growing & learning with him
What did we do to explore Squirrel’s New Year’s Resolution?
A wonderful group of blogs that emphasis hands on learning called Montessori Bloggers is hosting a link called Top 12 Montessori Activities in 2012. JDaniel has always learned through hands on learning and playing with concepts. This past year provided him with various montessori activities that required he interact with concepts hands on. Many were included in my Read.Explore.Learn. posts. Others were shared in my Taking Time to Play series. Finally others were shared in posts I wrote for other blogs.
Here are some on mine:
We explored Halloween safety rules and JDaniel explored how to follow them using the materials in this bin. The post was called Halloween Safety Rules and How to Review Them.
Placing bats alphabetically on a tomato cage that had been attached to clothes pins was one of the activities JDaniel did in a post called Baby Bats Lullaby- Read.Explore.Learn.
Hours were spent exploring this New Year’s Eve sensory bin. JDaniel and I explored it. He played with all of the contents and then he explained how to play them to his dad.
Early in the fall JDaniel and I gathered bits of nature at a local park. Then he tried to use various kitchen tools to transfer them from the kitchen table to a plate on the floor. We tried spatulas, chopsticks, a whisk, and several other tools. This activity appeared in the Kiwi Crate Studio. They called it Transferring with Tongs.
This simple weaving project was just supposed to be something JDaniel and I did one afternoon on our deck for our Christmas tree. The boy next door came over to see what we were doing and he ended up making a set to take home. They both loved that there wasn’t a wrong way to weave these ornaments. I shared this activity in a post called A Christmas Spider’s Miracle- Read.Explore.Learn.
Last week just before church I sat in my usual pew beside JDaniel4 and JDaniel3 thinking about what I want to write about this week. I sat and thought about all the changes that will take place this year. (JDaniel starting kindergarten, my going back to work, etc..) Those long days of play, doing housework whenever it fit into the day, and running errands during days that may be filled with different things. Those things will still need to be done but, they may have to be scheduled a little more.
There are other things that even with long mostly free days that don’t always get done. I have been terrible at doing my Bible reading and exercising. They just haven’t been set as a priority. When I get a free minute, I blog or work on a project or watch t.v.
How am I going to work on having the strength to take care of others in my life?
I need to start the morning by reading God’s word and praying instead of social media. Most mornings I get up before my guys and schedule my Facebook and Twitter posts. I add my latest post to Pinterest, Google +, link ups, and several other places. I really need to start my day by connecting with God. During the last year I would try to have a devotional time right before bed and I would fall asleep.
Exercise has to become a priority. I am a forty eight year old mom of a preschooler. If my muscles are not challenged to get stronger, they will prevent me from keeping up with a boy who can now almost outrun me. I would love to say that I was going to use my gym membership more. I really need to use it. I think I will have to start by exercising at home and in our neighborhood. JDaniel has to strengthen his core for swimming. I so need to exercise along with him.
I realized when I wrote Christmas cards that the cards I was writing were the first communication that I had had with friends all year. Before I got married I had the most amazing friends that lived near by and that I saw them often. When I moved to South Carolina, I did a terrible job of keeping up with them. This year I need to be better at knowing what is going on with their lives. Talking with friends can help me feel stronger emotionally and mentally.
Suitcase
In Mexico they walk around the outside of their houses with a suitcase while hoping for travels during the year.
White Clothes
In Brazil some people wear white clothes that represent a desire for peace in the New Year.
Twelve Grapes
In Spain people eat twelve grapes for good luck when the clock starts to chime twelve. One grape for each time the bell chimes.
Black Eyes Peas and Turnip Greens
In the Southern United States some people eat black eyed peas and turnip greens. The peas stand for coins and the turnip greens for money. Eating them is said to bring you prosperity.
As both boys added beans and pom- poms to their bottles, I reviewed the need to not fill the bottle with too many beans if they wanted their noise maker shakers to make loud noises. We also reviewed what each type of beans was.
When it was time to add the pipe cleaners, the boy next door went with the curve the pipe cleaner before adding it to your bottle. JDaniel went with the jam the pipe cleaner into the bottle approach. The pipe cleaners were supposed to represent streaking fireworks. I guess that there isn’t a wrong way to display fireworks.
I think they did a great job on their New Year’s noise maker shakers. It was fun to tie learning into creating them.
Moving Like An Animal Game
Great posts that linked up last week:
JDaniel had a grand time looking over each element in the New Year’s Eve sensory bin. He sorted through everything to see exactly what was in the bin and how much of each item there was. Then he put in everything, but the glasses back in to play with. JDaniel had too wear the glasses. I knew he would love them.
With this bin I sat with JDaniel and talked over each of the objects and why I had put them in the bin. With some bins I just let JDaniel dig in and play. He has a grand time playing and learning while he works with the various items in the bin.
Letter formation- The beans can be formed into letters as can the other objects in the bin.
Oral Communication- Children can talk about what they are doing as they explore.
Storytelling- Children can make up a story using objects in the bin as props.
Vocabulary Development- Parents can introduce holiday related words like celebration, countdown, etc..
Number Sequence- Children can line up the cookie cutters in the correct order.
Measuring Volume- Children can measures how many spoonfuls of beans can fill a cup.
Measuring Length- Children can measure the length of the streamers.
Counting Objects- Children can count how many of each object there is.
Compare Numbers of Objects- Children can find object that there are more of than the horns.
Number Sentences- Children can add the number of cups to the number of cookie cutters.
Homemade shaker- The beans can be put in the cup and a child can put the clock on the top of the cup and shake it.
Spoon Playing- Children can explore what objects make the loud or soft sounds when tapped with the spoon.
Horn Playing- Toot out songs and march around.
If you are interested in learning more about sensory bins, you can check out the bins I have pinned on my Sensory Bin Pinterest board.
JDaniel has a four year old’s a simple faith in God. He knows you can lift of prayers to God no matter where you care. I loved hearing him last week as he prayed for a sunny day warm enough to play outside in. He knows that God is everywhere. JDaniel has informed that He even stays with him in his room. He knows God made all things. JDaniel can’t wrap his brain around why God made ants, but he thinks it is cool that God didn’t need a microscope to make microorganisms.
The first Christmas wish is that we will have a simple faith just like JDaniel. A faith that lifts up prayers and knows that God can answer them. Just last week I heard him praying in his room for a really warm day without rain. He was thrilled that we got two beautifully warm days in a row. JDaniel recently prayed for me on the ride to school last Monday. He said I needed to not have worried voice.You need to have a happy voice I was told.
My final wish would be that we would each find a way to give something to someone else each day this year. A simple smile or “How are you?” to a friend or stranger. A phone call to your spouse to tell them that you love them. Holding the door open for someone or giving quarter to the customer in front of you at a store that is a few cents short on their grocery bill. Even a wave given to the mail carrier could really make there day.
Fine Motor Christmas Activities
Butterfly Bento Snack for Kids
Bounding Bunnies Lunch for Kids
Olympic Symbols Bento for Kids
If you like these bento lunches, you will find more food creation for kids on my Food Creations board and my Serving Lunch with JDaniel4’s Mom board on Pinterest.
Appreciate Your Mail Carrier and Others in Your Community
Creating a simple card or portrait of the community helper to present to them along with thanks for what they do.
Buy Two More Cans
When you are at the store, have your child select two cans of vegetables or soup that you can donate to a local food bank.
Cart Returns
We find grocery carts all over store parking lots. Taking a few minutes to put a few in the cart return area will make it easier for others to park and clears that lot.
Design a Snowflake
Create a collection of snowflakes and deliver them to a nursing home. Ask the receptionist if there is anyone who needs a surprise. Tell them you have brought a snowstorm that can be used to decorate this person’s room.
Enter Buildings and Hold the Door
Teach your children to look back as they are going through a door. If there is someone coming up right behind you, hold the door open for them.
Find a Person to Show Love To
Check with your local church and see if there is a person you really could use a card, a home cooked meal, or maybe even someone to sit by them at church. I still get Christmas cards from the widower I sat with at my old church.
Greetings
Children can learn from us how to greet people. Do we say “Good morning!”, “How are you?”, or even “I am so glad I have run in you!” A simple greeting can really make someone’s day.
Helping Hands
Keeping our eyes open to what is going on around us can help us see ways to offer a helping hand. Neighbors that need help with weeding their yard. People that drop things and need help picking them up. There are opportunities to serve others all around us.
Iced Tea or Burgers
When you are going through a drive through to pick up a meal or a drink, why not pay for the drink or the burger for the car behind you. You don’t have to pick up their whole meal if you don’t want to. You can simply pay for their beverage.
Jumping in Front of You in Line
If you have someone in line behind you at a store with only two items or a very fussy child, why not let them go in front of you in line.
Keep Library Shelves Neat
After story time at the library, the shelves at our library are a mess. If you happen to see library books all messed up or on the floor or scattered across the top of the shelves, take a minute to put them away.
Let People Know You Care
Take a moment when you pick your child up for school or a lesson to have them thank their teachers or instructors for what they do.
Move to the Middle
We usually sit at the end of the pew at church so that we can leave quickly if we need to. That means everyone that gets to church late has to crawl over the people on the ends like us to get to an open seat. Whether you are at church or the movies why not move to the middle.
Necessities Shared with Others
Save the little bottles of shampoo and body wash that hotels have out for you during your stays and give them to your local homeless shelter. Visitors to homeless shelters are often given a packet of toiletries. Miniature bottles of shampoo and body wash are perfect for those packets.
Open Your Boxes
Simply opening your cardboard cereal and other food boxes so they are flat before you put them in the recycling bin will save space for others to put their items to be recycled.
Please and Thank You
Remembering to say please and thank you to family members and others we encounter shows them a certain form of respect. We all need that.
Quest for Treasures to Donate
Have your children join you in a quest around your home to look for things that you can donate to a local charity.
Remembering to Respect
Remembering that everybody is human and needs respect is important. It is so easy to make a comment about how someone looks, acts, or lives. Remembering to teach our children that we can help someone that needs help. We can remember that what someone is doing maybe due to something that has happened to them. Talking about people we encounter with respect helps children to not look down on someone just because they are different.
Saving Coupons
Did you know that you could save coupons even recently expired ones and send them to military bases? Children can cut out coupons that you can send to bases around the world.
Treats for Service People
I know I talked about drawing pictures and making them cards, but you could also make cookies with your kids and take them to your local fire department or police station.
Use Your Gifts
Each of us have been given unique gifts as have each of our children. Look for ways to use your gifts to help others around you.
Volunteer
Does your local school need reading buddies? Does your church need Sunday school helpers? Is there a senior in your neighborhood that needs a ride to church? There are so many ways that we can help others.
Watch Each Others Children
If you have a friend that needs to have someone watch their children while they go to the doctors or even just the store, ask if you can help.
X-Ray Your Attitude About Giving
Stop for a moment and look at why you are giving. Are you giving just to because your school or church is having a drive? Are you trying to make a difference? It may not matter to the person you are giving to, but it can make a difference in your life. Giving from my heart some how effects me differently than doing it out of obligation.
Zipper Up and Mitten In
When you are buying or your child a new pair of mittens or a winter coat, remember to donate the ones your child has grown out of. Just this year I have had two different opportunities to donate coats JDaniel can no longer wear. I had only one coat to give so I have to go to a consignment store to get the second one. I am so glad there are two more four year olds that have warm coats.
These are just a few ideas of ways to show kindness. I bet you can come up with at least 26 more.
