Sensory Table

B’s teacher has mentioned (repeatedly) B’s interest/infatuation with his classroom’s sensory table. He isn’t much into coloring or the craft projects but is always eager to play with whatever stuff be it sticky, gooey, gritty or doughy that he might find at his favorite spot in the classroom.

Remembering Mrs. F’s comments is what gave us the idea to create our own little mini sensory table for B’s birthday party.  The table was a hit both during the party and afterwards. 

These two played and played and played…

So much that we decided to keep the fun going and build a sensory table for our backyard!

C made the table out of scrap wood from a pile in our garage and I painted it with left over paint from the myriad projects we have tackled over the past several months (the under the bed storage bin was left over from our former house)…the entire project was spontaneous and cost nothing, making me even more excited about it.

(The helmet is just a glimpse of the shenanigans taking place in what is our backyard…oh the joy of being 3 years old!)

My goal for the spring/summer is to rotate whatever resides in the table each week or two….right now we have rice (left over from the party)…I can only imagine what might we might play and explore with next!

Ella makes sure chaperone all the new sensory table happenings as they develop.

Happy Playing.

Be blessed.

Where has the Week Gone?

This week’s activities have all gotten ‘smooshed’ together as it feels like the week has sort of gotten away from us.

Monday was a day filled with errands so we we got a little late start on making our mess and didn’t start till Tuesday.

Our messy activity this week was making bird feeders out of bread slices, peanut butter, bird seed, ribbon and clothes pins. I wish I had photos of the bird feeders we hung…but shortly after hanging, the squirrels discovered our treats leaving nothing but the clothes pin and ribbon to photograph.  B spread some peanut butter onto a piece of bread and then sprinkled/dumped bird seed onto the butter like glitter. We pinched the top of the bread with a wooden clothes pin and then used the ribbon to hang the clothes pin from a tree branch (thinking the clothespin might  better allow us to add bread later on in the week).

On Tuesday, along with making our ‘Monday Mess’, we took time to read this book (in honor of our recent snow accumulation)…

(image taken from www.strangerwinthewoods.com)

This was one of my favorite classroom books…the illustrations are photographs and they are fantastic!

For ‘What’s Cooking Wednesday’ we made reindeer pasta for lunch (thank you to IKEA for providing this tasty and creative treat).

I am still trying to think of something ‘thoughtful’ that might go with this little Stranger in the Woods theme we have going for tomorrow and had hoped our ‘something FUN Friday’  would be making our own snowman in the backyard. After learning that the forecast for the end of the week hovers above 40 degrees I decided not to take my chances and wait for Friday incase the snow melts.

After eating our pasta, we bundled up, headed outside and rolled snow balls together to make our own snowman. Even Little A enjoyed the snow from the comfort of her saucer…

Ella took interest in the snow man as soon as food was introduced into the equation (blueberries for eyes & a carrot for a nose)…

It wasn’t long before Little A started to squawk from her saucer…we took that as her asking to join in on the fun…

Here is our finished product!

I doubt there will be too many deer sampling our little man’s nose…but maybe some birds who are missing the feeders that the squirrels ate?! Who knows maybe that will be our ‘Thoughtful Thursday’ activity…feeding the birds?

Enjoy the week.

Be blessed.

Did You Know…

That  “there are only 940 Saturdays between a child’s birth and their leaving for college”…yep, that’s what my issue of Parent’s Magazine says (p. 78)!!!!!!!

Seriously!?!?!!?  Oh, how I wish there was a pause button. There are so many lessons I want to teach, memories I want to make, books I want to read, experiences I want to have, traditions I want to enjoy.

With that said, both C and I feel challenged in regard to being intentional…trying to be more purpose-filled and proactive in regard to our  time, marriage,  kiddos,  families, friends, projects around the house etc. etc.

We both admit that we have a long ways to go, but know we have to start somewhere.

I recently stumbled upon this (with the help of my new good friend Pinterest)

http://www.somewhatsimple.com/summer-schedule-for-kids/

And with intentionality being on the forefront of my mind thought, ‘Why wait for summer?

So the kiddos and I are going to try to implement a new ‘game plan’ each week…

 Make something/make a Mess Mondays

Time to read Tuesdays

What’s cooking/baking Wednesdays

Be thoughtful Thursdays

Somewhere/something fun Fridays

In effort to hold myself accountable (to being more intentional and trying various ideas I see and read) I will try to provide little snap shots of things we try, read, taste and enjoy.

Since today is Monday…I thought I’d provide a little glimpse of a mess that B and I made during little A’s morning nap…

I found this idea and used playdoh, Cheerios and pasta that we already had in the pantry.  B’s interest peaked about the time that his tummy started to growl for lunch…at which he asked “Can I eat the Cheerios?”

Little A woke up about half way through our mess making. She enjoyed participating by making her own little mess that Ella graciously cleaned up for her.

Be blessed….from our messy neck of the wood!

Happy Monday