A Step Through Time

In my town of Vancouver, WA (across from the Columbia River of Portland, OR) is a National Historic Site- Fort Vancouver. The fort was the main supply depot of the British Hudson Bay Company and dealt primarily with trading furs. It had a range of 700,000 square miles, and utilized 24 posts, 6 ships, and 600 employees. It served as a multicultural hub of more than 35 tribal and ethnic groups and was the early end of the Oregon Trail. Later, it became a US Army post and still to this day is situated next to an Army Barracks. Once a year they do a walking tour by candlelight that begins in WWII and goes back in time to the Indian War, Civil War, Oregon Trail, straight to the fort. There are live reenactments and memorabilia. We try to go every year unless we get rained out. Even today the drizzle was trying to get us to change our mind, but I am so glad we didn't. "A" loved it and I think this is the first time he really remembered it. It was great to see him playing with children who were displaying toys from the Oregon Trail (Pick-up Sticks, Jacob's Ladder, and Cup and Ball). I took a ridiculous amount of pictures so I will choose some of my favorites.

Animal Silhouettes

It was time to pull the watercolors out-it has been awhile! I wanted to try an effect similar to the tape resist painting we did when we studies shapes (still one of my favorite art pieces we have done so far) but this time using animal stencils. The idea was to take animal stencils and make templates. Then water color around the templates and remove them when it had dried. The effects aren't as dramatic because the watercolors always dry a little light but they turned out pretty cool. I would have to say it was harder to make sure not get under the stencil than with tape and you can see than on my elephant painting the trunks didn't turn out perfect. Either way it was a fun morning of painting with my little man!

"Wild Horses" by "A"

"Special Bond" by me

52 Reasons...

On Sept. 8th it was my 10 year wedding anniversary. I always thought this would be a monumental occasion, but alas my dear husband and I were separated by more than 2400 miles. I am big on making gifts for anniversaries and Valentines Day because I think those events especially demand something a little more personal. I had to think of something that could be mailed up relatively easily as well. On Pinterest I found just the thing: using a deck of cards to make a book of reasons why you love someone. I have been dying to blog how cute it turned out, but I had to wait until my hubby got it so not to ruin his gift. He just got it today- a week late (Argh!). So now that he has it I can share it with all of you!

Finished Product next to our wedding photo.

The front of the "book" with embellishments hot glued on. Most books don't have the "Always Will" part but I added it.

Example of pages. The front cover is on a Joker card so there is still 52 cards to use for reasons.

I just typed the reasons in Word. Most people comment on how hard it is to think of 52-for me surprisingly easy.

Cut and Paste-very tedious done over a couple nights.

Good Tip: Use the other Joker card as a template for punching holes. Test it out with a card that has a lot of text to make sure you put holes far enough apart not to cut away any text. Also you can only hole punch 2 cards at a time max!

My gift you ask (or not but I will tell you anyway):

Beautiful flowers surprised delivered to my door! It is so reminiscent of the early years we were together!

Foto Fridays: Patterns

This weeks theme for Foto Friday is patterns. I chose the picture above of the trunk of a palm tree in Florida, when I vacationed there last Spring. Hope you like it as much as I do!

Floating S Experiment

I am a huge science nerd! Growing up I was led to believe that because math was difficult to me, science would be as well. I avoided science like the plague. When finally, I was forced to get my lab science credits in college I was shocked to find that not only was I good at science but that I loved it. Science is such a great subject for children because it is all about exploration, wonder, manipulation, and amazement. It ties in so nicely to the concept of being playful! Those are all things I want to encourage with my boys and students, so I was more than tickled pink to find this amazing website (PreKinder.com) that is chocked full of science centers and experiments. This website has so many terrific ideas that my head is literally spinning! One particular experiment caught my eye because it uses Skittles. Skittles are "A's" favorite candy, but I have also read it is the worst candy for people on the market (healthwise). This being the case the only time "A" gets Skittles is as a special treat from Grandpa, and most certainly not from me. As a special treat I thought I would ease up a bit and do a Skittle science experiment and give him a few extra to eat-boy was he blown away!

The Floating S experiment, as it is called at the PreKinders website, is super easy to do and hardly any cost at all. The only materials you need is three different color Skittles placed S face up in a white disposable bowl (found in picnic area of supermarket) and a class of water. Place the skittles around the edge with some space between the three (think like a triangle). Pour enough water to cover the Skittles. Then observe. It is important to have the experiment take place where it is not shaky. The website has a printable to record observations too.

Some cool observations:

• The colors bled in an outer ring. When the colors met each other I thought they would start to mix (the red would meet the yellow and start to form orange). This didn't happen! The colors stopped when they met and decided to travel inwards.
• The red  color traveled the fastest, then the green, and the yellow was the slowest.
• The white S floated to the top. You have to observe it quick because the S starts to break down to white floating stringy stuff. 

"A's" prediction, experiment observations and picture of what he saw happen

At the end the scientist was rewarded with some of his favorite candy (NO-not the boxful but a handful)

ABC Stickers

For a little supplementing today I had "A" pull out his ABC Letter Stickers (he has a few different sets). The first skill was matching ABC's to ones I had stamped onto a recycled paper towel roll. The second sticker activity was another type of matching put he had to use the letters to write some sight words we are working on. At first he was getting tired because he kept saying his ABC's to find the right letter on the sticker packs, and he thought that was just too much like work. Then I told him he didn't need to say the ABC's every time but look for the shape of the letters (like a circle for the letter o). I described it like a search-and-find game and all of a sudden he had a lot more fun.

ABC Sticker Match:

Sight Word Sticker Writing:

5 A Day Books: At the Farm

I loved the Eric Carle books last week but they were a little advanced from my wee baby! I am returning to some more basic books and chose the theme: At the Farm. All of the books have minimal text, rhyming sentences, and allow me to work on animal and sound concepts.  If you want to know more about the 5 A Day Book idea and the benefits for children before they reach elementary age check out The Imagination Tree blog. Most of the books I got at Target Dollar Bin a few years ago so I am showing them in more detail. Farm books are great for toddlers because you can do fun animal sounds to have child associate animals to the noises they make. Do it even if the page doesn't tell you...trust my your baby loves it when you make a fool of yourself!

Big brother reading to little brother-who has horsey in hand!

 1) Who's on the Farm? Lift the Flap Book: This was a $1 bin find at Target last year. This is the one brother will read because it has pictures to hint at what the animal may be (so "A" can look at picture cues). It's great way for "A" to use schema and inference to figure out what he should read to brother.

2) Farm Animal Guess Who: Another lift the flap that came in the same $1 bin as the above book last year at Target

3) Farmer Mickey: This was also a Target $1 bin book in 2008. When my oldest was younger he LOVED Mickey (especially the old cartoons). For his 2nd birthday I had a party at a local farm with hayride included. I saw these books and picked them up as party favors for the guests. Has great rhymes and our favorite characters too!

4) Tough Stuff -Tractor Power: This I know you can find places. It is part of a really fun series (Tough Stuff). It is great for boys who love trucks and tractors! A lot of books have fun interactive components too. This one is pretty straight forward though. Each book has a character and this one is Farmer Finn as we look at different tractors and their duties.

5) Happy Baby-Who Lives on the Farm: This one I got in a free box at my public library. Why I do not know? There is nothing wrong with it and a great board book with colorful pictures, shiny elements, and rhyming text. Great find if I say so myself!!!

Ha