Halloween

It's just 3 days until Halloween, but in my heart I am fully ready to move on to the  Christmas season. Being so far North, we have a ton of snow outside, and I have been feeling in the mood for winter for quite some time. The cinnamon and clove oil have been being burned in my essential oil burner for weeks, and the 1940s station on our satellite radio has been on rotation for quite some time. I am ready to switch out our Autumn books for our Winter ones, because really it hasn't looked or felt like Autumn in weeks around here. On Nov. 1st, mark my words, or decorations will be coming down and a clean sweep will be made through the house as I prepare for the official start to the holiday season.
As you can see from the pictures of the kids playing in the snow, it just feels like winter. 

But before I put my witch's hat and broom stick away for the year, I still want the children to enjoy the next few days leading up to Halloween. It was such a joy to watch the children's faces, as I pulled out our Halloween boxes full of decorations. Some old, a few hand made... our living room has been looking festive and I know it makes the kids happy.

In the next few days, we will be doing a fun morning at playgroup, having a party at the school on Halloween night, and a movie night at the Community Club on Friday night. For our playgroup, I made 5 little pumpkin finger puppets to go with the rhyme 5 Little Pumpkins).

The rhyme goes like this...

5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The first one said, "Oh my it's getting late."
The second one said, "There are witches in the air."
The third one said, "But we don't care!"
The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run."
The fifth one said, "I'm ready for some fun."
Ooooooooooo-oooooooo went the wind
And OUT (clap loudly) went the lights.
And 5 little pumpkins rolled out of site.

Have a very happy and spooooooky Halloween! See you in November when we can settle in with Christmas movies and books, warm cups of hot chocolate and Christmas crafting (I'm planing already what we are going to make!).
xox

keeping busy in the winter

It's January and it's cold outside. Like -40 cold. Yes, very cold. Add one very active little 2 and a half year old to the mix and well, I'm sure you get the idea where this one is going.

I am always trying to come up with new ways to educate, entertain and stimulate Noah. We have a few things that we like to do on a daily and weekly basis, but more recently I've been feeling the need to add to our list of activities and to also start some kind of a weekly schedule of activities.

One of the things that I would like to get Noah into more often is doing art and crafting. For those that know me well this would seem obvious, but I have to admit, we actually haven't done much crafting/art making up until this point. I find that with very small children (2 years of age and under), that making art usually just consists of sensory activities such as finger painting and playing with playdoh. When we tried other types of painting in the past, I had to keep a very close eye on Noah because he'd often stick the brush in his mouth or start painting the walls. Sigh! But now that he is a bit older I am finding that he is starting to make the connections and art time is actually a lot of fun.

For Christmas we got Noah an art easel and set (easel from IKEA, art set from Melissa and Doug) and it is definitely getting used by Noah. The other day while looking for some new activities to do with Noah, I found these ideas to do at our easel. We tried out doing some collaging right at his easel yesterday and it was a success! I had to stay with him the whole time to show him the process, but he loved it and it kept his interest, which we all know is hard with little ones.

Here are some things to keep in mind and how we did it:

1. I always clean up the area that the child will be working at ahead of time. If you don't do it ahead of time, you most likely have an excited child who wants to get into things that aren't part of the craft. Have everything already set up and clean so that the child knows exactly what is happening and doesn't have to wait. This goes back to me teaching art to highschool students... you wouldn't believe the amount of prep that needs to be done before class starts.
2. Precut various shapes of colourful paper and felt scraps. I cut squares, circles and triangles. You can cut what ever shapes you like, hearts...stars...organic shapes...ect. I then put them in a small box on the tray of the easel.
3. Have a blank piece of paper ready and allow the child to draw on the paper using crayons or markers.
4. When they are finished drawing, show them how to use a glue stick. Noah and I got a little song going, every time we'd use the glue stick on the paper we'd repeat "circle circle circle" because that's the motion we were making with the glue stick. I think it helped him to get into the process.
5. Allow the child to choose one thing at a time to stick on. Ask them questions like, "do you like the orange triangle?" this helps them to identify shapes and colours.
6. Once the child is finished gluing their shapes you could take it one step further by adding stickers or stamps or bingo dabbers if you like. I like the idea of adding to a picture and not just leaving it with one thing.
7. Et voila! You're done! Looks great doesn't it?

I'll be back soon with more ideas on how to spend those cold days indoors.

Stay warm!

xox

keeping a toddler busy

Slowly slowly we have been getting back into the swing of things. After being away for a month from our home, routines and rhythms, it feels good to get back to normal.

Simple things like baking muffins and bread, visiting with friends, going to play groups, and just being at home were all missed so much. It feels good to be slowing down and to just do what makes us happy.

Lately I've been on a bit of mission to find things that I can do with Noah that will keep him engaged and entertained for short periods of time. I like that with every developmental stage, new activities can be added to our list of things that we can do together. More recently, I've been finding that Noah's attention can last longer on activities that he used to just not "get" and it's actually becoming fun to do new things with him (not just frustrating).

This past week I decided to pull out Noah's paints and let him do some simple painting. It was so cute to see how excited he got when I told him we were going to paint. I decided to give him yellow and red (fall colours) and let him have a go at it. It was so much fun to watch him paint.

I then decided to cut up an apple (it was on its way to the compost bin) and let him do some stamping with it. I showed him a few times how to do it (hand over hand) and then let him try it on his own. He really seemed to enjoy the process of painting and stamping. He spent a good 15 minutes painting and stamping and by the end of it, he was ready to clean up.

We let the paintings dry over night and then the next day I decided to bring the dry paintings back out again and that we would add to them by doing some collage on top of the paintings.

I had some tissue paper cut and scrunched up into little pieces and I showed Noah how to use the glue stick and then press the tissue paper onto the surface of the paper. Again, I really think he liked this task and it was fun to watch him explore the textures and process of this part of the project.

I remember an ECE art university instructor telling us once that children should be encouraged to come back to their art work and to further the process by doing more to their work. This teaches them that there are more possibilities within one thing and helps them with problem solving concepts. I've always liked that idea and have always tried to think of ways that an art project with a child can be further expanded.

Another important lesson I learned from that same instructor was that when children are this young and are making art, the only purpose of the art project should be about the experience and process. It should never be about the final result. Has your 2 year old ever come home from daycare or a play group with a perfectly made and recognizable turkey for Thanksgiving? I can guarantee you that if that turkey looks perfect, not only did they probably have a lot of adult help, but also, it probably wasn't a very age appropriate activity for them in the first place. I try to remember when making art with Noah, that art making at this age is all about messes and the tactile experience...a final piece is not that important.

And so here are a few photos of Noah enjoying his apple prints and collage making. It went so well that next time I think we are going to stamp with found materials around the house ( toilet paper rolls, strings, cookie cutters ect).

I thought I'd include a few of my favourite kids crafty blogs and pins to share with you. I hope you find them useful. I know I have!

:: The Imagination Tree (full of great ideas for preschool play and art)

:: Pink and Green Mama (an old favourite of mine! Tons of art education ideas as well as some great party planning ideas. Lots of sensory box ideas too!)

:: a fun fall/Thanksgiving idea. Pumpkin Pie Playdoh.

:: activity bags are my new obsession. Make up ziplock bags that have a simple activity for you to do with your toddler. Stringing pasta onto yarn, felt boards, sorting into cups, and more!