Dissecting Sunflowers and Polishing Acorns

 

 

Ready to dissect our sunflower.

We started by plucking the petals, which are called the rays of the sunflower. 

They used tweezers and fingers for this part.

Then the disc florets...

They enjoyed using their fingers here.

Taking a look at the seeds. 

Daddy and the kids planted quite a few sunflower plants this year, so the kids were able to see these grow from seed. We enjoyed talking about the seeds, which are the fruit of the flower, the birds, the squirrels and how we enjoy eating a different type of sunflower seed.

Picking seeds. 

My son decided he would like to continue collecting seeds this week and set some out for the birds.

We will also save some in a nature jar. 

Another highlight from the day was the kids collecting acorns.

We set this up later in the day.

My daughter works with deep concentration on practical life work.  

Here she's polishing them with a little water and a cloth.

Getting the edges with a Q-Tip. 

Transferring acorns. 

When they were done with their acorns, we put them into the oven for 2 hours at 200 degrees to be sure there were no bugs. We will be adding these to our nature containers soon.

See our extension work and nature jars here.

 

Here is our acorn tree we played with last year:

We simply collected sticks, acorns and leaves (from Dollar Tree) and hot glued magnets to the back. The kids really enjoyed playing with this.

 

Do you have any activity ideas using acorns/sunflower seeds?

DIY Montessori Infant Toys and Play Space

The first essential for the child's development is concentration.
The child who concentrates is immensely happy. — Maria Montessori, MD

Some great Montessori information can be found here.

 

We will be welcoming our third child in less than two weeks!

I carefully chose a space and a few toys to make that would respect her developing concentration. There's no TV, limited background noise with plenty of room to play without interruption. All of these toys are designed to allow the child to see cause and effect.

Low black and white artwork

A very low shelf

A few toys I made:

A rattle and a teething ring. 

Another rattle and interlocking discs. 

A rolling rattle with bells. 

Another rolling toy with wooden balls.  

Here is a view of the baby play area from a child's eye level. I created the floor/mobile area by hanging a low mirror, low art work, soft, plain colored blankets and a basket of books.

 

The play mat is a plain white color so not to distract her from the toy she is focusing on. We purposefully have minimal toys available, and will offer only one at a time in those first few months  to help develop concentration. Less is more - and infants stay focused and content much longer when they are not overwhelmed with colors, lights, sounds, or a shelf/floor full of toys. 

 

Here are a few very simple mobiles I created:

A large, single bell on string

A wooden grasping ring on ribbon

A metal grasping ring on ribbon

Another wooden ring with bells on ribbon

 

A few toys she'll use when she's older: 

 

 

Wooden rings on a horizontal dowel.

A vertical dowel with napkin rings:

Another vertical dowel with smaller stacking rings:

 

I recently found these balls I had in storage and used them to create shaker toys:

one ball contains 3 bells

one ball contains a single bell

one a wooden bead for shaking

and one with nothing at all

 

We have some higher shelves in this room where I'm currently storing these items:

 

I created everything in this post with inspiration from an "Infant Montessori" search on Etsy. After dreaming of all of these items for my daughter and placing them in my cart, I was devastated to see I couldn't afford to purchase them. Thankfully, they are all simple to make - and for a fraction of the price. I purchased all of my materials at our local craft store.

 

It has been a lot of fun preparing for our little girl's arrival. I hope you enjoyed touring her play space and seeing her toys!

Continent Boxes

In an earlier post My Kids (2-4 yrs) and Geography I promised to share our Montessori inspired continent boxes with you. 

 

The continent boxes are part of the Montessori Geography Curriculum. They're filled with information and various items representing specific regions of the world.

A look at our shelves.

On the top are a few books, a mini globe and our Flags of The World puzzle (the flags are kept in the little box on the top shelf). We left only two flags in the puzzle to mark the countries we most recently "visited."

Our Continent Boxes, Little Passports suitcase and Around the World Toob landmarks with cards for matching.

I was worried how Antarctica would show with white on white, but it's perfect.

I traced the continents from our World Map and then cut them out on foam paper with a sticky back to adhere them to the boxes. 

Europe

Europe contains pictures I found of currency, art and landmarks online. I laminate and color code anything I print with cardstock.

I'm also starting to collect dolls from around the world to add to each box.

Africa

Contains Toob animals and pictures. 

The paper on the bottom has Egypt Activities from Little Passports. 

Asia

Pictures from Google - color coded and laminated. Pictures of animals in Asia, famous places and some origami that my son created. I added more paper and the origami instructions so he can make more. (My daughter was playing with our chopsticks that are usually included in here at the time of this picture.)

 

My son and I explore a new country each month. And while we have many items at home to add to our boxes, I'm waiting until we get to those specific countries before adding them.

 

What do you think?

Practical Life at the Wash Table

 

It's amazing how wonderful adding a kids' wash table to our kitchen has been. They use this daily for washing tables and hands when they wouldn't be able to do this independently otherwise.

 

We have used this table for so many other practical life activities that I'd like to share with you today:

Washcloths, dish soap, water pitcher, kitchen mixing tools, a large bowl and a wire whisk. 

Pouring water into the bowl. 

Adding dish soap. 

Whisking the water. 

Using the hand mixer. 

Trying another mixer. 

Loves the hand mixer - making bubbles! Here she says, "Almost done."

When she was done, she dumped the water into our washtub - we can use this for washing later today!

Then she dried her bowl and dishes. 

Water transferring activity with a turkey baster. 

My son loved this one. 

So simple. 

Washing seashells. 

Sponges, seashells for exploring and washing and rinsing.

Washing their dishes. 

My daughter rinsed and dried; and then, without prompting, put them away in their cabinet in the kitchen. 

Practical life skills in our home is such a huge part of my children's education; and I love this quote from Maria Montessori:

"One test of the correctness of educational procedure is the happiness of the child."