terrariums and such

So it's been a bit since I've stopped by (I wonder how many of my posts start off with this statement?!)- but I assure you I'm still around, alive and doing well :-)  Truth of the matter is we're doing really well- we finally found a house and are waiting for settlement!!! It was a looooong 6 months of hunting but well worth it. It will be another long 3 months of waiting for settlement but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel.

In the meantime I have been busy wrapping up the school year and trying to fit in tidbits of craftiness along the way....

We celebrated"Father's Day"- well I actually came down with that awful stomach bug the day before and was out of commission for the celebration and the 2 days after... but I heard it was wonderful :)

We finished studying animals in winter and moved to study the red-tailed hawk along with celebrating St. Patrick's Day. (I took plenty of pictures and had every intention of sharing- but time got the best of me!)

I finished up my last round of P/T conferences and am on the home stretch to graduation!


As for home life- Steve and I have stumbled upon an amazing outdoor/indoor garden studio that we adore.... called Terrain at Styer's. If you like anthropologie- you'd LOVE terrain! They are a bit pricey- but it's a great place to get ideas.... and...if you find stuff on sale it's a pretty good deal. I've collected a few things since our initial love connection...

This soap dish I paid full price for- but fell in love with it at first sight! It's going to look wonderful in my powder room :)

This cow door stop I bought online on sale and it is truly sublime! It's wrought iron and has a family of cows on it- so me!

This wall hanging tear drop terrarium I bought at full price- but it was totally affordable and adds a peaceful aura to our living space.

These terrariums Steve and I made! So cool right?! We took a terrarium workshop this past weekend and it was such a fun, funky date-day activity. He made the one with the woodland plants and I made the one with the succulents.

Creating terrariums is so addicting- I want to make another one! Stay tuned as I plan to have a terrarium workshop party this summer after we settle in to our new home <3

animals in hibernation

Wow! Winter is practically over and I'm just getting around to writing this post!!

In our school we change over our room each month- we change the materials based on our theme and the season. For the month of Feb. we did Valentine's Day and Animals in Winter/Hibernation. This month we're doing the Red Tailed Hawk and St. Patrick's Day (and we're also celebrating Father's Day- since we're not in school when it's the REAL Father's Day). I'm hoping to post March's theme in the month of March- but I can't make any promises ;-)

So, last month, this is what we did for "animals in hibernation"...

Black bear handprints

Animals Hibernating matching cards:

This is a work that I made because.... frankly- I didn't have ANYTHING on animals in hibernation! I found pictures of animals on the Internet and then a picture of that animal in hibernation. I then wrote up a little snippet of information so that when presenting this work I can read it to the child.

 

(I apologize for the glare!)

Footprints of Animals in Winter:

This is a work that my school had- but I beefed it up a bit. Originally it was just pictures of the animal footprints- but I thought adding a second set of cards with the actual picture of that animal will make this work more stimulating and more educational. Below is a picture of a booklet that the children can make after they match the animal with the footprint.

And last, but not least a song that we sung in circle (which I heard many times during the day- the children loved it so much they sung it ALL the time!)

Time For Hibernation

(Frere Jacques tune)

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping,
Big black bear, big black bear?
Time for hibernation.
What is your location?
In a log, in a lair.

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping,

Hanging bat, hanging bat?
Time for hibernation.
What is your location?
In a cave is where I'm at.

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping,
Garter snake, garter snake?
Time for hibernation.
What is your location?
In the mud, in a lake.

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping,
Toad and frog, toad and frog?
Time for hibernation.
What is your location?
In a pond, near a log.

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping,
dormouse mouse, dormouse mouse?
Time for hibernation.
What is your location?
in a field, near a house.

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping,
Turtle friend, turtle friend?
Time for hibernation.
What is your location?
In the stream, till winter's end!

enjoy <3

Valentine's Day: montessori style

So better late then never...

here's how we're celebrating Valentine's Day in the classroom...

Practical Life shelf (left to right, top to bottom) tonging heart erasers, sorting colored hearts, transferring glass hearts, eye-dropper work, spooning sequins, pouring-pitcher to cup (with pink sand!), cutting veggies

sewing heart valentines!

 cutting out hearts- the child traces the line with scissors and opens it up for surprise!

 heart pattern matching (I made this in power point- just copy and paste the hearts and add different colors/borders/textures- make 2 copies- cut one set out and laminate)

(heart bracelet: paper heart punch outs, red pipe cleaners, puncher and pad.  Pick out 6 hearts, punch hole in center and lace onto pipe cleaner)

heart dot painting: cut out heart on card stock, laminate and re-cut out heart- makes an instant, customized stencil!

 draw-your-own penguin (not Valentine's Day related- but oh so cute!)

<3 enjoy

the mitten: a sequence story

So I must admit that this is not my idea, nor do I have it in my classroom! (although next year I will)
I love walking around my school and peaking inside every one's room to see what they're up to and I happened to stumble upon this great idea in my friends classroom.

It's a sequencing work that goes along with the children's book The Mitten by: Alvin Tresselt. (there is also one written by Jan Brett)

What you'll need:

You can introduce this work in a small group....read each page and then act it out using the objects...

The first page introduces the boy as he walks through the forest gathering wood- you can then take the little boy and gather the twigs onto his sled...

Oops the boy dropped his mitten...

"Now, how a boy could do this on the coldest day of winter I'll never know, but that's the way my grandfather tells the story."

It goes through a sequence where a variety of forest animals come across this cozy mitten and squeeze their way in...

(as the book progresses- add each animal to the mitten as it's introduced)

and just when you think there is no more room...

""No room! No Room!" cried the animals even before the bear had a chance to speak.

"Nonsense!" said the bear. "There's always room for one more."

And without so much as a please or thank you, he began crawling into the mitten.

He put his paw in first, and the mitten creaked and groaned.

He put his other paw in, and one of the seams popped.

Then he took a deep breath and pushed himself in."

and last but not least- one tiny little cricket... and RIP- the mitten explodes!

 

The animals get thrown about in the snow and all that remains are the bits and pieces of the boys mitten...

....the boy realizes he lost his mitten, but by the time he comes back for it...it's too late!

"And my grandfather says he never did know what really happened to his mitten."

It's an adorable story and an even more adorable work! It's amazing to watch the children actually act out the whole story- in correct sequence :-)

have a wonderful week <3

*hanky holders*

Hi all! Just wanted to share with you a little project we've been working on in the classroom. I got the idea from a fellow Montessori teacher at my school and thought it was a great project for cold and flu season! Sewing "hanky holders" - a cute way of saying tissue holders!

All you need is felt, craft thread, scissors, a needle, and tissues!

Pictured above is how I presented this work on the shelf (there is 1 for each child in the class). It was a lot of prep work- but the outcome was so cute and the children really loved it- which makes it all worth it! (they carry them around in their pockets- always prepared for a runny nose)

I cut rectangles of felt out with pinking shears and then a small heart (for their initials)...

Folded and ironed the ends to meet in the middle...

Embroidered their initials on the small hearts and glued them on to each felt rectangle...

Then to make it a more independent work, I dotted along the edges to show where the stitches needed to be.

And the final look- complete with tissues and all!

It's amazing how well the children can sew! Some of the little ones surprised me- able to thread their own needle! I also took this opportunity to teach the Kindergartners how to tie a knot in the end of their thread- they were so proud when they finally did it :-) 

Since this sewing project was such a success- stand by for our Valentines Day project...

<3 have a great week! 



winter: montessori style

Well there hasn't been many signs of winter around here... despite the inconsistent cold weather. I've been dreaming, hoping, and praying for some snow!! It's so pretty and peaceful....and being a teacher- I get the added bonus of snow days :-)

Even though it's not snowing outside- it certainly is snowing inside...our classroom that is...

Make your own snowman

 white paper with 3 different size circles/ basket with black hole punched circles, scraps of brown, black, red, and orange paper (for the child to cut out his/her snowman accessories).

Snowflake cutting 

 the children fold the square paper in fourths and cut out shapes to create these...

Painting with evergreens

 blue construction paper cut in half, white paint, and a variety of evergreen stems. The children dip the evergreen into the white paint and dot on paper. The final results look like snowflakes!

Drawing your own snowflake

 the children follow the sequence steps on how to draw a snowflake, then paint glue onto their lines, and sprinkle with snow (it's really sugar- but looks just like snow!)

Counting snowflakes

snowflake matching

I made this work using different snowflakes (found them online: made 1 large copy and 1 tiny copy of each), construction paper, and a laminater. The children use the magnifying glass to look at the tiny snowflakes and match them with the identical large snowflake.

Hopefully with all this 'snow' talk we will finally get some!

Oh and Happy Birthday Dr. MLK!

Have a great week <3