Montessori Touch Boards

I have been a little remiss in my posting.  E and I are doing our work each morning, but I don't feel like I have anything new or exciting to share with you.  Until today!  I finally got started on some of the sensorial materials that I want to make rather than purchase, and this morning I made two touch boards while E was doing her rug work.  I have found that it is easier for her to stick with her work if mommy is also working on something.  She is less likely to ask me for help until she's really tried it, and more likely to work for a longer period of time.  So today, E worked on button sorting and stacking cups while I sanded plywood boards and cut papers to make my touch boards.  Then I used some spray adhesive to stick it all down.  E was very excited about the result, and I only let her use the two-texture board.  I didn't finish the four-texture board until it was time for us to go to a playdate.

 

 

Pretty good work for a morning!

The first board is superfine sandpaper on one side, and the shiny side of freezer paper on the other side.

The second board is four different textures: superfine sandpaper, textured scrapbooking paper (kind of like parchment paper, but a bit more textured), plain white paper, and shiny freezer paper.

I have another three boards that are waiting for me to get out my circular saw.  I am going to cut these ones up and make four pairs of textures to match.  The idea is that you use a blindfold with them and just match them by touch.  We'll see if I can get E to wear a blindfold . . . .

March Sensory Bin

It's funny how I am seeing this one everywhere!  I guess great minds think alike.  This month's sensory bin is green and yellow split peas.  I found some green and gold plastic coins to put in, as well as some plastic shamrocks.

From the Book Corner

E and I wanted to share with you one of our all-time favorite books.  I think she started "reading" this one to me when she was about 16 months old or so.  It is one we check out from the library at least once a month.

E loves the Maisy books, but Hooray for Fish is her absolute favorite book, and has been for some time.  I finally found a copy on half.com, and it came last week in the mail.  She was SO excited!  And then proceeded to "read" to me the whole book.

The illustrations are bright and cheerful, just like the Maisy books, and there are so many different kinds of fish to look at.  Especially fun are the pages with many fish, one page has a pineapple fish and a strawberry fish!

Go check it out from the library!!

In the Kitchen

E wanted to help me out in the kitchen today, so we made Giant Breakfast Cookies from Heavenly Homemakers.  I was very excited to try them, and as I anticipated they were (and are) soooo good!  I followed the option of soaking my grains before baking the cookies - I've heard a lot about that recently.  Apparently, it is supposed to make the grains easier to digest and be healthier for you.  Frankly, little E can use all the digestion help she can get.  Other than the time waiting for the grains to soak, these cookies were quick and easy.  They are made with whole wheat flour and oats.  Honey is used to sweeten instead of sugar, and butter instead of oil.  I am not a breakfast cereal eater, and E does not like to eat breakfast cereal with milk, so we do lots of granola bars, fruit, eggs, and toast for breakfast.  I am happy to have a NEW, delicious, healthy, and quick breakfast option.

E: They are very all-too good!

Mama: 5 stars, we'll be making these a lot here in the future.

A Lighter School Week

E is 25 months

We had a lighter week of school this week.  Ahhh, winter and the germs we get!  We started off the week on Sunday night with a 24 hour stomach bug, and then progressed into urinary-tract-infection-land by Tuesday.  Sooo . . . we did a little school time, and a lot more reading and relaxing time.

Here are our shelves for the week:

Top Shelf: Alphabet stacking blocks and pom-pom transfer with a spoon.


Middle Shelf: Beads to string, Madagascar magnet book, and color box 2


Bottom Shelf: Push pins and styrofoam ball, shape puzzle




For some reason, I never had my camera when we were downstairs working, so I don't have a lot of pictures this week.  The big hit was the styrofoam ball with the push pins.  I bought fancy star shaped push pins, and showed E how to push them into the styrofoam.  She was all over it!  She did ALL the push pins - it was a box of about 25-30.

 

Another favorite activity is the magnet book.  E got this for her birthday from Grandma, and she LOVES it.  She puts all the magnets on one page, swipes them off, and does the same on the next page.  She especially loves the penguins (that's my girl!) and has to put them on first in every picture.

In other activities, we did some painting this week, in which E decided she MUST paint her hands purple.  I think I need to turn the easel around.  I was sitting and reading in the chair while she painted.  All of a sudden she came up to me and said, "Look, mama!  Purple hands!"  *sigh* upstairs to wash . . . .

We tried a little bit of yoga . . . .

A also worked on our gymnastics skills, since we missed class due to the stomach bug.  E will FINALLY do a summersault!  I have to help her, but previously she wouldn't even let me close.  Being upside down bothers her.  I also brought out a long ribbon and we practiced walking on the line.  She would only keep one foot on - she does MUCH better with the real balance beam.  So we decided to make it into a road for her cars.

My favorite picture of the week:

Itty Bitty Christmas Tree

E got a fun practical life lesson yesterday.  My parents had visited a home and garden show and brought her back a little pine tree.  This guy is maybe 6 inches tall.  So yesterday we went out and bought a pot and some soil.  E helped me put the soil in the pot, and plant the "itty bitty Christmas tree."  Then she helped me water it so it can "grow big and tall like E."  No pictures of the process, it was too messy to leave alone to grab the camera!  But here is our little tree.  Hopefully, we can get him to grow and be able to plant him outside.  Our yard is in DESPERATE need of trees.

From the Book Corner

E and I have some new favorite books to share with you today.  We recently found the Pebble Plus series at our library, and we LOVE them.  I have been looking for some simple non-fiction books about animals to share with E.  Specifically ones with great photography, rather than drawings.  Enter Pebble Plus.  I like the Eyewitness books, but they are way over my 2-year-old's head.  Too many things going on on the pages.  The Pebble Plus books are simple.  3 or so sentences per page, and some great huge photographs.  E's current favorite is the one about meerkats, part of the African animals series.  She tells me, "Meerkats are from Africa.  They eat lilards (lizards).  I love them."  They also have books about big trucks and construction equipment, plant systems, landmarks, personal health and hygiene, and weather/seasons.  I'm finding them to be a wonderful, age appropriate, non-fiction series.  We have to pick up at least one each time we go to the library.

On a slightly related note . . . do you know how hard it is to drag a 2-year-old book lover from the library WITHOUT any books because you forgot your wallet at home??  Yeah, it was a real fun morning.