Tinkergarten!

This week has been a whirlwind as I discovered and began the application to become a Tinkergarten leader. Tinkergarten is an enrichment class that is unique in that it is run in an outdoor classroom.

Being a preschool teacher and having a toddler who loves being outside, I am excited to start my training! In the meantime, you should see if there are Tinkergarten classes in your area (www.tinkergarten.com) and if not, maybe you or someone you know is the right one to teach kids in your area!

Exploring Black and White

The Bug has been interested in shadows since we put a nightlight in his room so we explored black and white!

He dove right in and started painting!

He had way more fun mixing the paint in the cups with the paintbrushes...

We talked about black and white and how he made grey. He still loves to point to his artwork and say 'shadow!'

Sticky Leaf Collage

The Bug has always loved to be outside so we took advantage of the fall leaves everywhere while we were playing! 

I taped contact paper sticky side up to the table (you REALLY have to tape it down to keep it from sticking to your kiddo!) and spread the leaves out around it. 

The Bug noticed it pretty quickly and came over to explore. I talked about the colors of the leaves he was sticking and pulling off.

He definitely did both sticking and pulling off and it made a 'torn leave' mess but we did end up with a nice collage of fall leaves and he loved peeling and sticking and exploring colors!

Spider Web Watercolors

The Bug and I have been doing a lot of art projects as it gets colder and tougher to stay outside as much... I saw this project on Pinterest though we skipped the salt step!

Before I set out this project, I used a white crayon to draw a spiderweb design on the paper. Direct sunlight made it easier for me to see where my lines were!

The Bug used orange and purple Watercolors to paint on the paper.

As the spiderweb emerged, he kept saying 'whoa!'

Because I wanted him to understand that it's a spiderweb, I gave him a sticker spider to add when he finished painting!

Overall a fun and easy project! I do recommend thick paper for toddlers! We had to stop to avoid ripping a hole!

Construction Week

As a mom, I am not immune to wondering if I'm doing a good job. I've read every article, mom blog, and book all with different advice. I don't know who is right or if any one person is but my son has learned. No matter what I do, he is learning!

I set up his shelf with activities but let him direct the play. He mostly throws the counting blocks on the floor, he loves hammering the golf tees though!

He is working on his hand eye coordination and self regulation! The first day, he hammered everything and we had to put the hammer away... Now he is gentle and sticks to the tees!

He was fascinated by the cars driving and drawing but it lasted for 5 seconds before he ripped the crayons off...

Building with blocks has been his favorite no matter what creative activities I come up with. And that's ok! He has surprised me pointing out things he has learned. So yes, I will give him fun activities and maybe some will spark his interest and some will go untouched. And that's ok!

Pom Pom Muffins

Letting the Bug play and explore without structure sounds great but it leaves me feeling guilty and often leaves him crabby and asking to watch TV... So when I stumbled across the concept of invitations to play, I knew we had to try!

I set up 3 simple activities and showed them to the Bug and he gravitated to the Pom poms!

I helped him sort them and we talked about the colors (I used fall colors since we've been focused on fall!) 

Then he just explored. He felt the Pom poms, moved them from muffin cup to muffin cup, and pulled the cake liners apart! 

We will be doing more invitations to play and tot trays based on the Bug's interests! Stay tuned!

Shape Collage!

The Bug and I have been working hard on settling into a fall routine as new activities start again!

He's extremely into art lately so we've been doing lots of painting! I drew shapes on his easel and he's been painting, tracing, and coloring in the shapes so this week we're further exploring shapes!

The Bug spent lots of time looking through and talking about the shapes he was pulling out.

He also peeled them off the sticky paper. It was a great simple activity that lasted much longer than I expected!