Leaf Hunt

Leaf hunting is one of our favorite activities. 

Monty the Rhinoceros

"Knowledge is a polite word for dead but not buried imagination"

This is no ordinary dog bed. Though, I suppose the hand quilted blanket and bowl of popcorn (which is a bowl of peanuts, actually) may have tipped you off to that. This dog bed is the home of something wonderful that has come to visit us.

That something, or someone, is Monty the Rhinoceros. Monty enjoys sleeping in the most inconvenient places, such as the dog's bed, or the sofa, where of course nobody else can sit (including the poor dog)! He always eats a bowl of peanuts for breakfast, and he loves to sing and dance and talk and share stories.


Most importantly, of course, Monty loves this sweet girl. Which is a good thing, because she is the only one who can see him!


Make believe play is a vital component of a child's social and cognitive development with far reaching benefits! It increases language usage, allows a child to express both positive and negative feelings, reduces agression, and provides children with a sort of practice outlet for important social skills such as communication and problem solving. Most of all, it's one of the beginning blocks of building empathy.

Studies have shown  that parents who talk to their children regularly and take time to explain features in nature and social interactions, or who read or tell stories at bedtime seem to be most likely to foster imaginative play. If you're still in the infancy stage and hoping to encourage a strong imagination in childhood I suggest narated walks! One of our favorite things to do was to go on a walk with Bee held close in a sling and narrate everything that happened or that we passed. Sometimes it feels strange to narrate, but it gets much easier and more natural with practice. If you'd like to try, here are some examples of things I'd point out on our walks:

• Did you feel the wind in your hair?
• Look at that quick squirrel running up the tree! I wish I could climb that fast. He went all the way to the top! I wonder what we look like from up there!
• Let's feel this rock, it's small and rough. Feels a little cool on our skin!
• Oh, there's the mail man! Let's say hello, it's so polite to greet people we see. Hello! How are you today?"
• Do you hear those birds singing? What beautiful music!

See that smile? The face of a true, creative and fearless explorer. 

Spool Storage Sorting Board

I've recently gone back to work, and I'm so lucky to be able to bring Bee with me while I work during the day. Even luckier that the setting, a natural family store, provides so many opportunities for play! Still, there are certainly challenges to being at work with a toddler. It's a new level of multitasking full of unique struggles and times when I simply need to keep sweet Bee busy.

So today, we improvised with a few items we had on hand. Some rubberbands, and a spool rack for storing thread!

I set this activity up in the middle of the store hoping that Bee would find it on her own and make use of it. I wasn't sure how she'd react or what she would do, but as I suspected, she quickly busied herself by placing the rubber bands on the spool rack.

Of course, what is exploration without a little bit of taste?!

A Day At The Zoo

Today was $2 day at the zoo, so I decided to brave the massive crowds and took Sweet Bee to see the animals!

She was ready, with her monkey hat and elephant shirt (which she enthusiastically pointed to every time we saw the elephants)!

Investigative Play

Toddlerhood seems to be accompanied by an insatiable appetite for exploration and investigation. Today, I provided Bee with an opportunity to do just that - a treasure box!

 I filled our box with some items from the yard, and a chunky bracelet painted with a floral motif. Bee has really taken a liking to flowers lately, so I thought she'd really enjoy it! I also introduced a new tool for her use, a magnifying glass that I picked up at the dollar store. We also had the perfect fashion accessory ready for this sweet little detective! 

 As I suspected, she went straight for the magnifying glass, and it was a huge hit! We spent the afternoon examining rocks, sticks, dirt, leaves, and flowers under the lens. 

Montessori in the kitchen

We are busy settling into our new home, and while we do I'd like to make a series of kitchen themed posts over the month of March - I hope you all enjoy them!

I know many parents, myself included, who struggle to find a balance between housework and parenting in their day. I have set up my kitchen to help with this challenge and I'm thrilled to share some of my strategies here. For Bee's first birthday, her father and I built her this great learning tower. These wonderful towers help put the child at counter height to foster their desire for independence, and it's enabling Bee to become quite the little helper! One of our favorite activities is preparing meals together.

Before I start, I'll clarify that this stove is not turned on, and the pan is not hot. We're using the pan as a large mixing bowl to prepare our lasagna in a crock pot. Look how thrilled Bee is to be included in this activity! By allowing her to help at meal time, I've been able to strike a balance between giving her the attention she requires and also cooking dinner.

This is the face of someone truly delighted in their work! Preparing meals is such a sensational task for toddlers. It allows them to mix, stir, pour, fill, empty, rinse, dry, taste, scoop, and more! 

Here she is taking advantage of the opportunity to taste new things - frozen spinach! I love the way that cooking together builds her sense of curiosity, she has such an inquisitive nature and really takes the time to inspect our ingredients. 

Beach sensory tub

The best thing about living in Florida is the year round sunshine and ability to spend days at the beach in February! The constant sunshine and warmth is easy to take for granted, and today was one of those days. We have been enjoying such beautiful weather lately that I woke up this morning ready for a beach trip with my sweet bee only to be greeted by thunderstorms upon leaving our home. Should have checked the weather channel!

Luckily, I have some rainy day activities stored in my bookmarks folder and was able to bring the beach to us - and you can, too! I have been meaning to try this wonderful "cloud dough" recipe for quite some time and the dreary weather gave us the perfect excuse.

Sweet hands agree - this stuff is completely fabulous! I used wheat flour to give it a more sandy color, and the texture was absolutely perfect. It feels and behaves exactly like wet beach sand! It can be scooped, poured, molded, and made into sand castles! There could not have been a better way to spend a rainy day.

               

               

Sensorial sorting

'Since feeling is first...'

Sorting games can be a wonderfully engaging sensorial task for children who are developing their desire to create order. Maria Montessori believed that sensorial experiences begin at birth, and designed exercise groups to classify the eight different types of sensory work. These classifications are visual, tactile, baric, thermic, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and stereognostic. You can read more explanation about these groups and their importance in child development here.

Beyond incorporating almost all of these sensory exercise groups, this sorting game also serves as an introduction to basic math concepts like numerical grouping and sets!

Here, I have selected three items which vary in size, shape, weight, color, and texture. These happened to be bottlecaps, sea shells, and floral beads. You can use almost anything, though, including bigger items for the children who like to explore with their mouth! I placed these items into separate jars and sat back while I watched her work.

First, she enjoyed taking the items out of each jar and moving them into the other jars. Eventually she became frustrated at the jars being too deep for her hand to easily reach into, so I helped her empty each one - that's when the real fun began!

She loved picking up the items and putting them in the jar. She focused intently on the different sounds they each made when dropped in, and really seemed to enjoy the differences in texture.

These smooth, blue floral beads were definitely her favorite. They were cool to the touch, heavier than the bottle caps and shells, and made the loudest noise when dropped into a jar. 

This is the face of an individual who is completely absorbed in her work - I love it!