Halloween Learning

Hi to all! I hope you are enjoying your October! We are definitely in full Halloween mode! Here are a few a Halloween inspired works to share.

Magnet Fun with Frankenstein

E loves this!! I had this Frankenstein pan and then purchased a small magnet with bolts. She transfers from top to bottom.

Plastic Pumpkin Transfer

Pumpkins are from Target and Spoon and Thumb Operated Tong from Montessori -N-Such

The thumb operated tongs really provide an extra challenge.

Matching with Printables from Montessori Print Shop

Head over to their shop to check out their wonderful selection and a few freebies too!

Head over to Living Montessori Now to enter a giveaway to MPS Printables along with Montessori at Home Book!!

Creating Patterns

I used free pattern strips from Pre-K Pages (Thanks!) along with Halloween shaped pasta! We also used the pasta for stringing and for crafting (future post)

Crafting with the Pasta

Through recent experience and from fellow bloggers, I am learning that it can be a bit distracting to try to take photos while doing works with E. So, you are seeing a bit more trays now rather than photos of E. I did include a fun picture below.

E playing in her club house.

Happy Halloween!

***Want a chance to win a free book??? Head over to Barb's Usborne Books and like her FB page for a chance to win! ****

Linking to:

Montessori Monday

After School Party

Show and Tell

Montessori Monday- Pumpkin Activities

Hello to all! I thought I would share some recent fun activities and what we have "out on the shelf".

We belong to a CSA. Elle has been lucky to receive a pumpkin with our share the last couple of weeks. She gave her pumpkin a "bath". The second bowl was for E to squeeze the excess water from the sponge.

Elle getting in all the dirt from the creases with a toothbrush.

Sifting Flour for cookies to take as a Thank You to her school. She has the smaller sifter and does well with it now. However, we needed to use the large one to get through this recipe. I would hold the sifter after she transferred the flour. E would then turn the crank on the sifter. Definitely try these Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies! Amazing. Thanks to Erin's Mom for introducing them to us!!

E is slightly obsessed with flashlights right now! We placed this activity out to help out with her need to explore light in a fun way!

All you need: Construction paper, Mini Flashlight, and Cupcake/Cookie Stencils

You can go through the stencils and have your child identify each one, you can go through a poem or song with them (see bottom of post for a few more of my favorite Montessori Blogs), this set also pairs well with the Five Little Pumpkins book!

Tactile Numbers with Pumpkin Counters.

Pumpkins in Decorative Containers with Tweezer for Transfer

We also made time for fun at a local pumpkin patch! How fun for sensory play? A huge sand box filled with corn and loads of fun toys!!

Zipping along to feel the wind in her face! FUN!

Have a great week!

Sharing a Few of My Favorite Blogs for Inspiration:

Counting Coconuts, The Work Plan, Leptir Montessori Blog, Little Literacy Learners, Lily Tots

Check out The Seeds Network and Teaching Heart Blog to join in the Llama Llama Red Pajama Read for the Record Campaign

Linking to:

Montessori Monday

Cohosted by: Living Montessori Now and One Hook Wonder

After School Link Party

International Day of Peace

E's school is participating in Pinwheels for Peace to honor the International Day of Peace. We feel so blessed that her school has introduced this day of commitment to peace to E and to us. We decided to expand on this dedication of world harmony at home.We could not think of a better book for this day than The Yellow Balloon. It has been in our home for a couple months. It is a wordless picture book. I thought that E may not like it, but she fell in love with it. The book takes the reader on a journey to every corner of the world and your imagination. We love that the book represents various cultures. That is why we chose it to represent world peace. Is that not the foundation of world peace??..... Acknowledging and understanding other cultures and their beliefs. Since the book is wordless, it gives us the opportunity to change the dialogue a bit. However, it is funny when Elle reminds us that we missed a "part". The Yellow Balloon allows a young reader to relish in the search for the yellow balloon and a few other objects along the way. We find a new detail every time that we read the book. As parents, we definitely get a chuckle out of a couple of the illustrations.
We made the craft super easy. Balloon print outs, glue, stick for spreading the glue, sequins, glitter, tweezer for sequin transfer and then a whole lot of fun. The discussion was that the balloon would bring peace to all areas of the world in the book. We propped the book and the craft up at the kitchen table. It was the first thing E wanted to talk about at breakfast. Does she totally get the idea of world peace??? Of course not, but she knows that it is a good/favorable idea. Her school gave her simple but beautiful ideas on how peace can be different for everyone. They explained that it could be a kind act or a moment that brings a sense of peace to your own world.

I hope that you have a wonderful day and will pause to not only reflect on peace for the world, but to find a moment of serenity in your own life.

Balloon Printables- Coloring and DLTK

To Celebrate Peace at Home- Pinwheel Template

Beautiful Song of Peace (Elle is singing at school)- Light a Candle for Peace

Linking to:

Kids Get Crafty

Whatever Goes Wednesday

Fun with Chalkboard Paint

Hello there! I thought that I would share some recent fun with chalkboard paint. We use it lots and have so much fun with it! I recently held a shower for a dear friend with her MIL and SIL. They told me it was not necessary to do anything special, but I was able to pull this little party together with out much effort and I was happy with the end result. Most importantly, it was a very special day spent with fabulous friends and family! Check out the end of the post for "credit" on some of the party items.

The Scoreboard! The board is beyond belief easy. I used two coats of chalkboard paint on a cake board. I allowed each coat to dry and then allowed 24 hours after the last coat for the board to cure. You will definitely get your use out of it! It makes a perfect track for matchbox cars and a portable way to practice numbers and letters.

The yummy cinnamon shortbread cookies!

Finally, my favorite use for the chalkboard. Ella's First Day of School picture!!

Party Credits:

Inspiration: Catch My Party

Free Banner Printables: Piggy Bank Parties

Free Baseball Printables: My Grafico

Spicy Peanut Recipe: CDKitchen

Cookies: Dandy Delights (try the cinnamon shortbread!!)

First Day of School Credits:

Inspiration for the Board: Sugar Bee Crafts (check out the tutorial there)

E's Dress: Palm Tree Princess

E's Headband- Elle Belle's haha! Hoping to post a tutorial on it!

Linking Up:

All Things Wonderful

Whatever You Want Wednesday

Wow Me Wednesday

Creating Success Around The World

Have a great week! Will be posting some recipes, crafts, school posts, and tutorials soon!

Oh My Baby, Little One

It has been awhile.....I wish that I could say that I could juggle it all, but I needed to take the summer off from blogging and making bows. This was E's last summer off before starting school and we had loads of fun. Maybe one day I will update on the blog. For now, I am easing back into blogging with a stART project.I read Oh My Baby, Little One to E almost every night during the last trimester of my pregnancy. It may sound silly, but I loved reading to her before I could even hold her. When she was born, I still read it to her. Then, she started to develop her own interests in books. She pulled it back off the shelf this summer. It was soon after she had preschool orientation. Maybe it was her way of needing some reassurance from me. If you are not familiar with the book, it is about a Mama explaining to her baby that separation is only temporary. You are always bound by love.

The book has a heart tied into each illustration. Elle loves looking for the hearts. The book also mentions love being tucked in a pocket or shoe. E asked for a heart in her shoe. I thought about drawing one in there, but then I decided to make felt hearts with her. I know! It is not the most original project, but it is a very special one.
Elle had fun picking out her felt. I am so surprised that she chose pink and purple! Haha! I cut out the hearts and started the sewing. Elle loved stuffing them! It was easy, but oh so sweet!

Love pictures of busy hands!!

I placed the hearts on a plate with flowers the first morning of school. Do you not just love the flowers in the cat creamer?? Makes it look like it has a silly hat on! It was Elle's decision as to whether or not she wanted to tuck one in her pocket. We read the book and played with the hearts twice before breakfast that morning. She happily decided to leave them on the table. We dropped her off at school. No tears just a happy little wave to us and a "Bye!". I guess Mommy was the only one with tears. Hopefully, the rest of the week will go as well.

Have a good week!

Linking to:

Strawberry Fools!

Not the dessert strawberry fool....WE have been strawberry fools! We took Elle for the first time last year. She loved it then and enjoyed it even more this year. We have been busy eating lots of strawberries!

Searching for her treasures

Snack Plate of Strawberry Cheese with Graham Crackers and Bananas

Pouring Tray for Elle's Juice

The "strawberry cheese" is a huge hit at our home and easy to make. I definitely recommend giving it a try! You could use any berry! Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 32 ounce carton Stonyfield Whole Milk Plain Yogurt

(do not use low fat; it will not turn out as thick. I use Stonyfield because it is organic and I earn lots of yogurt, Whole Living, and Martha Stewart Food for free from their frequent buyer program)

1 to 1 1/4 Cup Strawberries (Chopped)

3 TBS Honey

Directions:

Pour the honey over the strawberries. Stir to blend. Fold the yogurt into the strawberries. Fold to the consistency that you feel is best for your child. You can crush the strawberries to make the cheese a bit more smooth in texture. Line a strainer with about 5 sheets of plain white paper towels (leave the edges of the paper towels hang over the strainer) Place the strainer over a bowl. ( I use a glass bowl to show Elle how it is draining) Spoon your yogurt mixture on top of the paper towels and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about ten hours. Remove the strawberry cheese from the strainer and spread on graham crackers or bagels.

YUM!

Other Ways We Have Been Using Our Berries:

Strawberries dipped in Sour Cream and then Brown Sugar

Strawberries dipped in Honey then Fresh Ground Pepper

(Thanks Amanda for introducing me to this)

Strawberry "Soup"

Cantaloupe, Strawberry, Mint, Blended with Lime and Perrier to make a smoothie, but I pour it in a bowl for Elle. She thinks it is funny!

The End!

I hope that you enjoy some of our strawberry favorites. You can check out how we made strawberry jam last year. This is another item that we are crossing off our summer bucket list.

Linking to:

Summertime Fun Party 2011

Fun for Kids Friday

It's Playtime

The Dollar Aisle Makes Me Smile

Hi to all! How many of you get sucked in by the dollar aisle at Target? I will admit that it draws me in every time! On our most recent trip, E gravitated to these cheery flowers. I am certain if I were a better seamstress that I could make them. However, they were only $1. How do I pass them up? I allowed her to choose one flower. Pink was her choice. Shocking!
As we were ready to leave the aisle, I remembered that her two dear friends were having their dance recital that evening. I told her that she could choose four more flowers for her friends and to pick out two bottles of bubbles. I thought it would be nice to bring her friends flowers for their performance!
We brought the supplies home and I made them into bouquets for the gals. I twisted the wired stems around the bottles of bubbles. Elle helped by adding scrapbooking flowers (that I had on hand) to the bottles (to hide the labels). With excitement, she packed them in a gift bag to take to the recital. She gave them to her pals and they appeared to love them.

It was an inexpensive and easy gift! The best part for me was that Elle never once asked why her friends were getting two flowers each and a bottle of bubbles each. She has a very easygoing and generous spirit. I am amazed by her everyday!

I am writing this as my precious gal naps. She has croup and is very "out of sorts" and weak right now. I am blessed for every moment that I have with my little girl. I feel terrible that she as been ill on such beautiful sumer days. However, moments like this make me have zero regrets about cutting back on my bow business. I appreciate all the support ( I never imagined it would turn out as well as it did) but my E will only be this age once and I don't want to miss a moment with her this summer. I will post about bows here and there (hope to do some tutorials too), but for now....it needs to be all about the family. So, be prepared for more family based posts!

I am also having a proud Mom moment by finally embracing that it is "OK" to admit that there are times in your life that you just cannot do it ALL!

Happy Summer!

Linking to:

Somewhat Simple

Fun For Kids Friday