on the shelves - 18 months

Here are a few things that Elise has been working on this month:

1. potty and basket of reading materials 
Ok, just to be clear, we don't actually keep the potty on the shelf!  It's usually on a comfy rug in the middle of the living room.  While slightly unorthodox, this central location has worked well for Elise.  At first, when we noticed her starting to pee or poop, we would hustle her over to the potty.  Now, a few weeks later, Elise is using the potty independently.  She is one proud girl, and I am one happy mama - no more diaper laundry!

2.  pushing pennies through a slot
Elise has had some variation of this activity on her shelf for the past few months.  She is finally not sticking every. little. thing. in her mouth, so I thought she would enjoy putting some real coins in her "bank."  The pennies have been a fun challenge for her little fingers to manipulate.  As a side note, I have decided to stop picking all the labels off the containers I reuse in lessons for Elise - it is an impossible waste of time and Elise actually finds them quite interesting!

3.  basket of musical instruments
I introduced most of these instruments to Elise one at a time over the past several months.  Now that she's comfortable playing them, I've combined them all in one basket.  This is an activity that friends and family who stop by for a visit really enjoy doing with Elise.  Also, our family band is totally shaping up - Elise on the cymbals, Hubs on the cowbell, and me on the tambourine!  ;)

4.  miracle pushing toy
This was one of those activities I saw on basically every other Montessori baby blog when I was pregnant with Elise, so I thought I'd better buy one!  How does it work?  Well, first you load up all five of the balls.  Then, you push down on the top ball, and the bottom ball will pop out - or vice versa.  Repeat again and again.  Elise has just started to show an interest in it, so we'll see if it was worth the $35 or not!

5.  empty puzzle with the pieces in the bag
I saw this idea over on Grow, Grow, Grow -  Elsa, if you're reading this, pretty please keep posting - this new blog of yours is really great!  I chose a puzzle that Elise was already familiar with and put the pieces in a bag (a box or basket would work well, too).  So far, Elise has really enjoyed pulling out a surprise puzzle piece and figuring out where it fits. This is definitely a good way to add interest and challenge to a well-loved puzzle!

6.  dropping cylinder-shaped blocks into a milk jug
This one is an oldie-but-goodie for us around here.  I first introduced this activity to Elise when she was 14 months old, and she's been playing with it daily ever since.  It kind of blows my mind that a milk jug with a hole cut in the side can be this entertaining, but it is!  If you don't have this on your shelf yet, make one!  Worst case scenario, you can always recycle it...

pink grapefruit play dough

In honor of Valentine's Day (which is only 11 days away!), we decided to whip up some pink, sparkly play dough!  We used a recipe from The Imagination Tree...

4 Minute Play Dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups boiling water

First, mix the dry ingredients together.  Then, add the wet ingredients.  Anna, from The Imagination Tree, suggests adding the hot water in increments until the play dough seems to be the right consistency.  She also says that vigorously kneading the dough is key.

At this point, Elise and I added a few special ingredients:

6 drops red food coloring (actually, I added this to the hot water before mixing it into the dry ingredients)
1/2 teaspoon rainbow glitter
1-2 drops grapefruit essential oil



I'm not much of a glittery, pink kind of person, but from the looks of it, Elise might be...  ;)



Elise played with her new play dough for over an hour - the only reason she stopped was because it was time for lunch!



If you're curious about how we have play dough set up on our art shelf, it basically looks like this.  ^^
Elise is really conscientious about getting out the vinyl mat and setting everything up - she still needs some assistance putting it all back, though...

I asked Elise to "smile," and this is what she gave me - oh, how I love her!  After we added the glitter, I told her she couldn't eat any more because it wouldn't be safe.  She cried for a moment, and then carried on with mixing the ingredients.  I never saw her eat any of the play dough after that.  I worried that adding the essential oil  would tempt Elise into having a taste or two, but I think it actually provided more of a good distraction - instead of nibbling, she was too busy sniffing!

Have a great week, friends!

the mystery bag

Did you know that around here we can actually

"see" with our hands?!

No, we haven't been practicing magic tricks;

we've been using a mystery bag to develop our 

stereognostic sense! 

Materials: 

• a bag - a basket covered with a cloth napkin would work, too
• a few objects that are both familiar and interesting to the touch

Presentation:

1. Invite the child to take the objects out of the bag and name them together.  
2. After exploring the objects, put them back into the bag.
3. Explain that this time, you are going to see with your hands instead of your eyes.  Model reaching into the bag, and describing what you're feeling.  I feel something smooth... and cold... and long... hmmmm... I think I feel the spoon.  
4. Take the object out of the bag.  It is the spoon!
5. Invite the child to see with his or her hands and choose an object from the bag.  
6. Repeat!

*We started with three objects, but feel free to add more depending on you child's ability.  Also, an older child may enjoy wearing a blindfold or closing his or her eyes.  

Here are a few of the mystery bags we've explored so far: