Feature Friday

Today's feature is in honor of the recent snow and possible upcoming snow. Hope you enjoy!

Snowman Treats

Materials: wooden skewers, large marshmallows, Oreos, pretzel sticks, Tic Tacs, mini chocolate candies, licorice, chocolate frosting, Karo syrup (optional), Rolos and Fruit by the Foot.

Directions:
1. Place 3 marshmallows on a wooden skewer.
2. Add pretzel sticks for arms.
3. Use mini chocolate candies for eyes and buttons and licorice for mouth. (Can use Karo syrup as "glue".)
4. Add an orange tic tac for the nose.
5. For the hat, stick a Rolo to an Oreo with a little bit of chocolate frosting. Then stick the hat to the snowman using more chocolate frosting or Karo syrup.
6. Add the fruit candy for the scarf.

How Cute!

Taken from Flexible Dreams

Thoughtful Thursday

Old-Fashioned Play

"...For most of human history what children did when they played was roam in packs, large or small, more or less unsupervised, and engage in freewheeling imaginative play.  They were pirates and princesses, aristocrats and action heroes....  They improvised their own play;  they regulated their play;  they made up their own rules....

"But during the second half of the 20th century... play changed radically....  Children were supplied with ever more specific toys for play and predetermined scripts.  Essentially, instead of playing pirate with a tree branch, they played Star Wars with a toy light saber.... "A growing number of psychologists believe that these changes in what children do has also changed kids' cognitive and emotional development.   It turns out that all that time spent playing make-believe actually helped children develop a critical cognitive skill called executive function.  Executive function has a number of different elements, but a central one is the ability to self-regulate.  Kids with good self-regulation are able to control their emotions and behavior, resist impulses, and exert self-control and discipline.

"We know that children's capacity for self-regulation has diminished.  A recent study replicated a study of self-regulation first done in the late 1940s, in which psychological researchers asked kids ages 3, 5, and 7 to do a number of exercises.  One of those exercises included standing perfectly still without moving.  The 3-year-olds couldn't stand still at all, the 5-year-olds could do it for about three minutes, and the 7-year-olds could stand pretty much as long as the researchers asked.  In 2001, researchers repeated this experiment... but the results were very different.  Today's 5-year-olds were acting at the level of 3-year-olds 60 years ago, and today's 7-year-olds were barely approaching the level of a 5-year-old 60 years ago...

"...Self-regulation is incredibly important.  Poor executive function is associated with high dropout rates, drug use, and crime.  In fact, good executive function is a better predictor of success in school than a child's IQ.  Children who are able to manage their feelings and pay attention are better able to learn....  Self-regulation predicts effective development in virtually every domain.

"...Essentially, because children's play is so focused on lessons and leagues, and because kids' toys increasingly inhibit imaginative play, kids aren't getting a chance to prac tice policing themselves."

Thanks to Zia Dover for sharing this important story.

Workshop Wednesday

           Snowman Buttons

       In this fun math activity children read the number/number word on the snowman's hat and place the correct number of buttons. You could use die cut snowmen and playdough balls for the buttons. Or foam snowmen with real buttons. I found these really cute foam, sparkly snowmen at Michael's craft store for a little of nothing after Christmas. I added a foam hat and some buttons. How cute!

Transition Tuesday

Try this finger play for the winter season. It would be great to recite as children are waiting in line (or anytime)!

MITTENS

Thumbs in the thumb place.
    (Stretch out thumbs.)
Fingers all together.
    (Put fingers together.)
This is the rhyme
We say in mitten weather.
When it is cold
    (Wrap arms around self.)
It does not matter whether
Mittens are wool
    (Hold out left hand.)
Or made of finest leather.
    (Hold out right hand.)

Make & Take Monday

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Snow Dough

Make homemade playdough without adding any food coloring. (It will be a fairly white dough.)  Add some  white or iridescent glitter to make it sparkly. If desired, scent it with almond extract.  Add round cookie cutters, some beads or buttons, felt or material scraps, and googly eyes. Place the materials on a blue placemat for a perfect backdrop for the white snowmen.

Your children will have fun making the absolute CUTEST snowmen ever. And it's good for their creativity and fine motor skills too!

Taken from My Montessori Journey

Workshop Wednesday

Today will be the last post for 2010. Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Trees
Materials: red construction paper (full sheets cut in half), tray with green strips cut into graduated lengths (1 inch wide strips in lengths ranging from 1 to 5 inches), basket of brown "trunks", basket of yellow stars and glue

Directions: Have children take a red piece of paper and one of each of the green strips. Have them arrange their green strips on the red paper (oriented vertically by length) and have an adult check before they glue.  Add the tree trunk and star.  You can have the children add sequins or other shiny materials for ornaments or draw their own. Beautiful trees!

Transition Tuesday

 Each Mitten Has a Mate…

(Tune: If You’re Happy and You Know It)

Each mitten has a mate, has a mate.

 Each mitten has a mate, has a mate.

Can (child’s name) find the pair?

(He/She) is looking here and there.

Can (child’s name) find the mate?

Find the mate?

Use real mittens or mitten cutouts. Give each child a mitten.

Pairs can transition together to the next activity.