Showing posts with label sensory play. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sensory play. Show all posts

November 1, 2014

Terrific Toddler Activities for Share it Saturday

Toddlers are always changing, growing, and learning, that is why this week I wanted to focus on toddler activities. There were so many amazing choices so I picked out a few of my favorites to share with you. I was so excited about them I spent the day printing and laminating for my toddler. Featured here today you will find counting, alphabet, animals, printables and many other perfect activities. 


 These Match and Count Cards from Powerful Mothering are so fun.


Stir the Wonder is sharing a wonderful Montessori inspired alphabet box.


I love these Montessori Inspired phonics activities from Living Montessori Now


I was so excited to see these wonderful forest animal activities and printables from Welcome to Mommyhood .


I would love for you to check out our autumn activities and see how much we enjoy the fall.


Link Up Time

I am loving all of these wonderful posts we get to read each week. 

Ready to see who the other hosts have featured today?!    

October 30, 2014

I am so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers

I have always thought of summer as my favorite season, because the beach is my absolute favorite place to be. I have to admit as I have matured and had kids I have grown fonder of the beauty of autumn. It is a time I find myself pulled back into my love for nature and all of the amazing things surrounding us. Our love of autumn runs deep, so grab yourself some hot cider and stay awhile. We have so much to share. 


We love to make natural creations outside. Little B and Bells created this nature camp (their sweet imaginations).


You can't beat nature walks in the fall with the whole family.


We have spent several days enjoying Sweet Smelling Natural Cinnamon Play dough 



Tot schooling with pumpkins is definitely fun. If you are interested in the printables they can be found here.




Fun at the Farm Stands. A great hands on sensory and learning experience.



Pumpkin Patch Picking



I hope all children have a love for autumn. 


In our house we try to remember "never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed." 
- Maria Montessori

That is why I decided it was the perfect time for a washing station.


Nothing Fancy just good old fashioned markers, glue and glitter. It was perfect! 



A simple yet lovely autumn nature table.


The bowl is filled with daily treasures that the children find on our nature walk. We also have a huge basket on our porch filled with acorns, pinecones, leaves, and sticks.  



Our Play Space is set up for autumn. 


I hope you enjoyed your glimpse into our amazing autumn days. We always love having you and hope you come back soon.

October’s Party

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came—
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.

The Chestnuts came in yellow,
The Oaks in crimson dressed;
The lovely Misses Maple
In scarlet looked their best;
All balanced to their partners,
And gaily fluttered by;
The sight was like a rainbow
New fallen from the sky.

Then, in the rustic hollow,
At hide-and-seek they played,
The party closed at sundown,
And everybody stayed.
Professor Wind played louder;
They flew along the ground;
And then the party ended
In jolly "hands around."


~George Cooper

Interested in our beautiful playstands :) They can be found at Elves and Angels

The lovely Playsilks you see and beautiful rainbow silk scape is from Sarah's Silks

I can't imagine our house without them. 


Have a wonderful autumn.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for daily pictures, activities, inspiration. Or just to chat. See you soon.



October 28, 2014

Montessori Inspired I Spy Continents

If you've been here for awhile you know that we LOVE geography. We have traveled through Asia, braved Antarctica and took a fabulous run through Australia with The Pumpkin Runner and Little Passports. Now we are busy visiting Europe. With all this traveling, I always try to come up with fun educational ways to include the younger children. Today I'm sharing our icy I Spy Continents Activity. We are also having a fantastic Montessori inspired giveaway. Woohoo!!!    
Affiliate links might be found on this blog. A great big thank you in advance. 


If you are not familiar with I Spy it is a game or book where there are several items that seem alike, everything might be yellow, or there might be 25 things on a shelf and you need to find certain objects. Similar to a hidden picture find. These are just a few examples, but I'm guessing you understand. My children have several I Spy books and puzzles that get used often. That is why I knew an I spy Continent activity would be so much fun.    


Of course just placing several objects in a basket wasn't enough for this momma, however it's actually a great idea. I might do that next time for something different. This time I decided to use our DIY Light table, our perfect continent molds and Montessori 3 part cards. I prepared the day before making sure I had the cards laminated for easy wipe off, and added the colored water to our molds.  I also used a regular ice tray to freeze colored ice cubes. They would easily freeze in a couple of hours, if you wanted to prepare this in the morning for some afternoon fun. I set everything out on our light table and let them enjoy the activity.


They were so happy. Their little faces just lit up with excitement and they went to town finding their ice continents. Did I mention they enjoyed eating them too. 

These sweet smiles were totally worth the little bit of effort, plus we had such a great time learning our continents. If you would like to see our continent crayons, follow us on Instagram. I post fun pics and activities often.  

Are you ready to see what we are giving away?!
 I've teamed up with The Natural Homeschool and Trillium Montessori to offer you free printables and this fabulous giveaway. You can win Montessori continent insets, continent biomes 3 part cards, and a fun continents mold. I'm so excited to share this with you. 


Click here to see The Natural Homeschool continent lesson and get her free 3 part cards. 

GIVEAWAY TIME!

This giveaway is open to US and Canada. 
You must be 18+ years old to enter. 
Void where prohibited. 
No purchase necessary. 

Winners will be notified via email and have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen. 

Please see detailed terms and conditions below the giveaway for more info.
Giveaway will run from Wednesday, 29 October (midnight, Eastern Time) - Wednesday, 5 November (midnight, Eastern Time)









October 18, 2014

Perfect Pumpkin Activities

It's October!!! The great pumpkin is coming... I can't wait! I love this time of year. The colors are absolutely lovely and the smells from all of the great fall foods are filling houses and shops. That is why this week I wanted to Feature fun pumpkin activities and fall books for kids.


An amazing Pumpkin Spice Scented Pumpkin Volcano from Frogs, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails 


You'll find great Pumpkin Activities for Kids at Pre-K Pages 


Embark on the Journey has a really cool melted crayon pumpkin craft.


A book long enough shares a fabulous list of spooky and not so spooky books. 


Our Weekly Pumpkin post was a Montessori Inspired Pumpkin Washing Station


Link Up Time!

I am loving all of these wonderful posts we get to read each week. 

Ready to see who the other hosts have featured today?!    

Visit Natural Beach Living's profile on Pinterest.


Thanks for joining us for Share it Saturday.





October 12, 2014

Fun Fluorescent Glow Dough

Sensory Play is the best! For the past few years one of the things I have enjoyed most with the kids is creating great sensory experiences and then observing them while they play. This was the first time we've tried a Fluorescent glowing play dough, and it was AWESOME!!! This will get their little hands working and those fine motor skills developing. Plus can you imagine what a fun sensory experience this is? I don't want to keep you waiting any longer, check out this super cool, easy to make, Glow Dough!   

When sensory play is involved children are using all of their senses. They are talking, smelling, touching, squishing, pulling, laughing, looking, sometimes tasting (just not this time ;) and creating. 

Recipe for Amazing Fluorescent Glow Dough
We started out with my standard play dough recipe:
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 Tablespoons cream of tartar
2 Tablespoons oil (any oil works)
1 1/2 cups boiling water
ADD approximately 1oz. Fluorescent glow paint
Mix it all up, wait 5 minutes for it to cool and start playing. It's that easy!
Store it in an air tight container or bag and it will last for a very long time.
This took less than 10 minutes to make and hours of play are still ahead.
For extra fun we added in a few glow sticks and a black light bulb.



Maybe messy play is not your thing, but I'm here to tell you...
This isn't messy and it is soooooooo worth trying. 



Check out these fabulous creations. 

I hope you get a chance to try out our fluorescent glow dough, it is so much fun. 
We just love having you join us and hope you come back soon. 

We have had so many great sensory play activities this year. 
Click on the links below to see more. 






Check out all of the other Co-Hosts and see how they explored Glow Dough!







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