Montessori Numbers With Spiders

In the spirit of Halloween, we gave our numbers a theme...spiders, ants and flies.

I bought a packet of 100 from Ebay.

First Big Seed put the sandpaper numerals in order.

Then we arranged in the ants in pairs in the Montessori fashion.

We made a big spider out of a lid and pipecleaners...he was a big help and 'told him the answers'.

Then to illustrate odd and even numbers for the first time, we put the odd number spider on a lid.

This illustrated that they appear alternately.

Then we put the odd and even numerals into 2 groups.

He has learnt the concept of odd and even from this activity...

I explained that the even ones are "holding hands".

Because of the "holding hands" idea he likes this activity.

This led onto other spider activities...

My Autumn Swaps Have Arrived!

This is the first time I have ever done something like this.

It was really exciting!

I got these AMAZING pumpkin hats from Cheryl at Time To Craft.

In exchange for these red apple tree applique tops, with apple buttons, and hair bands to match.

Her packages arrived with this beautiful wrapping.
Check out the lovely tree and toadstool printed paper. Luscious.

I swapped these 3 green tree applique tops for..

These GORGEOUS knitted gnomes...

and this FANTASTIC knitted doll from the fabulous
Wild Faerie Caps mama.
This photo is poor quality as Big Seed played with it all evening...he gave birth to them within 2 minutes!
He treated them all like his babies...so sweet.

Here they are in a sling!

Thank you lovely ladies...such beautiful crafts!
The boys and I love them all!

x

Walnut Boat Candles and Walnut Love!

We made some floating beeswax candles;

walnut boats, a star and an apple.

I bought these beeswax blocks from Ebay for about £1 each and some wick.

I melted it in the microwave in a pyrex jug covered in cling film.

Cut the shells in half with a small knife so they split evenly.

Dip wicks in wax first and cool.

Then fill the shells a little, place the wick in and it should stick a bit.

Then pour wax to the top, secure wicks in place with matchsticks.

The star and apple moulds use the same wick instructions.

Grease moulds first, then pour a little wax in and hold the moulds down firm on the tin foil.

Once this cools, add wick and top up.

This is great for science- as it goes from liquid to solid super fast!

Here they are ready to display.

They came out of the moulds easily too.

I filled a pasta bowl with green glass beads and water.

They are so beautiful.

Big Seed was enthralled all through dinner.

Did you know walnuts have hearts?

Each one when cut through the middle looks like this.

Walnut love

x

Caves and Lights

Hey Little Seed, where you going?

On an adventure?

Into the dark, dark cave?

Make sure you have got your torch with you!

I see your brother is hiding in the corner,

having fun with his torch.

It sure is big in here.

What was that noise??

Wow, magical stalactites.

I'll be back to play some Halloween games here.

The lights were made by making holes with a screwdriver and sticking fairy light bulbs into the top of the cardboard.

In a few days time, this box will be turned into a car/train/bus,

but I am hoping to get some Halloween roleplay out of it first.

It's the first time the boys have played with torches.

October Table Centerpiece and Candle Magic

This is our latest centerpiece for our evening meal.

Glass jars filled with Autumn treasures.

( Wooden acorns, leaves, acorns, nuts and pine cones.)

The glass jar in the middle has been decorated with luscious red blueberry leaves.

(Don't use ELC glue as it doesn't stick too well, some leaves peeled off.)

It burns with such a warm glow.

I put in a beeswax candle we made earlier in the year so we don't inhale paraffin wax while we eat.

A bit of candle magic:

This is a candle made of a beeswax sheet.

It burnt like this leaving holes like a web!

Love it!

x

Cone Gnomes

Big Seed put these together... they look very funny.

They took no time at all...

You need:

Pine cones, felt, felted balls, snail shell, wool roving, and a glue gun.

Just stick all the bits together...add a beard with a felting needle.

Big Seed wanted to put faces on them this time, and gave their beards a severe trim!

They were immediately taken to his "Dentist surgery" to wait as patients.

This is no ordinary dentist... here you are shaken by Little Seed to see if any work needs doing.

Perhaps to see if any teeth fall out in this process?

Then you are rolled out the door, Pronto!

Next patient please!

Online Supermarket Role Play Area - Read Through Play

As it is the season of Harvest, we have created a food shop

which takes online orders and delivers them.

Here is how it works:

The orders come in on the computer.

This was made in 2 minutes from an old Amazon cardboard envelope.

Big Seed types some stuff and they print out...

Here is an order.

I write objects that he has in his shop, with numerals 1-3 only.

I like to use items of the same colour to encourage him to use the initial letter to work out the word.

I make him a key on the shop wall.

He then chooses the right fruit/vegetables.

They are all made of felt or wool, apart from the wooden eggs.

It is a simple shop.

It is good for sorting when all the things have to go back in their places.

A mixture of knitted food.

This is his weighing scales... a wooden bowl.

He made this up himself : weighs everything and then pours it directly in the bags.

An assortment of cloth bags.

No plastic here!

Here he is in action compiling an order.

The bags are all loaded on the trolley and he goes off to deliver them around the house.

I keep finding small bags hidden in corners everywhere.

There are many beauties to this game:

He is learning to read, count and sort through play

He enjoys the daily repetition in the game

He can play by himself and get totally engrossed...useful at certain times 

It is easy to set up, it took us very little time and we created it together.

I think this shop will be here for a few weeks.

x

We Are Taking Part In A Christmas Swap

We are taking part in a Christmas Ornament swap

courtesy of  New Zealand Handmade blog.

You make 1 decoration and swap it with 1 other person.

This seems do-able to me.

If you want to join in click on the link.

x

Rainbow Rice #2 : Mandalas & Sensory Activities

Now that I went to the effort of making all this Rainbow Rice,

I would like Big Seed to do lots of things with it.

Here are some activities:

With inspiration from Twig and Toadstool and Bodylogique

we made some Autumn Mandalas.

I cut a paper circle and blu-taked it to a plastic plate.

Big Seed wanted a rainbow and we also did a Horse Chestnut leaf

(yeah, I know, I learnt the hard way..do easy bold pictures!)

I stuck the plates onto the wall.

Then Little Seed was aching to have a go!

Give me that rice!

What is this stuff?

Oooh, nice through my fingers.

I want to chuck it on the floor....everywhere!

(End of activity!
Not one for a baby in the kitchen.
Perhaps outside when I need to dispose of it.)

I hid some plastic number tiles in the box.

Big Seed had to find them and match them up.

You can use Scrabble letter tiles, magnetic numbers/letters, 

laminated letters/words/numbers, etc.

You get the idea.

Hours of fun...and peace!

He is matching them on the lid of the box.

A Montessori activity: transferring rice from the bowl to a glass jar

with a ceramic salt spoon.

Big Seed finds this hard...all kinds of transferring and gets frustrated.

But he still likes to have a go.

Make The Most Of Your First Rainbow Rice Activity

We made Rainbow Rice and I tried to extend this as much as possible,

as you only get 1 shot at mixing the colours together.

To make: get some cheap long grain rice.

Put some in a sandwich bag ( or 2 if they are thin bags like mine), with several drops of food colouring,

and a few squirts of hand sanitizer. Make sure it says alcohol in the ingredients.

Shake and leave to dry.

First we used a big tray.

I made a big paper cone for Big Seed to play with.

He used it to put the rice on the tray; he liked the feel of it falling through his fingers.

Then he swooshed it around with his hands.

He used a funnel for the next colour.

Then we transferred the rice to a big tub.
This is the one we used for our Sand and Autumn Sensory Box.
Here he is scooping the green rice with a spoon into the box.

Now pouring with a scoop into a bowl.

His favourite!
Playing with Construction vehicles.

Click here for some Rainbow Rice activity ideas