An art desk in her room and making a colored pencil holder

Quinn has been begging for an art desk in her room for quite some time now.  I've held off because art desks can get messy....lids get left off markers....oil pastels get dropped on the floor.....crayons get stepped on.  I like our art desk where I can keep an eye on it and give reminders to clean up properly.  Finally, though, we decided at almost-seven she was ready to have one in her room.  We started off so simple.  We moved our little writing table from the kitchen up to her room.  They weren't using that table for art or writing since I set up the big table in the living room.  Thus it had just become a place to pile junk, so I wasn't too sad to repurpose it!  In her room I set it up with a painting the neighbor had made her, a bulletin board to hold some of her finished work, a sketch pad (actually she is already on her third one!), a marker block and a colored pencil block.  Less items means less she has to maintain.  She isn't ready for paint or glue or other media in her room....plus those are nice activities for us to do together still.

She just adores her little art desk and cranks out work by the dozen.  Drawing and writing is (and always has been) so very soothing and calming to her and she often unwinds at the end of the day here, drawing by her soft lamp light.

She wanted to display her work in her room, so I gave her a roll of washi tape--that way it won't harm the paint on her walls.  My kids know they aren't allowed to use real tape on walls.  We spent far too much time painting this house to have to redo it!  So washi tape is perfect.

Lately she found a couple children's dictionaries and has spent hours copying the words onto her own dictionary.  I remember doing the same thing as a child and it fills my heart with joy to see her discovering the world of words and their features, motivated intrinsically.  I could get onto a big soapbox here, but times like that confirm our decision to progress very slowly initially with her academic schooling.  I need to write a post about that someday soon!!

She also took a Van Gogh art book her Grandbob and Grandsue gifted her with into her room and made her own versions of many of his pieces.  Be still, my heart.  :)

I really like for writing and drawing media to be displayed beautifully and in a way that invites their use.  One of my favorite ways is to make a simple marker block or colored pencil block.  I start with these even when my kids are tiny (click HERE to see what this looks like)--with just a few markers to choose from.  Now she has way more choices since she can handle more!  I bought her a new pack of colored pencils, so I knew it was time for a new block!  I just cut two 2X4's to the same size and used woodglue and a clamp to stack them.  The next day when the wood had dried I sanded the corners slightly, measured the size of the colored pencils and found a drill bit slightly larger.  I made a mark on the drill bit so I could plunge in the same depth on each hole so there would be uniformity.  Then I drilled my holes, inserted my pencils, and presto!  It looked so pretty with all the pencils arranged in color order that I kinda wanted to plop that baby in the middle of our dining room table.  But my girl intervened and carted it off to her room to draw away!  And I've already had to help her with a pencil-sharpening session when she wore em all down to nubs!!

An invitation to play....with marbles!

 Have you heard of the strategy of offering an "INVITATION TO PLAY" for your children?  Simply put, you set up an appealing area with whatever play materials you want them to use.  You do this while they aren't watching (napping, in bed, in another room, etc.) and then "surprise" them with the invitation.  Sometimes you tell them to expect an invitation, other times you just leave it out somewhere for them to stumble upon and notice.

Invitations are highly motivation for kids.  First off, the appealing nature of how the activity looks instantly grabs their attention.  Second, it's new!!  And fun!!

Invitations are great tools for fussy/grumpy times of the day.  Dinnertime, anyone??!!  We use invitations on the two mornings a week that Quinn doesn't go to school--before I go to bed for the night I set out a small breakfasty snack and some type of art or play invitation on our kitchen table.  She wakes up earlier than everyone else.  We like our sleep.  So she can come down, eat her little snack, and start working or playing with whatever I've left out.  This (usually) works great in the mornings!

Invitations are also great tools for encouraging kids to play with toys/materials they haven't seemed to get "into" before.  Maybe setting it up a little bit, making it look appealing, and then placing it somewhere for your child to notice would encourage them to try new materials.  I also like using it to reignite their interest in toys and materials they haven't played with before.

For this particular invitation I had bought some marbles at the thrift store.  I set them on a tray (it's always a great idea to "corral" your invitations somehow--helps for both set up and clean up--I often use a rug, a quilt, or a tray, depending on the activity).  I poured the marbles out of the tin so he would spot them right away.  I also put out three tiny wooden bowls, a couple glass jars (on the carpet), some measuring spoons, a sifter, and a strainer.  Of course you know I tried to use natural materials--no plastic--and as many different types of natural materials as possible.  I envisioned him using them for pretend cooking play and also for music-making--two of his current interests.

He loves his marbles and plays with them for long periods of time quite often.  I do put the tray of marbles up between uses--to keep everything together, to keep marbles from getting lost, and to keep the novelty of the activity.  Every couple of days he asks for his marbles or I suggest them to him.  They continue to be a hit!!

I'd also recommend starting small with invitations.  Just put out a few things.  You can always add more items/steps the next time you use that same invitation.

Invitations also work with:
*snacks
*cooking activities
*block play (build a little something to get them ingrigued--leave it set up along with a pile of unused blocks!)
*books (set a book open on end to catch child's attention)
*bath toys
*clothes

Really the possibilities are endless....and this is one of those teaching tools that can be adapted to any age!!

Three sticks, a piece of string, a couple blankets=an outside play tipi that they go CRAZY over!

She played out here for hours...and for several days.  Until it rained and we had to take it down.  Maybe this week will bring more tipi-building!  The cat will be thrilled!  He thinks we built it for his naps.

Martinmas Playset

Next Monday is Martinmas.  The legend is that St. Martin was riding through cold wintery weather on his way to join the army when he came across a beggar, shivering out in the cold.  He drew his sword while the beggar flinched away, thinking he'd met his end.  Instead, St. Martin cut his cloak in two and used one half to wrap around the beggar.  Later in a dream St. Martin discovered that it was Christ he had put the cloak around.

Whether this story is true or a legend, I don't really know.  But the principle is Biblical--Jesus says that what we do for the least of these we are also doing for him.  So Martinmas is a holiday we happily celebrate in our home!  

We'll spend the  week focusing on the story of St. Martin and of Jesus' admonitions to be a light in the world.  Our memory verse for the week is MATTHEW 5:16.  We practice this each day and spend a little time talking about what this means.  We've also talked about many of the stories from the gospels where we saw Jesus' followers being lights in the world.  Quinn has been pointing out things she and her brother have done to be lights.  

Traditions that surround Martinmas are lanterns and participating in a lantern walk.  For my little family, as Christ-followers, the purpose of this is to remind us of our callings--to let the light of Christ shine through us and to be His lights in a dark world.  

Seasonally, with the time change and the approach of winter solstace, the days are getting much shorter and it is dark by the time we are eating dinner.  My children are discovering this and commenting on it.  We are eating dinner by lanternlight this week!

I made each of the kids a little basket filled with playset materials to tell the story of St. Martin.  We have some little figures from a Royality playset (I think it's Melissa and Doug) that was an awesome Christmas gift last year.  Each kiddo chose one figure to be their "St. Martin."  They each chose a horse from that set, too.  You could use any play figures you have at home, or even make one from a clothespin or peg doll. 

 I also put out some wood rounds in varying sizes.  Little Man got to work putting one candle on each round!  Great pre-math skill of one-to-one correspondence.  As you can see, I also got out our stash of LED candles.  These are a hit during the fall/winter season in our home.  Great fine motor turning them on and off using the little switch. 

 You can see one of the lanterns we made last year on the table.  We have 3 from last year that we light each night while we eat dinner. 

 I also made each kiddo a cloak.  It's just felt--I cut it in half and put some velcro so it could be put back together. 

St. Martin can either wear it whole or it can be "cut" in half and put on the beggar.  For beggars we are using some plain peg people. 

 My kids had a wonderful time playing and exploring with the materials yesterday.  Quinn went and got a little leaf baby from her nature shelf and started a whole new story of St. Martin taking care of his baby.  So fun to see her dramatic play! 

Stay tuned for more post on our week of celebration of Martinmas, and our lantern walk on Friday night!

9 of the 10 plagues of Egypt (from Exodus)

Here's our Godly Play set-up for the first 9 plagues:

We revisited our characters from the past sessions--starting with Moses and Aaron visiting Pharoah and asking him to let the Israelites go.

Here's Aaron with his pipecleaner staff....

that turns into a snake:

And you know what Pharoah said....so now for the plagues.

Water to blood--I set up our river scene just like from Baby Moses and we put a piece of red tulle over the water to make it look "bloody."

Next is frogs--I just raided our plastic creatures and got some frogs to spread around--you'll also note we set up the "working scene, " from the Exodus Playset.

 

You could also fold origami frogs--that would be so cute and they are not too hard to fold.

The next plague is lice--I just tied some pieces of black embroidery floss into knots and left little "wings" on the side.  

We put them all over the people.

And flies--I happened to have some little ones.  You could also use little scraps of black paper, felt, or flannel.  

 

And pestilence--death of the livestock.  I raided our Nativity scene for the livestock to use.  

And boils--I used a holepunch to make red circles and then this tape/glue pen to make em sticky.  We are storing all the plague materials in an empty oatmeal canister, so the lid was the perfect place for storing the boils.  Don't look at the sticky spots on my kitchen table that show up in the next photo, okay?

 

And locusts.  We have locust cases all over here in Texas.  So I rounded them up outside.  You might want to keep your eyes open for some to save this summer and have em ready for next spring!  You could also just use little balls of brown paper or anything brown if you are squeamish about bugs or don't have any.  :)  My kids LOVE the real thing!

Talk about how the plagues EVEN affected Pharaoh and his household.....

And hail--black-eyed peas or any white bean.  Even plastic pearl beads would work.   

 

 

 And darkness--we used a black cloth napkin over everything.   

And the last plague--death of the firstborn--and Passover--will come in another post!

Exodus playset, our winter Bible curriculum and Godly Play

We started back to "kitchen school" this week.  That meant a new "season" in our Bible study as well.  As we journeyed through the Lenten season up to Easter last year (in an intentional manner for the first time), I knew this year I wanted to add some elements.  Foremost--I wanted Quinn to know the Exodus story so she could begin to understand the concept of a sin sacrifice and what it means when we call Jesus "Lamb of God."  So many things about Jesus' sacrifice were just too hard to explain to her without the piece of the Exodus story, Passover, and an understanding of the element of sacrifice.  And thus we begin!  We started off this week in Exodus 1. 
I structure my Bible lessons along the concept of Godly Play (google it if you aren't familiar...you'll be impressed!).  Basically this means I have prepared some manipulatives ahead of time to represent the story elements--manipulatives meant for the children to handle and hold and play with.  At the beginning of the week we locate the Bible story (talking a little bit about where in the Bible it's located...concept of Old/New Testament, what the name of the particular book means, etc.)  Then I read the story and we act it out with the figures.  I typically use the International Children's Bible, which is not a paraphrase, though we often "revisit" stories in our picture Bibles again throughout the week.  Then the manipulatives are left out to be played with.  This allows further processing of the story and gives the children a chance to interact with the characters and explore the setting.  So here's an example from this week:

Exodus 1: 8-22Let me introduce some of the characters:

The midwives Shiphrah and Puah (Q LOVES the name Puah because it sounds like poop....that's the life of working with preschoolers!)


And a baby they delivered (BUT DID NOT THROW IN THE RIVER!):

He's made from a wooden bead wrapped in a piece of white scrap cloth and lots of hot glue.

A pyramid--bricks made by the Israelites:

Israelite slaves working in the field:

Being watched over by the Egyptian slavemaster:

Egyptian Slavemaster and his whip (made from a piece of scrapwood with a tiny hole drilled inside and some wired twine stuck through the hole):

The scene: (notice Pharaoh in the background in the turquoise)

The field is a piece of felt that I sewed lines down to make rows.  The river is a piece of blue scrap fabric.

Field worker with his hoe--made from a small dowel and a piece of scrapwood and some woodglue.  My kids love the two little hoes--I've found kids really go gaga for the little accessories--they love having the people use them!

And the lineup--Israelite men: 

 

 
Midwives and baby

Q setting up the scene.  Pyramid building promotes great math skills.  Moving around and balancing the figures encourages her fine motor skills.  As she plays on her own the characters encourage dramatic play.  Acting out and extending the story read from the Bible builds on listening comprehension, story elements and emerging literacy skills (we talked about how Exodus sounds like it starts with an X and the E is silent.)  Love that Godly play also fosters so many other learning opportunities naturally and gently. 

You can see that we keep the materials on a nice wooden tray.  It then goes on the shelf in the playroom when not being used.  The kids are allowed to take it down to play whenever they want to.  We cleaned off the top of an end table for play one time, but have also used it at the kitchen table and on the couch.  I may let Q take the materials to her room for Quiet Time one day, as well. 

I always make my materials from stuff we have around the house.  When I knew this story was coming up I started keeping my eyes open for items to use.  I found some wooden dowels in Matt's shop of different sizes as well as a piece of trim he'd cut and routed a curve on--it would make a great brick!  All of these pieces could be bought at Home Depot very cheaply....or you could use clothespins, wooden peg dolls, sticks from outside, toilet paper tubes, etc.  I always try to challenge myself to not buy anything for these projects!  Makes it fun for myself to have to be creative and resourceful!

Here I am using my favorite tool to cut the "bricks" for the pyramid from a piece of trim.

The smallest dowel was cut into two pieces for hoes.

I cut two small pieces of scrapwood for the other piece of the hoe--drilled into that piece partway with a drillbit the same sizes as the dowel (but not all the way through!) and then applied some woodglue.  You could also make it out of cardboard, a pencil, etc.....

For the people I just cut segments of this bigger dowel.

Once I had all my pieces cut I used a sanding block to smooth down rough edges.  Then I headed up to my studio and pulled out my fabric scrap box and my ribbon scrap box and plugged in the gluegun.  I went to town dressing the little figures. I  googled Egyptian pharaoh Halloween costumes to get ideas on how to dress my Egyptian figures.  :)

I like to leave the faces blank on my characters.  This allows more room to use them for different scenarios.   And keeps things simple.

I love the concept of Godly Play because it is based on developmental theory (and rooted in Montessori education) of how toddlers and preschoolers learn best.  They learn by touching and doing and PLAYING!  Not by a color sheet, not by watching a Bible story cartoon, and not by making a loosely-related craft.  Not saying any of those things are wrong, but they aren't the best way to engage and reach young children.  I've had great success using this method with older infants, toddlers and preschoolers.  Unscientifically speaking, just based on my own observation I've been really impressed by how much more the children retain and can explain at a later time, and I've also seen lots of extension taking place.  And though, initially, prep time can be a little extensive, the materials can be collected and used again and again (the Israelites will be used for the rest of the Exodus story....later on they might become the people Jesus is teaching in the crowd or the church in Ephesus or even Noah's sons.....).  Children also respond so well to simple manipulatives, so you don't have to go to great lengths to provide play objects.  One of the most popular manipulatives I've ever used was packing peanut "sheep."  The kids loved those little sheep and played with them like crazy!!
Another think I love about Gody Play and teaching Scripture this way is that it can be used with a variety of ages.  My son listened/watched intently as we acted out the story, and he will love carrying around the pieces, playing with the pyramid blocks, and probably knocking down our scenes (Baby Godzilla) as the we play together.

We'll be expanding on the story each week, so stay tuned!!!