Delight Directed Tot School?
~Eliana is 37 months~
Mema (Luke’s mom) made Elli an I Spy Blanket for Tot School. She sewed little trinkets all over a small quilt and then color copied the trinkets to make a set of I Spy cards.
I was not sure if it would be challenging for her, but it was! She was quite stumped at times and I helped her a little by giving her clues. The first time she played, she selected the cards that she wanted to look for. It was so cute to watch her expressions and to see how pleased she was with herself when she found one.
I was not planning to do Tot School this day, but she came down stairs in her “Tot School dress” that I sewed for her last summer and asked to do Tot School. I had been saving the blanket and also a puzzle for her, so I surprised her with these first.
The following puzzle was a gift that Mema brought back from The Creation Museum at Answers in Genesis. I have mostly avoided puzzles because we just lose all the pieces anyways. . . but I was happy to have it and Elli seems to have taken a liking to puzzles lately.
I talked to her about each day of creation and had her try to figure out what happened each day by looking at the picture on the puzzle piece. If she doesn’t know an answer when I ask, she says, “tell me.” (She says it so cute.)
She also did a Melissa and Doug floor puzzle and then she did the Brown Bear puzzle again.
Elli pretty much decided when she wanted to do tot school this week (and what she wanted to do). Another day she came down in another “tot school dress” (her sign that she wants to do tot school). She wore this dress all the time last summer and is wearing it in one of my favorite Tot School posts. Now, she has to wear it with a pair of pink cotton pants underneath.
This day she told me she wanted to pour water. So, we gathered up various jars and cups and one large bottle filled with water. Which she filled up again herself.
She wanted to fill the sifter with water on the tray and I asked her to fill it in the glass measuring cup and see what happens. It did not hold water much to her surprise!
Mali also set up a tray and played next to her. He ran out of water first and she was so sweet to share her water – a tablespoon at a time!
Then I asked her if she would help me pour water in the kitchen (after she changed out of what must have been a wet dress). She disappeared while I was cleaning up the water on the table and came back downstairs with a different shirt on (same pants).
I asked her to help me fill the spaghetti pot with water from the Berkey. She was only filling it a 1/2 cup at a time so I let her put the pan under the spout so that I could get dinner going.
I love that she loves to help me in the kitchen. Although, it makes me nervous that she and Mali climb on the heater right next to the stove. I have taught them to always treat the stove top as hot. . . unless I set her on it, of course. I don’t normally let her sit on the stove, but Mali was on the counter to the right of the stove and they both wanted to help. . .
Because I was making fudge (again).
Can you see why they both wanted to be right there helping? The best part is that I only had to turn the burner on for a brief moment to just warm the pan to melt the coconut oil and it was already off when she came to help.
Elli’s First Faces
Elli drew this picture of our family this week. I thought it was so sweet! I wrote her little narrations as she told me about her family portrait.
Swimming Lessons
I think the highlight of Elli’s week was swimming lessons. We have one more week of our second session. I love to sit and watch all the kids swim, but I stay closest to the side of the pool where Elli is. And she always watches to make sure I am there.
I was so surprised to see the following shot!
She went all the way underwater on her own! So far, this has been her least favorite part about swimming lessons and I was so delighted with her progress. *Ü*
I honestly do not have any plans for tot school this week. My fabulous plan for blogging a week behind real time worked for the first couple of weeks only. I was not even sure I would be able to post this tonight. Mali started Kindergarten this last week and I have been putting much of my focus on the boys’ school. I am thinking that I will keep Tot School real relaxed until summer time and then I hope to devote more time to planned activities. So, from here until the rest of this “school year,” tot school may just be delight directed!
Delightful Links:
More Tot Texture Painting
~Eliana is 37 months~
Can I tell you how much I love this girl?
She is already tucked in bed as I write this and it makes me miss her.
Did I mention that she loves to paint?
She does.
And if that is all we did this week. . .
I’d be okay with that.
And I think she would too.
This project was inspired from a book I love: Tumbling Over the Edge: A Rant For Children’s Play
I was surprised that she chose yellow. She used to not like yellow – only pink and purple. She likes red now, because it is close to pink. She is also starting to like blue because it is close to purple. But this is the first time she has requested yellow. I remember last summer trying to get her to do some dandelion painting with yellow paint and all she wanted was purple. It is fun to see how her preferences are changing.
This week, I read two chapters from Winnie the Pooh, by A.A. Milne, to Elli and Mali. It is such a charming story and I adore it. The chapters are printed in a series of individual books with lots of illustrations to keep little one’s attention.
Elli and Mali were sick this week. I think they had a mild case of 5th’s Disease. Mali had the classic slapped cheek look, rash, and flu-like symptoms. Elli just had a sore throat and slightly pink cheeks. I kept them home from swimming this week and they are feeling better now. The little ones are the only one that got it as the older boys have already had it at one time or another.
I did do an impromptu “science” project with Mali that I hope to write about soon. It is another activity inspired from Tumbling Over the Edge. (I love that book!)
Delightful Links:
Texture Painting Part 1: Foam Painters
More Delightful Learning Tot School
Tot School ~ Tot Science
~ Eliana is 3 years ~
I was not planning on including Elli in on The Little Scientist (yet), but the opportunity presented itself and I seized the moment to teach Elli how flowers drink water.
We added coloring to the water to see if we could see the flowers drink the water.
After a few days, we could see the flower start to turn color at the base.
After a few more days, we could see the color at the tips of the petals.
The blue and green were the only colors we noticed. (The pink and purple did not work).
We noticed that the flowers that were drinking colored water wilted and died much quicker than the flower with clear, undyed water. I used this opportunity to explain to Elli that this is why we do not eat artificial colorings ~ they are not good for us either. I wish I would have left a flower out of the water to show her what happens when you do not water flowers at all, but this was such a spur of the moment experiment (Daddy bought us flowers). And I do mean us because whenever Luke buys me flowers, he always buys one for his little girl too. =)
I made this post separate from our regular Tot School post this week on Texture Painting, so that I could include this in our science series and also link to Science Sunday. =)
Delightful Links:
Tot School ~ Texture Painting
~Eliana is 36 months~
I saw these texture painters at the Let’s Explore shop but they were all sold out. They looked easy enough to make on my own, so I took a sheet of foam and cut it into thin strips (like fringe), 3/4 of the way to the top of one side, rolled it up and secured it with a rubber band. So simple!
I also used hot glue to roll it up onto a paintbrush to give it a handle. I gave her some paint on a tray and let her texture paint.
(I think she had just as much fun texture painting on the tray as she did the paper).
Her final work of heart.
Painting is one of Elli’s favorite activities to do and I hope to provide more opportunities for creative painting fun!
Delightful Links:
