Structured Play

Joey enjoys turning his sensory box into a make shift kitchen. This month their are beans, a toy pumpkin, gords and counting blocks. He poured and stirred the beans making sure all other items were out of the box. He used the pumpkin to make pumpkin pie and we pretended to eat it. He also spent time counting the blocks and the beans. Remember the purpose of a sensory box is to explore texture, pouring, scooping. From there it is up to their imagination! Let them explore and pretend!

I wanted to start with something fun and hands on so we tried a science experience. Since we are talking about plants and flowers this month I wanted to show Jacob how flowers absorb water through roots and how the water travels through the plant. I prepped by putting three stalks of celery in glasses of water. I then let Jacob add food coloring to two of the glasses and we left one just plan water. We used red and blue in hopes of observing a dramatic change. Once the celery sits in the water and absorbs the colored water you will be able to see the color through the veins of the celery and into the leaves at the top of the stalks. And the results... Look!  Here they are after 48 hours. You can see the red and blue stalks are discolored and a bit wilted. The one in plain water is healthy looking for the most part. As you can see through the blue example the leaves have blue speckles throughout.   The red shows through as well but the leaves a...

We headed out to a Pick your Own Farm for some strawberry picking. Jake loves the idea of being a farmer so this was right up his alley! We try to do as many pick your own farms as we can! I like for Jacob to see where his food comes from and to have an appreciation for the work that it takes getting food to the table. If you want to find a pick your own farm by you check out; pickyourown.org .  Look! He filled his basket full of strawberries (his favorite fruit) and asked the whole way home what we would make with them. So, I had to get creative and pick out a few recipes. Not that he didn't just eat them by themselves! He had plenty along, that gives you an idea how many we had! We made a few different things but today we pureed some of the strawberries for Strawberry Oatmeal Bars. Jake has been helping in the kitchen since he was about a year old. (ok, before that he thought he was helping but was really just making a mess for me to pick up!) He loves food and loves t...

We headed to the kitchen for some Structured Play time today! I make sure I let Jake do all the "work." He loves to do everything and it is important life-skills he is building. Now, of course, he makes a bit of a mess but this is a time where I just have to get over my need for control and have a good time.  I do have to help Jake stir the ingredients to make sure everything is thoroughly mixed but he does need to stir for a while and give it a good attempt. Stirring is a great way to practice hand-eye contact and motor skills! I had the heard cookie cutter out but he had to pull out the reindeer as well! ;) He is great with the cookie cutter but I have to pick the dough up after he cuts the shapes out. He tries but his little hands have more strength than he knows and he always ends up breaking the pieces.   We decorated the cookies after we were finished baking them. Jake really enjoys decorating them! Pretty cute and totally yummy! 

I feel it is very important to include Jacob in food preparation. I think it makes a differences in a child's life to know where their food comes from and how it is prepared. Jacob loves being in the kitchen with me and helping whenever he can.   I try to include a kitchen activity at least once each month and what better better thing to make this month than Christmas cookies. We made sugar cookies, rolled them out and cut out shapes. Baby Joey helped with moral support! He was so busy "talking" that he kicked off his sock! Making the cookies was a good time but the real fun came when we iced them!  That is Jake "sampling" the icing. He didn't bother licking the spatula he just stuck his hand right in! I, of course, told him not to do that but it did not stop it from sneaking a bite or two! :) Jake had a great time decorating. He was so focused on decorating that he barely said a word. I suggested that he use sprinkles and cinnamon circle...