on the shelves - 20 months

A handful of E's favorite activities this month:

1. color basket one
A homemade version of the traditional Montessori material, Color Box I.  I made our color tablets by simply gluing paint samples onto rectangles of cardboard.  Elise is able to successfully match all three primary colors, and she really enjoys checking her work by "telling the whole story:" red, red; yellow, yellow; blue, blue!

2. caring for a plant
Up until this month, our only house plant had been a small, happily-neglected cactus.  When I saw these little daffodil plants at the grocery store, spring fever got the better of me, and I decided to bring one home!  Although it's looking a little past it's prime, Elise continues to enjoy smelling the blossoms and keeping it well-watered. ;)

3. beginning sorting 
While I drooled over a million and one awesome sorting activities on pinterest, I decided to keep this introductory activity simple.  I put two different types of objects in a basket - cotton balls and wooden eggs, and showed Elise how to sort them into a divided baking dish.  She caught on right away, and has has been getting a lot of satisfaction out of the activity - it must appeal to her sense of order!

4.  matching animals to their babies
Elise has gone completely baby crazy, so this is quite possibly her favorite activity of all time.  I tried to include both male and female animals - if you've ever examined a Schleich figurine, you'll know what I'm talking about.  Anyway, I'm glad I did because while Elise is very much a mama's girl right now, she is really drawn to the male animals, especially the dog - she calls him "Papa" and the puppy "Elise."

5. smelling jars
This is another homemade version of a traditional Montessori material, the Smelling Cylinders.  I'll add another set of jars soon, so Elise can match the scents.  For now, she is busy figuring out how to open the lids, and happily sniffing away at the essential oils I dabbed onto a few cotton balls.  While this activity may seem simple, I think it's really increased Elise's awareness of aromas in the environment.

6. hot and cold cards
Elise continues to be fascinated by hot and cold.  I made these cards out of photos I took of hot and cold things around our house - a steaming tea kettle, an ice cube, etc.  (Thanks to Elsa for the idea!)  Eventually, this will be another sorting activity, but for now we've just been talking about the cards and matching them to the environment.

busy hands

A quick glimpse at all the fun things Elise has been up to the past few weeks:

smelling bottles

 stacking rings 

 shoveling snow

 pushing pipe cleaners

 

reading books

 sliding in the park

matching objects

washing dishes

 

washing a dog

washing herself!

"uh oh! the baby's out of bed!" - a finger play with Anne & Elise

I'm a little mortified about posting a video of myself - do I really sound/look like that?!! - but I thought this would be a fun way to share one of our favorite finger plays with all of you!  It's a slightly modified version of The Baby Chant from Chants, Finger Plays, & Stories by Bev Bos.  Enjoy!  Hope your computer doesn't break!  ;)

here's the baby (hold up pointer finger)
put the baby in the bed (lay pointer finger across palm of opposite hand)
cover the baby up (wrap fingers around pointer finger)
kiss the baby good night (kiss pointer finger)
uh oh! the baby's out of bed! (open hand and hold pointer finger up)

You can continue by saying, We must have forgotten something!   Encourage your child to come up with reasons why the baby keeps getting out of bed... maybe she needs a drink?  or a diaper change?  As those of you with a little one - especially, one who sleeps on a floor bed! - know, the options are pretty much limitless!

matching objects to objects

^^ salt and pepper shakers ^^

"Two!"  Elise continues to delight in discovering pairs.  Everywhere we go she points them out - two dogs in the back of a truck, two crows flying overhead, two shoes on her feet...  Similarly, I've found no shortage of objects for her to match around the house - seriously, I can't stop!  ;)

Here are a few of our favorites:

^^ mittens ^^

^^ objects from nature ^^

^^ buttons ^^

^^ socks ^^

^^ earrings ^^

^^ animals and their babies ^^

finger painting with a toddler: a simple first art activity

 

Remember those fun language games we've been playing that come

BEFORE practicing the letters of the alphabet?

Yes? If not, please check them out here!

Well, this week, we decided to try out an art activity that comes

BEFORE using crayons, markers, pencils, etc...

finger painting!

A few weeks ago, I read a post on Montessori in Mars 

called Coloring with Cornstarch, Crayons Can Wait.

Her words really resonated with me because

I'd been feeling some pressure from friends and family - even E's doctor -

to have her drawing with crayons and making "crafts."

While I am really excited for her to do those things,

I don't feel like she's quite ready yet...

She still uses a fisted or palmer grip - which is natural,

I just don't want her to become accustomed to holding a pencil this way.

Also, she still takes bites off pencils, erasers, and crayons - yum! ;)

[Young children] appreciate how they can easily see the color/s on their paper, unlike the light lines that they tend to end up making with crayons because they have yet to develop stronger fine motor skills." - Teacher Mars

Elise is interested in making marks on paper with writing utensils, though,

so we haven't been avoiding them altogether...

Instead, I've been trying to offer her lots of other opportunities to strengthen her fine motor control:

practical life exercises,

play dough,

and now, edible(!) finger paint.

We tried out the Imagination Tree's Homemade Edible Finger Paint Recipe.

Not only did it turn out great, but it was REALLY fun to make.

(FYI, the magic happens when you cook it!)

Here's a little more finger paint inspiration from around blog land:

Grow Grow Grow

Sixtine et Victoire

How We Montessori

sing me a story

What's better that reading a book?!  Singing a book - of course!  Each time we visit the library to check out books, I try to find at least one that is based on a song.  Much to the amusement of Hubs - whose singing is typically limited to the shower - these end up being the books that Elise asks to read over and over and over again!

Here's a little list of some of our favorite singable books.  Please feel free to add yours in the comments!

• Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes by Annie Kubler
• Mary Wore Her Red Dress and Henry Wore His Green Sneakers by Merle Peek
• Baby Beluga by Raffi
• There Was a Tree by Rachel Isadora
• Down by the Station by A. Twinn
• If You're Happy and You Know It by Jane Cabrera
• Over in the Meadow by John Langstaff 

3/17 UPDATE!!!  I can't believe I left out Fiddle-I-Fee by Will Hillenbrand - one of our very favorites! 

***This post was inspired by Sixtine et Victoire's March reading list.  Be sure to check it out!***

a beautiful mess

Recently, I've noticed  a few comments being made around the Montessori online community that bloggers only share "before"-type photos of pristine lessons and shelves.  So, if you are an itty bitty love reader who has been craving a little glimpse into our clutter and chaos, this post is for you!  Elise's friend Ezra came by to play this morning, and before I started tidying up, I took a few photos to document the aftermath their rollicking good time!

I also made a couple observations about our Montessori-inspired home:

1. Yes, it can get really messy around here when everything is taken out of its basket or tray.  That said, now that Elise is 20 months old, she usually only takes one or two things out at a time, and with a little encouragement, she's getting pretty good at putting it all back.  Our house really only looks like this when friends come over and explore.  Also, messes = fun, right?!
2. Although a Montessori home has the potential to get messy (What home doesn't, really?), they are easy to clean up because everything has its place.  Honestly, our house was back to normal within five minutes! 

three Montessori language games for toddlers

Here are a few simple language games to play 

before introducing the alphabet...

Matching objects supports the development

of visual discrimination.

One of the principles of Montessori education is to move from 

concrete to abstract.

A three-dimensional object is more concrete than a picture,

so Elise is matching objects to other objects right now.

Eventually, she will match objects to pictures,

and finally, pictures to other pictures.

Playing sound games like "I spy"

is a great way to model beginning sound isolation

and build phonemic awareness.

/h/hat, /b/boot, and /f/feather

I spy with my little eye a...

/b/boot

Can you find the /b/boot?

At twenty months old, I refrain from asking Elise

"Which one starts with /b/?" or "What sound does boot begin with?"  

Instead, I try to find as many ways as I can to model 

separating the beginning sounds from words,

with the understanding that Elise will eventually catch on.  

As simple as this may be, Elise adores this game!

Learning the names of a classified group of objects

enriches vocabulary.

I often use a three period lesson to present the names of items to Elise

that she encounters in her daily life or interest her.

These are tableware.

This is a glass.

(first period)

Please hand me the glass.  Thank you!

(second period)

What is this? (pointing to the glass)

(third period)

Since Elise is under two and just beginning to say words,

 I rarely ask her third period questions

- unless I'm absolutely sure she knows the answer.

As you may remember, Elise is already an expert table setter(!),

but it's still useful for her to hear

exact terminology and correct pronunciation.

(Other examples of classified vocabulary we've explored include

pets, farm animals, personal care items, and parts of the face.)

toddler threading: cardboard tube "beads"

A few reasons threading is so great for toddlers:

• strengthens fine motor control
• encourages concentration
• develops hand-eye coordination
• supports a sense of order and sequence
• provides direct preparation for sewing
• provides indirect preparation for math and language

While Elise seemed ready to give threading a try, I didn't feel ready to spend $30 on toddler beads! Deb from Sixtine et Victoire shared some lovely threading and beading activities awhile back, and I remembered that one of them was simply made out of cut up paper towel and toilet paper tubes.  Free AND easy to make?  Woo hoo!  Plus, the large size of the cardboard tube "beads" would make them easier to thread and pose less of a choking risk if E decided to do any oral exploring.  

To class up our cardboard tubes a bit, Elise and I glued on some leftover wrapping paper before I cut them into "beads." If you're interested, please scroll down for a little photo tutorial. I know, it's probably a no-brainer, but sometimes detailed explanations come in handy - especially if your toddler is teething, or something, and you're sleep-deprived like me.  :)

  

^^Elise wore her threaded cardboard tube "beads" as a necklace all morning!^^

Of course, you don't have to make a necklace - half the fun of threading is in the un-threading!  ;)

on the shelves - 19 months

Elise turns 20 months old tomorrow, so I thought I'd better get her favorite 19-month-old activities posted!

1. colander and pipe cleaners

I'd been seeing this fine motor activity on pinterest for awhile now, and thought Elise might enjoy giving it a try. Pushing the pipe cleaners into the holes on the colander has been a great challenge for her little fingers. I'm not sure which she thinks is more fun: pushing the pipe cleaners in or pulling them back out!

2. colored rings on dowels

Hubs and I made this little stacking and sorting activity for Elise.  She has been enjoying ring stacking activities for awhile, and these smaller rings and dowels require her to use more refined hand movements.  I've also shown Elise how to sort the rings by color, but she is more interested in creating her own combinations at this point.  ;)

3. fragile objects

Elise is beginning to have a good understanding of what it means to have "gentle hands."  I put a few precious, breakable items in a special box for her to practice with.  It's very sweet to watch her carefully take each item out of the box and explore it.  The little dog is her favorite, of course!

4. horizontal ring stacker

Another homemade activity - we sure went for it!  I'm glad we made this one because stacking rings horizontally requires completely different hand and wrist movements than stacking rings vertically.  It's really been a great challenge for Elise - you can almost see the gears turning in her brain...

5.  play dough

Play dough is quite possibly Elise's favorite activity.  Right now, she's really into rolling "snakes" between her hands - she even makes a hissssing sounds as she rolls!  We've been loving the 4 minute play dough recipe from the Imagination Tree.  The little rolling pin was a gift from our friends over at Sixtine et Victoire - it is just the right size for Elise's hands and she adores it!

6. The Mitten story props

Of course!!!  I'm SO glad Elise has been enjoying these hand-knit story props.  I love finding ways to support her interest in books, and I think using props is a great way to add another dimension and encourage creative play.  I think we'll get a lot of use out of these little animals!  :)