Halloween Party, the Children

Halloween Party, the Adults

Slime!

It's a very simple activity. Pour a cup or so of cornstarch into a bowl. Slowly drizzle in water, stirring as you go. It will be very stiff and lumpy at first, and will become more liquid as you pour in more water. Tip: Stir slowly. The oddity (and the appeal!!) of this stuff is the faster you stir, the more solid it becomes. Green food colouring is optional, of course.

When it's the consistency you want (we went for cream), you will find that if you put your finger in slooowly, it feels just like water. (Or cream.)

But if you lift your finger out, it will ooze and drip like... slime!

Slime...

Drip!

We all loved it.

The science lesson? It's an isotropic liquid: when it's agitated, it becomes more solid. So, reach in and quickly clutch a handful, and you can lift it out like crumbling pie dough. Within a second or two, though, if you hold your hand still, it will revert back to liquid and oooooze out between your fingers. Stir it quickly, and it will mound up against your finger or spoon. Stop stirring, and... back to innocuous liquid.

Nora was particularly fascinated, and stayed at the table long after the others had become bored. Poke, stir, lift. Solid, liquid, ooze. Very Zen, our Nora. :-)

Rivetted!

Wow!!!! Something is INTERESTING!!! (Peek-a-boo, Dries!)

Fascinating, even. Whatever could it be?

Singing MONKEYS!!!

(Don't ask me. I have no idea who/what they are...)

Nooooooodles!

We had vermicelli noodles with lunch today. Can you tell?

Menu Monday

Monday: Lentil-beet Salad
A reliable standard. (Don't be alarmed by ruby-red output in the next 24 hours...)

Tuesday: Spaghetti and (veggie)meatballs
We love pasta. 'Nuff said.

Wednesday: Tofu-veggie curry on rice
Actually, we had it on rice vermicelli, and everyone loved it.

Thursday: Groundnut Stew (veggies in a peanut-butter/tomato broth)
Another hit. Okay, full disclosure: Responses varied from overt enthusiasm to neutral, but no one complained, gagged, or refused outright, but when your dining party comprises 5 toddlers, that constitutes a hit!

Friday: Halloween Party!

What are we Doing this Week?

Each week I have a general plan of activities and crafts mapped out, a mix of outings and crafts (three to five/week) with other activities (cooking, songs, etc) or games (often theme-specific) tossed in once or twice a week. We don't always follow the plan, mind you! Outings are dependent not only on the weather, but the needs of the children. If a little one (or a biggun, for that matter) needs a morning nap, we probably won't get further than the driveway or the front porch. Crafts sometimes don't happen for one reason or another...

But insofar as you can plan anything with a bunch of toddlers, I do make plans! It's only recently occurred to me that I could, you know, share them with you guys... However, please understand that anything I write on a Sunday evening may bear no similarity whatsoever to what actually occurs on the Thursday. (Or the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Friday!)

Still, I do my best, and it often happens like I plan!

So. This week. The theme is Halloween, the colour ORANGE. (Surprise, surprise.)

Monday:
Outing: Windsor Park
Craft: Jack o'lantern suncatchers

Tuesday:
Outing: Library
Craft: Slime

Wednesday:
Outing: Windsor Park
Craft: Spooky ghosts

Thursday:
Outing: Walk into the Glebe to check out the construction
Activity: Baking cookies for party tomorrow!! (And for snack this afternoon. Yummy!)

Friday:
Outing: Playgroup
Activity: Decorating for party (balloons and streamers, yay!)

SEE YOU ALL AT THE HALLOWEEN PARTY!!!

Bottom's Up!

Bum Bench

I bought a bench for the living room last weekend. It took the kids anywhere between 4 seconds and 4 hours to notice it, but when they did, it was only natural that they check it out. The top is wavy, with three depressions just the right size for three small bottoms. You'd think I purchased it with them in mind!

(For the record: It's quite comfortable for adult-sized bottoms as well.)

Pumpkin Puzzles? Ummm...

The older children... (An aside: Have you noticed that Ella, Dominic and Nora are now the Big Kids? They are, you know. It's Addie and Dries who are the babies.)

When the Big Kids tackled the pumpkin puzzle, they were able, with a little direction, to hold the sticks with one finger while painting them with a brush. They also understood (because I had a completed one to show them) the purpose of the painting.

Now, that's the thing about babies, toddlers and even many pre-schoolers. While they love to mess around with craft materials, they're far more interested in the process than the product. They are not playing with paint to make something. They are playing with paint to discover its texture, its colour, the way it moves, how a paintbrush works, how absorbent different paint surfaces are... There are a million and one things to learn about paint and painting, and they are diligently learning them. Making a picture? Not even on the radar yet.

However, when I show the Big Kids the completed puzzle, they "get" that there will indeed be a product. It's still not really the point for them, but they understand the concept.

Addie and Dries? No such awareness. Why paint the stick, which won't even hold still, when I can watch the colour appear on my high chair tray??

Look at how it smears when I do this. Cool!

Oh, and I can make a neat noise, and different kinds of paint marks, when I whack it with the stick!

Addie explores the flavour of paint and the texture of the stick, while Dries considers the way paint drips off the brush. (Paint is a liquid! It drips! No, they don't have that vocabulary, and wouldn't really understand it if you gave it to them, but it's on this experience that the vocabulary will be laid in due time. Without the experience of "liquid", the word is meaningless, an empty collection of sounds.)

Like Addie, Dries likes the way the colour appears on the surface before him,

but he's also quite taken by the texture of the brush

and the squooshiness of the paint in his fist!

And, oh, lookit that! There's paint on my high chair now, too!

It is so totally fascinating to watch them explore, and to know that every single thing they do is another piece of the puzzle for them, another step to comprehending the world.

Pumpkin Puzzles Under Construction

You've seen the pumpkin puzzles by now. Here they are, busily creating ...

Five Toddlers and Some Leaves

People often express wonder that I can keep five children stimulated and entertained all day long. I think they're imagining me planning and conducting a steady round of reading, dancing, painting, singing, running, games, crafts, songs, activities...

It's nothing like that, really, primarily because I don't think my role is to be at the centre. I'm not the daycare cruise director, planning every second of the day, directing every action and thoughts. I'm at the centre insofar as I'm the stable, nurturing, reliable grown-up; that role puts me at the emotional centre of their days with me. But the cruise director centre? Nope. I don't direct, I facilitate. Beyond a very basic frame of the day (food times, outing, craft/indoor activity, sleep times) the impetus for what to do next rarely comes from me. I watch the children, I provide them time, space, and opportunity to entertain themselves... and they do.

Here, I have provided them a wide-open field full of leaves, sticks, twigs, grass, and one big tree. We explored, played, romped, touched, smelled, looked, (and yes, tasted)... We did this sitting down...

We did this charging around...

W

Dries checks out the bendiness of a twig. Addie is exploring the sound leaves make when you shuffle through them. Or stomp on them.

Dominic and Nora are discovering the weight, feel, and sound of leaves, while Ella, inspired by Addie's shuffling, tries that out.

Nora has a seed -- we've talked about seeds this month, and she now can recognize them as seeds, while Addie crushes some dry leaves in her palms.

And me? I watch, mostly. I make sure they're safe. We'll talk about what they're doing a bit, because I like to give them vocabulary for their explorations. But only a bit, because I don't want to be the focus and conduit for everything they do. It would be exhausting for me, and it would take the onus of exploration, and much of its pleasure, from them. It is a firm conviction of mine that education is not something somebody does to you, it's something you do for yourself.

Another bonus? Kids raised like this? "I'm bored"  is not in their repertoire!

Dries the Explorer

Dries is fascinated by cause-and-effect. "If I do this, then THAT happens!!!" He loves it. Here, he's discovered the brake lever on the stroller. Happily, he is not strong enough to un-set the brake once it's clicked into place, but it wasn't set here, so he was able to wiggle it back and forth. Kept him busy for a good four minutes!

No, he's not making an escape attempt. It's just that doorknobs are INTERESTING!

And when the doorknob loses its glamour, well, what's THIS? (These are blurry because I didn't want to use the flash and distract him from his quest.)

Hey! Lookit that! It lifts out!!!

No worries! I can put it back... sort of...

Dries's days are one long, long, looooooong list of explorations. So cute, to watch their little minds in action.