Beyond the Book: "Planes Go" by Steve Light

 After a recent visit to the Virginia Air & Space Center, S was enthusiastic about doing a story stretcher with an airplane theme. Steve Light is one of my favorite authors and illustrators when it comes to transportation themed children's books. His book Planes Go has bold and brilliant illustrations featuring a different type of plane on each page and very simple text that encourage repetition and some really fun (and funny) sound effects!

 This board book and its transportation themed counterparts are a fabulous resource for transportation loving toddlers! Although the text is simple and repetitive, it introduces a variety of fabulous vocabulary words so your toddler can appropriately correct the next time you confuse a jet plane with a propeller plane.

Air travel and a child's imagination can take
you as far as the moon and beyond! We had a
great family visit to the Virginia Air & Space
Center that inspired our most recent story stretcher...

S has really looked forward to our story stretcher afternoons each week. (So have I!) We've done a lot of play activities with a transportation theme prior and even a great Around the World unit earlier this year. I see no need to reinvent the wheel (pun intended) every time we bring out a book with a common theme. While adults crave novelty, children thrive on repetition in addition new experiences. In setting up our story stretcher, I did a bit of preparation and Pinterest perusing. I also dug out some of our old favorites.

I introduced our target book at our afternoon snack time while Y finished his nap. When reading books with limited text like this, I like to use the opportunity to track the words with my pointer finger as I read so that children can begin to associate the letters with words and the words with the story that is being told. We read through the book once and then I asked S if he had a favorite plane in the book. He asked to read through it again and picked the jet plane because his Tatty works for a company that manufactures jet engines. I picked the blimp because I love making the sound! Next I told S that I had a book we both could read.

 He loves using emergent readers. At three years old, he is a bit young to be working on sight words in my opinion. I first offered the opportunity to him last year when I was preparing for and teaching an early literacy class to pre-k aged children. S took to it right away! He enjoys the opportunity to mimic me as we track the text from left to right with our pointer fingers. He knows what I tell all my early readers: there are many ways to read a book. You can read it through recognizing pictures, letters and eventually words and sentences. There are always many clues on a page and in some way or another, we are all readers no matter how much we already know and how much we have yet to learn. Fostering confidence in reading and inspiring interest is always the most important goal I have in mind. Since we are reading Planes Go this week and will be reading Cars Go as well, I printed and provided us each with copies of "You Can Go!" available for free at Hubbard's Cupboard. I pointed out the word "Go" in Planes Go and in the emergent reader. S loved finding it with his pointer finger on each page and identifying through the illustration what type of transportation ended the sentence "You can go in a_____."

Before we continued with some table activities related to our book, it was time to get up and moving. I always like to get a good stretch in during a story stretcher using theme related songs and action rhymes.

We brought back a favorite song from our previous Around the World unit, sung to the tune of "Are You Sleeping?"

S and Y both loved singing "I'm a Little Airplane" available for print at DLTK's Crafts for Kids.
Next it was time for a fun learning activity to introduce prepositional language. I love using games and fun activities to expand language development and vocabulary. We recently had a great time acting out the prepositional language in Rosie's Walk by Pat Hutchins. For this activity, I printed out and laminated these adorable templates available at No Time For Flashcards. I used a magnet to affix the pages onto a cookie sheet and hot glued a magnet to the back of an airplane mini eraser. I found this in a set from the Dollar Tree, but if you do not have a little plane on hand, the free printable set does come with airplane graphics as well. I love expanding S's vocabulary when it comes to position words. It's hugely helpful when it comes to telling him to "put his book on the shelf" or that his "toy screw driver is next to the kitchen set." The more ways our toddlers and preschools have to communicate with us, the better!
Some of the words in this activity were new to S and he seemed a little unsure of himself at first but felt very proud and confident to correctly place his airplane beside, above, below and between the clouds on each page. I am being mindful to use these new words in conversation throughout the day as well.

Now it was time for a craft! S has really been working on using liquid glue from a squeeze bottle and is doing so well with it, so I set out a shape collage to create his own airplane along with some cotton ball clouds to glue on.

He also had a lot of fun with this sticker sorting activity to identify things that "can fly" and things that "cannot fly:"

We were finally joined by an awake little brother who was ready to take our story stretcher to the skies in some fun air travel themed dramatic play!

I popped on some John Denver in the background, starting with the classic "Leaving on a Jet Plane." S was very busy enjoying the flight snacks! Y was put in charge of collecting tickets (raffle tickets that are super fun to tear and dole out to your little brother). 

Almost ready for lift off...

Please keep your trays in upright position and your seat-belts fastened at all times until the captain turns off the fasten seat-belt sign...

Some empty bags, backpacks and lunch boxes inspired S to think about what he might pack on plane ride.

He deciced we'd need plenty of snacks from his toy kitchen in case we landed in a place without kosher food!

Our story stretcher closed with some free time to play in this airplanes and clouds (cotton balls) sensory bin while I heated up our dinner. After dinner S and Y had a great time playing outside with a Styrofoam plane and my two little travelers were sufficiently tuckered out. (So were their parents.) Luckily, when you read Planes Go, you get all the fun and benefits of air travel without any of the jet lag!

We'll be back on the ground with some fun and themed play with the book Cars Go also be Steve Light next time.
Until then...happy playing!

STEAM Activity: Building On a Lego Theme

 Activities that integrate Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math are a hot topic in the field of early childhood and beyond right now. Educators are recognizing the importance of building a strong foundation particularly in the fields of math and science for both young boys and girls and how vital it is to foster confidence in these subjects. Confidence comes from feelings of competence and enjoyment, and there are many ways through play and exposure that young children can grow to enjoy and feel competent in these areas. Even changing the language around how we speak to our kids in regard to math and science can affect their own perception of these academic subjects and later on, careers in the growing fields of technology and engineering. A recent Forbes article presents some fresh ideas on how to "Help Your Kids Love Math and Science, Even If You Don't."

And what kid doesn't love to build with Legos, Duplos or Mega Blocks? Ok, I'm not a kid and even I still like building with Legos! When I asked S what kind of birthday party he wanted to have this year, he asked for a  Lego party. I admit, I may or may not have fed him the suggestion (along with a few others I thought he'd like) and we had recently had a great time playing in a Lego exhibit at a local amusement park.

Yup, that's a huge sandbox full of Duplos--don't you kind of want to just dive in?

Legos, Duplos and Mega Blocks are all great materials for play that children of all ages and stages can grow and learn with. From the early days of Mega Blocks and Duplos to finally being able to manipulate and maneuver Lego bricks, children are developing fine motor skills, spacial concept, architectural planning, abstract play and a variety of skills in math and engineering. S in particular likes to tell stories and engage in dramatic play while he is building. Social skills around handling frustration, problem solving and navigating the inevitable fall of a tall tower (or kicking down of a tall tower by another eager engineer) are also inherent parts of playing with these toys.
At this point, S enjoys playing with all three sizes. I got a bit tired of stepping on Legos and finding them on the floor, so one day I just dumped them inside his sensory table in the kitchen and he spent hours of days building and playing in there! That kind of sparked my idea to pack up the sensory table, a few yoga mats for designating play spaces and our collection of Legos, Duplos and Mega Blocks and bring them all along to our annual celebration of S's birthday at a favorite park. This park truly has it all on its own between its fabulous playground and equally fabulous sprayground. I am not a super ambitious party planner and prefer to keep it a bit more low key for open play and visiting rather than structured games and activities. We also have mixed age groups who attend, so having a Mega Block station set up for very little hands, a Duplo station for the next step up and a Lego station higher off the ground in the sensory table (so the little pieces didn't end up in little mouths) was a great way to accommodate this.

Even Y got in on a bit of the fun!

To incorporate the "A" in STEAM and appeal to arts and crafts lovers, I set out a simple invitation to create a Lego Mini Figure Puppet using this free printable, a wide craft stick, and a selection of crayons, stickers, google eyes, buttons and glue/tape. S was still in the mood to build and play at home well into the beginning of this week! He even made a set of Lego Mini Figure Puppets for our whole family.

When I searched the world of Pinterest and beyond for Lego themed ideas for parties, there was a plethora of games, activities, accessories and more! I honestly find the whole world of themed birthday parties a little intimidating (maybe Pinterest is the reason) so I kept it simple and everyone seemed to have a great time nonetheless. But you definitely don't need a birthday to celebrate a child's love of Legos. Feel free to incorporate open building stations into your own home if that works or to lure a busy engineer over to the art table for this fun little craft. And if you're looking for even more great Lego-themed fun for the budding architect in your house, check out these over at Life with Fingerprints.

We're still building here but will be back with some story stretchers this week that will really get you going...until then, happy playing!

The Montessori Inspired Home: The Bedroom

If you know me at all, you know that I believe sleep is sacred. I know (from experience) just how many years you can go without quality sleep before you're really in trouble... That said, when it comes to setting up sleep routines and bedroom structures I am a firm advocate for only one method: do what works for you and your family so that everyone gets the best quality rest. I definitely advocate for sleep safety and good sleep hygiene. Having a predictable bedtime routine is a good idea, whatever that means for you and your family. Starting that "unwinding" process earlier rather than later can be a good idea. It can be helpful to avoid screens like computers, phones, TVs and tablets for a couple of hours prior to sleeping and many doctors also recommend to avoid eating and exercising close to bedtime as well. That said, some children (and adults) sleep best with a bowl of cereal or a banana before bedtime. I never would have thought roughhousing playfully before bed was a good idea, but I have a toddler who really does well to release the energy of the day in that way and sleeps like a charm afterward. S began his sleep journey in a bassinet in our room. Two months into it, he transitioned out of the room. Three months later he transitioned into my bed! At about 15 months he transitioned into his own bed and he's been there, through the night, ever since. With him, we never did any type of sleep training; he really transitioned independently and we did what worked best for everyone at the time, making sure to revisit and reassess if and when that changed. Y began sleeping with me but sleeps best in a bassinet and not sharing a bed. Go figure!
When it comes to the bedroom itself, again, I believe families should do what works best at the time. Some children do fine with toys and books being in their rooms. Some children need to have only the bare essentials in their rooms in order to be able to focus on sleep and not get distracted by playing. I am a firm believer in not using screens in bed/bedrooms because that works for me, but if you feel differently, do what works for you! Bedtimes and nap times are a time of separation for our children and as a result, many children have anxiety around sleep and around that separation. Some children may struggle with nightmares or night terrors. Some children may have behavioral challenges around the transition to nap and bed as well. Some of this is certainly related to their (and our) energy levels at that point and some is certainly related to separation anxiety and/or fear of missing out. We try our hardest to make rest and bedtime transitions soothing, calm and predictable. For better or for worse, this never happens 100% of the time. One thing to consider is making sure that you are aware of your child's internal sleep clock and sleep needs so that you are not crossing past the point of being tired to the point of being overtired. In children, over-fatigue can look like a burst of energy or hyperactivity. On the one hand, it looks as though they are not tired at all when in reality, this energy is really a release of cortisol and they are exhausted!
We try to work within that window to ensure that 10 and 5 and 2 minute prompts are given before the transition will occur. It's also probably not a good idea to make "cleaning up all the toys" your final activity. Sometimes when we've forgotten this, S will clean up all of his toys quite nicely--no kid cleans up the play area like a kid who doesn't want to go to bed! And other times, he utterly melts down, throws his toys and has to be carried like a football up the stairs to his bedroom, kicking and screaming in protest. If we can, we try to have most things already picked up a bit in advance with a special "last activity" as an incentive for getting this done. Again, no plan is fool (or toddler) proof.
Sleep for children is sacred and so, too, is sleep for the adults in the home. Making some simple adjustments to your children's bedrooms can help it be a space they can independently navigate so that you do not need to be awoken to tend to needs like a tissue to wipe a running nose or a glass of water in the middle of the night. With regard to early risers, you may wish to have activities/toys in the room available for quiet play. Some families feel comfortable to have a basket of books or quiet activities in the parents' bedroom so that children can be close by while you squeeze in a few more z's. S happens to be fine to play quietly with toys in his room. He does not do as well right now to be unattended with books so we bring a few in at shared reading times and then return those to the family shelf for safekeeping.
S's bed is a twin mattress on the floor. He transitioned directly from my bed into this one when he was about 15 months old and not yet walking. Eventually, he could independently get in and out of it, which for us was a plus. He needed some reminders as he got more confident in walking that rest and bedtimes are times when he must stay in his bed. I knew we needed to make the transition to sleeping independently at that point because I had bronchitis and neither of us could sleep! I think he was more ready for it than I was, and he smoothly transitioned to sleeping through the night, without waking for night-feedings anymore. I wondered at that point if we should buy a crib, but felt it would be a tough transition from bed-sharing since he'd never been in a crib before and was already a young toddler. A friend suggested the mattress idea and for S it has worked like a charm! Additionally, a low-sitting mattress or bed-frame can easily be made by a toddler--a skill we are working on with S right now. He even helped to change the sheets on his bed and on the other family beds before last Shabbos!

A few weeks ago, S began crying during nap time, something he almost never does. I rushed upstairs in a bit of a panic as this behavior is atypical for S and found out he was crying because he really needed to wipe his nose! A box of tissues and wipes kept at child level allows S to tend to personal care needs like wiping his nose when he needs to without having to rely on an adult to get him a tissue in the middle of a nap or night.

We love having artwork by and for the whole family in every room. That said, in the children's room, we especially like to make a point to display their artwork and decorations that are meaningful to them. S is the only kid in the room right now, so the walls really speak to him. If and when Y will join him, he will also be represented in the artwork that is displayed. We keep some artwork at child level and some up higher. We also use the bedroom to display mitzvah notes that we've written about S and other positive reinforcement visuals, like the sticker chart S completed when giving up his pacifier.

 We keep a neggel vasser next to his bed for ritual handwashing each morning. The cup and basin are both smaller in size to fit smaller hands. A towel hangs just above it (on the base of a desk chair) for drying hands (and spills). S can independently carry the cup and basin to the bathroom afterward to empty it in the tub. We also now use an open hamper for his dirty laundry so he can easily toss in the clothes he takes off at the end of the day. Please note that the only reason it's empty right now is that I'm actually catching up on laundry--usually it looks like everyone else's and is overflowing! Oh, and looks like I missed a sock! We just introduced this as S has become more interested in dressing and undressing himself. We had a somewhat broken hamper that he could reach but I was worried he might get his fingers caught in the lid or end up with a splinter as it was falling apart. He was very excited about the new hamper. He needed a reminder that the only thing he should toss in there is his dirty clothing since at first it was really fun to toss a lot of different things in there!

We also transitioned to having the clothes that he most needs to access in the lowest drawers of the dresser in the room. Ideally, having a dresser that is easy for children to reach and utilize is best for fostering independence. Stiff drawers or clothing that is stored too high can inhibit this process. If you cannot accommodate this setup easily, you might consider including your toddler in the process of choosing the clothing and pajamas he or she will need for the day and leaving them accessible in a basket.

We keep a basket for tzitzis and yarmulkes as well as a space for shoes all on the lowest shelf of a bookcase for easy access and storage of those items as well. These small adjustments help to maintain order in a space that is easy for S to access independently or with minimal adult support. We have noticed in just the short time of introducing some of these changes that S has felt empowered to do more and more things by himself. The first night after I made some of the initial changes, I heard him shout down with glee repeatedly at bedtime, "Mommy, I did it!" as he undressed himself, put his own clothes in his own hamper, put away his shoes for the night, picked out his tzitzis, pajamas and yarmulke for bedtime and then, decided on his own that he wanted to also try sitting on the potty without a diaper. Potty training is definitely on the horizon and will be its own process and struggle. Success yields success. When it comes to fostering feelings of competence and confidence in our children, providing ample opportunities throughout the space of a day for experiences of even "little" successes can yield more and more of the same.

Wishing you all a good night's rest and until then, happy playing!

Photo Friday: Ready to Learn and Ready to Teach

I've recently begun a series of posts about how I incorporate aspects of the Montessori Method into our home. One way in which I do this is by setting up opportunities for S to practice practical life skills--skills he would need to carry out common household tasks and activities. One afternoon recently, I decided to set out an early supper for S since he was having a rather late nap and would likely wake up hungry. We were also planning a Make Your Own Pizza Night that evening and I didn't want him to go into it starving. I also thought it would be helpful for him to learn and practice the skill of scooping from a shared serving dish onto his own plate in advance of having to do so onto his own pizza dough.

S loves "real" dishes--the ceramic ones the adults use, and not the usual plastic versions he uses. We always offer him "real" dishes on Shabbos and more and more, I find it nice to set his place with the same dishes we use during family meals. It's an opportunity for him to practice care around these fragile objects and for him to feel more grown up. And so I set a large but reasonable portion of cooked pasta into a white ceramic bowl with a matching ceramic tablespoon for a serving utensil. I set out his plate as well and some cut up cucumbers already on it. Rather than serving several items all at once, I wanted his first opportunity to practice this skill to focus on only one. I was sure he would literally eat this lesson up! And then I woke him from his nap and we came down the stairs and I showed him to his table. Y had also just woken up from his afternoon nap and I needed to change his diaper and feed him as well. I quickly explained to S what the bowl and spoon were for and as I was standing and walking toward the bassinet where Y was, demonstrated how to use it.

As I looked back, I saw S eating from the tablespoon directly from the bowl. I explained again what it was for: that it was a serving bowl and serving spoon--that meant that he was intended to use them to serve himself on his own plate, not to eat directly from it. He was insulted. He wanted to eat from a white spoon and from the bowl. I offered a different spoon. It was of no use. He also needed a diaper change at this point (which probably added to his own frustration and angst). We battled over colors of spoons for a bit before, out of frustration, I set the whole thing aside. I have really been working on not losing my temper with the kids and had an opportunity to practice that now. I took S by the hand and we walked upstairs to simultaneous change our setting and his diaper. Sometimes when I feel stuck, I find leaving the space we are in to be helpful for resetting.

"I'm frustrated!" I said. "We need a do-over! Can we have a do-over?" S was shocked. Usually these exchanges and battles of will end with me taking away a toy or an opportunity and sometimes they also end with me losing my cool. This time, I gathered my wits about me but still was genuine with my emotions. I was frustrated and so was S. It was important for him to know that we can feel frustrated and express it appropriately and have another chance to try again. He was so shocked, in fact, that he calmed down right away from his crying spell and was also ready to try again after changing his diaper. 

I also reflected over the previous scenario to try and figure out where we got off track. And in scanning my memory, I saw it so clearly--how I was so eager in my intention to give over a lesson that I thought S would love but in practice I was rushed and my attention was divided. Discipline often conjures up ideas of punishment or negative consequences when in reality, discipline is the act of teaching. We are our children's first and most important teachers. When I teach in the classroom, my whole space and routine is set up to meet the children where they are at and to ensure that they are ready to learn. I never give lessons from across the room or the playground. I engage with my students at their level and part of that means being physically at their level. The other part of that means making sure that their basic needs for nourishment or using the toilet or adequate rest, etc., are met before beginning a lesson. In parenting, those needs are the same. Additionally, because there is not a 1:30 PM pick up in sight, we need to also address our own needs as parents through self-care. 

In having a diaper that needed to be changed, being hungry, and also still being a bit tired, S did not have all of his needs for learning met prior to beginning our activity. He may not have been adequately ready to learn. Furthermore, I was not ready to teach! My attention was divided between two brothers who both needed diapers and to be fed and I was probably also a bit hungry myself. 

In our Do-Over, I replaced the materials to the table, sat right there with S and demonstrated how to scoop noodles onto the plate. He followed up by scooping them himself--repeatedly until his plate was full of noodles. And, amazingly, he ate them all up! He was hungry! We talked as he ate and as I fed Y about how nice it is to try new activities and that it is OK to not know how to do something the first time. We talked about how even when we get frustrated, it's always OK to stop and ask for a Do-Over. Perfect parenthood does not exist. I strive for Good-enough Parenthood on a daily basis. I see success not only as having carried out my duties as parent and teacher to my children correctly the first time, but rather as how I am able to navigate and bounce back from the times on which I miss the mark a bit. These are the moments in which we all learn and grow. Part of each of those moments is asking ourselves: are our children ready to learn and are we ready to teach?

Beyond the Book: The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

It's time for our weekly story stretcher and this week, per S's request for a book about fish, we dived right into one of my favorite children's books, The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. This book is about a fish who has many beautiful, sparkling scales but not many friends. The other fish in the ocean greatly admire his beauty and ask for him to share his precious, rainbow scales. The Rainbow Fish longs for friendship but struggles to share his most prized possessions. This book has some fabulous sub-themes, including rainbows/colors, fish/the ocean, and, of course, friendship and sharing. It is a great book to use with a group of students or a couple of siblings. 

Before I go into our activities for the week, let's talk a bit about sharing. In this book, the Rainbow Fish learns that it is better to have many friends than many material possessions. He ends up sharing all but one of his beautiful scales, but feels happy rather than less beautiful in the end. He is no longer lonely and is well liked by his peers. That's all lovely and sweet, but now let's get real. Sharing is about as natural for most children as our current president's tan. In fact, even many adults find sharing to be difficult. How often do you let your spouse or your children have your cell phone? How often do you give your best friend your shirt? The reality is that we all have things that our "ours" and things that are "community items," or things to be shared. For children, sharing is an act not only in letting go of something they truly like and want, but also an act of trusting they will get it back. That's hard! Before we have friends over here, I often ask S if there are any toys he would not like to share and put away for later. Sometimes even during a play date, a toy will be taken out of the mix if it is especially hard to share. We visit public play places to practice using toys that are "community items" for everyone to share. We foster opportunities to practice taking turns both in our home and away. We use a visual timer or a song as needed to designate the length of a "turn." My husband and I model sharing and give language around it, even at the dinner table if S asks for something from our plates. "I'm sharing my dessert with you." We have successes and challenges and it is important to keep our adult expectations on the matter realistic. Sharing is not always easy and it certainly is not a natural process for young children. Some children are more natural "sharers" than others--and no child is able to be a sharer all of the time.  The Rainbow Fish is a great book to demonstrate the challenges that come along with sharing special items and making friends.

And now onto our week's activities to take you beyond the book:

We've been doing our story stretchers in the afternoon. After his nap, S often needs some open play time to ease back into the day and setting out some theme related toys for both brothers was a great way to lure them into our story stretcher. 

S was soon ready to read! He was totally into the book. Y was totally into watching his brother!

As part of our story stretcher, we reviewed the letter Ff in this great do-a-dot sheet available for print from The Measured Mom. They work very well with dot markers, glass gems, dot stickers, pom poms and more...

I set out this Rainbow and Fish process art invitation along with a supplemental story, What Makes a Rainbow? A Magic Ribbon Book by Betty Ann Schwartz. I included Alex Rainbow Crayons, a selection of standard crayons taped across the center in rainbow colors and a couple of sets of skinny Mr. Sketch markers taped across the middle in rainbow order for creating a variety of rainbows and doodles. I also included a selection of fish stickers in rainbow colors.

I love setting out drawing and art opportunities on the floor. It invites children to work on their tummies (as pictured above) where they can practice building upper body strength and have more control between their bent elbows and hands. This is great for pre-writers and early writers as well as children who may display muscle weakness associated with writing. 

Y really liked What Makes a Rainbow?

I created a game to play called "Frogs and Fishies Share the Pond." To set it up, I used a selection of fish and frog paper die cuts (available from Dollar Tree) and wrote prompts pertinent to our family like "Pick a toy to share with your brother" or "Mommy shares a toy with S" or "ask someone to have a turn with the toy they are holding." I attached a paperclip to the mouth of each fish and frog and included a makeshift fishing rod with a magnet on the end. In a basket, we collected a variety of toys from around the house. I designated S as the "Fisherman," however, you can have players take turns going fishing. I would not suggest including any child's special transitional object in the mix as these are inherently hard to share--even if just for a short time and as part of a game. To play the game, each player starts with one toy from the basket. The Fisherman fishes for a frog or fish in the pond. Older readers or an adult can read the prompt. The player fulfills the action on the prompt for the course of one song. You can use a CD or recorded music or you may allow the player to pick a song to sing to designate the "turn." For instance, the player may have a frog that says "share a toy with your Mommy" and the player can hand his toy to the recipient and choose to sing the ABCs while he waits to have it returned. It's a great opportunity to also demonstrate and model language around sharing toys. 

S particularly liked this game! He was able to practice and roll play sharing our family's toys in a controlled and safe setting.

This invitation to create a rainbow fish collage was a fun way to use up some old scraps of shiny paper and patterned paper. Along with some glue, they really added pizzazz to these die cut fishies!

In our Invitation to Create a Rainbow Fish Sculpture, we used Crayola Model Magic Clay dyed blue with some food coloring, google eyes and a variety of colorful buttons and plastic gems. I also provided some fish shaped cookie cutters and a rolling pin. S needed a little help rolling the dough as it is a bit stiffer than standard play dough. It air dries beautifully and makes great magnets if you wish to glue a magnet on or lovely sculptures to display.

As he worked, he told great stories about what he was adding, including a traffic light with only red lights and a telephone to call his Poppa! I love how he added the excess clay from around the cookie cutter to the top to create fins!

I often include a sensory bin with our story stretchers and did not this week. If you'd like to add one to your own Rainbow Fish story stretcher, water play with fish/ocean toys would be great or sand/kinetic sand and sea shells. You could also make a batch of rainbow rice!

Next week we will be taking flight with an airplane themed story stretcher. Until then...happy playing!

The Montessori Inspired Home: The Dining Space

As I searched through photos to begin this post, I realized there are almost no pictures of our dining area! The reason is that during shared meals, we almost never have our phones and cameras nearby. Ample studies show the benefits of families sitting down together to share mealtimes. In today's world, this is a rarity. Some families aim to share one meal a day, some maybe once a week. Everyone has busy schedules and when you throw particular eaters into the mix and tired toddlers, sometimes by the hour that dinnertime rolls around, all of our emotions are on high as our energy dwindles to an all-time low. 

No, mealtimes at our table don't quite look like the ones portrayed on television. Before I had children, I promised I'd never become a short order cook. The family meal would be the family's meal! Now I see why my mother often made two or three different dinners each night before sitting down to eat her own. To keep the peace. And at the end of a long day of play and work, peace is one thing in high demand here. Many times, S eats the bulk of his dinner before dinner time. He may taste some of the family's dinner, he may just sit with us and eat foods he does like or he may just play in the living room. When you are three, there is a high desire to control the world around you and few things in the world that are set up for three-year-olds to control. As such, food becomes a high area of control for toddlers. We do what we know: we involve S in meal preparations and making appropriate choices (from which dishes to use to which foods to eat). We involve him in our shopping and menu planning and even in gardening and growing some of the produce we eat. We do what we can to ensure he has adequate nutrition and opportunities to try new foods often and repeatedly. And beyond that, we [try] to relax and step back and breathe. I am a fully recovered picky eater--I wish I could be a little pickier about what I eat these days!

Today happens to be Tisha b'Av--a fast day for us adults. S and Y are the only folks eating and drinking around here, so making some simple adjustments and additions to our dining space in advance will surely have come in useful today! For the sake of this post, the Dining Space incorporates both the areas of our kitchen where we cook and prepare meals as well as the areas where we eat. Setting up a kosher kitchen in a small living space means that our "kitchen" genuinely extends beyond that room itself. Additionally, the Dining Space incorporates all of the activities of preparing food to eat, actually eating it and cleaning up afterward. I've written before on involving kids in the kitchen and cooking activities. For the sake of brevity, I won't go into a lot of those ideas in this post, but I will surely continue to post on the subject in the future. Without further ado, here's a peek at some of the ways we have set up our Dining Space to be family accessible and Montessori inspired:

• The dining space is a place where meals are shared and families connect. It is also an opportunity for children to learn about nutrition and health, how to carry out a conversation, how to exchange the pleasantries and social graces of sharing meals together and, on special occasions, how to welcome guests. It is also a place that is integral to learning about family and religious traditions. With the exception of days like Tisha b'Av, many Jewish holidays are centered around shared foods and stories!

• The table is a place where meals are shared as well as one where activities and work are done. Having a table that accommodates the whole family at each age and stage is a must for our home. Some folks like to use high chairs to assist smaller children in sharing a space at the family table. We have always preferred ones that allow for S to be right up at the table with us and favor the wooden restaurant style in our home. It is also quite nice to have tables and chairs that are at child level for eating and for working at. We have a little table and chairs where S does eat most of his daytime meals and snacks. We tend to eat our dinners all together at the family table.

Sometimes kitchen work is done right at the family table, like on Make Your Own Pizza Night! We picked fresh tomatoes from our garden and prepped a variety of other toppings along with homemade pizza dough. Two out of three solid-food consuming family members even Ate Their Own Pizzas that night--and S tried a few bites of his.

Learning how to use a serving spoon and serving dish is an important skill. Offering opportunities to practice this helps instruct children not only on the motor skills associated with successfully transferring items from a bowl to their plate, but also teaches about portion control and sharing a community meal with family members and/or guests.

•  The kitchen is a space where meals are prepared and food is stored. It is a small and busy space in our house. It is not necessarily accessible for children (or even adults) in and of itself, so we make creative solutions to challenges within the space. It is an integral room for teaching about the laws of kashrut and also for learning about food preparation, safety with knives and ovens and stoves, cleanliness and safety with food and more!

In the kitchen, a step stool allows shorter family members to join in the process of cooking and baking and even washing produce or dishes. S almost always wants to use his step stool to join in--even if it's just to watch what we're doing as we cook. S knows which side of our kosher kitchen is for Meat and which side is for Dairy. On his own, he taught himself how to clear dishes from the table and place them in the proper bin for washing! This was a helpful reminder for me that he is ready for more responsibilities within our dining space and meal times.

Kids love to be in the kitchen with us! In an ideal world, I'd always have some sort of kitchen work set up and available for S to do while I'm cooking. In the real world, this is not the case. Rather, having an open door policy (where S can easily enter and leave the kitchen at his will) and having something out for him to play with while we're in there is a great way to compromise within this space. I love having our sensory table in the kitchen. It means that S can be close by while I'm cooking or tending to laundry in there. It also is an easy-to-clean space and floor so that he can easily tend to his own spills when they happen with help from us as needed.

Children love to imitate adult activities. Part of setting up our home to include children in adult activities is making "adult activities" accessible to the children. Another part is offering dramatic play opportunities to pretend about adult activities, like working in a kitchen, taking care of babies, and pretending to go to work or to the store. Many times when we are cooking in the kitchen or preparing meals, S will busy himself with work in his own kitchen area!

We recently added a small set of plastic drawers to our dining area by the kids' table to store a selection of dishes and materials S might need for meal and snack times. Color coded drawers help him remember what goes where. Labels will be added in the future to incorporate a print-rich environment, even though he is a pre-reader at this point. I don't keep all of the kids' dishes in the drawers, but rather a small selection so that S can choose his favorite color bowl or cup without the constant kitchen cabinet battle we used to have! The child-level shelf on top also creates the perfect space for some self-care items like tissues and wipes (and at some point I will include a mirror for being able to see the yogurt all over his face that needs to be wiped off!). It's also a great space for a spray bottle and washcloth for tending to tabletop spills.

S associates blue with "dairy" so the dairy dishes are kept in the blue drawer.

S associates red with "meat" and we keep the meat dishes in the red drawer. Labels are useful in the absence of color coding and gentle lessons and reminders are also helpful. When teaching children about keeping a kosher home, it's important to instruct and remind, but not to be harsh. Mistakes happen even with the adults in the home and we want keeping kosher to be a mitzvah our children are eager to keep and not fearful of.

Not surprisingly, S's favorite new addition has been the spray bottle of homemade cleaner and the washrag! I simply filled a plastic spray bottle with water, a squirt of dish soap and a drop of lavender oil. You can alternatively use a bit of castile soap, choose a scent you prefer, or just plain water. Providing a variety of cleaning tools like sponges or scrub brushes can also introduce new practical life-skills. I prefer to have only one tool out at a time for now and to rotate it. S got really into cleaning his table and was desperate for more things to clean--his chairs are super clean now, too! The fact of the matter is that spills happen and rather than being frustrated about them or cleaning them up myself each day, we've created a setting where S has more ownership and responsibility within our shared space.

Almost all public places are equipped with a water fountain at child level. Schools have sinks at child level. And yet, our homes have sinks that are too high to reach and getting water means needing an adult to help or a step stool to reach the sink. Additionally, at least for me if I don't have a water cup or bottle right next to me, I often forget to hydrate. Proper hydration is so important during the heat of the summer and all year round. We bought a set of small glass pitchers to fill with water for S to pour into a cup and drink from throughout the day. Glass with a three year old, you ask? Yes! Children can (and should) be taught how to handle materials that are fragile. Our preschool uses these pitchers as well even in their two year old classrooms. Given information about how to handle them safely, children tend to be very respectful and cautious with "real" materials like glass. That said, each parent is the expert on his/her child and you know if your child is not ready for glass. Plastic pitchers would be just as useful to practice with! And as with any learning opportunity, proper supervision is a definite must. Practicing pouring and liquid portion control are skills that are mastered in this setup. Knowing also that spills may occur, it can be a helpful reminder to keep a dry washrag out so your little ones can tend to overflows as they occur.

If you happen to be fasting today, I hope this post has not left you too hungry or thirsty and that your fast is easy and meaningful. We'll be back soon with more views into our Montessori inspired home and a fun story stretcher as well. Until then, happy playing!