Tearing Paper

I set up a bin full of fall colored construction paper for E to tear, pull, and crumple (this is a great activity for developing fine motor control).  She seems a little shocked by this activity...I guess she's used to her sister freaking out and removing her (O's) construction paper artwork from her hands as soon as she touches it.  We had fun tearing paper today, and I think she'll enjoy it even more when I add a few pieces of tissue paper to the bin.

A Halloween Storytelling Activity

Now that O is in Montessori school each morning, I don't usually set up trays of work for her.  However, I plan to continue setting up seasonal/holiday trays as inspiration strikes :) 

I love the printable paper toys at The Toymaker website, and these Teeny Tiny Halloweenies were too cute to ignore.  I printed them on photo paper, and set up a tray with scissors, a glue stick, and craft sticks.





We cut out the Halloweenies and glued them to the craft sticks to make Halloween puppets.





We acted out scenes with them after we finished making them.





They are now set up in our table centerpiece, and we've been using them as storytelling prompts during meals.  O LOVES this activity!  The only problem is that she won't take a turn telling a story...she only wants to listen to our stories!





We also made this Magic Pumpkin from The Toymaker website. 

Clothes Pins and an Ice Cube Tray

Since E enjoys putting popsicle sticks into small openings so much, I thought she might be ready for this clothes pin and ice cube activity.  She loves it!  She's recently started self-correcting when she puts the clothes pin in upside down.  I LOVE to watch her work!















So focused!

O's Bento Box Lunch

O eats lunch at school once a week (while waiting for her ballet class to begin), so we bought a cute pig bento box for her.  (We love her pig bento box, but we were both surprised by how small it is).  I'm not very creative when packing her bento box, but I'm getting better.

She had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut like a cat, a pirouette, and whole grain goldfish crackers.




The top layer was filled with petite baby carrots, snow peas, and raisins.




Here's her pig bento along with a pack of freeze dried bananas and strawberries.  Both girls LOVE freeze dried fruit!

Matching Animals Figurines to Animal Pictures

E LOVES animals so I thought she might enjoy a matching activity using one of her favorite books and animal figurines.  She doesn't quite get the concept of matching yet, but she's catching on and she really enjoys it.  This is the activity that she has chosen off of her shelf first all week.

To do this activity, I put the book along with several animal figurines into a basket on her Montessori shelf.



We look at the book and match the animals to the pictures in the book by placing the animal figurine on the picture.









Sometimes she'll choose an animal and we'll flip through the book looking for that animal.  Other times we look at the book and match the animals as we read the book.

Free Photo Books!

I LOVE to make photo books at Hotprints!  The books are easy and fun to make, and they are FREE!  You can make up to 4 free photo books each month, and you only have to pay 3 dollars shipping for each book.  I've made these books for each of our summer vacations and the girls' birthday parties.  Both girls love the books, and I'm so glad to have printed pictures to look at with them instead of only having pictures on the computer.

Pumpkin Pie Playdough

Making pumpkin pie playdough is one of our Halloween traditions. (see here and here for the recipe) We were excited to include E when we made it this year. 

O loved mixing the ingredients together with her hands.



It was especially fun to mix in the colors (a fun lesson on mixing red and yellow to make orange) and pumpkin pie spice. 



E stood nearby in the Kitchen Helper.  She loves to be in the Kitchen Helper when we are in the kitchen.  I've kept it on the lowest level since she likes to climb in and out of it by herself.  She LOVED smelling (and tasting!) the pumpkin pie spice container while we were making the playdough.



While I was stirring the playdough on the stove, O mixed the colors from our water xylophone.  This was another fun lesson on mixing primary colors to form secondary colors. 



It's so much fun to knead the warm dough.



Then the playdough cookie making began!

A Fun Day!

O had her 1st field trip today, and we had a great time!  We went to a pumpkin patch and took the whole family...O, E, my mom, Elliott, and me.  Got to love a school that welcomes everyone on field trips! 

O had fun jumping, sliding, running through a corn maze, riding a hay ride, and choosing her pumpkin. 



O was excited to paint and decorate her pumpkin with stickers when we got home.