Peace Basket

Okay, so I know I wrote a whole post about how Montessori hasn't really worked for us, but I just couldn't resist the idea of a Peace Basket for P and J.  Now it may (or may not) come as a surprise to learn that I have some issues dealing with P and J's behaviour.

You might have thought we lived some kind of harmonious, peaceful existence where the girls and I hold hands and talk through all our issues, but that just isn't the case.  Both girls are very stubborn and time out is a well used technique in this household.

 So I thought a peace basket would be a helpful addition to our disciplinary techniques.  I got the idea from Counting Coconuts peaceful space.  My basket is much simpler than her space, partly because P and J are younger, but also because when they need some time out they are usually very angry, and too many things would frustrate them further.

My peace basket consists of the word peace printed on a piece of paper.  I really loved these peace cards, but since both P and J are pre literate, it seemed a little pointless although they are very beautiful.

A shell from Rarotonga, so that the girls have to be quiet and calm and to hear the sea, and a crystal that we got in Egypt.

 And a finger labyrinth, made using this tutorial on Rhythm of the Home, that they can trace around and calm down with.  A really important consideration for us was that there was nothing breakable in the basket, since my children are likely to throw/break things.  As it is, P has already threatened to throw the shell.

The idea is to give the girls some tools to help them gain some self control when they are struggling with big emotions.

3) Document a failure

3) Document a failure
          - Something that seemed like a good idea but just didn't work

Lets talk about failures shall we? I've had a few in my crafting adventures, and I'd like you all to know that everything doesn't stay as great as it looks on my blog.

 These finger puppets came undone pretty quickly after I made them.

These ones too - one of the eyes got all long and googly as well.  To be fair P and J don't really care that much about that.

P just doesn't wear this singlet, even though she quite likes it.  It's too tight.  And so it sits in the drawer all forlorn.

And speaking of things not worn

J took one look at these smocks from Father Christmas, and flat out refused to even try them on.  Despite much coaxing I think she has worn one once, and they have been put away with the summer clothes in the hopes that maybe next summer she will have gotten over her dislike of them.

And lets not forget the skirt I made myself that I had to relegate back to the sewing box because it was such a bad fit.  Looking at it again I think it'd make an awesome pencil skirt though.

But the biggest failure of all:

Long time readers of my blog will note that there are no Montessori activities on my projects this year, and the reason for this is simple.  They have been a really big failure.  Now to be fair, I knew at the start of the Montessori journey that we were unlikely to stick fully to the ideals, but I did hope that we would make it work anyway.  It did not.

As much as the girls enjoyed doing the activities, they lasted for about 2 days.  And try as I might, we just couldn't keep them tidy and in order (well I couldn't keep them tidy and in order).  So when we rearranged the girls room recently, I gave up and relegated the shelves to the spare room.  As much as I really really want to do these, it just hasn't worked for us.

Rather more than one failure to share with you.  For me its important to show the reality of my crafting.  Although there are plenty of things I make that work out really well, and are very well received, there are some that just don't cut it.  So next time you read about something amazing I've created, just remember that there are no guarantees it will work, or that the recipients will appreciate it.  For all that, I still enjoy making things, even if they don't work out.

Montessori activities

On our shelves this week are mostly activities that the girls have used before, with a couple of additions.  P kept asking to do some 'activities' so I think she is pleased her shelves are getting some good use again.  Once again Counting Coconuts provided a wealth of different and easy ideas.

Practical Life - Peg dinosaur

I found the instructions to make this Peg dinosaur and thought it would be exactly the kind of thing P would enjoy, since she loves dinosaurs.  However, we have recently started watching The Land before Time and P decided that actually she wanted a long necked dinosaur so she allowed me to give this activity to J.

The idea is to put all the pegs along the back of the dinosaur, making it a stegosaurus.  Its hard to see in the photos, but I durasealed over the top of the dinosaur to make it a bit more durable.

Sensorial - Felt shapes

 This is the same as last time.

Sensorial - Smelling bottles

When I went to get out some of the activities the girls had previously used, P asked for these specifically.  Both P and J love these smelling bottles, and this time when I showed P how they worked, she was able to match up the smells in the different bottles (she's nearly 3 1/2).  It was great to see the development in her abilities.

Language - 'P' basket

This contains all the things that were in it last time, all objects that start with the sound 'p'.  This time they are also joined by two lovely poi, made by my very good friend Kirsty for the girls.

Both P and J demanded that I show them how to use the poi (I am pretty useless at the poi, so I could only show them the very basics of how poi work, but they were satisfied enough to wander around the house randomly whacking themselves and other things with the poi).

Language - Dominoes

P has a beautiful set of dominoes that she got for her birthday, so I put them into a basket (for easy access), for her to use as a matching game, or to play with.

I've put these under language, because all the Montessori blogs I read have matching activities as a language one, although I'm not exactly sure why.

I really wanted to make some felt fractions, but I ran out of time, so maybe next time.

Wrap up of Montessori activites

I thought I would start out by going through the Montessori activities that I put out last time for the girls.

Sensorial - Smelling bottles

These were a hit, P and J carried them around all over the place saying 'smell' and opening and sniffing them.  I am so not a Montessori purist.  However, as I outlined initially, P couldn't differentiate between the smells, even though I thought they were all pretty distinctive.  This was also not helped by small people taking the peppermint lids off the peppermint bottles and putting them on the other ones, leaving everything smelling faintly of peppermint.

Math - Number wheel

This one was a non starter, P wasn't interested in matching the pegs to the wheel at all.

Practical life - open and close containers

The girls enjoyed this activity, but it didn't really hold their attention all that well.  But its definitely worth a revisit.

Practical life - sorting buttons

P enjoyed playing with the buttons, but wasn't so keen on the whole idea of sorting them into the right colours and into the containers.  She spent quite alot of time putting small stickers on the buttons and then decided that they were money and took them with her in a purse when she went out.  So as far as a Montessori activity goes, this one didn't really work.  As far as something that P enjoyed playing with, this was great.

As I've previously mentioned, although I enjoy the idea of the Montessori activities, I don't really like the underlying ethos.  Obviously this has an impact on what my girls enjoy and how they play with their activities.  Check out my Steiner posts to see a different perspective on toddler and preschooler play.

More Montessori

My project this week is to get some more montessori style activities on the girls shelves.  Currently they are a bit empty (well actually they are the last repository of junk).  And it ties in well with the cultural swap that I have been busily working on for the last week (and which I haven't yet finished).

On the subject of the cultural swap, things are beginning to come together and I am feeling much better about the whole process.  Its just a matter of collecting, and then I will be able to send!

Cultural Swap

A little while ago I signed up for this awesome cultural swap that Melissa is hosting over at Chasing Cheerios.  I was so excited to be able to take part in this.  Essentially I will send out 12 envelopes with information about our lives, our town, and New Zealand in general, and I'll get 12 envelopes back.  I'll keep them all and bring them out one a month next year.

Its such a fabulous idea.  My plan is to get a map of the world for P for Christmas, and we'll mark on it where we get the envelopes from.  I also want to get some continent bags so that I can add in all the interesting trinkets we get.

So my project this week is to get my envelopes together.  The contents will probably include:

• Some sand from our beach (its black sand so fairly unusual)
• Some NZ coins
• Instructions and materials on how to make a poi (look out for a guest post from my friend Kirsty)
• Some other little NZ trinkets
• A vocab card with some common Maori words/phrases
• Photos - of our house, the Mountain and our bike rides.

Such an exciting project, I can't wait to get started on this one.

Gratitude

Since moving to my current town, I have met a wonderful group of ladies, who have made my journey of motherhood a whole lot better than it would otherwise have been.  I am incredibly grateful to have met so many kind and generous women, who give more than they get, and are always on hand with advice and help (especially since I don't have any immediate family close by).  And I would like to thank all of them for all the wonderful things - both physical and emotional - that I have received from them.

Of all the women I have met, none are more generous than Nyree.  She is always willing to have P and J and myself drop by her place (often unannounced) and on many more than one occasion I have returned home laden with clothes and things for the girls.  Given that money is tight for us, this is very much appreciated.  So last week I thought it would be a good time to say thanks.  So I made a few bits and pieces for Nyree and her three children.

For Nyree

A set of 4 coasters, floral on the front and blue on the back.

For Miss L

A practically no sew fairy skirt (its hard to tell how this looks, but it is very cool)

For Master J

A set of fabric numbers (like those I did for P)

And for little Miss M

A sweet knitted top (excuse the poor photo - I was running around the house trying to photograph things before we left).

Thank you so much for all your help and support Nyree, it means the world to me to have someone as wise and giving as you in my life.

Secret squirrel

My project this week is a bit hush hush.

More montessori activities

My second round of Montessori activities is finished, and just like my first project, it was really easy to put everything together.  Of course it remains to be seen how P and J will like the activities, but I'll just have to wait for that one.

Maths - Number Wheel

This was an activity that I got in a swap a while ago, but we lost the original pegs, and P was a little young for it.  So I got hold of some small wooden pegs and drew numbers on them.  The idea is to match up the numbered pegs with the butterflies on the wheel.  P had a go at this, but wasn't particularly interested in making sure the numbers were right.

Sensorial - Sorting buttons

I bought a whole lot of buttons from my local $2 shop in a variety of colours, and put them on a tray with some containers.  The idea is for P and J to sort the buttons into their respective colours and then put them into a container.

J just likes to put them into the jars, which is fine, but I was surprised by how much P enjoyed sorting them into colours and then into containers.

Sensorial - Smelling bottles

I got the idea for these from here.  I only had 6 matching glass bottles, and I filled them with three matching pairs of smells.  I used peppermint, coconut and almond essense, which was from the supermarket.  Of course if you had essential oils you could use those.

I was really surprised by how difficult P found this activity.  I thought all three smells were fairly distinctive, but she really struggled to differentiate between them.

Practical Life - Open and close containers

I also found this activity on Counting Coconuts.  There are a variety of containers that have different kinds of fastenings.  I found all of these around the house.

Language - Pre writing printable

I found a free printable on kidssoup for P to trace over the dotted lines.  This is to improve her penmanship skills without actually learning letters, since I've already mentioned my unwillingness to teach her to read too early.

So that's what on P's shelves now.  We still have the fabric numbers out, and all the baskets/trays came from the Hospice Shop for $1 (that's $1 for ALL of them, not $1 each either!).

Montessori wrap up

I thought it would be a good idea, before posting about the new montessori activities I've created for the girls, to do a little recap of the ones that they already have.

The losers:

 P wasn't really interested in threading the pasta and straws, and they quickly disappeared through the house (I think I vacuumed them up in the end)

 I was a little disappointed that neither P or J were interested in the felt shapes, either as shapes, or as a house.  I thought this would be a really cool activity, but they just weren't interested.  Interestingly, P found a whole heap of felt scraps - random colours and shapes, and has been busily arranging these instead.

P was interested in her language basket, but only for a short space of time.  I think if I had a whole range of sounds that I could cycle through, this would work well.

The Winners:

 J spent a reasonable amount of time exploring all the elements of her blue basket, and seemed to enjoy herself.

Button snake was a huge hit, initially with P, who spent quite a lot of time putting the buttons on, and lately with J, who has been very keen to carry button snake around with the button holes and demand that someone put them on (or take them off).

But the undisputed King of the Heap is the fabric numbers.  P just adores her 'nummies'.  She takes them to bed, she matches them up with the numbers in her counting book, she brings them out and says "what this say?" as she pulls each of them out.  This activity has also had the happy consequence of giving DH something concrete to do with her.  He has been diligently teaching her to count using them, and they've both been having a great time.