There are only 59 days left until Spring, but who's counting? This time of year, right around Tu B'Shevat (which begins tonight, into tomorrow), I start to feel a wee bit antsy. I waver between re-reading
Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series and seed catalogs. This year, I combined the two and read
The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes that Inspired the Little House Books by historian and master gardener, Marta McDowell. The somewhat unpredictable winter climate of Virginia has us in and out, out and in. When we are out, we are happily playing in our play garden, picking up and collecting sticks, whipping up delicacies in our mud kitchen or watching the birds enjoy our seed. And when we are in, I want to hunker down and handcraft.
This time of year truly beckons me to craft and create, whether it's painting wooden peg dolls, needle-felting, making melt and pour beeswax candles or lotion bars, knitting, sewing or embroidery. I also long to be surrounded by greenery and plant life. In reality, I am surrounded by little children and not much is green and lively out there. So I bring a bit of green indoors and the children get busy handcrafting as well--in their own way!
I've written a bit before on
handcrafts with children. I used to reserve my time while the kids napped or slept for working on projects (and often I still do), but the kids are very curious about what I do. They also want to help and try it out! Neither of the boys are quite ready for knitting or sewing by hand, but there are things they
can do now and like to do. S is probably ready to learn finger knitting this year and work more independently with
embroidery and both boys really like stringing buttons and beads onto pipe cleaners and working with yarn and fabric in their own creative ways. These are fabulously useful loose parts to include in an art center! So with some updates to our shared space and play area, we are all ready to go when the weather outside or early sunset dictate that our time be spent indoors.
little hands are encouraged to please touch these plants and the boys have a great time hiding little birds among the foliage
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| Our sensory table is simple and a bit of a Tu B'Shevat/recycling themed extension: dried beans and items from our recycling bin are combined with a couple of scoops for pouring, transferring, building, constructing and more... |
Our art and writing center are stocked and ready for the boys to access their favorite activities along with some new ones...
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| S is really into writing these days and, little brother Y loves to follow suit! They both especially love using the pencil sharpener--this is quite handy for me, since I have a lot of pencils I need sharpened. S also loves cutting papers from our scrap paper bin. For a long time, he stored these in the tiny trash can and threw them away, but a couple of weeks ago, Y started digging through it for pieces to glue to a collage. I added in a small scraps box they can use for "pretty" scraps that can be used once more and now everyone is happy, even the trees! |
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| I always keep these small drawers stocked with some coloring materials and small papers, cards and bookmarks. I change out the coloring supplies every so often to keep it exciting. S and Y LOVE tape. S was so happy when we got a tape dispenser last year, and it's definitely been a more economical way to keep up with both boys' tape habits than the small rolls. I love keeping recycled sushi trays available for paint, small loose parts/collage parts (great for portion control) and transferring a smaller amount of crayons, markers or other materials to a table or work space. |
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| Our writing drawers change out with our themes (currently one drawer has pet/vet themed materials to go with our dramatic play center and the other one has winter themed materials). The bottom drawer has become home to glue sticks, larger scissors or other types of tape, hole punches, pencil grips and other necessary odds and ends. |
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| Both boys love using pipe cleaners and buttons. Stringing buttons on pipe cleaners and otherwise bending, twisting and manipulating the wire or using buttons for sorting, sewing, etc. are great fine motor building activities. Each of the boys can use the materials in their own way and at their own level. |
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| Our embroidery basket has a couple of hoops fit with burlap (great for early sewers) and a tin with blunt size 13 tapestry needles, a few colors of embroidery thread and a tape measure. This is more geared toward S's ability level right now, but Y can use the materials with my help as well. |
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| Ah, those scraps of leftover yarn that are too small for even a one-skein project. In different colors and textures, the boys love to touch and unravel it and pretend to knit using large, blunt wooden knitting needles. They can probably also begin to help me unravel and wind my own skeins of yarn at this point! |
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| The Fabric Basket gets used in a variety of ways--from becoming a blanket or outfit for a small doll to a costume piece for one of the boys or "dirty laundry to be washed" or even a rag for cleaning or wrap for a gift or parcel of food. It's also a great way to use the bits of fabric I have leftover from projects or favorite pieces of old clothes, blankets or other textiles we couldn't completely part with once they got too worn out to use or donate. |
I do have visions of Spring and starting seeds and basking in the warm sun. But there's no use in simply waiting and watching. There is plenty to do in the meantime! In fact, surrounded by a bit of the outdoors brought in and my family, I can really come to enjoy the slower, gentler pace of winter. .There is a a beautiful rhythm of knitting needles clanking, thread pulling up and through and back down and through, and even the front door opening and closing as we go in and out, out and in, all the while happily playing!
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| A bit of "out" brought in for winter along with some forced amaryllis bulbs--some faring better than others... |
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