Apple Picking {Wordless Wednesday}

Simple Purple Dye {Practical Life}

We've been having fun learning about the Phoenicians in our Ancient History book this past week. One of the recommended activities was to make dye. The Phoenicians used snails but fruit and vegetables work great too! 

Materials:

Blueberries (frozen)

Pots (one for cooking the blueberries, one for cold water)

Cheese cloth (for straining)

Material to Dye (old curtains, fabric, pasta)

Cold Salt Water

Simmer your blueberries on low heat for about an hour. I found that I needed to add some water to our blueberries. Strain the berries and keep the juice. Dye your materials. Rinse with cold salt water- it will dilute your coloring a bit- but the color should stay a little bit longer.  Lay out to dry! 

Once our fabric dries we are going to make some stuffed animals with the sewing machine. Check back on Friday to see how it comes together! 

Beatrice's Goat and Butter Battle {Wordless Wednesday}

Cutting Strips {Wordless Wednesday}

Wednesdays are the days that I share an activity (or experience) with just pictures. Thanks for stopping by! 

Saying Thank You! {Practical Life}

It's our official back to school time so hopefully from here my posts will be a lot more consistent! 

We started off with a simple activity this week- saying Thank You. 

Thank You Tray

 Materials: 

Tray

Sign with the words "Thank You" 

Sign Language representation of the words

Ball

Blocks/Coins/Tokens for each child

Box to put them in

Practicing saying "Thank You" with a ball

How to Introduce:

Invite any little ones to come join you in a circle. We did this first with three and than one on one. Tell everyone we are practicing how to say thank you today! It seemed to work fine both ways. It was easiest for us to have an older child (my five year old) hand me a block first. I said "Thank You!" and handed it back to him. He than said "Thank you."  Hand a small block/token to each child. Try to give enough time for them to respond with a thank you. Ask for them to put the token back in the box (make sure you say thank you!). Next you can pass the ball around, waiting each time for the Thank You. Some kids need a little reminder. Finally, try complimenting an article of clothing for each child. Give them a chance to compliment each other. Finally, demonstrate where to put the tray back on the shelf. 

Transferring: Pumpkin Seeds {Practical Life}

I found this little kiddo in the sugar bowl today. Just spooning the sugar out of the bowl. Onto the floor. Nice right? I figured it was a good chance to introduce her to a transferring activity. I keep thinking she is too young (she's 18 months) but she focused on this activity extremely well.

We used:

Pumpkin Seeds (from a pumpkin we roasted)

A spoon

Two bowls

Tray/Mat

I showed her how to use the spoon to put the seeds in the other bowl. I also showed her how to pick up the seeds that dropped on the mat and put them back in the bowl. 

Even big brother came over to participate.

He ended up pouring in the end- he said it "worked better." To be fair, it was a lot faster.

(yes, he is wearing a costume. no, that is not consistent with the Montessori Method. I'm hoping to get a chance to jot down my thoughts on that in the next week or two....to be fair, he helped me sew it :) )

Happy schooling! 

-Lauren

Movement {Practical Life}

I know... it's fall. Winter is coming. We like to post about outside things in the spring and summer. When it's easy. When it doesn't seem an inconvenience.

But I was reminded today how important it is to get outside. To move. Regardless of the weather.

 

We are lucky enough to live within walking distance of our recreation center. On our way home today I saw how much the kids were enjoying the cool weather so we stopped. We played outside for a bit. Rode our bikes. Jumped in the grass. Kicked a soccer ball. Then came inside for lunch and work.

 

Uneventful, but noteworthy. 

I'm thankful that it is part of our daily lives. 

“Growth comes from activity, not from intellectual understanding.”

Maria Montessori