A Peek into Our Space and Our Circle Time Board

okay... 

so this board and I...

ugh...

this board and I are working on our relationship.

We have gone round and round, and we shall see who come out with the win.

ROUND 1

What had happened was...

My mother in law gave me this beautiful felt board!  I needed a water look for our Circle Time Board, so naturally, I chose to use this beautiful board that was FREE and not being used in my house.

I used washi tape (big mistake) to adhere everything to the felt board.  I love the layout of this! 

So Beautiful! Can't wait for Sweet Pea to see it! Oh wait, she's waking up from her nap let me go get her.

And when I came back after getting her up... this.  This is what I came back to... ugh.

ROUND 2

So I went down the street to Walmart to see what adhesives

 I should try that wouldn't destroy the felt board.

I settled on these bad boys, plus some sticky tack that I had at my house.  That double sided tape..
yeah, it didn't work, and there to the left... the poster tape... although, I do think it's a good product,
it didn't work well on my felt board.  Sticky tack and mounting tape are what worked.

Looks GREAT! Except now that I am looking at it on my computer, there is a CLOUD IN THE WATER!
*sigh* ugh...
that will have to be fixed in round 3 which will happen after I post this entry.
You win rounds 1 and 2 board... but I will have you know
3rd time is the CHARM!

Just keepin it real people. :)

Okay, so in the end, here is what our Mother Goose Time Space looks like
(which takes place mainly in my breakfast room)

I need to think about removing the table altogether (I think), but this is where we regularly eat.  We have a formal dining area that just is basically a catch all right now.  But we could eat in there.
If I get rid of this table, then we have more room to play.  Thoughts?

Each day, I let Sweet Pea add another date to the calendar.  It really is helping with her coordination.  Time stood still for us the week of the 16th so that is why there are no dates on there.  That post is for another time. 

Sweet Pea's work little table that daddy built and our neighbor gave us these chairs!
I promise... I do buy stuff.  But I am a pack rat too...

This buffet houses a bunch of Sweet Pea's manipulatives and fun items inside.  On top are bins where I organize our items by the day.  My girl loves to press the buttons on the CD player and play the Science Lab CD.

For more information on how I organize all the wonderfulness that comes in the Mother Goose Time box, check out this post.
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So this is how we will start our TOT SCHOOL School year next week!

Wish me luck on round 3, and what are your thoughts on the table? 

Keep? Remove?

Baking Soda and Vinegar Never Get Old...

I remember being in 2nd grade and watching my teacher use baking soda and vinegar to show us how a volcano erupts. That was one magical moment.

My girl also got to have that magical moment, but it was shared with me!  Such a perk of being able to stay home with her.  One of the many reasons I truly wanted to.  

Mother Goose Time outdid themselves with the day on Reactions. Seriously, we could have done this all week long!  I used a giant box of baking soda (not the whole thing) that I purchased in the laundry aisle, along with vinegar, food coloring, and few glass bowls, and 3 pipettes or medicine droppers, all of which I had at home.
                

                                                   



 

Sweet Pea worked really hard at learning how to squeeze the pipette while it was in the vinegar. There were many times she would squeeze when it was not in the bow; then I would show her how to do it again.

"Wow, momma!" was the phrase of the day :)  

She loved watching the fizzing happen in the large container, but when she realized she could pick up some of the soda and place it in the colored vinegar, that was a game changer.

Sweet Pea fell in love with the fizzing she could feel on her fingers and all the bubbles that took place when she placed the baking soda in the vinegar.  However, it didn't take long for the vinegar and baking soda to neutralize and not fizz anymore.

"Bubbles?"

Naturally, I mixed some more blue.


         

If I could have put this pan in a picture frame I would. Those textures are just beautiful!  I guess I will just frame this picture until then.  :) 

And when we were done, we did what I am sure every child aches to do... mix it all together with your hands and see what happens!  

Want to see more fun we have had with our Mother Goose Time?  Be sure to check out these posts!

• Salt Painting
• How Mother Goose Time Challenges Me

Never heard of Mother Goose Time? Check it out here.

Hoping your day is full of awesome reactions! 

Salt Painting

Day 4 of the Science Lab was all about reactions.
Mother Goose Time suggested we try a new way of painting in order to study this topic.

This.  This is my new favorite way of painting!  Hands down.  

Salt Painting.  

The painting closeups above were made by my 2 year old, and I am framing this bad boy as soon as I can make it to Hobby Lobby for a nice black frame at 50% off. 

I have used salt with watercolors before with my own artwork, but this one turned out completely different! Why? Because these watercolors are homemade.  This fact made the salt STICK to the watercolor leaving an amazing effect.

I used this recipe to make the watercolors and a Wilton 8 pack of gel food coloring.  The Wilton gel colors give the watercolors a rich dark color, definitely better than a lot of kid friendly watercolor brands and regular liquid food coloring. My set had black and not brown.
  If you are going to try this out, give your watercolors a few days to dry and harden.

    

I think (not completely sure) it's the cornstarch that makes the salt stick, but whatever did it, I am so glad it did.  The salt glistens, and it didn't stick to all of the areas.  Sweet Pea would paint, add some salt, paint some more, and pour on more salt.  She wasn't the best at shaking the salt around, but let it pour in areas, which also helped give the painting the effect that it has.

After watching Sweet Pea complete her painting, I have to do one of my own next week during nap time!  Here is her final piece of artwork hanging on her art wall above her table.

 Later that afternoon, after her nap, Sweet Pea saw her artwork hanging above her table and exclaimed,"Wow, Momma!  Wow!"

I said the same thing earlier, my girl... Wow.

Thank you Mother Goose Time for opening our eyes to a new way of painting... a way that forms reactions both within the painting itself, and by the artist themselves. 

This post has been linked to 1+1+1=1 a great site for many ideas to do with your Tot. 

Mother Goose Time Challenges Me

Some things to know about my Tot, Sweet Pea.

• She is just now 2... as in 2 weeks ago she turned two.
• She is super cautious and won't really try a lot of new things without seeing it done first.
• She hates to get her hands dirty or messy, unless food is involved... then it seems to be okay.
• She comprehends so much!  I am really astonished at what she knows.
• She loves to help and clean up.
• She loves books and reading!  Especially in someone's lap.
• She does not have a very extensive vocabulary, but I do know what she means with certain sounds and the "words" she says.

With that being said, one of the greatest parts about Mother Goose Time  (MGT), is that it challenges me!  We have only done this for 2 days my friends, TWO... and it has confronted me in 2 very specific ways.  First of all, MGT has forced me to expand the vocabulary I use with her. Secondly, it has required me to broaden the experiences we have together...regardless of whether I think she will like it or not.

Challenge 1: Vocabulary-How many different ways can I describe ___?

Sweet Pea has eaten strawberries many times before, and we have discussed how they are red, and that I used a knife to cut them.  Overall, though, she would just eat them and say "mmmm," and I would tell her that strawberries taste good and leave it at that.  However, because this was more than just breakfast- it was an intentional learning experience-I was already aware that I wanted to share lots of words to describe the strawberries.  She spun a spinner that asked us to observe the fruit using our 5 senses.  So we smelled the strawberries, or really studied how they felt (slippery, wet (I had just washed them), cold, rough on the outside). We talked about how they tasted sweet and juicy.  This one activity made me realize that I have fallen short when talking to my girl. If I want her to become a better speaker (which I do), than I have to be intentional about the vocabulary I use when talking to her.  So now that I know, I can be more proactive when we do things together.     

Challenge 2: Experiences- Try it out, or adjust it beforehand?

Sweet Pea hates getting her hands dirty, messy, gunky, sticky... you name anything other than clean, and she probably doesn't like it.  This has caused challenges when working with things like sand, dirt, contact paper, ect.  Because I know this about her, many times I will steer clear of these items and try to adjust something to make it more suitable to her liking.  This is the reason she has never played with glue.  However, today I thought we should try the glue out and see. Sweet Pea made glue puddles on wax paper and shook/poured glitter onto the puddles. Now, adding the suggested sequins into the puddles... that was where the line was drawn.  She placed her fingers in the puddle once, and fingers and hands went flying to get the glue off, and I anticipated this and was ready with a wet paper towel.  Surprisingly, she kept on playing with the glitter which made her want to make more and more glue puddles.  True girly girl there... anything that blings or has glitter is worth facing things you don't necessarily like.  Without the prompt from MGT, I honestly do not know when we would have messed with glue. By not messing with glue, she would miss out on the beauty of glitter.  So I just need to accept the challenge of putting great experiences in front of her, and not assume what she will or will not dislike.  If she hates it, that's okay.  If she loves it, that's okay, too.  But if she never experiences something I would like for her to try because I assumed she will not like it, I am not okay with that.  Of course this is also regarding a 2 year old, my friends :)

So I have to share with y'all this video my phone made without me prompting it!  Today we made cream, played with glue and glitter, and explored her little people being trapped in a block of ice outside at her water table....all in the day of the life of a toddler studying solids and liquids.