Michelle's Maple Tree: October 2014

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Freaky for Flubber

Today our Practicum Student made Flubber with the Children. They had so much fun. It is so important to make sure children get sensory time. I like to think of it as a time to hit the reset button on the day. Such wonderful conversation happens in these moments and such joy.

what you need:

3/4 cup cold water

1 cup Elmer’s glue

liquid food coloring

1/2 cup hot water

1 teaspoon borax (you can find this in a box in the laundry aisle)

directions:

step 1: in bowl 1 – mix together the cold water, glue, and food coloring. set aside.

step 2: in bowl 2 – mix together the hot water and borax, until the borax is completely dissolved.

step 3: slowly add glue mixture to borax mixture. mix well. pour off excess water.

If you want to read more about making Flubber you can check it out here at this link:

http://www.livecrafteat.com/craft/homemade-flubber-for-kids/

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Feeling Thankful

Such an Incredible Painting. It just screams HAPPY!

I can not believe we are at Thanksgiving weekend already! My goodness the time is flying by so quickly. Things have really settled down in our classrooms and we are into the beautiful day to day of our Montessori work. In amongst all of that though we have taken some time to talk about the holiday and what it means to be thankful. We have kept it simple and uncomplicated.

I love this leaf garland. I was buying some hand towels for the school and happened upon them in the dish section. I wasn't entirely sure what we would use them for but I knew I had to buy them. They are brilliant for games, tracing, rubbing work and well they make our classroom really lovely right now. The children have commented on how beautiful our classroom is. It's like bringing the outside inside right now.


Leaf Garland made with place mats

These wax paper leaves were made with squeeze bottles of paint and lots of wax paper. Each and every leaf is unique.

Lastly, the Thankful Tree. It is a simple thing we have been doing the last few years and the chidlren really enjoy telling us what they feel thankful for. I have included in this post just a few of their thoughts that we recorded on some leaves. I hope you get a chance to read some of them and appreciate how very sweet and sincere their words are.

The Maple Tree Turkey Hat!

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Catching Up

I fell like we stepped out of the slow pace of summer and started going full steam ahead into September. To be honest September feels like a bit of a blur for me. I know we all dropped into bed exhausted each and every night. I have such big ideas and plans for the children and each and everything requires so much thought and planning and extra work after hours. My energies have been spent this last month getting to know all our new children and settling each and everyone into their own unique routine at the school. So here are a few snippets and projects from the last few weeks!