasty...very, very nasty.  Don't make my mistake and use cornmeal instead of cornstarch...unless you only want it to last for a couple of days :)

The girls and I had fun making and playing with homemade Moon Sand last week. We made moon sand with O(5) when she was younger (probably 2), and it was really messy. This time we used a different recipe, and I liked it better. Here is the link to the blog where this idea originated. To make moon sand you need 4 cups of sand, 2 cups of corn meal (the recipe says corn flour, but we used corn meal...evidently I was supposed to use corn starch.  However, it worked out fine with the corn meal, and I like it better since we used cornstarch last time, and it was terribly messy.  I'm not sure how long it will last...I'll let you know), and 1 cup of water. We ended up tripling the recipe and adding a little bit of extra water.

The girls took turns pouring in the ingredients, and they loved mixing the dry sand and corn meal. I added in some mini construction vehicles, and we had a work site! I had fun playing with them, and O(5) asked "Mama, how do you know so much about construction?" so I must have done a good job of pretending! We were excited when Elliott played with us, too! They tired of the construction zone fairly quickly and started cooking with the sand...no big surprise there :)

Volcano Fun!

We love to make volcanoes on our beach, and I thought this would be a fun activity to do with Elliott while he is recovering from surgery. The girls were SUPER excited, and we had a lot of fun. First, the girls built up the sand around a bottle to form the volcano. Then they took turns pouring water into the bottle. They took turns squeezing red food coloring into the water. They took turns measuring out a total of 2 tablespoons of baking soda and pouring it into the bottle. Elliott poured in the white vinegar, and we watched the lava explode! Here are our volcano posts from previous years....2011 and 2010 and 2009

Animal Flip Book

I recently came across this animal flip book that I made for O(5) about 3 or 4 years ago, and E(2) really likes it. I downloaded it from www.childcareland.com. It's perfect for a 2 year old who loves animals and matching!

Who Needs Toys...

when you have a basket full of straws??? The girls love to play creatively with straws (and I had fun, too!).

An Edible Moveable Alphabet

The girls and I were really excited to see these Scrabble Cheez-its at the grocery store a few weeks ago! E(2) said the name or sound of the letter, and O(5) made simple words with the letters. Fun and simple!

World Map Fun with Landmarks and Animals

I bought this world map cloth panel about 6 months ago with the intention of using it in a quilt (I bought it from Walmart for less than 5 dollars). After a few months, I realized that was never going to happen, and I forgot about it for a while. After I bought the landmarks toob, I realized the landmark buildings would be the perfect size for this map. The problem was that I couldn't find the map! I finally found it (about a week before we left for Elliott's surgery), and I cut around the edges with pinking shears (SO much easier than hemming the edges) and introduced the work to the girls! Both girls LOVE this work! We spread the map out and then we talked about each landmark and it's location before finding the appropriate location on the map. E(2) especially liked it when I gave her animals to use with this map! The only problem is that the map wrinkles easily if they crawl over it or sit on it. The nicest thing about it is that the map folds up very nicely to fit on our Montessori shelf. The girls received penguin and arctic toobs for Easter (bought from Pottery Barn kids...on sale and with free shipping!), and I am looking forward to getting home so we can incorporate these animals into our map work!

Beleduc Body Puzzle

E(2) LOVES this body puzzle (that O was given when she was about E's age...2 years old). We take the pieces out and put the girls together in a line. Then E can put the puzzle together completely independently. She has learned a lot and always has lots of fun when completing this puzzle.

Transferring Water with a Sponge

E(2) had fun transferring water from one side of the this container to the other using a sponge. This is an activity that I did with O about 3 years ago, but hadn't pulled it out of storage for E(2) until the past few weeks. After she transferred the water from one side to the other a few times, she was ready to wash the cabinet doors with a sponge. Fun times!