Spools and Straws

For this activity I put a small amount of playdoh in a bowl to hold up the straw. Then I showed O how to put the spools on the straw. She was very anxious to try it herself, and she liked the activity a little bit. It would have worked better if I'd had clay to hold the straw because the playdoh didn't hold it very well. I may also use packing styrofoam (from our recent Montessori purchases) to hold the straw up next time we do this activity. After O realized that the pink stuff in the bowl was playdoh, she was much more interested in playing with it instead of putting the spools on the straw :)

Put the Fish in the Boat

This activity came from Slow and Steady Get Me Ready by June R. Oberlander. I cut the top off of an envelope to make a boat and cut several fish from construction paper for O to put in the boat. The child is supposed to pick up the fish and put them in the boat which will require the child to separate the envelope to slip the fish in. We talked about the colors of the fish. She called them all boo and ed (blue and red), but she did finally say orange after some prompting. O was a little frustrated by this activity (it was difficult to separate the envelope), and I think we'll wait until she's a little older (or in a better mood!) to try it again.

This activity develops:
- skill in picking up a flat object
- eye-hand coordination
- problem solving
- confidence
- independence
- language interaction

Easter Egg Work

My mom brought O a basket of Easter eggs when she came to keep her this week. Here is one of many activities we've done with the Easter eggs. We talk about the colors of the eggs, count the eggs, and talk about the concepts of open and closed. O likes to put the small eggs into the larger eggs, and then she loves to shake the eggs until she finds one with a smaller egg in it. Opening the eggs is also fun, but its not so easy to close them :)

Putting Cards in a Box

This fun and simple idea (that I would never have thought of myself) came from Jeremiah at Z Recommends. Thanks, Jeremiah! I turned a box upside down, cut a slit in it, and showed O how to slip the cards in it. She had a great time! She was very proud to show her daddy when he came upstairs to play.

Everything is a Hat

Everything is a hat even an Easter Basket. She also puts bowls on her head and calls them "ats." The girl loves hats!

Feeding Gracie

O loves to feed Gracie. She thought it was so funny that Gracie ate treats out of her hand (Gracie is usually a little afraid of O). One of O's jobs is to pour a cup of food into Gracie's bowl. She enjoys having this responsibility.

Arranging Wooden Flowers Again

I decided after some input from other mamas that the wooden flower arranging work was a little too difficult for O right now. I thought I'd put the work on a shelf out of O's sight and reach. However, my little monkey is taller than I realized. She stood on her tiptoes and somehow reached the wooden vase (I'm really not sure how she even saw it) and brought it to me and said "mo." She tried to reach the flowers, but couldn't. When she was trying to reach them, she stood on her tiptoes and said "each, each" (reach, reach). I got 3 flowers for her to put in the vase. It took lots of concentration and effort, but she put the 3 flowers in the vase. She asked for "more," but she was distracted by something and we put it away. I was glad she was distracted and didn't want to do more because I think that it would have been too much for her.

Knobbed Cylinders

I FINALLY introduced the knobbed cylinders to O last night (thanks for your input mamas!), and O really likes this work! Our cat, Gracie, was also interested in learning about the cylinders. Although, she's a little distracted in this pic :)

O's Favorites

We have been super busy around here (although I'm not even sure what we've been doing!), so I don't have any pictures of new activities. I thought I'd share a few of O's favorite things, and I hope some of you will share your child's favorite things.

Favorite foods- avocados, watermelon, bananas, cheese, olives, tomatoes, pickled okra :), cheerios, goldfish crackers, spaghetti (my girl loves to eat!)

Library book (this week)- Llama llama mad at mama

Clothing- shoes and hats (She LOVES shoes and hats!)

Toy- Mr. Potato Head, playdoh, & new baby doll (from Sabrina)

Work- matching cards

Drink- water and mama milkies

Rhyme- Hickory, Dickory Dock & Wheels on the Bus

Outside activity- riding in her wagon and sliding

Nighttime activity- painting in the tub before bathtime

So....what are your child's favorites?

Planting Herbs

O and I planted basil, rosemary, and lavender seeds today. We started by breaking up packing peanuts and putting them in the bottom of the pots. (A great way to recycle at home!)

Next we put soil in each pot and patted it down. O is stirring the packing peanuts in this pic :)

Then O made an indention in each pot with her finger. I put a few seeds in each indention and covered them with soil. Hopefully, we'll have some little plants in a few weeks!

Helping Daddy

O and Ell finished installing the baby seat on my bike this afternoon. O had a great time helping dada in the garage. He taught her the names of several tools, and she did a great job getting the items for him as he needed them. She had a little trouble putting the washer on the screw, but she had a great time spinning the nut onto the bolt. We went on a brief bike ride after they finished, and we are looking forward to daily bike rides. I think O's bedtime may have to be 9:00 instead of 8:00 from now on :) We are just having too much fun with these longer days!

Bead Snake Game

We received the rest of our montessori materials yesterday, and O and I are so excited. She loves the beads, and she begs to play with them. She's way too young for the bead game, but I let her explore the beads while she sits at the table.

Spring Matching Cards

Since Spring is almost here, I decided that we needed some Spring matching cards. I downloaded these beautiful cards from Montessori for Everyone. After printing and cutting them, I laminated them in my laminating machine (I love my laminating machine!). I'm very happy with how they turned out, and O loves them. She wasn't really into matching this morning- she was overtired and grumpy, but she was quick to match a few pictures when she saw me doing it.

Making a Bird Feeder or Naughty Squirrels

On Sunday afternoon Ell, O, and I made bird feeders out of pinecones, peanut butter, and bird seed. We had fun finding pinecones in our neighbor's yard (our pinecones were too small), spreading the peanut butter on the pinecone, and sprinkling the bird seed the pinecone. I planned on making 3 or 4, but Ell and O lost interest after one. We hung it in the tree, and we excitedly checked on it this afternoon. It was gone! There were a few scraps of rope under the tree, but that was it. Naughty squirrels!

Joy & Frustration at the Library

I went to the library on Friday after work and was excited to get some new books and an activity kit for O. I was also thrilled to find some great books filled with ideas for things to do with toddlers, and I was especially happy to find First Art: Experiences for Twos and Threes. However, the librarian said I couldn't check it out because it was a reference book. Grrrr! They did let me copy a few pages, so we'll try some of the activities in the next few weeks. I thought this was very strange since another book by the same author was not marked as a reference book and I was able to check it out. Oh, well. I've made a LONG list of things I want to try with O. We are going to be very busy over the next few weeks!