pipe cleaners and pom poms

today, for the first time in a long time, we did a little impromptu preschool.

pipe cleaner twisted around a marker

we started off trying to weave pipe cleaners through a cooling rack.  (inspiration here)  i demonstrated it a few times (the boys promptly pulled them out) and then let them have a go.

that lasted approximately two minutes.  it was a little beyond them.

moving on then.  

next i brought out the pom poms and lidded container.  they spent some time putting them in the hole, and used the cardboard tube as a chute to make it a little more fun.

i had an idea and got the cookie sheet (which fits conveniently underneath the cooling rack--excellent crumb catcher when you're cutting homemade bread, fyi).  we dropped the small pom poms through the slats and took turns poking the big ones down.  

my next brilliant idea was a slide.  (this was a good day for me, friends--after coming off of a medication that had me feeling like a complete zombie for most of last week, i felt amazing today)*.  

that orange blur is a ball sliding down.

also, at what age do i have to stop dressing them alike?

we took turns holding the tube (and by "took turns" i mean i held it 90% of the time) and sticking pom poms down it.  they popped out the other end, slid nicely down the nonstick surface of the cookie sheet, and fell through (or were poked through) the slats of the rack.  this one was a hit.

after desmond went down for his nap tesla and i had about 20 more minutes to play.  we spent it doing this color matching game using, once again, the pipe cleaners and pom poms.

tesla had a script for us as we played.

tesla: say, tesla, what color do you want?

me: tesla, what color do you want?

tesla: um...green.

(i hand it to him)

tesla: (gives it back to me) say, there. 

me: there.

tesla: mommy, what color do you want?

me: um...blue.

tesla:  you want red?

me: sure. red.

tesla: big one or small one?

me: small one.

tesla: you want big one?

me: sure. big one.

talk about leading questions.

*yes, these simple activities are me at my creative peak.  be impressed.

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i hope your week is starting off well.  oh, and happy april fool's day.  i'm not on facebook anymore so i missed all the fake pregnancy announcements and completely forgot about this venerated holiday.  but if you pranked someone today, i hope you got 'em good.

preschool: counting train

so you know tesla loves to play alphabet train.  (and that he is smitten with trains in general.)

every single day, without fail, he asks to play alphabet train as soon as we put desmond to bed.

the alphabet train has been really helpful in cementing the capital vs. lowercase concept for tesla.  i hadn't really introduced the vocabulary before because i didn't want to confuse him, but now he can easily identify the capital and lowercase forms of each letter.

however, i was getting bored of playing alphabet train every day.   :)  so i decided to expand the concept.  tesla's pretty solid on his letters, but numbers are still a bit shaky.

enter the counting train!

 available in the homely thanksgiving-themed colors of brown, cream, and orange!

(we ran out of construction paper)

i  made cards with the numbers 1-20 (although we usually just use the 1-10 set, since recognizing the written numerals is a relatively new thing around here and the 11-20s just confuse him).  we practice counting and numeral recognition as we add each "car" to the train.

and still, the simple fact that i told him it's a train makes this game enthralling.

toddlers.  so easy to please.

i plan to continue the train game, adding a sight words set and possibly a set for rare color names.

let me know if you have any ideas for categories!

preschool: prewriting skills

placing coins into a slot,

threading pieces of straws onto yarn,

and stringing and sorting froot loops.

skill-building doesn't have to feel like work.   :)

preschool: homemade playdough

finally.

FINALLY the boys are old enough for playdough!

we've done it before (both homemade and storebought) with limited success.

well, limited success with the storebought.  the homemade was pretty bad.

in the past, playdough has only captured the boys' attention for about 3 minutes.  also, they ate a ton of it.

but this time, they loved it.

and, they didn't eat it.

(maybe we're actually starting to move past the "everything-must-go-in-my-mouth" compulsion.)



i gave the boys each some plastic easter egss, some lids, and some straws (full-size and cut up).

they also claimed some butter knives from the cutlery drawer.

tesla loved making playdough worms (he informed me that they were actually "trains", in accordance with his locomotive obsession) with the straws.

they both loved pressing the lids onto the playdough to make circle imprints.

(they do this a lot on the carpet with lids and pots.  making circles is thrilling.)


they were entertained for quite a while.

until an airplane flew over.

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here is the recipe we used!

playdough

from art nest

1 1/2 c of flour

3/4 c salt

1 1/2 c water

1 TBS vegetable oil

1/2 TBS cream of tartar

food coloring (amount needed to achieve desired color)

Whisk all ingredients in a saucepan over medium-low.  Once mixture is smooth, exchange the whisk for a rubber spatula or wooden spoon and continue to stir occasionally until mixture thickens and begins to form a mass.

Remove from heat and scoop mixture out onto a sheet of wax paper.  Allow to cool for a minute or two, or until cool enough to touch.  Knead for a couple minutes, and then use or store in a ziplock.

yield:  about 2 1/2 cups

why daddies are way more fun

so yesterday was silas' last final of summer term (now he has 2 weeks off!), so he was able to join us for preschool.  when he asked if i needed help with anything, i asked him if he could rig up a simple living room obstacle course after we finished our first activity (talking about animal sounds and gluing cotton balls on sheep).

 he agreed, and so as soon as we finished, i called him in to help out.  unfortunately, i got sick all of a sudden and had to go rest on the bed.

(and let me just say here--when i said "obstacle course" i was thinking a few pillows, maybe crawling under the table, hopping up and down...you know.)

when i came out of the room (my random nausea--noi'mnotpregnantrightnow--was miraculously cured by a few minutes of lying on the bed and a couple nectarines), my jaw dropped.

he'd rigged up a kid's fantasy that began with crawling under the table (it had a sheet on it) and under the chair (a little tricky because of the way the chairs are designed), around a mattress standing on it's side, up 2 buckets onto a chair, and then the finale:  jumping from a plank laid across the two high chairs, (which were on top of the couch) onto a pile of about 14 pillows and 2 twin comforters.

well dang.



(the boys loved it, of course.  i didn't get any pictures but suffice it to say i've been totally upstaged.)

clean messy fun

we did preschool again yesterday.

(2 whole days in a row!  i'm so proud.)

desmond

tesla

silas remarked at dinner last night, "preschool makes them...really happy."  

meaning that dinner was actually a really pleasant experience for everyone involved.  (score)

they do seem to like it, and it puts them in good moods.  (i don't have high hopes for today, since i'm anticipating them to be tired, cranky beasts.  we played at nana and papa's today and then they FELL ASLEEP IN THE CAR on the way home...so of course naps were not taken.  naptime's about 30 minutes from being over and there is still a lot of noise coming from that room.)

this is what "ice cream cones" turn out like when you do them with children under 3.

tesla

desmond

we did the indoor bubble blowing from play create explore yesterday for our activity.  i figured it would be an easy "messy" activity to help me ease into that sort of thing.

it was a hit!

after taking a few pictures, i wanted in on the action.  (it was actually pretty fun...of course i made the biggest bubbles.  not that i'm bragging or anything.)

not pictured:  the floor after they splashed and then dumped the rest of the water out.

but hey--it was just soap and water!  the floor was actually cleaner after we wiped it all up.  win win.

*confession:  sometimes i can't tell the boys apart in pictures, from behind, and from above.

and they're not even twins.