Friday Notables - Feathers for Lunch

This week's Friday Notable is Feathers for Lunch: a book by Lois Ehlert that was one of my personal favorites as a child. The story is very simple and features a cat who has a little trouble trying to get a bird for lunch. The illustrations are wonderful featuring 12 different species of birds, all life size, and 10 varieties of plants. In addition to the rhyming text, Ehlert has also given us a common "song" or "call" of each bird that introduces your child to the wide array of bird sounds that exist in real life taking you beyond the common "chirp chirp" many stories or songs use for young children. The cat also goes beyond "meow" and asserts his presence on every page by the "Jingle, jingle" of his bell even if the birds or the reader cannot see him. At the back of the book, Ehlert gives the reader more information about where one can see the birds and what they eat. This really is the perfect book to read before and after putting out a bird feeder or making bird seed treats. Enjoy!

Midweek Creations - Cardboard Kaleidoscopes

This is a great craft for toddlers and creates a tool that allows them to explore their world in a different colors. I recommend using paper towel rolls cut in half rather than toilet paper rolls since they are less likely to come into contact with fecal germs.

What you'll need:
paper towel roll cut in half
saran wrap
paint and paintbrushes
scissors
rubber band

Let your child paint their paper towel roll with a paintbrush or put a couple of dots of paint in a large tray or piece of paper and show them how to roll the cylinder in the paint. Once they are done, set aside the roll to dry. Cut the saran wrap in a square large enough to fit over one end of the paper towel roll and fold over about 1/4 of the side. Let your child paint the saran wrap. Be sure to watch closely during this part as the saran wrap could potentially cause suffocation if your child were to cover their mouth with it. (Another alternative to saran wrap is leftover scraps of lighting gels used in the theatre or the thin transparent plastic used to cover school reports) Let the painted saran wrap dry as well. Once everything is dry, cover one end of the roll with the saran wrap and secure it tightly by wrapping a rubber band around the end.

Montessori Mondays - 61 to 70 of 101

Once again, every Monday I have been breaking down Barbara Hacker's 101 Ways To Help a Montessori Child into more manageable and meaningful chunks. This week, I have added my own comments in italics and parentheses. Enjoy!

61. Help children maintain a calendar, becoming familiar with days and months, or counting down to special events. Talk about it regularly.

62. Get a pet and guide your child to take responsibility for its care. [If you live in an apartment or a family member has allergies, consider getting a fish. Plants are also a great option for teaching care of others - just be sure to check out a plants toxicity before purchasing it]

63. Refrain from replacing everything that gets broken. Help children to learn the value of money, and, the consequences of actions.

64. Take a nighttime walk -- listen to sounds, observe the moon, smell the air.

65. Take a rain walk. Wear coats and boots to be protected, but then fully enjoy the rain.

66. Allow your Primary - aged child to use his/her whole body and mind for active doing. Save computers for the Elementary years and later when they become a useful tool of the conscious mind.

67. If you must travel without your child, leave notes behind for him/her to open each day you are gone.

68. Expose your child to all sorts of music.

69. Talk about art, visit statue gardens, and make short visits to museums and look at a couple of pictures. Make it meaningful and enjoyable. Don't overdue.

70. Help them learn to sort: the laundry, silverware, etc.

Friday Notables - Researching the "whys?"

There are bunnies, Easter eggs, and candy everywhere this time of year and although your toddler may not be asking many "why" questions now it may still be good to brush up on some basics about how we celebrate this holiday. The history channel does a pretty good job of checking their facts, so I would recommend using their articles as a jumping point if you do want to begin a discussion of what a holiday like Easter means, whatever religious beliefs you hold. Below is a link for an article all about Easter symbols, but I would also recommend checking out their short videos and browsing around the entire site - who knows, you may spark a love for history between you and your child. Have a wonderful holiday!

www.history.com

Midweek Creations - Handprint Lilies

This is another great handprint craft for this Easter/Spring season. Familyfun.go.com does a wonderful job outlining this craft so I'll just provide a link to their site. A nice modification to this craft is to have your child use water colors on his paper before tracing his hand. Enjoy!

craft can be found at familyfun.go.com

Montessori Mondays - 51 to 60 of 101

This is part VI of Barbara Hacker's 101 Ways to Help a Montessori Child into small sections. Enjoy!

51. Help your child to have positive connections with people of diverse ethnicities, language, and beliefs.

52. Laugh a lot. Play with words. Tell jokes. Help your child to develop a sense of humor.

53. Share your profession or occupation with your child. Have him/her visit at work and have some appreciation of work done in the world.

54. See that your child learns to swim -- the younger the better.

55. Have a globe or atlas in the house, and whenever names of places come up locate them with the child.

56. Make sure your child has the tools he/she needs -- child size broom, mop, dust pan, whisk broom, duster, etc., to help maintain the cleanliness of the household.
57. Learn to say, "No," without anger, and with firmness and conviction. Not everything children want is appropriate.

58. Arrange environments and options so that you end up saying yes more than no.

59. Refrain from laughing at your child.

60. Alert children to upcoming events so they can mentally prepare, e.g., "In ten minutes, it will be time for bed."

Friday Notables - Global Babies

Global Babies published by Charlesbridge is a beautiful picture book that shows 12 different babies from around the world. I think this book is great by itself or read by a large map of the world, if you have one. Even though a map of something as massive as the earth is a very abstract idea for a toddler, most of them are fascinated by maps. Pairing a map with the book will help toddlers begin to associate the names of the countries where the babies are from to the shapes on a map. Another great thing about this book, should you choose to buy it, is that part of the proceeds are donated to The Global Fund for Children which "supports innovative community based organizations that serve the world's most vulnerable children and youth." You can learn more about the program at www.globalfundforchildren.org. Have a wonderful weekend!

Midweek Creations - Bunny Handprint

This week's craft is perfect for an Easter card or as a memory keepsake that you can share with your child years later. Enjoy!

All you need is paint, paper, and a pen.

Paint one of your child's hands and place it horizontally on the paper with all the fingers together. Paint the same hand and place it over the fingers of the first handprint keeping the first two and last two fingers together to form ears. Add a tail to your handprint bunny by using one finger print at the back of the first handprint. After the paint has dried, trace a bunny outline around the print and add a face.

Montessori Mondays - 41 to 50 of 101

For the past few Mondays, I have been breaking down Barbara Hacker's 101 Ways to Help a Montessori Child into small sections. This is Part V and like before, I have put the main parts of each point in bold. Enjoy!

41. Whenever you go somewhere with your child, prepare him/her for what is going to happen and what will be expected of him/her at the store, restaurant, doctor's office, etc.

42. Express appreciation to your child and others and help your child do the same. Send thank you notes for gifts. Young children can dictate or send a picture. Older children can write their own. What is key is learning the importance of expressing appreciation.

43. Help your child to learn to like healthful foods. Never force a child to eat something he/she does not like, but also don't offer unlimited alternatives! Make trying new things fun. Talk about foods and how they look or describe the taste. Introduce the word "savor" and teach how to do it. Engage children in food preparation.

44. When food shopping, talk to your child about what you see -- from kumquats to lobsters. Talk about where food items come from. Talk about the people who help us by growing, picking, transporting, and displaying food.

45. Provide your child with appropriate sized furniture: his/her own table and chair to work at; perhaps a rocker in the living room to be with you; a bed that can easily be made by a child; a stool for climbing up to sink or counter.

46. While driving, point things out and discuss -- construction work, interesting buildings, vehicles, bridges, animals.

47. Teach the language of courtesy. Don't let your child interrupt. Teach how to wait after saying, "Excuse me, please."

48. Analyze any annoying behavior of your child and teach from the positive. For example: door slamming -- teach how to close a door; running in the house -- teach how to walk; runny nose --teach how to use a tissue.

49. Spend quality time with people of different ages.

50. Teach your child about your religion and make them feel a part of it.

Temporary Hiatus

Hello everyone! I will be taking a week long hiatus from blogging as it is our spring break at the school where I teach and I will be visiting family and getting some dental work done. I hope you have a wonderful week and will have an opportunity to spend some quality time with family as well, especially those little ones, even if only for a moment. As always, thanks for reading and I will resume posting next Monday.

Friday Notables - Orange Carrot Muffins

I usually reserve recipes for midweek creation posts, but I got so excited about this find that I had to share it right away. Many of the toddlers in my classroom either won't eat baby carrots when we have them for snack. This easy muffin recipe is a great way to get some of those healthy benefits out of carrots and introduce them into your kitchen at an early age. I also think this a great recipe to have your child help you with in the kitchen and if they see carrots being included in a yummy snack they may be more likely to try them plain later on. I discovered this recipe at bbcgoodfood.com and am re-posting it here because all the measurements are given in metric. I have also modified the recipe some - taking out a little bit of butter, using tangerines instead of oranges (the juice is a little sweeter and the size is perfect for little hands if you want to teach them how to juice fresh fruit), and using baby carrots (already peeled and a little bit more tender). Check out the original recipe here.

Orange Carrot Muffins
1/4 cup butter, melted
5-6 tangerines, zested and juiced
1 egg, beaten
3/8 cup baby carrots, shredded
1 1/3 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/8 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt

Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Prepare a 12 hole muffin pan by using cupcake liners or spraying the holes with a cooking spray. Combine the zest from the tangerines with the sugar in a bowl and let sit for five minutes while you juice the tangerines and shred the carrots. Combine the rest of the dry ingredients with the zest and sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and the shredded carrots. Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan and bake for 15-20 minutes until risen and toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.