a montessori-inspired placemat

A place for my plate

my napkin,

my glass,

and my fork, knife and spoon?!

Brilliant!

Yes, Elise, my little love, I think so, too...

Not only does this placemat appeal to your sense of order,

it reinforces your vocabulary as you name each item,

it provides a control of error as you set your place at the table,

and it offers you an opportunity to match objects to pictures -

which is helping you to develop visual discrimination.

Wow.  :)

For more matching objects to pictures,

come back on Tuesday!

We're matching the whole dang house!!!!

(Well, not really, but almost.)

sssssssssssssssssssss........

For a little Friday afternoon fun, I thought I'd share a few photos of our diy Halloween decor this year - giant snakes!!!  I know, I know!  Halloween was a week ago, but - gah!  I can't get enough of these two slithery fellows...

I made them from flat, twin-sized sheets I found at the thrift store.  Elise and I stuffed them with leaves, and the rest is history!  Well, it was actually a lot more work than that, but they did come together in the end - and they were a huge hit with all our trick-or-treaters!  ;)

Happy weekend, friends!

busy hands - toddler edition

A quick glimpse at all the fun things Elise has been up to the past couple months...

posting coins

building bears

 investigating a bear trunk

stacking blocks

 reading with G-Bob

 crafting with friends

spraying rocks

swinging on the big swings

pasting pictures

 experimenting with cornstarch and water

 slicing cheese with a knife

dreaming about winter

happy halloween!

Happy Halloween!!!

We've already been cruising around the neighborhood, 

checking out decorations - in full-costume, of course.  

I don't know who's more excited for trick-or-treating tonight... 

me or Elise!  Ha! 

If you celebrate Halloween, I hope your day is "bear-y" sweet and spooky!  ;)

guest post at Grow Grow Grow today!

Hello, friends!  I'm guest posting today at Grow Grow Grow!  Please head over to check out my simple, autumn craft idea:  pressed leaf place mats.  If you're not already a Grow Grow Grow reader, you're in for a treat - this is one of my all-time favorite Montessori parenting blogs!  :)