spooning lentils through a funnel

My lovely friend Rachael took these photos of her son (and Elise's good pal!), Ezra, working on one of his favorite activities, spooning lentils through a funnel.  It looks so appealing - I can't wait to put together something similar for Elise to try!

When I was teaching, anything with a funnel was always a huge hit.

What concentration!

For bonus fine motor points,

Rachael said they worked together to pick all the lentils off the bottoms of Ezra's feet!  ;)

Thanks for the inspiration, Ezra and Rachael!

learning tower acrobatics

Getting in and out of the learning tower is as easy as...

When we first brought the learning tower home for Elise, I decided to model the proper way to climb in and out using the "ladder" on the side.  Climbing up was easy, but when I tried to back down, I realized I was too big and that I was stuck!  I struggled for a ridiculous minute or two before deciding that the only way out was over the top.  I definitely didn't want Elise to see THAT way modeled, so Hubs distracted her while I catapulted myself to safety!

Needless to say, I haven't been in the learning tower since.  As for Elise, she loves being up there!  She quickly figured out her own way of getting in and out, and although her technique is slightly unconventional, it works.  I admire her determination and independence - and upper body strength!  ;) 

on the shelves - 15 & 16 months (in action!)

stacking trucks

One of Elise's older friends loaned her these trucks when he heard how much she likes to stack rings on posts.  ;)  While she doesn't necessarily put them back together (yet!), she loves pushing them around and taking them apart.

(stacking trucks - Melissa & Doug)

pounding balls with a hammer

We've been using this material for months now, but I just recently introduced Elise to the hammer. 

What's old is new again!

(punch and drop activity - Plan Toys)

peeling clementines

I'm so excited for citrus fruit to be back in season!  Pulling the peel off this juicy snack is a great way to strengthen fine motor control, as-well-as develop organization and problem solving skills.

 sorting and stacking rings

Elise continues to explore this intriguing stacking activity.  While she occasionally rebuilds the cone to its original form, she seems to prefer taking it apart and creating her own combinations!

  (cone sorting activity - Plan Toys)

"bear!"

It's been a signing explosion around here lately! Elise loves reading this book, which features illustrations and photos of children signing familiar words. Bear, wind, book, and all done are some of our favorites!

dropping a cube into a box

I made this imbucare box a few months ago, but Elise has only recently showed an interest in it. 

Now, she thinks it's so great, she hauls it all over the house.  Seriously.  

Oh, how I love this girl!

hot and cold: a toddler experiment

Elise is fascinated by hot and cold lately.  She loves watching the fireplace, and "hot!" is one of her favorite words to say.  We've also woken up to snow on the ground a few times, and Elise is beginning to sign "cold."  I decided to put together a simple hot and cold activity, so she could explore these two very different temperatures in a safe way.

I filled two identical tubs:

one with ice and one with hot water.

To get the ice, I poured water in the bottom of a tub, 

and popped it in the freezer overnight.

Elise was very cautious about touching the hot water!  

I didn't want it to be so hot it would hurt her skin,

 but I wanted it to be a little steamy and uncomfortable to the touch.

After her initial observations of the two tubs,

Elise started experimenting...

At first, it was fun to pour hot water onto the ice:

it made loud cracking sounds and broke into pieces.

Then, Elise dropped pieces of the ice into the hot water.

It was a challenge to fish them out before they melted!

We left the tubs out all morning, and checked on them every once and awhile.
It was interesting to see the ice melt and to discover that the hot water
was no longer hot, but actually kind of cold!

Have you done any hot or cold experiments with your kids?  Elise enjoyed this so much, I think we'll do something similar again soon.  Maybe ice in the bathtub?  I'm open for suggestions! :)

e and her shadow

Shadow, shadow on the wall

Sometimes you're short, sometimes you're tall.

Either way, I love to see 

My good friend Shadow following me!  

Elise discovered her shadow a couple weeks ago, and it has been so much fun watching her interact with it! I constantly catch myself looking around to see who she's waving at, only to realize she's just saying hello to her shadow!  They're getting to be pretty good friends.  ;)

Usually, we just explore our shadows as they occur naturally, but we were up very early the other morning - thank you time change! - and needed something to pass the time before the sun came up.  I put one of Hubs' very bright shop lights in our darkened dining room, and gathered some items with good shadow-making potential.  I also set up a mirror, so Elise could see her reflection at the same time as her shadow.   We ended up having a really good time experimenting with shadows and reflections - even Rosie the dog! Ha!

Here's hoping you and your shadow have a great week!