We are off camping tomorrow, just overnight but BabyEbi is so excited.
I decided to make an eye-spy bottle to keep him amused in the car. It is only supposed to be a 2-hour drive but with hubby's navigation skills it could be seven!
First, we coloured some rice, yellow and red, to colour it we popped some rice into a ziplock bag, and added a few drops of food colour giving it a good shake until the rice was pretty even.
Shake, shake, shake...
I decided to make an eye-spy bottle to keep him amused in the car. It is only supposed to be a 2-hour drive but with hubby's navigation skills it could be seven!
First, we coloured some rice, yellow and red, to colour it we popped some rice into a ziplock bag, and added a few drops of food colour giving it a good shake until the rice was pretty even.
Shake, shake, shake...
Then we hunted around the house looking for objects that would fit in the bottle (we used a 350ml PET bottle)
Once all the objects were in we poured in the rice, he liked doing that!
I put on the lid as tight as possible - and promptly forgot to take a photo of the finished item!
We will see how he likes it tomorrow.
There was some rice leftover so he spent quite some time pouring and spooning, he also emptied half the bowl drawer of bowls because he 'had' to try the rice in different bowls.
I wasn't complaining since I had a stinking headache and any quiet activity was a good activity.
I put on the lid as tight as possible - and promptly forgot to take a photo of the finished item!
We will see how he likes it tomorrow.
There was some rice leftover so he spent quite some time pouring and spooning, he also emptied half the bowl drawer of bowls because he 'had' to try the rice in different bowls.
I wasn't complaining since I had a stinking headache and any quiet activity was a good activity.
The coloured rice was so pretty, I just couldn't stop taking pictures of it, I won't bore you with all of them.
I also made him some slime this morning, I think his expression tells all.
It is easy to make:
Boil 2 cups of water in a pan, add 1/2 cup of corn starch and a few drops of food colour, and stir until slime-like and smooth.
Let it cool then get slimy ;o).
Word of warning, it did turn BabyEbi's hands green and would have probably turned everything else green if it had left the bowl, it took a lot of scrubbing before he stopped looking like the child of the Hulk!
It is easy to make:
Boil 2 cups of water in a pan, add 1/2 cup of corn starch and a few drops of food colour, and stir until slime-like and smooth.
Let it cool then get slimy ;o).
Word of warning, it did turn BabyEbi's hands green and would have probably turned everything else green if it had left the bowl, it took a lot of scrubbing before he stopped looking like the child of the Hulk!
We haven't been doing so much Montessori work recently, partly because we have been busy with other things and partly because it is SO hot upstairs, I have taken to bringing a few things downstairs for him to work with. He is really in his letters and mastered writing 'd' yesterday but got a bit frustrated with 'g'
His new game goes like this
He will say 'What letter does tomato begin with?'
Then I have to answer with the wrong letter so he can correct me.
Oh yes, thank you for all the goya/bitter gourd advice, I can't see my trying it again in a hurry though, although the print-making idea sounds good, we also have some okra (ladyfingers?) which are really pretty when sliced, lovely little stars, not sure if we could do printing with it because BabyEbi would be trying to eat it.
Lots of free resources, printables and activities available in the free resources library
Click the image below to get free access pass to the jojoebi resource library
Love your blog. My son is about the age of yours. I am interested very much in the Montessori method but in Estonia, where I will be living next to find a school applying it is not possible. Do you know few resources on-line? This is my third and I must admit I was a very diligent and inspired mother of my first and second. Now I am tired, I confess I have really been negligent about pedagogies at home. I am just too busy administering the house, home making, cleaning, cooking and coping with living away from family and friends. Is it late to restart? I feel that I have gone backwards even with the oldest children...mmmhhh a complicated comment!
ReplyDeletelove the slime! We will have to try that.
ReplyDeleteI love the slime - my twelve year old is still into that sort of thing so it's a long-lasting entertainment!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, if you go to my blog entry dated today (26th July) you will find something for you.... (Hope you don't mind, and hope it gains you some more readers!)
I have 2 I Spy bags, and have one out at a time in my classroom, and the kids love it! For older kids, or when baby Ebi is reading, have tickets with the words written on them, he can read the word and find the object. I actually like keeping the words in my hand, and when the children keep coming back to ask what to find next, I just look at the next ticket. Of course, you can also I Spy something that starts with. . .
ReplyDeleteThat's fantastic! I have been looking into ISpy bags on Etsy, but with international shipping they have so far been out of my budget. I'll have to try it your way!
ReplyDeletere: eye-spy bags, I printed out the picture with all the objects and told him he should pick an object and then try and find it in the bottle, this worked quite well, I like the idea of having an extension as a reading activity.
ReplyDeletemajiajaan - I'm not really one to give advice when you have 3 kids since I only have one to contend with! But I think in the home you can set it up in a Montessori environment and rope the kids into helping with housework - especially if you set up a small area with their own cleaning supplies, child sized brush and pan etc. BabyEbi helps me hang and fold the laundry, all his clothes draws are accessible by him so he puts them away too, he has also decided that it is his job to put away daddy's underwear! I don't bother with a practical life shelf now because he gets to do it in real life. I also have him help with cooking and he preps his own snacks most days.
As for toys, we let him have one big toys downstairs such as his lego, train set, building block etc, he chooses what he wants, half his books are downstairs the rest are in his room, puzzle are downstairs and then he has the top of the book shelf for a couple of smaller toys and his drawing board. He also had a draw full of pens paper etc and can get them out when he like. I found that restricting the number of toys he has out it is easier to keep the place tidy and less likely for bits to go missing. We also have a rule where you have to put the last thing away before getting the next one out.
In your shoes I would maybe have a set time each day for 'school work' and restrict the things they can play/work with to ones you feel are more Montessori like and maybe have a theme for the week as it is easier to plan if you have a theme to plan to.
I don't think it is too late to re-start and if you are moving it would be a good time to have the excuse to set some new rules.
Hope it all works out!
Vicky - Thank you!
jojo..where do you buy those montessori thingies in Japan?am searching for one...really need some infos.thank you
ReplyDelete