
a journey into simpler and more natural living. with an occasional Coca-Cola.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
small felted balls





Monday, February 27, 2012
Painting outside the box
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Planes, trains, automobiles and ... the blimp
So today's trip to the farmer's market, where the blimp swam overhead like a daydreaming goldfish, felt just right.
Watercolor playdate
Mary Jane came over for a play date last week. She loves art, so I try to offer an art or craft project when she comes.


Then I brought out the bingo markers. Neither of them had ever seen one. They figured out what to do right away.
I had no idea the markers were going to splat like crazy. I thought they would make dots, like Do-a-Dot markers. When they figured out there was a splat factor, they experimented with how big of a splat they could make. Luckily the watercolors are washable, and the wall that Techman painted was easily cleaned while the watercolor splashes were wet. There are still splat marks on the floor (and the clean laundry I hadn't put away, that was five feet from the project. Note to self: finish chores.)
The kids used liquid watercolors on wet watercolor paper, with cutouts of butterflies to stick on. Wet-on-wet watercolor painting is a traditional Waldorf activity. And we have learned to use tissue paper shapes in Miss Molly's classes (I put a little glue in the paint so they would stick when the paint dries, but some of the butterflies tried to fly away and had to be re-glued on.). But I admit, since I hadn't planned ahead, the butterflies, and pretty much the whole setup, we first saw in Miss Molly's class.


Bleeding tissue paper, Miss Molly says, adds an additional level of interest to the child's work and to the finished artwork. Then I gave the kids some salt so they could experiment with what it would do. Starboy put all of his salt in the same place on his work. (The grid lines are from using a milk crate as a drying rack. Note to self: clear off outdoor art table so we can use it as a drying rack.)


Wouldn't this make great handmade wrapping paper?
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Technology double-standard
Teacher Tom takes the "limited technology" argument to another level, saying that even though Silicon Valley executives protect their children from technology in the earlier years, they have no problem schilling it to others. Read the full essay here.
Labels:
anti-technology,
articles,
education,
testing,
Waldorf
Friday, February 24, 2012
More motor skills - sidewalk chalk

Starboy is learning to connect the roads with chalk lines of his own. He does a great job.
Sometimes he actually plays cars on the roads, but mostly it's about creating something outside.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Hands-on Learning the Waldorf Way
"Limiting technology" is a theme you'll see here at Mostly Granola. I love to veg out as much as anyone else, but I think there are more constructive things we can focus on, and I think for kids it doesn't have any place at all, when learning is so much more concrete through experiences and activities that include the senses.
A story in the Feb. 2, 2012 issue of the Monadnock (NH) Ledger-Transcript talks about how one Waldorf school offers experiential learning:
"Today, Waldorf schools continue to champion the integration of the senses. It’s not uncommon for students to draw their math lesson, or sing their French conjugations. And though the model has been around for almost a century, it’s beginning to gain attention for its tendency to eschew technological innovations for educational approaches that may seem old-fashioned....
(snipped)
"Awareness of the self is another underpinning of the Waldorf curriculum, and students’ are encouraged to focus. Most notably, Pine Hill classrooms are completely devoid of technology — no computers, no smart boards, no speakers, no cell phones. Pine Hill parents are encouraged to minimize their children’s screen time at home, too."
Check out the whole story here.
Labels:
anti-technology,
articles,
education,
sensory,
Waldorf
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Counting and 1:1 correspondence

Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Seeking Simplicity

I checked out the preschool last year, so this year wouldn't be a stressful push. It's a great school: Play-based, constructivist curriculum, co-op, great outdoor campus (these things are possible in Southern California), a fantastic mudpie kitchen, and outdoor sound garden (pots and pans to bang on), and chickens.
Are we the only ones in California without chickens?! I digress.
This school, which I'll call The Constructivist Co-op, is our second choice. We like another play-based school with a greener campus a little better, though it's a close competition. The other school is more specific and clear on its mission, while this one has more difficulty describing what it intends to do. The Constructivist Co-op nags at me a little: the yard is a lot of dirt and cement, and everything seems a little grungy. Which it should be, right, if kids are playing—but I feel like every week or so things should get hosed down so the kids can play with "new" toys sometimes. That's very Montessori, but it's a lovely thing for children to feel like some stuff is a new beautiful thing to explore. Of course there is much to be said about poking around in the dirt, as well.
So these things bother me, but I should be able to get around them, especially since maybe I don't have all the information, and so we applied anyway. And Starboy enjoyed playing in their playhouse, and massive sand pit, and mudpie kitchen, and play tent, while we visited. The facilities are great.
Some other moms and kids were there as well, some had come to play and others had never left after the school day. I overheard them talking about sleep training. Ugh. Sharing good iPhone apps. Ack. Nevermind that I was glared at when I answered my cell phone.
There is an extensive dress-up area, and a good half of it is princess dresses. Disney princess dresses. Gag!
Valentine's Party
I held a wee Valentine's gathering at our place last week for some of Starboy's pals. It was supposed to be a park playdate, but we had rain most of Monday, and between that, the cold front, and the month-long series of colds that Starboy and I have been fighting or recovering from, I decided to bring the whole shebang indoors.
The guests each received a personalized Valentine's necklace, from GoTags (hey, they are a dollar cheaper this week than last week! Argh.). This was pretty tricky in the "I don't want to commit with an early R.s.v.p." culture of L.A., combined with the "I have no idea when my kid will nap today" culture of mommyhood. GoTags was great with a quick turnaround when I needed to add a few more necklaces as I continually updated the guest list. I'd recommend ordering a couple of extra "generic" tags for those last-minute adds, like something that says "I love you" rather than a name. I didn't do this, so one child didn't have a necklace to wear at the party, which luckily seemed to go unnoticed since she's only two. Hostess FAIL.Last year we made wooden heart necklaces, which I have to say I prefer, since they are more natural. I used large heard beads from Casey's Wood Products, with a couple of other wooden beads and some twine.
But I figured that once the novelty wears off, they make great tags for a backpack or lunch bag. Though mostly I saw that the mommies enjoyed wearing them.



I offered two crafts: The stained glass heart craft, and a garland using heart-shaped craft punches with baker's twine. Of the seven kids, about three or four of them worked on hearts and only one finished (the others took theirs home to finish, and Starboy's is still on the window, halfway-completed). Only one mommy wanted to make a garland, and one girl was interested in threading the string through the hearts with a needle.
The mommies brought some delicious potluck fare: raw milk cheese with crackers, quinoa salad, munchies, delicious cookies and treats. The kids had butterfly tea sandwiches with heart wings (cream cheese sandwiches, and I even forgot to put the jelly on them. No one seemed to notice.).

We also had heart-shaped pumpkin muffins using a reliable recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen, who adapted it from a Wisconsin American club, who adapted it from Gourmet Magazine. Did you follow all that? No matter. Just add some dried cranberries to the original recipe and if baking the mini size, it's 350˚ for about 17 mins. These are basically cupcakes with some pumpkin in them, and they are delicious.
The favor bags included a handmade tag from the paper garland project, a bag of pretzels, a reticulated Valentine with a doggie or kitty picture, a magical red glass heart and some of Starboy's heart-shaped cookies and candies for the play kitchen. I'm not sure if the mommies knew what they were for, as none of the thank-you notes mentioned them! Funny.
Best of all, in the evening, Techman came home with beautiful roses and the fixin's for chocolate fondue with raspberries and strawberries. We'll save my homemade cookies and cream ice cream for another night! It was a lovely day to both celebrate and be celebrated!
Labels:
activities,
favors,
holiday,
party,
tasty tricks,
Valentine's Day
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Valentine Doughnut Double Fail
We have a new tradition of making doughnuts for Valentine's Day. Techman generally avoids the marketing of what I think he'd call a "faux" holiday, and there's little I can buy him, or make for him, or do for him that seems like a gift he would enjoy.
Except for doughnuts. Techman loves him some doughnuts.
Last year's picture of sheer doughnut beauty and delicacy.
So I was all set last Saturday to fry up some yeasty, sugared goodness, and after getting everyone excited for doughnuts, I mixed up the dough and read the instruction (cue horror movie crescendo): "Refrigerate dough for at least 8 hours, or overnight."
Well, crap.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Building skills with Lite Brite

He didn't seem to notice the alpha-clues in each dot to indicate color (B for blue, O for orange), but maybe he did. He seemed mostly to match the color to the picture, but also favor a use of the purple pegs.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Painted candy hearts


Friday, February 10, 2012
Beeswax polishing


Labels:
activities,
crafts,
holiday,
sensory,
Valentine's Day
Homemade Valentine — paper heart garland

Last year's marker garland.
This year's painted garland. Is it a garland? Maybe it's just a decoration.
First, paint some color on some nice watercolor paper and let it dry. We used liquid watercolors (watered down) and a wide brush.
Labels:
activities,
crafts,
holiday,
paper,
sensory,
Valentine's Day
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Homemade "Bars"
Trader Joe's sells them, "So This Blueberry Walks Into a Bar..." They look like granola bars, to fool us into thinking they are sort of healthy, but basically they are cookies. That's what he likes about them.

Starboy "helps" make the bars, by ransacking the utensil drawer and demanding the name and function of each item he finds.
I have an über-granola friend, whom I'll call Natural Mama for now, who found a great recipe online to make them at home. They are sweeter and tastier than the prepackaged ones. Natural Mama's source adapted the recipe from GroupRecipes (which has a lot of delicious variations if you search "fig bar," and good luck resisting if you try "fig goat cheese"), and I have a few tweaks on that version.
The great recipes are for fig bars, but personally I prefer a berry filling for both the sweetness and the consistency.


Homemade Jam Bars
similar to Trader Joe's soft cereal bars
slightly adapted from GroupRecipes and Cate's World Kitchen
makes about 20 cookies
FILLING
• about a pint of fresh berries, washed and chopped if large
OR
• about 1/2 bag frozen mixed berries
• 1/4 cup sugar
Cook berries and sugar together until they form a thick jam, stirring occasionally to avoid burning, about 20 mins.
Notes: If you're really in a "jam," you can use a good, farmer's market jam, or even a thick jam from a jar, rather than making your own. (See the links above for making authentic fig bars.)
WHEAT DOUGH
1/2 cup softened butter (1 stick)
1 Tbsp milk (Natural Mama uses almond milk)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups white whole wheat flour
Preheat oven to 350˚.
Cream butter in a stand mixer, then beat in the egg, vanilla and milk.
Gradually add the sugar and mix well. Add the flour, baking soda and salt, and stir until just combined. Divide the dough in half, as it's much easier to work with this way.
Working on a sheet of waxed paper, pat half the dough into a long, thin rectangle. Place another sheet of waxed paper on top, and roll until 1/8" thin or so.
Spread half of the jam filling along half of your rectangle (the long half), to the edges. Fold the unfilled side onto the filled side and press gently to seal.
Cut into 1" strips and place them on a Silpat- or parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat steps with second half of dough.

Bake 15 mins at 350˚ or until just beginning to brown. I like them a bit crunchy.
Allow to cool fully before enjoying—jam filling can be incredibly hot, especially to little tongues!
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