Candy Cane Legend Book and Craft Tray

As we made our way through the first days of our Literature-Rich Advent Alphabet last week, one of Luke, Nina and Jack’s favorite activities was a tray created around a craft that is hardly original, but which is definitely worth reminding others to enjoy at this time of year.  That is, they loved our:

Candy Cane Legend Book and Craft Tray

A Picture Book-Inspired Tray with Faith, Early Literacy, Practical Life, Fine Motor and Math Connections

A Meaningful Craft Tray for Less than $5

Materials

• a large basket
• copies of The Legend of the Candy Cane, The Candymaker's Gift: The Legend of the Candy Cane and/or J Is for Jesus: The Sweetest Story Ever Told.
• small containers of red and white beads
• a handful of white chenille sticks
• one or more trays

Goals

Nina loved this activity the most!

(1) Recall the legend of a candy cane.
(2) Create the alphabet letters “c” and “j”.
(3) Experiment with patterns while stringing beads.
(4) Offer a fun, focused opportunity for fine motor control,  hand-eye coordination and patience.

Set Up

1.      Place copies of The Legend of the Candy Cane, The Candymaker's Gift: The Legend of the Candy Cane and/or J Is for Jesus: The Sweetest Story Ever Told in a large basket.  (If you don't have access to these, simply search “candy cane legend” or “candy cane legend poem” for brief online versions of the legend to share the faith-based symbolism of candy canes with children.  Then, search for images of candy canes with varying patterns/thicknesses of stripes to inspire different beading patterns.)

2.      In front of these, place a handful of white chenille sticks and several small containers of red and white pony beads.  (We used recycled, single-serve apple sauce containers for our pony beads.  Glass, ceramic or wooden bowls would be more appealing. Holiday patterned ones might be more fun.)

3.      Place the basket on a large tray.(We used the top of a bed tray that long since lost it's legs.  An inexpensive plastic holiday tray might be a fun alternative.)

4.      If desired, put a stack of other trays nearby so multiple children can enjoy the activity at once.  (We use ones we have around the house, including dollar store aluminum cookie trays and wooden trays from our wedding.)

Procedure

Luke, Proud of His AA-BB and A-B-A-B Patterns

1.      Pre-read The Legend of the Candy Cane, The Candymaker's Gift: The Legend of the Candy Cane and/or J Is for Jesus: The Sweetest Story Ever Told with children.

2.     Present the book and craft tray, asking children to retell one or more of the stories in their own words, or to explain the symbolism of the candy cane.

3.     If children are unfamiliar with beading activities, demonstrate how to take a bead form the container and to string it on a chenille stick.  Go especially slowly when demonstrating how to twist the chenille stick around the first and last beads to keep the rest of the beads from falling off.

4.      Suggest looking at the illustrations in the book to get ideas for beading patterns.

5.      If necessary, demonstrate how to shape finished bead sticks into candy cane shapes.

Skills, Learning and Concepts

• Faith (the legend connects the color and shape of the candy cane to Christian history)
• Early Literacy (retelling stories, making bead sticks into the letter “c” for candy cane and then shaping them into the letter “J” for Jesus before turning them upside down to make shepherd crook shapes)
• Practical Life (creating ornaments, perhaps to be used as gifts; exercising eye-hand coordiantion)
• Fine Motor (picking up pony beads; stringing beads on chenille sticks; twisting chenille sticks around beads at the beginning and end of beading; manipulating finished bead sticks into candy cane shapes)
• Math (creating and talking about patterns, such as A-B-A-B or AA-BB-AA-BB, or A-BB-A-B-A—A-BB-A-B-A)
• Art (discussing lines, shapes and colors)
• Focus (concentrating stringing and remaining patient while coordinating movement to string beads)

Notes/Quick Tips/Extensions

At 2 1/2, Jack was completely engaged in this activity.

• Children of all different ages and skills?  Differentiate by using various shaped and sizes of beads, paying more attention to the size of the inside hole in them than the shape or size of the outer portion, to increase or decrease the attention needed to string the beads onto the chenille sticks.

• Of course, pony beads can be a choking hazard and chenille sticks can have sharp ends that can scratch skin or poke an eye out.  Use common sense precautions when presenting this activity to young children.  If you are concerned about the ends of the chenille sticks, use needle nose pliers to turn the pointy, wiry bits down in order to make more rounded end points.

• Don’t want to play find-and-pick-up-the-pony-beads all week?  You might not want to leave this tray constantly available or your two-year-old, like mine, could become so overjoyed with the sound of cascading pony beads that you find your entire living room floor decorated with spilled beads.

• Concerned about historical accuracy?  Be aware that the candy cane legend is just that, a legend.  Perhaps discuss with older children how faith ideas are often layered onto pre-existing traditions, creating beautiful “new” symbolism.

• No beads around?  No problem?  Children can also enjoy making candy canes, while getting a fine motor workout, by simply twisting red and white chenille sticks around one another.

• Discouraged beaders?  Adapt!  Cut the chenille sticks in half or even in thirds to lessen the amount of actual beads that need to be strung to make a candy cane.

• Have a low budget?  Do not disregard this activity.  If you have a Dollar Tree nearby, the activity can cost $5 of less.  A bag of red beads, a bag of white beads and  package of chenille sticks that includes white ones can be had for $3.  If you have no basket or tray about, an aluminum cookie tray and a basket can be purchased for an extra $2.

• Planning a party or playdate?  Check out the ideas at the end of The Candymaker's Gift: The Legend of the Candy Cane.  They include a menu of candy cane celebration activities, instructions for making candy cane themed decorations and a list of Bible verses that support each of the ways candy canes can be used as faith symbols. 

Homeschool Methods and Approaches Connections

• Montessori:  This activity makes an excellent one for the Practical Life shelves.
• Workboxing:  Skip the tray and simply slip a book, a baggie of beads and some chenille sticks into a box or drawer.
• Reggio:  Skip the demonstrations.  Leave the basket out at a provocation and see where the children take the idea.
• Sensory Smart:  Use this activity when calming and focusing are in order, but bracket it with activities that will warm your child up for fine motor challenges and give your child enough gross motor heavy work to balance the sedentary nature of the craft.

If you have tried this or other beading activities, we’d love for you to share your own tweaks and experiences.  We’d also love to hear about other Legend of the Candy Cane crafts and activities your children enjoy.   to hear how it went.  We’d also love to your ideas for variations, extensions and sensory connections.  Please share!

Please note: Links to Amazon within this post and others are affiliate ones. Should you choose to click through one to make an Amazon purchase, we may receive a small percentage of the sale. This does not cost you anything, but is a choice we thank you for making. Anything we make from links goes straight back into training up our children and to much of what we share with you here. Thank you!

Want to be inspired with others' Montessori ideas and work?  Click on over to Montessori Monday and enjoy.

Baby Steps towards More Organized Kids Art Supplies: Crayons

Since the Reggio Emilia model of early childhood education piqued my interest, I have dreamed of having an incredible home art studio for my children.  Space and organization (or lack thereof) work against making this dream a reality anytime soon.  But, if I hope to provide my children any semblance of such a space before they transition from preschool to their prepubescent years in the blink of an eye, I’ve got to stop fantasizing and start making time to take baby steps!

One baby step I have taken in the past month is to re-purpose a clear vinyl over-the-door shoe bag as an accessible art supply center for the kids.  Now, I know, this is not anything earth shattering or original but it is a tiny step in a direction I seek to go and, more importantly, it has helped the Luke and Nina keep their crayons more organized for over a month!  To me, that equals success since all my prior attempts at crayon corralling and organization have proved fruitless.

So, what’s the system?  Simple!

We hung the bag over the door to our Office/Play and Learning Space and put plastic cups in the pockets.  We were going to fill each of the pockets, but decided to do so only one medium at a time.  (So the kids can build habits of taking care of supplies slow and steady.)

The quintessential cliche of kid's art supplies came first then:  crayons.  (Not because we like being cliche, but, rather, because I am so tired of finding crayons everywhere, despite different storage and access solutions I have tried in the past for them.)

So, the kids then sorted their crayons out into “color families” by hot and cool colors and ones they thought blended together well.

They put these in the pockets.

Now, whenever they need crayons, they simply go take the cups out and bring them to wherever they want to use them, returning them when they are finished.

Fewer crayons are lost in odd corners of our home; less are being prematurely and unintentionally crushed to bits (say, by being stepped on as opposed to being purposely broken for DIY recycled crayons.)  Everyone knows where the crayons go (except Jack, who is convinced they go in mouths!) 

Life is good.  One baby step at a time, slow and steady, we are succeeding in Organizing Homeschool and supplies. 

A Learning Story: The Boy Who Drew A List and Made A Book

Learning Stories are a form of assessment, reflection and sharing that I first heard about through a Reggio yahoogroup I belong to, which offered a link to this website.  Basically, they consist of narration and photos (or other visual documentation) that tell the story of a child's singular learning experience, followed by a "What It Means" section, an "Opportunities and Possibilities" section and a "Parent's Voice" section.   There is no right or wrong way to write them, but, to be most effective, there are conventions that a man named Tom Drummond conveniently summarized in a PDF entitled Writing Learning Stories.

Folks who used to scrapbook or currently blog, like me, might enjoy adapting the Learning Stories concept for their own use to create both memories and documentation about their child's learning and development.  I know I intend to start creating some well-developed ones.

Here is my first attempt:

The Boy Who Drew A List and Made A Book

Recently, we have gotten our printer working again, and Luke is very excited about it.  Daily, he asks for print outs of different things that interest him.  This morning, he asked me to print him a number of things and waited, not so patiently, while I finished what I was doing, so I could print him some things.  As he waited, he persisted in his request by making comments such as, "I like print out books, Mom," and, "Please print me some cats and babies."   He kept asking for things over and over until I got annoyed and corrected his behavior.

Despite this, when I was ready and Luke had demonstrated some better behavior, I printed him some coloring pages. He quickly set to work coloring them.

He colored the cat page, before writing "Dad" and "Luke" on it, 

because there was "a kitty Daddy and there was a kitty Luke, Mom."

He also colored the baby one, wrote "LUKE" on both that one and the cat one,

"because they are my things.  That's why I wrote 'Luke' on them, Mama," 

and he wrote Jack on the baby one because "that's the baby's name."

When he finished the cat and baby coloring, Luke asked me for more print outs.  I told him that we had other things to do and that if he kept asking me over and over again to print things, I would not print him anything.  Asking once and knowing I would help him later was what I expected.

Later in the day, after we had enjoyed outdoor time, lunch and some other activities together, I sat down to do some work.  As soon as the computer was turned on, Luke requested more print outs.  I told him I could not comply with his request yet, because I had to finish a task.  I then eminded him not to persist in asking me for print outs over and over and, instead, suggested that he build some K'nex rockets or entertain his brother.  He did both of these things and also sketched some drawings of:

some astronauts,

a football guy,

 a hockey guy

and a dog.

After some time, Luke was ready for me to take a break and thought I might be ready to stop my work as well.  So, he brought me his drawings and asked me to print them.  I thought he meant for me to copy them, but he explained he wanted me to print out similar things.  He said he had drawn the sketches "because you were too busy, Mom, and I wanted you to know what I like...  I didn't want to forget what I wanted you to print."

At this point, I closed out of what I was doing and did a Google search for coloring images of astronauts, football players, hockey players and a dog.  Luke fixed his eyes on the computer and picked out which images he wanted me print, taking them off the printer tray as quickly as the printer could spit them out.

Immediately, Luke set to work coloring the printouts -- not with the care he sometimes uses when coloring -- but with great gusto and typical-of-Luke creativity:

 He added nothing to the astronaut, but told a story to himself about the astronaut as he colored him.

He ensured the hockey player had a puck to use.

  He gave the football player a  field goal and a "G" on the Packers goal line, 

because "he's trying to make them win, Mum.  

He plays with the Steelers."

And, he added reins all around the husky,

"so he can pull the sled, Mum,"

plus "footprints underneath him.  

And there's 'husky' (written)  underneath him and I put a 'R' for ran."  

Once they were colored, Luke gathered all these pictures together back to back, "so I can make a book, Mama."  The unbound book is now waiting for Daddy to bring them to work to staple them.

What It Means

Luke, I am so proud of the patience you showed in waiting for me to print you things.  I know being patient is difficult for you, but you are becoming stronger at demonstrating this virtue

I was pleased with how you are beginning to use letters on your own to label and add details to your drawings. Sometimes, you ask me how to spell things, but usually you use your memory or invent your own spellings or representations for words.  It shows your creativity.

Your creativity also shows in how you approached "making a list" by drawing sketches.  This demonstrated clever problem solving.  Since you did not want to forget what you wanted me to print, and knew you could not keep asking me over and over for things or would get nothing, you came up with a reasonable solution.  It made me very proud.

I am so glad you like coloring and make everything you do your own by adding details, words and ideas that come from your own imagination.  I enjoy looking at your drawings and colorings and reading your books with you. 

Opportunities and Possibilities

You are very creative in your art work, problem solving and book making.  

To make your artwork even more appealing and expressive, you could take your time with it.  Choose your colors purposefully and take time using them.  Experiment with different media -- crayons, colroed pencils, chalk, paints, collaging, etc.  Continue to add your own details and letters to express your thoughts and share the stories you imagine. 

To continue practicing effective problem solving strategies, think about things you want and what others have expressed they need.  Then, as you did today, use your creativity and talents to come up with a solution that can make everybody happy.  Use virtues, such as patience, to help you think of and carry out solutions.

As you make further books, maybe you can go beyond simple coloring and drawing.  Take pictures of your sculptures, constructions and models and create storybooks with them.  Make collages.  Do paintings.  Write more text.  Think of all the different artwork we see in books we enjoy and try making some like it.

Thank you,

Mommy

I am sharing this at Works for Me Wednesday, because writing Learning Stories works for us as a way of documenting, reflecting upon and sharing our children's development.  I am also sharing it at Homeschool Hints, since this form of documentation could help other homeschooling parents in building state-mandated assessment portfolios or in illuminating learning that is happening now or could happen (think emergent curriculum) with their children.  Please visit the links at both sites to see what works in others' homes and homeschools.

The Accidental Provocation: A Stranger in the Woods Becomes a Mini Reggio-Inspired Experience

Reggio Emilia Inspiration

A Reggio Emilia-inspired education is something I long to whole-heartedly embrace with my young children, synthesizing it with other methods that appeal to me, such as Montessori.  But, being a novice –and a busy mom and independent contractor one at that, with limited time to truly research and apply Reggio concepts – I find myself simply dabbling at Reggio.  Layering a piece of inspiration acted upon here.  Immersing myself in a concept reflected upon there.  Coloring our days with a tint of the philosophy, but not being enriched by the full, deep hues of it yet.

It is with this pale wash of Reggio Emilia philosophy that I share a bit about the other afternoon, reflecting on an accidental provocation, which is a complete oxymoron in Reggio-speak.

Provocations

You see, a “provocation” is an experience organized by an adult that invites children’s curiosity and makes their interests and wonderings visible.  It is a thoughtful, deliberate action on the educator’s part to provoke children to discover learning.  It is designed with a clear intent, usually to help teachers discern what children know, what misconceptions they have, what they are wondering about and what sort of project might unfold.  Thus, if you are a Reggio purist, there can be no “accidental” provocations.  They are all well-planned.

I am not a purist.  I am a mom who needed to do this:

 Yep, bathe the baby while keeping his two older siblings peacefully engaged in something within eye and ear-shot – preferably something that was a “treat” (and, thus, something they would remain occupied with) that was not simple mind candy.  Something that was simple, but would give them a bit to chew on.

Now, don’t laugh heartily as I share what that was:

Yes, a video!

Now, let me preempt the protests I hear coming:  I know Reggio classrooms would likely not employ the use of videos for much, especially provocations; videos are far too passive.  And, I do not allow a ton of screentime in our home.  However, Luke and Nina have been loving the Stranger in the Woods book (about animals trying to discover who the stranger -- a snowman that children have built and set food out on -- is in their wooded area), Winter Friends board book and all things snow-related, so I thought that watching Stranger in the Woods, the Movie. would be an acceptable "exception" as  away spark some further interest and learning.

Was I ever right?

The Experience Unfolding

As Jack “oo”ed over his siblings ideas...

 Luke and Nina asked if they could raid the fridge and winter gear baskets for materials for their mini-project.  I allowed them to do so, and, then, agreed to let them go outside to literally construct their learning as I watched from the window while nursing Jack.

What a joy it was to see them working together to build their very own snowman, deciding how to use the turnip and radishes as a face and where to find some sticks and twigs in our snow-covered yard, all while working together as a team so nicely.

As I witnessed their cooperative "work", I smiled, thinking about the joy they were experiencing in taking the lead in their own project and the inherit learning of that project.  Also, I was simply happy to see them interacting with such focus and compassion for each other and for the creatures around our home.  So, I was more than happy to help them get bird seed out of the cabinet when they came tromping in to ask for some.  

Of course, they wanted to put it on snowman’s hat and sprinkle it on the ground to feed the birds and squirrels.  And, I was equally happy to say "yes" when they asked for the camera to document their own work -- including the trail of food they left to lure the animals in...

and their snowman feed-the-animals sculpture...

In fact, Luke and Nina enjoyed all this so much, they later asked if they could raid the fridge again – this time for radishes and a potato in order to build a “sideways turned” snowman, that they photographed on their own again. 

Then, the next day, they ran out to see what, if anything, the animals had dined upon, as well as to collect their mittens and hats so animals and wind would not carry them away.

Reflection

So, now the question:  Was this a deep, well-facilitated Reggio-inspired project?  No.  Was it a somewhat accidental provocation that encouraged a curriculum of curiosity where the children experimented with what sorts of food might appeal to wildlife creatures, how they could construct a snowman without help, how they might photograph their construction and how they could work together?  Yes. 

Shades of Reggio colored this experience in that I did not say to the children, “Watch this video and see how you can copy it.”  Nor did I ask, “Would you like to feed critters by building your own snowmen?”  Nor did I direct, “Let’s build our own snowmen, put food on them, leave them out and check on them in the morning.”  Instead, I simply offered a provocation (the video – however poor and unimaginative a provocation any “real” Reggio educator would say that was – and free reign of  our refrigerator produce drawer) and, then, observed what the children happily set about exploring and doing as a result.  In doing so, I came away with some questions/ideas for future learning:

• What animals near our yard like which foods?
• Do certain foods seem to freeze more than others when left outside, making them unappealing to animals?
• Are there other reasons certain foods might not be appealing to local critters?
• How can you roll, pack, shape and stack snow to make a sculpture?
• What angles allow you to take the best photographs?
• How does light and shadow play into photographing a subject, especially in the snow?
• What other sculptures might we build?
• How else could we be kind to creatures in the winter?

Will we explore these questions?  In all honesty, probably not many of them anytime soon.  But, simply through setting out the provocation and letting the experience unfold as far as it did, we all came away with something to chew on:

• Luke and Nina learned a bit about teamwork, kindness to critters, properties of snow, etc.
• I ended up with more to reflect upon.
• The animals got some new nibbles.

• And, Jack had a peaceful moment to explore his toes!

These are the days I love the freedom of homeschooling!

This post is being shared at sunrise learning Lab’s Reggio Wednesday, plus at We Are THAT Family’s Works for Me Wednesday (because Stranger in the Woods really works for us as an impetus to enjoy an afternoon of snow fun) and at A Mommy’s Adventure’s Story + Art (because the art of the snowman “sculptures” stemmed from an interest in the Stranger in the Woods video that was preceded by a week of loving the Stranger in the Woods book.)  Enjoy the ideas others share at all of these link-ups.

Phonics Clean Up Time Game

What do you get when you mix one big mess in your living room, a small white board and a highlighter?

 Inspiration for a new clean up activity, of course:

The Phonics Clean Up Game

What do you need?
the aforementioned mess, a highlighter (or whiteboard marker), a whiteboard and a rag/tissues/whiteboard eraser

How do you do it?
Easy!  Write a letter or combination of letters on the whiteboard.  Ask the children to tell you the sound the letter(s) make.  Then, challenge them to find an object in the mess that begins with the sound to clean up.  If using two-letter combos like "sh" or "ch", try using the Diphthong Song from How Do I Teach This Child to Read as a clue for beginning readers to remember the sound the letters make.  If the children like writing, allow them to take turns writing letters on the white board for the next objects to be cleaned up.

What inspired the creation of this game?
Luke and Nina spent one of their recent  free-play periods building a Santa's sleigh construction, packing their toys into bags and happily engaging in dramatic play, zooming about the air to deliver presents to boys and girls.  (Who cares if it's months after Christmas?  They still love playing Santa and I love witnessing their creativity as they do it.)

After some time, the dramatic play began dissolving and, since it was "past time" for Family Work Time, I told the kids they needed to land the sleigh and think about what we should attack during Family Work Time.

Not so surprisingly, Nina was eager to do her favorite practical life activity of late -- vaccuming her bedroom, while -- and this was a shocker -- Luke volunteered to "make the living room clean" by himself.  (Luke rarely, if ever, volunteers to clean up much of anything by himself. In fact, he usually lays on the floor, languishing, and whining about how he is "too tired" to clean, until Mommy or Daddy remind him that if he is too tried to clean up, he must be too tired to play or do anything further, which prompts Luke to begrudgingly help with tidy times .)  So while I helped Nina, Luke did a surprisingly adept job his choice of work.

However, when the Family Work Time timer went off, I found Luke losing steam fast as his job wound down.  All was tidy in the living room around him, except a deep pile of puzzle pieces in the center of the floor that he'd just dumped out of the last of Santa's sacks.

What to do?

Well, commend Luke, of course.  He had demonstrated enormous independence and sticktoitivity in the work he had done.  Also, figure out a way to help Luke finish the job without taking away his well-deserved pride in a job well done and his sense of independence.

How?

With a happily surprised look, I commented, "Wow!  Luke, you cleaned all this up by yourself.  Nina and Mommy just finished vacuuming together and need something else to do.  Do you want us to help you use the puzzle pieces for a challenge?"  (Luke has been loving "challenges" of late.)

Then, when Luke excitedly asked for the challenge,I had to come up with one quickly.  Since Luke and Nina have been very interested letters and sounds lately (due in no small part to the  Leap Frog videos they received during our free family Christmas exchange), I knew I should weave a bit of early literacy and phonics work into the challenge.  And, since my tutoring bag - with a small whiteboard and highlighter in it - were nearby, I knew I could capitalize on the kids' additional interest in reading and  writing by adding a read-and-write element in.  And, so the Phonics Clean Up Time Game was born.

With lots of suspense, I grabbed the whiteboard, drew an "s" and asked what sound it made.  The kids hissed accordingly and I asked them if they could find a puzzle piece that began with that sound.  In seconds, the "starfish" pieces were back in theri puzzle trays.

Before long, the "f" fish and fingers, the "b" bird and butterfly and lots of other pieces followed suit.  Then, the kids started to ask if they could write letters for the game themselves (with Luke actually writing them and Nina doing her best to).  And, they also picked up puzzle peices and asked me to write the letters they started with so they could put the pieces away (a sort of backward take on the game.)  Plus, they did a bit of say-it-fast, say-it-slow Funnix style.

And, so clean up time morphed into a fun learning activity in itself, much like it did one day when we approached cleaning up with fine motor fun.  The Phonics Clean Up Game is one we'll be playing again!

This post is being shared at We Are THAT Family's Works for Me Wednesday and Many Little Blessings Helpful Homeschool Hints, since we hope Phonics Clean Up Time might work as well for other families with young children as it did for us and since keeping spaces tidy is such a huge part of hoemschooling .  It is also being shared at Sunrise Learning Lab's Reggio Wednesday since, although not a Reggio project, the clean-up time came about partly due to my own reflections on our children, their learning and my role as their teacher/facilitator.  (Reflection is an important part of the Role of the Teacher in Reggio-inspired education.)    If you have a moment, please pop on over to both link-ups to be inspired by others' ideas!

Wearing SPD Lenses: “Snow” Sculptures with Pets

So, we had a nor-easter yesterday, which meant plenty of nature-based sensory input awaited us out the front door in the form of shoveling, building snow men, scaling snow banks and attempting to sled in the too-deep snow.  But, what about indoors?  The wind-blown, icy snow was just a bit too piercing to drag Jack out into, so we needed to come up with some activities to entertain an eager-to-go-outside Luke and little sis between Jack’s snoozing.  When I thought about Carl’s Snowy Afternoon, a random library pick Luke had made, inspiration struck:  “Snow” Sculptures with Pets.

We took out one of the kids’ favorite gifts from Santa – 

their Animal Planet Dog and Cat play sets and set them up.

Then, the kids made it snow.

 Finally, they built snow sculptures in, around and on all the pets, narrating stories as they went.

Furgal, fun and engaging for the kids.  Better still, as Mama knows the theory behind the play, lots of sensory diet nourishment, a bit of art and a whole lot of literacy going on…

Wearing SPD Lenses: 

Setting up the pet play areas, using figurines, large  play pieces and tiny props (like the dog bone and pet grooming tools) requires fine motor control and motor planning.

Spraying the shaving cream requires finger pressure – strengthening the hands while giving some tactile input.

And, of course, playing with the pets in the “snow” provides a large does of tactile input!

The Art Take:

At this stage, I think the process of any artwork we approach with the kids is far more important than the product.  Exploring art media, enjoying creating sculptures – however temporary—and simply getting their hands literally into art are what I like to focus on.

A wonderful book that I hope to use a basis for our art explorations soon is the Reggio-inspired The Language of Art.  In its opening activities, exploring textures and movement are focused on.  Though “Snow” Sculptures with Pets is not in the book, I think it is very much in line with its philosophy.

The Literacy Take:

The Public Library Association (PLA) recommends focusing on six early literacy skills in children, which serve as the foundation for learning to read and write. These are vocabulary, print motivation, print awareness, narrative skills, letter knowledge and phonological awareness.  Researchers have determined that children who enter school with these skills are better able to benefit from the reading instruction they receive when they arrive at school.

This activity focuses mainly on two of these skills:  vocabulary and narration.  In reading  and talking through the illustrations of the book Carl’s Snowy Afternoon and connecting it to art/sensory explorations, the kids did a lot of naming of objects, actions and emotions – i.e. vocabulary work!

In discussing the story depicted in the almost wordless book, as well as in making up their own stories while doing “Snow” Sculptures with Pets, the children worked on story telling, description and sequencing of events – i.e. narration!  (Such as, "The dogs friends want to come play.  I have to shovel the walk."  Thus, the spoon in the photo.)

A Bit About Carl’s Snowy Afternoon:

Carl’s Snowy Afternoon by Alexandra Day is not one I would have chosen for the kids to read, but it is one that Luke was enthused to find at the library since the cover gloriously depicts two of his current favorite things: a dog and snow! 

Why wouldn’t I have selected it?  Well, because the premise that this otherwise delightful story of little Madeline’s Rottweiler taking her on a joyous escapade through town on a snowy day disturbs me.  The girl and her dog are only able to go adventuring because an inattentive babysitter does not see them slip out.  And, in the end, no one is any the wiser about them having been out and about.  Cute?  Yes!  Something I want my kids to model after?  No.  I really don’t understand why the book could not have been framed with a less (in my humble opinion) inappropriate exposition.

That said, most of the book is absolutely darling.  Realistic illustrations, rich in charm, humor and warmth make the book an exquisitely fun book for pre-readers to page through, developing their own pre-literacy skills of storytelling.  And, the simple, occasional text (minus the aforementioned start and close) gives just enough detail to this otherwise wordless picture book.  Plus, my children loved discovering the times that Madeline just missed being seen by her parents – a fun feature in the illustrations, even if it can reinforce the theme of wandering off that I am not too keen the book has.

So, thumbs way up for illustrations and adventure in the book and thumbs part-way down for the beginning and end of the plot.

This post is being shared at Living Life Intentionally's TGIF Linky Party,  Sunrise Learning Lab's Reggio-Inspired posts link-up and at A Mommy's Adventure's stART.

Grasshopper Kit Review

Simple, specially-designed for skill-building and sensory-friendly. We just love this new-to-us find!

During the time our computer was down, we received a Grasshopper Preschool Prep Kit: Getting Our Hands Ready Kit for review at Sensational Homeschooling.  We've been having so much fun with it that I wanted to review it here, too.

When the kit came in, the kids dove right into it and have been enjoying semi-structured learning and play with it since.   Truly, we find the kit simple, yet awesome.  Why?

It contains stretchy dough (different from both the store-bought and homemade playdough we have used before), dough stamps, a dough roller, a Mr. Crunch head, a mini set of bug figures, a full set of mini-crayons, two sheets of re-usable stickers, a sticker board and coloring sheets.  It also contains an illustrated guidebook that can stand up so the kids can follow along with the step-by-step illustrations for each of the activities, while I browse the easy-to-read formatted text that helps remind me why certain activities are good for age-appropriate skill building and how to adapt the activities to make them easier or more challenging.

Also, it meets some basic criteria for any activity that becomes a hit on our household:

-         It provides multi-age challenge and fun.  Yep, the Grasshopper Kit is challenging enough for our now-five year-old Luke to enjoy while being easy enough for our still three-and-a-half year-old Nina to use right alongside him.

-         It causes less arguments than it does enjoyment.  Indeed, the Grasshopper Kit has enough components to offer a variety of choices in one self-contained, low-to-no-mess “set”, meaning lots of focused play with little reason to fight over things.

-         It can be open-ended as well as independent.  The Grasshopper kit involves creation and coloring – key features in Luke and Nina’s enjoyment-quotient book.  And, the tasks can be done step-by-step as directed or used in more self-initiated ways.

-         It is sensory-friendly and age-appropriate.  The activities in the kit inherently provide fine motor practice and tactile input – which are so important at Luke and Nina’s stages of development.  Plus, it is low-tech.  (I do love toys and activities without batteries, voices, flashing lights, bells and whistles, especially at this time of year when the opposite seem to lurk everywhere you go!)

Plus, there are stickers involved.  And re-usable ones at that.  Oh, how the kids love stickers!

So, it is that  we have been thoroughly enjoying our Grasshopper Kit during post-dinner wind-down time, long, cold afternoons and other times by request.  It’s living up to the promises made on the Grasshopper Kit site by providing hours of fun without a worksheet in sight!  Plus, I think Grasshopper Kits are very Montessori and workbox-friendly and great for folks who like hands-on activities to “get kids ready for school all through play: no workbooks... no pencils... 100% fun.”  In my book, that makes them Reggio-friendly and Charlotte Mason-friendly as well -- open-ended enough to ignite some emergent curriculum, hands-on enough to be handiwork friendly.

Yep, we give this product two thumbs up - or, perhaps more accurately, whole hands in!


I know we will be putting the ABC & Following Directions and Snip, Glue and Grow Kits on our wish list while continuing to enjoy the Getting Our Hands Ready one.

Thank you so much to Grasshopper Preschool Prep Kits' Rachel Rudman,  the talented Occupational Therapist with a specialty in Pediatrics who created the kits, for sending us one of your awesome products for review. We had so much fun with it and will continue to build skills and enjoy learning through play for quite a while with it.  We think others will love it, too and encourage them to check out your Grasshopper Kits facebook page for news about the product, occasional giveaways and your many great tips.