Cutting cord

I noticed earlier this year that our 5 year old isn't terrific at cutting.  He isn't interested in art and craftiness like his older sister, so he typically doesn't choose projects that encourage him to practice his cutting.  He is also a lefty, so that makes things a little tougher.  When I realized he was a pretty terrible cutter, I made sure we had plenty of left-handed scissors and started looking for ways to invite him to cut...in a way he'd find interesting and useful for his world!

He currently loves any type of string or rope, so I got out some red cord, his scissors and an art tray and he spent some time hacking the cord up.  Then he wanted to try the wire cutters from his tool box, so he headed out to the garage to get them.  They didn't work super well, so then he wanted to use MY wire cutters, which are much sharper and worked pretty well!

All this to say, he spent about 20 minutes engaged in cutting and was highly motivated to participate in it...and he practiced his scissoring skills!  I was working on my own project at the table, so I chatted with him, helped him hold his scissors correctly, and gave a few suggestions, but mostly he worked independently on this task.

I have more "cutting for boys" ideas I will hopefully post in the upcoming weeks!

Bible Play Dough Mats courtesy of Flame Creative Children's Ministry

Recently I stumbled upon an idea that I just love!  Flame, a children's spiritual development blog, had these amazingly awesome and so developmentally appropriate playdough mats they were sharing!  I knew this was perfect for my kids--for a bit of guided playdough time and response to Bible stories.

First off, I printed all of the mats relating to the crucifixion and communion and Jesus rising from the dead--I placed them each in a page protector to keep the playdough off the paper, and I will be bringing them to church on Sundays for my kids to interact with during communion time.

In this current season we are in, our kids are expected to sing/pray and participate in the first portion of church.  During communion I like to bring some type of manipulative/book/activity specifically related to some aspect of communion/remembering Jesus' sacrifice so they can participate on their own developmental level.  I have a basket of several different objects that I choose from each week.  You can follow the label link to my other posts on this.

These playdough mats are perfect!  I will bring a small can of playdough (1 color) per child and I don't see this being too messy.  Each child has a parent sitting with them, so we can help if needed.

I also printed off all the other mats for the kids to use at tablework time (like when I am making lunch, etc.)  The first time I introduced them they spent about 2 total minutes and weren't that into them.  As with any new activity, the more I bring them out, model how to do them, and talk through the activity, the more engaged they are.  I just love the tactile way these invite young children to respond to Bible stories.

Are you sold?  You have GOTTA print these off and add them to your toolkit!!
CLICK HERE to go to the Flame Playdough Mats Page

And below are photos of my Quinn using the mats (again, I did not create the mats--I printed them off the fabulous Flame site linked above).

I have made a couple of my own in the style of Flame's, click 

HERE to check them out!

Three things three-year-olds love!

TAPE!

*introduce them with a solid dispenser and good quality tape.  The cheaper stuff is difficult to tear.

*teach them to take a piece about the length of their thumb.

*show them to pull out then down to cut, and to be careful of the cutting edge.

*Initially I just let my little tapers tear and place tape on construction paper, then move up to taping two items together.  

*show them how to tape small pieces of paper onto a bigger piece--the tape has to touch both pieces--a difficult concept for them to learn.  

*I have a rule that tape only goes on paper.  I don't want tape on my walls, furniture, etc.  We keep a blue roll of painter's tape for taking pictures and signs up on walls.  That way our walls remain undamaged.  

***Taping is great fine motor practice and also a practical life and art skill!***

 CHALK!
*supply small pieces of colored chalk--the small pieces encourage a pincer grasp and not a fist grasp.
*a small eraser or piece of fabric
*get a small chalkboard---often craft stores have these in the unfinished wood items section
*threes love covering the whole board with chalk, erasing, and then using a moist rag to clean the board at the end of the session!
***fine motor, art, preliteracy***

PENCIL SHARPENING!
*I put out a tray with the sharpener and a jar of pencils.  My kiddos know all shreds of pencil need to land on the tray.
*remember to teach safety because the sharpener can cut you
***fine motor, practical life***

We have a designated art table in the living room where I keep all of these activities/materials out for free use at any time and often in the mornings my kids naturally gravitate there to use them.

More travel activities for toddlers and preschoolers.

Found a few more of our favorites to add.

These magnetic color cubes are great!  I actually had a set at my Grandma's as a kid, so I played with them a lot, then my kids got a set.  They can all be stuck on to the metal box lid or the cookie sheet I recommend taking in the car!  The book is filled with design ideas, which is great for older kiddos!  Younger ones can just stick them on, sort them by colors, make shapes and lines, etc.  I will say those little cubes can get spread all over the car by the end of a road trip, despite the magnetic feature.  However at least they aren't sticky or melty, so they aren't bad to clean up.  :)  

Here's a link.

These little things were a huge hit with Beck.  They are golf tees with the ends cut off and little game boards.  He never played the games correctly, just had fun sticking all the pieces in.  You could easily make this with a drillbit and the golf tees and a piece of wood (even a wooden shape from Hobby Lobby's unfinished wood section).  He could spend FOREVA' pulling them put and putting them back in.  Again, doing this activity on a cookie sheet in the car would help prevent pieces from rolling away during use.

This is something I made Quinn that she used a ton.  You can see how worn it is.  I just used a piece of cardstock, some large jewels, clear packing tape, and velcro.  I taped over one set of jewels.  Then I put a tiny piece of velcro in each matching spot, with the corresponding piece of velcro on the backs of the jewels.  The goal is to match the jewels.  Initially as an older infant she just liked pulling them off.  Then she liked putting them on, and eventually she'd get to where she could match them to the right spot.  Of course the complexity of this could be varied with the size and number of jewels.

Van Gogh Artist study

Lately we've been doing some artist studies.  We started with O'Keefe (because our poppies were blooming like crazy and she painted poppies) and moved on to Van Gogh....because now our sunflowers were going gangbusters!  Tying the artists into our garden has really worked well for us and has helped direct which artist to study next.
We take it nice and slow....

We listened to Starry, Starry Night by Don McClean. 

 We read some children's nonfiction books about Van Gogh (often I pick through and just read some of the parts and we examine the pictures).  For Van Gogh I didn't go into all the details surrounding his suicide and his depression, etc.  I keep it appropriate for my kiddos' development.

Then we tried his expressionist style of drawing, using the Starry Night for inspiration and pastels.

 Q wrote his name for us each day on the chalkboard.

 We are also enjoying these Crayola Slick Writers--similar to pastels but slightly easier to use and less smudgy, but still a LITTLE smudgy.  Beck, especially, likes them!  And Q went wild and drew every spare second of her day with them for the first two weeks we had them.  :)

 But mostly we just used regular oil pastels.

 Then we tried our hand at drawing sunflowers.

 (random streamers were due to Q's bday festivities....)

 We REALLY loved these two books.  Beautiful pictures, simple story, and very informative.  We probably read each book 5 times.

My kids have just loved learning about Van Gogh and were very captivated by his paintings--especially the sunflowers, Vincent's Chair, Vincent's Room, Cafe at Arles at Night and Starry Night.  We've seen a few random Van Gogh reproductions at various spots over the past weeks and I am so proud when one of them notices and excitedly exclaims, "There's a Van Gogh!!"  I had fun with this, too!  Q has asked to study Paul Gauguin next, as he was a contemporary of Van Gogh and they painted together (and he was likely the reason Van Gogh cut off his ear....)

Pin Poking work for toddlers and preschoolers

A thrifted cork board and a bowl full of thumbtacks....The little guy has fun just poking and putting them in lines to make "trains."  My almost-six-year-old loves to make pictures and letters using the pins.  Sometimes we add in little scraps of paper to pin down!  Great fine motor practice!

A boy and his knives....toddler play with playdough and knives.

 Beck LOVES working with knives these days.  He knows they are something so "grown up" so of course he wants to learn how to use them!  Playdough is a great time for cutting practice.  He gets a chunk of playdough and a selection of knives.  Spreaders, plastic knives, veggie cutters, and butter knives were selected this particular time.  Pizza cutters are also fun.  Playdough and safe knives allow opportunities for him to master the mechanics of cutting and also develop the wrist strength and control and grasping strength to cut effectively.  

I also let him cut fruit and veggies with a paring knife when I am sitting with him at the table.  We start with hand-over-hand and then when he is ready I let him cut on his own, well supervised.

Hammering nails into playdough=happy boy!

Carwash

This guy LOVES the carwash.  We've been doing a carwash at home.  A simple spray bottle, water, some lavender oil to make it smell nice, a couple towels, a scrub brush, and an empty handsoap bottle filled with water (it has enough soap left in the bottom to foam up) works wonders. Best of all is when Mama brings out her hair dryer at the end!

We do this about every day around here.  Our vehicles are VERY clean!!

"Thingy Box"

 Every home should have one of these, no matter the age of the kiddos!  My kids start with a "thingy basket" as soon as they can sit up.  Filled with items to hold, touch, gum, explore and drop, initially.  Items change with development and by two years Little Man has a box filled with a variety of random objects.  I have also included a couple magnets.  He can use them to figure out which items are attracted to them.  However, most often he just looks through the stuff and plays with the different items.  There are jar lids, tiny buckets, paperclips, coins, keys, a wrench, rocks, poker chips, a caribiner, a twist-up mechanical pencil, a scoop, an old dog tag, a rubberband, a padlock/key, a pencil, a washer, a marble, a couple keychains, a fake spider, a plastic toy cat.....etc, etc.  He can sit with his box for a good while, just exploring what is inside.  I change them out occasionally to keep his interest. 

For me the two best places to find items for the box are the kitchen junk drawer and the drawer of junk in Daddy's dresser.  Also the garage usually yields something fun and interesting.

Do you have thingy baskets/boxes for your kiddos?  You should try it!  Fun and educational.  And so very simple. 

Rubberbands around a jar.

The little guy is working on lots of skills that will get his fingers ready for handwork.  Putting rubberbands around a jar is a great job for him!

Handwork.

I've recently begun intentionally including some handwork in our weekly routine.  Sometimes we sit down together to do a planned activity.  Today I got out my big jar of buttons (well, actually last night I got everything set up at the table because life flows better around here if things are prepared....) and some embroidery floss and a dull metal needle for the little guy to string buttons.  Quinn got an embroidery hoop with some vintage pillowcase fabric (thrifted), a sharper needle, thread, and buttons.   

 He was far more interested in playing with the buttons than stringing them, which is fine.  I have to sometimes remind myself this whole thing is about the process and not the product.  They are good at reinforcing that message to me!

I do believe in giving my kids real tools--real knives, real needles, etc.  We spend time teaching them how to use the item correctly and safely and they are always supervised when being used.  For this reason my kids know how to chop food carefully and how to thread a needle without poking themselves, as well as use glass and fragile items carefully.  

 

Quinn did great sewing on a few of her "favorite" buttons with a bit of my help.  After 5 she was done and ready to just play with the buttons.  I always remind myself that often the first encounter with a new activity ends up being a short encounter, but enthusiasm and interest (and focus) will grow with repeated exposure.  So for today, this was fine!  She is excited to put her work up on the wall in her room!

 PS) Those little porcelain trays that the kids put their "selected buttons" into came from Matt's Mee-Maw, who passed away a year or so ago.  I love having sweet reminders of the ones we love as a part of our day.  Made me smile to see little fingers placing buttons in her trays.

 Button scooping, pouring, sorting, and tonging ensued.  Then I dropped the big glass jar the buttons are kept in onto the floor and it busted into a million pieces.  Yep, the jar I told the kids not to touch without my help....I guess my help was in smashing it to pieces!  But another benefit of using glass items with the kiddos is they know how to handle broken glass.  Everyone stayed in their seats and watched the great vacuum escapades....but I still wouldn't walk through my kitchen barefooted, if I were you!  :)

I have more handwork pictures and ideas to share that I've been gathering up lately, so stay tuned.  

Oats Play

Herb clipping

 I needed some finely chopped rosemary for some rosemary lemon bread we were making for Monday Bread Day.  We have a rosemary bush outside, so we gathered some sprigs, then I put the littles at the table to cut up the pieces.  They really enjoyed this!  Great fine motor, practical life, and finger-strength--in a different way than cutting paper, as the bulky rosemary requires that you hold/use the scissors a bit differently.  Beck asked a few other times during the week to cut rosemary.  One of the times I gave him some fresh oregano to cut, and he loved that, too!  Of course if you don't grow rosemary or other herbs (you TOTALLY should....rosemary is the easiest ever) then you can buy them at the grocery store in the produce section.  Sidenote--it makes your kitchen and your children smell lovely! A great sensory activity, as well!

Older children could actually use a cutting board and paring knife to do this, as well.  Quinn would be ready for that at this point, but she wanted to use the scissors like her brother. :)

And a older infant/young toddler who isn't ready for scissors?  Show them how to pull off the leaves with their hands....if they happen to eat some...it will be good for them!  

Polishing Coins

Something both of my kids enjoy is coin polishing.  I am sure there are tons of ways to do it, but Daddy recommended salt (we like the larger sea salt) and lemon juice, so that's what we use.  I think you can also use toothpaste!

Q was very intent on getting her pennies polished up!  This was great fine motor, practical life and attention practice for her.  She also noticed that the salt tasted like the ocean and she enjoyed smelling the lemon--so some great sensory awareness.  AND...we talked about the fact that both salt and lemon juice sting boo-boos or eyes. 

Of course this brand-new 2 year old wanted in on the action, too.  I gave him some quarters, a little bowl of warm soapy water and a toothbrush and he also enjoyed cleaning coins. 

 

Remember that introducing any activity such as this may only last 5 or so minutes the first time, but repeated presentations/offerings of the activity will usually be met with longer time periods for a child to stay engaged.... 

Magnet box--toddler style!

Here's Beck, working with the magnet box.  I referred to it in a previous post and took this picture to show him enjoying his sister's work!

Just playdough. And a soapbox. ;)

 Sometimes as a teachermommy in this internet/pinterest/bloggy world it's easy to get captivated by all the amazing ideas/projects/crafts/manipulatives/etc. out there in cyberspace and feel like I have to be on a search to do the most FANTABULOUS (my daughter's word) things in the world with my kids.  Occasionally I have to reground myself and remember that sometimes simple is best.  I use a little visualization trick...I imagine the sweetest little preschool I can conjur up in my mind and think of the children engaged in the most stereotypical, old-fashioned, traditional preschool-ey tasks possible.  And then I take all of 2 minutes to prepare them (yeehaw!) and my kids are enthralled.  

So here's playdough.  Just playdough. 

 Beck is using some leftover green stuff we made at Christmastime from my favorite recipe. 

 Quinn mashed together a storebought can of purple and some leftover green. 

 Tools include some mini rollers, some blunt knives, some pizza cutters (2 that are almost identical but for some reason my kids fight over the "better one"), a couple of cookie cutters and a couple pieces of pvc scraps found in Daddy's shop.  Oh and a couple of buttons. 

 This was Beck's first intro to playdough and he ADORES it.  He asks for it at least a dozen times a day.  I save it for "tablework time" in the mornings after breakfast. 

Did I tell you it's just playdough?  Plain ole playdough.  Not even Pinterest playdough.  Just plain playdough.  And they played with it around 15ish minutes for 3 days this week. 

Now that's not to say I am not going to expand on the playdough and add in some other elements to encourage their creativity as time goes on.  It's just a reminder to be simple sometimes.  :)