Coloring Through Observing

Why do kids love coloring sheets?

I loved them growing up.. in fact I still love them.

There's a huge industry blowing up right now for adult coloring books.

What is it about coloring that is so therapeutic?

I must say that as a former art teacher, there is such an overwhelming sense of 

accomplishment when a work of art is completed.

Even if it is a coloring sheet.

I love our Experience God curriculum from Mother Goose Time.

I love the large pictures they send, and the fact that Jesus and the disciples are depicted the same way month to month.  This really helps Sweet Pea remember who is who.

I placed the poster of Jesus and the disciples on her picture stand, and provided Sweet Pea with the coloring sheet that matches the poster.  Then I let her go to town coloring it how she wanted.

At first she colored the people's noses, eyes and mouths different colors, 

but then I caught her studying the poster.  

I asked her which person was wearing green, and she pointed.

Then she picked up her green marker and started coloring that disciple.

I love the picture above.  

It just captures her nature so well.

Sweet Pea is studious and cautious and oh so observant.

I love how she chose to solve the problem of which color to use by actually looking and studying the source of where her work came from.

In a world that is so fast paced, it is so refreshing to watch someone stop and just look.

She stops so often to look at the world around her.

To feel the wind.

Listen to the birds.

Look at the color of people's eyes.

Sweet Pea chose her colors by observing the picture provided.

Observing.

A skill being lost in today's fast-paced world, 

but one I am being taught once again by my 2 year old.

Thank you Lord.

Happy Coloring, friends!

Birdwatching

This Bird and Egg Unit is my favorite so far this year yall.

If you've been keeping up with us, you will know that I blogged about how Sweet Pea and I built a Bird Sanctuary the other day outside our dining room window so we could become birdwatchers.  

We continued our transformation by reading the book The Birdwatchers, making binoculars from paper cups (provided by Mother Goose Time), and then patiently staring out the window observing quietly our bird sanctuary.

We started our day by reading The Birdwatchers.  In that book the girl and her grandpa use binoculars.  I showed Sweet Pea the Daily Poster of the Birdwatcher and she noticed the binoculars.  I asked her to look at the thematic poster and find someone using binoculars.  I love these little posters... so much packed into an image.

"Two be-oc-lars" 

What do you think they are observing, I asked.

"Ducks."

I informed Sweet Pea that we were going to become birdwatchers too.  First, we needed some binoculars, so we were going to make some!

Mother Goose Time provided us with the paper cups and Sweet Pea decided to use markers to color them.

After coloring them, I used an exacto blade to cut circles out of the bottom of the cups for the eye holes.  Add a little washi tape to make the division line between the lens and the tube, staple them together, staple some ribbon to the cups for a neck strap, and you have binoculars! 

While I did all that, I gave Sweet Pea the Birdwatcher coloring page that is part of the

 Member Resources for Mother Goose Time.

You can get all 20 of them for FREE here!

Once I finished with the binoculars, we went straight to the dining room window to look at our 

bird sanctuary. 

LOOK WHO SHOWED UP!!!!

Sweet Pea was able to use her binoculars to see that little bird eat from her birdfeeder craft!

This little fella was super fast darting here and there... grabbing a seed and flying away.

It was perfect!

These little moments make me so happy that I am able to stay at home with her. 

I could have missed this!

Happy Birdwatching!!

Building a Bird Sanctuary

I've been so inspired this past month by our Birds and Eggs unit by Mother Goose Time.

We built our own nest that my girl loves, which you can read about here.  In fact, she convinced Daddy to sit in it with her and read together yesterday.  Wish I had grabbed a picture. 

Yesterday, I taught the 2-4 year old crafts at our local co-op and I had the kids make birdfeeders from toilet paper rolls, peanut butter, and birdseed.

When we came home, Sweet Pea and I decided we needed to build a bird sanctuary. 

I hope the birds feel that way.

I dug out our old chiminea that has not been used in 9 years out of the shed and hosed it off hoping it would be a great bird bath.

I either need to fill it more, or put something in the center so the birds can easily reach the water.  

We placed it outside our dining room windows so we can easily watch the birds.  

My husband built this bird feeder last year out of some scraps of wood and left over gutters he used to build bookshelves in Sweet Pea's playroom.  My girl scooped out the seeds and placed them in the feeder.  "I help too, Momma." 

Mother Goose Time had us build a bird feeder once before out of pinecones, which you can read about here.  I wish I had done that instead of the toilet paper tube.  The minute it gets wet, it will fall apart.... lesson learned.

However, she was so proud of her work!  How could I not put it up?

2 toilet paper tube birdfeeders placed on a garden hook and outside our window provides the perfect spot to watch. 

Our completed bird sanctuary.

At least that's what I'm calling it.  

I bet it becomes more of a squirrel sanctuary though.

Now to read our book The Birdwatchers 

and make some binoculars from our Mother Goose Time unit!

You can read about us becoming birdwatchers here.

Happy Birdwatching!

Shaving Cream Paper Eggs

Easter is around the corner, and you know what that means...

EGG DECORATING.

This month our Birds and Eggs unit came with a 

"Who's in the Nest?" attendance tracker. Since it is just me and Sweet Pea, I decided to modify the nest to become a "How many are in the Nest? daily game for Sweet Pea. 

First we had some Egg decorating to do.

The supplies you need are:

-shaving cream

-food coloring or liquid watercolors

-flat bottom pan

-popsicle stick (2 minimum)

-paper egg cutouts

- paper towels

Place a layer of shaving cream into your pan, and add a few drops of food coloring.  Stir it all together.  The colors will begin to look marbleized. 

Place your paper egg cut-out, one at a time into the colorful cream.  Press the paper down a little to make sure the whole surface is covered.

Pull it out and scrape off the surface using the edge of a popsicle stick or other straight edged surface.  I couldnt take a picture of that step due to shaving cream hands.  Here's a pic of the finished product:

I added numbers 1-6 to our cube from Mother Goose Time, and now each morning Sweet Pea tosses the cube and then adds that many eggs to the nest practicing her counting.

You can see she rolled a four, added the eggs, and then tried to show me four fingers.  

We are still working on that :)  

I love how we can adjust this to work for us.  

On top of making pieces for an awesome game, Sweet Pea loved making shaving cream eggs so much, she even made a ton more to decorate the house for Easter. Love it.

If you love it too, be sure to pin the image below!

Happy Egg Decorating! 

Want more ideas?  Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest.

Building a Reading Nest

The month of April we are studying Birds and Eggs. 

I have to admit, when I first heard the name of the unit, I thought it wouldn't be that much fun, but boy was I wrong.

It's only Day 1 and Sweet Pea is LOVING IT!  

Maybe it's the fact that her vocabulary is blowing up,
 or that she's been much better playing by herself,
 but whatever it is, she is absolutely loving this theme!

The first thing we did was build our nest.

I hung up a dead stem part from our hydrangeas from outside above the window. It'll be a great way to display all our bird learning... and even a nest we make later on today. 

Thanks Stacy for the great idea!

The nest idea was not mine, but Jennie's at Wonders Early Learning Center.

Once I saw her nest, I knew Sweet Pea and I would have to make one!

First dig out that kiddie pool from the shed and wash it out. (yuck)

Grab your kiddos and play pretend. 

Be birds and bring pillows to your new nest.  

Smile at the adorableness of your kid flapping his or her wings.

Put a sheet on it- flat or fitted.  We used a full size fitted, but a twin would definitely work.

After all those pillows were stuffed into that nest, Sweet Pea still asked for more.  

Girl takes after her momma about these pillows.

Now I am pretty crafty, but since Sweet Pea has been giving up her naps lately, I just haven't had the time to make her some wings.  I really want to though!  Seriously, check out Jennie's blog for the how to on making beautiful, easy felt wings for several types of birds! 

I had these angel wings stored (and never used) so Sweet Pea can now become a white dove.  

Once she put on those wings, she ran all through the house with her hands in the air "flapping."  I had to chase her to get a picture! She finally flew back to her nest.

The nest ready with her bird wings, and this spot is the perfect place for Sweet Pea to do one of her favorite things, READ.

She's obsessed with books.

As part of the Member Resources, each month Mother Goose Time sends a list of 20 books that go along with the theme and the daily learning activity. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH.  It allows me to find books that normally we would never read!  In fact we have found some of Sweet Pea's most favorite books because of these lists each month.  (Fiddle-I-Fee is one I had to keep checking out).

I used my same method of planning that I did last month using our Planning Journal.  Once I knew what days we were definitely doing, I highlighted the above list of what books I wanted to try to find at my local library.  I went to their website and was able to use the card catalog to find what books they had available that I could add to our reading nest this month.  

Today is Library Wednesday where we  head to the local library for Story Time and crafts.  Because I did all the prep work at home, I could quickly and easily find the books we needed to complete our Reading Nest.

These books will stay in our home until the end of the month, where we will return them and get the next batch for the next unit we study.  

If you have not taken advantage of your local library, I encourage you to do so! 

I have been completely amazed and blessed by what all our local library has to offer.  

I'd love to hear about your library adventures in the comments below, or your favorite book to read with your kiddos!

Happy Nesting and Reading!