Make It At Home: Mother's Day Edition

I'm fairly confident none of my sons' grandmothers or great-grandmother read my blog (or at least I hope they don't this time!) as I am going to share today about our little Mother's Day project for this year. My sons are lucky enough to have a GG (great grandmother), a Safta, a Bubbie and a Nana in their lives. My older one is now old enough to understand giving a gift a bit better (although he requested to also make and send one of these to his almost 2 year old cousin and he may be slightly less interested in scented candles and trinket boxes than an adult woman!). He was excited when we took a trip together to pick out supplies and materials to make gifts to send the grandmothers! I gave a couple of ideas and suggestions, and he picked which project to do together.

We found some plain cardboard craft boxes that would be great for decorating. My toddler helped pick out a selection of stickers to decorate them with. He personally sniff tested and chose a color of candle for each grandmother (that took a while!) and lastly, I picked up a bag of colorful paper shreds to use as filler/protection. I helped arrange the letter stickers we used to spell out each grandmother's special title but let him have at it with the rest of the stickers. (Hopefully they will appreciate his artistic creativity!) 

Next, it was time to get to work on our card with one of my (and now my toddler's) favorite artistic methods: hand (and foot) prints! This time, little brother could get in on the fun and lend a hand, er, foot...

Big Brother had a grand time making colorful hand prints on white paper with washable ink. At the end, I chose two of hand prints to cut out and glue to our finished project and we hung up some of the rest of his colorful work. Little Brother was not so interested in providing his hands in an open position, so we used his feet instead. I find it a lot easier to cut successful hand and foot prints from white paper and use them to create a collage than to try and perfect the positioning and coordination of creating your artwork directly on the finished product. Big Brother helped position the butterfly wings and choose the papers for the background and butterfly body. Lastly, I photocopied our finished collage for each of our cards--another huge time (and stress) saver when making multiple projects like this. We will be able to personalize each card inside for its recipient.

We are so fortunate to have so many grandmothers in our sons' lives and unfortunately do not live so close to most of them. I'm glad that in lieu of being able to spend Mother's Day together face to face that they will each get to enjoy this small token of their grandsons' appreciation. I wish all of my fellow mothers a special day this Sunday however you spend it. Until then, I wish you joyful mothering and happy playing!

Around the World: Shalom from Israel!

This made for a great Table Time activity this
morning when the "teacher" overslept a bit
and hadn't had coffee before her pupil woke up!

Shalom from Israel! Our home preschool Around the World unit would not be complete without a visit to Israel. The curriculum I have created for the year will include a longer unit on Israel closer to Yom Ha'atmazut (Israeli Independence Day), but we did make a two day stop on our worldwide trip this week. We began our visit by learning about the Israeli flag using a playdough mat (just a print of Israel's flag that I laminated), some blue playdough, a rolling pin and Star of David shaped cookie cutters.

We used a couple of books we already had at home to assist us in our learning journey.

This book has great photographs of various destinations in Israel and takes the reader through the spectrum of the rainbow--including Hebrew words for color names!

We teach our son a variety of words in Hebrew and Yiddish. This book has great illustrations and a variety of useful vocabulary words that would enhance any Jewish home!

Our Israel visit was also a great opportunity to incorporate a long-term project we've been working on as part of our Jewish curriculum. We've been creating a book of the Twelve Pesukim, twelve Torah passages selected by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson as the twelve most important pieces of Jewish literature for children to learn by heart. My son has been learning to repeat and say these passages from the time he could first speak and he feels so proud to be creating his own book.

We had a lot of fun pretending to visit a kibbutz and playing with the farm animals there. He loved singing some of his favorite farm themed songs while we were at it!

We took a creative spin on learning about the Dead Sea and made some "Jaffa Orange Scented Dead Sea Bath Salts." To make your own at home...
You will need:

• Epsom salt
• Sweet orange essential oil
• yellow and red food coloring
• a ziplock bag and container/scoop for the salt

We scooped some Epsom salt into the ziplock bag. My son decided we needed four cups! To that I added several drops of essential oil and a few drops each of yellow and red food coloring.

Next it was time to seal the bag and shake it up! 

The results smelled wonderful and took on a lovely shade of orange! My son is very excited to try a bit in his bath tonight. These would also make a great homemade gift and could be made with any of your favorite essential oils and with or without food coloring.

 The bath salts smelled good enough to eat, so the last part of our trip included some edible (or drinkable) fun with squeezing our own orange juice! I recently purchased a simple citrus juicer from Walmart to use with my son. There are certainly a lot of electronic options out there, but I love the gross motor, fine motor and sensory development aspects of using the old fashioned kind. We love to do kitchen activities together and they can be very involved sometimes when it comes to baking and cooking. This was about $4 well spent and proof that you don't need a lot of tools or a lot of ingredients to have a great experience getting your kids into the kitchen!

We talked about and observed the parts of the fruit: the rind/peel, the pulp/fruit and the juice inside!

We did not have any Jaffa oranges available but we had recently bought some Cara Cara pink oranges and they were up to the task of being squeezed into some very sweet and tasty orange juice! It took some practice and demonstration to learn how to use his hands to squeeze and turn the orange halves simultaneously, but he mastered it and was quite pleased.

As an added bonus, he actually enjoyed trying (and finishing) what we made! Many times this is not the case with our baking and cooking adventures...

We had a great time on our visit to Israel. We have just a couple of more stops now to the continents of Australia and Africa where we will playfully and artfully explore the vast array of wildlife on a pretend Safari! Until then, happy playing!

Around the World: Sensory Play

While a lot of our themed learning about different countries and cultures involves directed activities and projects, I like to continue to provide independent play opportunities as well. Our play area is set up to include theme-related materials that encourage building, dramatic play, and even sensory play. When it comes to world travel themed sensory play, the options are endless! Sensory bins or tables can be set up using materials related to a country's climate/terrain, a popular food, or even colors of the flag. Here are a few of our favorites so far, including a recipe to make your own Rainbow Pasta!

Sand is a great sensory material for learning about desert terrains. We used kinetic sand in connection with our learning about the deserts in Mexico. It was a less-messy option than loose sand for a quick set-up/quick clean-up evening play activity.

Color-themed sensory bins can be made from a variety of materials and small parts. This red, white and blue sensory table was the great creation of our local Mommy & Me Playgroup (and actually was part of a Post Office/Community Helpers theme). It would be a great way to incorporate a United States theme, or a France theme, United Kingdom theme or any number of other countries that have these colors in their flag. You could adjust your colors to match the flag of any country. This particular bin has white bubble wrap, blue shredded plastic and red tissue paper. In addition to the color, a variety of textures were also explored and enjoyed!

There are so many special foods eaten around the world. We try to introduce at least some of them in our kitchen activities, but with a selective eater in the house, sometimes more exposure is achieved through sensory play! Black beans were a great sensory material to learn about Mexico. They are a fabulous filler for a sensory bin and also make for a great transfer practice material.

Rice is a huge staple in many Asian countries and will likely fill our sensory bin with a variety of play opportunities as we travel in that direction next week.


Pasta is another major staple to many world cuisines. It can be great for sensory play both cooked and uncooked. Uncooked pasta is definitely a longer-lasting sensory play material than its cooked counterpart. It is a great filler for a sensory bin or table. It can also be used for stringing, craft projects, even sticking in clay, playdough or floral foam for a great fine motor activity. The variety of shapes and textures of pasta are exciting enough to stand alone. Adding color definitely adds a new element of fun to explore. You can easily (and inexpensively) dye pasta at home with materials you likely already have on hand.

Make Your Own Rainbow Pasta

You Will Need:

• Uncooked pasta in your favorite shape 
• food coloring
• ziplock bags
• water

Directions: Decide how many colors you'd like to make. You will need about half a cup of pasta for each color, although you can adjust to dye more or less. Separate portions of pasta into the appropriate number of ziplock bags, one per color. If you prefer, you can use plastic containers for a less disposable alternative. To be a bit more earth-friendly, you could also re-use ziplock bags for future dying activities if you happen to make your own rainbow sensory materials more often. In each bag, you will need about 10 drops of food coloring in your color of choice and 1 teaspoon of water. Seal and shake your bag. Once color is sufficiently spread, lay your pasta to dry on a nonstick surface. I used a disposable foil pan. You could also use foil sheets or wax paper. Allow it to dry overnight or until color is set permanently. Enjoy the beautiful results for play, crafting, gluing or stringing. Rainbow pasta can be stored and used over the long term in a ziplock bag or container.

Happy, Hands-on Playing!

Rosh Hashanah: [Almost] From Farm to Table Applesauce

Holidays are a great time to get your kids in the kitchen. Granted, holiday cooking can be time consuming in and of itself without extra sets of hands involved and little feet pitter-pattering around the kitchen, but sometimes I find that added quality time in the kitchen together eliminates some of the time spent dealing with mischief outside of the kitchen while you're trying to get things done and simultaneously pouring cumin into your cinnamon coffee cake by accident. There are a lot of wonderful classic dishes to be enjoyed for Rosh Hashanah, from honey cake to round raisin challahs, tzimmes and more. Here's a look at how we took our lessons on apples [almost] from the farm to the table with

Homemade Applesauce:

Ingredients:

• 6 apples, peeled, cored, diced
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

One of my favorite childhood memories is of apple-picking with my family before Rosh Hashanah. We took a trip to a local produce shop on a very rainy morning to pick out some different types of apples for taste-testing and cooking!

We came home with six types of apple to try!

1. Once you've peeled, cored and diced your apples, place them in a saucepan. Add water, sugar (you could do with less, especially if you are using sweeter apples), and cinnamon. 
2. Turn heat on to low, cover pot and simmer about 20 minutes until apples are tender.
3. Mash by hand using a fork or potato masher or use an immersion blender if you wish. You could also puree in a blender or food processor if you prefer a smoother texture.

Journals are a great way to document science and math activities. Here we used a simple sticker chart of our taste test. 

After our taste test (cameo appearance on the paper plate in the background!) I peeled the remainder of each apple and cut some large chunks my son could practice cutting with my help. We are really in the "me do it" phase, so when I can I try to oblige. After he'd had an opportunity to work with this, I quickly diced the remaining chunks and got out his next favorite kitchen gadget--the step-stool! 

Before turning the heat on the stove, I invited my sous chef to help pour our ingredients into the pot. 

Once everything was in, it was time to climb down and turn on the heat. We busied ourselves with other activities while we waited for the apples to cook. It smelled AMAZING!

I used an immersion blender once the apples were cooled a bit. My toddler did try the applesauce but at the end requested his usually container of cinnamon applesauce from the pantry! You can't win 'em all... My husband and I loved it and we will offer additional opportunities for our little one to try it again!.

Want to do more? My son is loving this book we borrowed from our local library, told from the perspective of another little boy helping his grandmother and mother make applesauce from scratch. It's another market-to-table adventure!

Rosh Hashanah Theme: Sensory Play

We've recently done our first homeschool theme transition here! Anytime I switch a theme, I do a little bit of playroom revamping as well. I very rarely completely move stuff around or swap out all the toys and materials for a variety of reasons. One reason is that my son, at two, is growing more and more independent and not knowing where things are or where they go can lead to frustration or anxiety. Another is that he also knows what he likes, and likes what he knows (don't we all?) so having all of the toys and books he was enjoying suddenly moved to another room or space would be disorienting. On the other side of the coin, doing toy and book rotations on a regular basis keeps us from having to have everything out at once in our small space and also adds an element of novelty to something that we already have but may not have played with in a while.
With Rosh Hashanah coming in just weeks, this felt like a good time to transition into that theme--and one of my favorite components of teaching/learning about Rosh Hashanah is exploring apples. For the sake of this theme, rather than posting our learning activities day by day, I hope to put together some posts on different areas of play and learning. This one will focus on sensory play with a couple of homemade ideas you can incorporate into some of your own apple or autumn or Rosh Hashanah themed fun.
Happy homemade and hands-on playing!

Autumn Apples Sensory Bin

I've seen several variations of this floating across the internet this year and done a similar sensory bin for a preschool classroom that I called "Parts of an Apple I Spy." That one used dried lentils as the main filler and then toy apples, pipe cleaner "stems," black bean "seeds," and artificial leaves. I included magnifying glasses for the sensory play detectives to use and it was a huge hit. Here, I used dried oats as our main filler and added some small scoops, dishes and cinnamon sticks to the mix along with the toy apples and artificial leaves. I love that the cinnamon sticks give it such a delightful smell, adding more senses into the play experience! Most items here were purchased at some point at the dollar store, and like all of my sensory play items, I try to only purchase things I can use in more than one venue. Some prefer not to use food items for sensory play as it can be wasteful in a sense. I know there are some moms/teachers who will give these oats a second life as a cookie or breakfast, ensuring that their little sensory explorers carefully wash their hands prior to playing. I will likely set these aside for repeated sensory play use as I do with all of my dry ingredients, storing them between uses in a sealed ziplock bag. One obvious benefit to using items that are edible in sensory play is that your material is also taste-safe for those who may be inclined to explore them orally. As an alternative to oats or other food items, you could also shred recycled paper as a filler.

"Apple Pie" Playdough

Apple Pie Playdough in its "natural" state

I revisited my favorite standard playdough recipe here as a base, opting out of adding any color at this point. I added a decent sized teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice, though you could use cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and any other components of that traditional apple pie aroma that you have on hand. I love to introduce homemade playdough in its most minimal state at first and allow the opportunity for little hands to dictate what type of play happens with it. My son will naturally gravitate toward adding tools and small toys.

He is really into this playdough press right now! 

We added red food coloring to this portion of the dough, mixing it inside a ziplock bag to prevent staining our hands. He told me he is making "Shabbos cake!"

Invitation to Play: Parts of An Apple Playdough Provocation 

Some More End of the Summer Play Fun: Rainbow Rice Sensory Play

These are the last dog days of summer. Whether that leaves you feeling wistful or (im)patiently awaiting to hear the familiar rumble of school buses trudging up the street early in the morning--or even a bit of both--let's not reinvent the wheel right now. Whatever this pending change of seasons holds for your family--whether it's school, work, holidays, or just a change in temperature (please let it be SOON), there will be plenty of opportunity for novelty and fresh starts. These are the days, rather, that I choose to revisit old favorites. In our house, we are gearing up for our Mommy & Me Homeschool adventure--something that has plenty of novelty to both me and my son, as I've taught preschool out of the house for the better part of the last decade but not yet taught my own preschooler in the house! But as we excitedly count down the days until we embark on this journey, we're enjoying some low key favorite play activities. Ideally these are activities that require minimal prep or prep that my son can help with and enjoy. Ideally they are activities he can sustain with an age appropriate level of independence as I alternate between playing along, being a spectator and preparing materials for the weeks to come. One such activity we've enjoyed these days is this rainbow rice sensory bin:

 Dry rice makes for a fabulous sensory material. Although many moms and teachers (sometimes myself included) have mixed feelings about food items being used for sensory play as opposed to eating and whether this is wasteful, I feel like dry rice is a material that can be used repeatedly and in a variety of ways even if being served on the dinner table isn't one of them. You can use it as it and add cups and scoops for pouring and exploring. You can add cardboard tubes and other recyclables. You can create a small world using small toys and figurines related to a theme for fabulous story telling and dramatic play. You can turn it into a game of I-Spy using magnetic letters or other small objects. You can have plenty of fun (trust me on this one) even adding nothing at all and just enjoying the sensation of scooping and pouring with your hands (or feet if your little one decides to climb right in).

Dry rice is great fun on its own and requires no additives. However, dying it can be a fun activity in and of itself and make for a very colorful result! We dyed this batch of rice late last winter. You can choose one color or make a variety of colors. The best part--little ones can help and it's pretty mess free! Here's how:

You will need:

• dry white rice, you can decide how much
• ziplock bags
• food coloring
• hand sanitizer

What to do:

• Decide how many colors you will make and designate a portion of rice in one ziplock bag per color
• Add a generous amount of food color (I used about 15-20 drops in each bag--the more color, the brighter the shade, so you can experiment with this to reach your desired effect)
• Add a good squirt of hand sanitzer to the bag--this, believe it or not, helps the color to spread and permanently set in
• Tightly seal the bag and shake, shake, shake to spread the color and coat the rice--this is the part the little ones will especially enjoy. As an added educational bonus, if you are mixing primary colors to create a secondary color, it's a hands-on visual for teaching this process to little ones!
• Pour the dyed rice into a foil pan or shallow dish to dry completely before you play to avoid your hands taking on new colors

Fun extension activities:

• You can use a few drops of a favorite essential oil to add a pleasant aroma to your rice
• You can use this in a lot of ways for sensory play, but it also makes a great craft material for gluing and making collages
• We also used some rainbow rice inside an empty plastic bottle to make a great shaker/sensory bottle. I am partial to the small Gatorade bottles and I always duct tape or hot glue the lid on to prevent unwanted emptying of the contents inside
• You can also dye dried white beans, lentils, popping corn or pasta in the same manner. I've found that larger items require a bit more drying time before being ready for playing.

You can store unused rainbow rice in a ziplock bag or plastic container between play sessions. A drop mat or outdoor work space prevents massive cleanup efforts for the inevitable spills and splashes. Even very little ones can appreciate and help with the task of using a dust brush and pan to help with the sweep up when you're done. Have fun and happy playing!

Here's a peek at our first play sessions with our rainbow rice last spring. I added a variety of small world objects and even a sweet orange scent to relate it to the story of Purim since it was coming up at the time.

Play Theme: Apples to Apples!

Whether you're in the back-to-school mindset, thinking ahead to Autumn, getting ready for Rosh Hashanah, or using them as a theme unto themselves, apples are a favorite theme of mine to explore year after year around this time. Just as holidays and seasons cycle year after year, I tend to recycle themes year after year. There are always new ways to explore and new activities to try. Additionally, repeating activities from a previous year can reveal a whole new set of skills and developmental milestones. We are a few weeks away yet from beginning our Apples theme in preparation for Rosh Hashanah, but here's a peek at some of our favorite play activities from last year to whet your appetite in the meantime...

Happy playing and remember, an apple a day keeps the little ones at play!

Learning the parts of an apple as well as its life-cycle from seed to tree to the fruit we all know and love becomes a hands-on experience when explored in a sensory table or bin. Dried lentils, oats, or rice all make great filler. I provided magnifying glasses to assist my detectives in spying the parts of an apple; seeds (black beans), stems (pipe cleaners), leaves (artificial floral), and fruits (plastic or decorative apples work well, you can also use red, green and yellow pom poms). This activity can also work well as a playdough invitation to play. This time red, yellow and green playdough can serve as the fruit (you can even make it scented like apple or cinnamon!) and you can build an apple with seeds, stems and leaves.

Taste tests and comparisons are such a fun way to get kids into the kitchen. This is a great time for little ones to practice peeling and cutting with age appropriate adult support and supervision. It's also a great opportunity to see the inside of the apple and identify its different parts. Making homemade applesauce is another favorite apple activity that I am sure we will try again this year.

In the mood for a little science fun? Every year I've taught I have loved wowing and amazing my students with this "magical" science experiment. I always begin with my "Magic Words:" Abracadabra, abracadapple, help make a star appear inside my apple! Cut in half lengthwise, the traditional apple core view we are used to seeing appears (and this always makes for an amusing "mishap" upon the first attempt. BUT, cut in half width-wise, the star shaped section where apple seeds are stored in the fruit is revealed. This is a great way to introduce the wonder of science (versus "magic") to young minds. One student was so amazed by this activity, he brought me this half of his breakfast apple a month after we first tried it! The remaining apple halves make great stamps for printing if you're not planning to use them for eating or cooking.

And, of course, apple printing is always loads of fun, whether on fabric, paper or cardstock for Rosh Hashanah greetings.

Apple "marble" painting is another less traditional way of using apples for painting. You can use real apples or you can use decorative/plastic ones as well.

Tuesday Table Time: Homemade Playdough

Playdoughs are a sensory material that can be enjoyed from a very young age all the way through adulthood. Even very little ones can appreciate exploring taste safe and homemade options. There's a lot of great playdoughs, clays and similar sensory materials on the market available at craft and hobby stores and there are also a lot of wonderful recipes to make your own using ingredients you already have to some more obscure ones. My son could play with playdough every day and likely never tire of it. I do keep a stock of the store-bought stuff on hand but I also love the process of making my own and he's now at the age where he can really appreciate climbing up on his step-stool and helping out with the process in the kitchen.

The most common recipe I use for playdough is the classic stove-top recipe below:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup salt
• 2 TBSP cream of tartar
• 1 TBSP vegetable oil
• 1 cup water

Optional additional ingredients: 

To add color:

food coloring, liquid watercolor or tempura paint

To add scent:

 extracts, essential oils, spices

To add texture:

glitter, beads, sequins

Directions:

Mix first 3 ingredients in a medium pot. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Cook and continue to stir over medium heat about 3-5 minutes. The mixture will start to thicken and become lumpy. Continue to cook and stir until it forms a blob in the middle of the pot. Remove from heat. The dough will be quite hot so handle cautiously at first--this is not the part little ones should help with! Once it is cool enough to handle, knead on a nonstick surface (I use a vinyl cutting mat or placemat) and it is ready to play with and explore. Dough can be stored and saved in a ziplock back or airtight container for at least a few weeks.

I am a minimalist when we first start with playdough. I like to introduce it unscented with no color and no tools at first. Touching and kneading alone can provide a great deal of enjoyment and fascination for little ones. A "blank" dough is also a great way to explore mixing colors. You can add one primary color and then another using food colors or paint (note that food color can stain hands for quite a while when it is not yet mixed in, so you may want to use rubber gloves or mix in a ziplock bag). Adding tools like plastic knives or cookie cutters can add to the level of exploration as well. Again, I take a minimalist approach, providing only one or a few tools at a time on many occasions rather than a whole bin of options. I am also always intrigued by the ideas my son comes up with on his own of what to use as a "tool!" 

We use playdough at least once a week as a Table Time activity. It can easily be related to a theme by adding appropriate tools, toys and accessories:

Purple Peppermint Playdough with Construction Vehicles for our Transportation Theme

Hope you have fun digging in, getting your hands doughy and as always, happy playing!