Frozen Fun

I've seen this on a few blogs/websites/random places, so I don't know who to properly link to, but I decided to try it with the Punk today. Icy Fun! I froze mini-muffin cups full of food-colored water, and let him have at it in a casserole dish. Stacking, skating, blending colors, swimming, building, stirring, I can't list all the things he did with these little cold gems! This activity will be repeated a number of times, I am sure.

Field Trip - Stock Show

Today we went to the Stock Show. The Punk wasn't to thrilled (mostly when I would tell him not to step on this or that poo), but he endured for longer than I thought.


He saw eggs that were hatching. Some little chicks were already out, and others were just poking their little beaks out of the shells.


He saw baby chicks (that were "supposed to" ride a Ferris Wheel contraption, but steered clear of it). He liked the baby piglets, but not so much the baby goat. And baby ducklings that were drinking from a pool and snuggling up for a nap were wonderfully cute to everyone.


He did not have a good relationship with this turkey. The turkey was loud and the Punk is not a fan of loud.


He drove nearly every tractor in the Exhibit Hall. Red ones, blue ones, yellow, green and orange ones. He digs tractors.

G'bye Yall!

Field Trip - Science and History Museum

We took a little field trip today! We received passes to the Museum for Christmas, and now that everyone is well it's time to put them to use! We played, had lunch, and a wonderful time. I have am looking forward to visiting often.

Giant sized Light Bright was an EXTREME success! We both had fun with this exhibit. Playing with lights in a dimly lit room is relaxing. Especially after the busload of Jr. High kids left!

I hardly ever get to pack my own lunch. This was fun! Sandwich Bento for me, and moons and stars for Kai. The celestial theme was to celebrate his first trip to the Planetarium. This didn't go so well though, and our 20 minute show lasted exactly 4 minutes before he tugged on me and frightfully said "Let's get outta here, please Mommy!?"

The sandwich was good though.

If you give a Punk a fish...

I love reading other Mommy/Teaching/Preschool/Home School blogs. And one of my favorites is Counting Coconuts. She uses the Montessori Method a lot, and makes some really interesting school tools. I have copied a couple of her ideas already. The most recent one I decided to make was a felt fishing "game".

I cut the fish from felt (freehand - they are all a little different). I sewed them shut with a bit of stuffing and a hardware nut (borrowed from the husband's garage) in the mouth of each.

A dowel, yarn, magnet and some hot glue later - we have a fishing pole! Each of the fish are numbered (1-10) on one side, and have dots to count on the other. So far we have played a game (numbers side up) where I ask him to fish for number ___ and he finds it, and another (dots side up) where he catches a random fish and we count the dots before revealing the numbers on the other side. I plan on using some flash cards or playing cards to add more interest to the game as we go on.

Nothing more than Feelings...

Today we talked about our Feelings. We worked on the Feelings lapbook from 1+1+1 some, but to be honest- the Punk really didn't feel like working on much this morning.

A is for Space Man!

I have discovered the world/subculture/obsession/genius of lapbooking. And I get it. One neat little package of knowledge. Adaptable to any age, any topic. I am excited at the possibilities, and so in love with the lapbooks and information that is available (for free!) on the Internet. This is going to be fun.

Today we started with the Astronaut Preschool Pack from Homeschool Creations. It's adorable, and we both had so much fun putting it together. The Punk learned new words, and now knows that "A is for Astronaut" instead of Space Man.

All by myself

There a number of things parents of 3 year olds hear on a regular basis:
I don't want to.
It was an accident.
Can I sleep with you?

Today we decided to tackle "I can do it all by myself."

The Punk made his own snack today! He got out his silverware, plate and napkin. I grabbed the crackers and a bit of peanut butter.

He got to work right away. He's not given the opportunity to use a knife very often (we will work on that) so he was thrilled with such a big responsibility.

And he gobbled up the results with pride! He was right, he CAN do it all by himself. I need to let him try more often.

Cutting Up

Scissors are difficult to use. Especially if you decide to switch "dominant" hands every few days. Practice, practice, practice. And only access to scissors that are guaranteed NOT to cut hair.

Very Hungry Caterpillar

We read The Very Hungry Caterpillar this morning for the 7,254th time. I brought out the story board and felt objects I had made some time ago for this book. We placed them on the board as we read the story, and the Punk (in his usual fashion) chastised me a bit because I (in my usual fashion) hadn't gotten around to completing the felt pieces for the story.

So that night I made the cocoon, one nice green leaf (not pictured?) and the beautiful butterfly.

If I had a Hammer

Hammering golf tees into styrofoam with Daddy. A practical life type activity by Montessori standards. A Mommy-still-smashes-her-fingers-when-she-hammers-so-Daddy-had-better-teach-you-this activity in our home. I wish I was kidding.

Rice Box

It's too cold to play outside. Well, it can be too cold. It's the South - it can be 30 or 70 depending on the day. The Punk loves to go outside and dig, so I needed to come up with an indoor option. After a little web surfing I found a recipe for coloring rice, and decided to go for it!
Cheesy Punk smile, and our baggies of colored rice. We made blue, red, green, yellow, and a sorta-kinda-purple color. It was a mix of red and blue food coloring, and some look more red, some more blue, and some gray.

It was really interesting to see how the food coloring took to the rice. Some grains are vibrant, and others are soft and pastel looking. We set them on paper towels and let them dry (overnight).

Trucks, spoons, cups, small bowls - even just your fingers. Playing in rice is fun, and such an inexpensive way for the Punk to have a good time digging indoors.

Sick Day

Today we learned that being sick isn't much fun at all. Who knows if he picked anything up from all the Children's Television he watched today?

Let's play school...

The boy is really interested in school. He sees kids on TV go to school. Daddy works in schools. His older brother visits and talks about school. He wants to go to school. I'm not ready. Not in the least. I might not be ready until he's 30. He's my little Monkey. He's my little Punk. I want to keep him home as long as I can.

So - when he said to me "Let's play school Mommy!" I thought to myself - Why not?

I have been doing a little research (meaning insomniac Googling) and found a few thousand other blogs/websites/Internet places that are so incredibly inspiring. I realized we can do this. He can learn, and I can teach him. No rules - just fun.

So I'm going to start Teaching the Punk.