Popcorn Sensory Bin

There's been a lot of talk on my Mommy List about sensory boxes. Okay, maybe I started it. "A good substitute for TV," was part of the thread. Coincidentally, Grandma pulled out her popcorn bin and Daddy's old Hot Wheels during our last visit. Starboy had a field day, and only lost one tongue depresser between the slats of the deck. (Note: Grandma, an OT, often offers the bin outside. Easier cleanup.)

Grandma is a big fan of the deep box, hiding things in the popcorn (or beans or rice or sand) so you have to find them by feel. Our rice box at home is not deep enough to do this.

Every sensory bin, in my opinion, needs a few cups or scoopers to really experience the kernels. Here Starboy is using a dump truck, but we also have used: teacups from the play kitchen, measuring cups, small wooden bowls from Cost Plus World Market, scoopers from laundry soap, spoons, shot glasses, appetizer cups from Ikea, small Tupperware-style containers, plastic boxes from the Container Store, and more.

The Superstar Genius of Sensory Bins, though, is the brilliant school-at-home mom Mari-Ann of Counting Coconuts. She offers a different-themed bin every month. I tried this with Starboy and Mary Jane last fall, with what I considered to be limited success. Both kids found the number of objects in the bin overwhelming (over-exhuberance at the craft store on Mommy's part), which is fixable. Mary Jane LOVED her bin and played with it for months. Starboy pretty much cleared most of the Autumn stuff out of it then played cars in his as always. So I might try again. Stay tuned.

Homemade Valentine - faux stained glass

This project is an oldie but a goodie. We taped clear Contact Paper to the window, sticky-side out, and drew a target area on it.

Fill the target area with tissue paper pieces. Experiment with how sticky the paper is by touching it frequently and placing your whole hand on it to feel the stickiness.

When I made the tissue paper squares for Starboy, I kept them together in a basket so they would be easy to access.

But he kept dumping them out so they would be easier to find and I finally convinced him to at least keep the papers on a tray. Sort of.

I also added some shiny, red, heart-shaped confetti to add interest to the activity and the final artwork. I set up two target areas, with the hope of making "one to keep and one to share," but ultimately that ended up in a slower creation process and an unwillingness to "share" any of it. Ah, the joys of being Two.

We sealed the artwork with another layer of Contact Paper so the sticky sides are stuck together. There were a lot of placements outside the target area. To avoid this, I could have trimmed closer to the heart shape, though I did think it was useful for Starboy to experiment with "inside" and "outside" as well as both following and redefining the instructions.

Then I cut inside the lines to isolate the heart shape, and we taped the finished product to the window!. I might have used this as a chance for Starboy to practice cutting, but at the end of the day, and at the end of a week when he's been sick, he wouldn't have had patience for it. I also cut some hearts out of the "bonus" placement area, because Starboy seemed a bit upset that it would have been discarded. This ended up in a nicer display than I had planned!

Bath time trick: Glow bath! *

Starboy has been wrestling a barky cough and a mild fever this week, and it's really disrupting his sleep (and ours!). He wasn't interested in playing in the bathroom for a steam treatment, or a bath at all, until I brought out an ace from the mommy trick deck of cards—glow sticks!

This genius was a lifesaver to get Starboy to soak with some herbal bubbles to clear his congestion. I wish I could take credit for dreaming it up, but I recently caught up on my RSS queue with Play at Home Mom, which has fantastic ideas in every post, and they had a whole list of things to do with glow sticks—this was one of them.

The sticks were mostly trains, but they also became a giant bus steering wheel, wheels on cars, roads, a fishing pole, and bubble illuminators.

Every time he popped them apart, he said, "POP!" These were a great tool for a looong bath, and at about 36 cents, a bargain (the sticks come 15 for $1 at Michael's Craft Stores). Unfortunately, they are not that granola. Sorry, Mr. Landfill. We got all first-world-y on you tonight. Please try to disintegrate our plastic in less than a million years.

*Updated: Reminder—Store the glow sticks in the freezer overnight and you might get an extra day or two out of them. They aren't as bright, but in the winter darkness, they still are intriguing!

Crepes!

For something a little different, we had breakfast for dinner the other night. I'd meant to make the crepes just for Starboy, but then it got late and they smelled sooo tasty.....that we ate the whole batch while they were hot.

I used this Williams-Sonoma recipe, substituting Trader Joe's Fig Butter for the fig jam. In this omelette pan, I ended up using 4 Tbsp of batter for each crepe, so we only got about 6 crepes out of the recipe. Oh, and since I started the whole project about 15 minutes before dinner time, I didn't let the batter rest for two hours as described. Sacré bleu!

I used a log of herbed chèvre instead of plain crumbled. I put the fig butter inside the crepe, since it wasn't going to be all that attractive to smear on the outside, and I didn't feel like going to the trouble to set up a squeeze bottle. Plus I wasn't sure how Starboy was going to react to weird brown sauce, since he has entered the Picky Toddler Eating Phase. The toaster oven was set on 200˚.

The flavor was pure perfection.

I have made this recipe in the past for a large crowd and it goes most smoothly if the crepes are prepared and stuffed in advance and then broiled just before guests sit down. I've found it takes about an hour to make the crepes for 12 people, and with delicate aromas like that, it's a pretty long hour for hungry bellies.

Yum!

Gnomy Village

Starboy asked for a new gnome house today to add to his collection. I'd thought I'd keep them all green and floral, but then there was a Christmas one....and then I forgot to buy the floral tissue at the store, and....here we are with the mismatches. Ah, well.

The gnomes are from Etsy shop You're Inspired. Here they are playing in their garden, which I made during a quiet day at Starboy's art class. (Glass beads, plastic gems, puffs and pom-pons glued to cardboard with white glue.) The theme of the day was icy frost on the green grass at the beginning of winter. Since Starboy's was "art," he's so far reluctant to play with it. But soon I think the gnomes will have more garden space.

Starboy's two caterpillars also frolicked in the green grass today. He also made those in art class, with Crayola air-dry clay, chenille stems, pompons and wooden beads. Great project. Rolling the clay is one of the many pre-writing activities that builds muscles in preparation for holding a pencil.

Here, I guess the truck driver is mushroom-picking from the garden. Those are simply water-color painted cabinet knobs (but not very carefully painted). The yellow spots don't show up very well.

More light table play

We followed the shaving cream extravaganza with glass bubbles and tissue paper. Starboy used the tissue paper as wrapping paper to make play "gifts," then we experimented with other papers on the table.

Shaving cream, be nice and clean.....

One of the great blogs I read is Play at Home Mom. They have really wonderful ideas for child-led exploration. The mom sets up an activity to "invite" the child to participate in whatever way he wishes. They have a ton of light table activities. I decided to try one with shaving cream for Starboy, who has been asking for something "new."

He started with glass bubble beads, shaving cream, and a few drops of yellow and blue food coloring.

Note: We do not have a cover for our light panel as described on Play at Home Mom, so I covered the panel with plastic wrap and made some holes for the vents. This turned out to be an excellent idea, as those creamy, puffy hands were clapping and flying, and so was the cream!

Now THAT's how to properly burn a pan

Yeeaaaaah.

Gettin' my MERRY on.

Five last-minute invitations. Sent.

Four pots of chili. Done.

Three-and-a-half trays of yeasted homemade rolls. Burned.

Four lengths of garland. hung.

23 kiddie craft kits. Set.

The den and my desk. Chaotic.

One toddler. Stir crazy.

One husband. Ducking.

61 holiday open house guests. Bring it.

Season of Light

Starboy puts in a call to Auntie Optimist to tell her about the ornaments on his tree. When he is supposed to be in bed, sleeping. I wonder if we should have told him about Santa at all. Christmas eve could be a long night!

Crafting Binge - Gnome costume for doll

I wish I'd finished this for Halloween, but now Starboy's doll has a gnome outfit as well!

Crafting Binge - Christmas stockings

I've been binging on creativity lately. I made a stocking for a friend, but liked it so much, I made a whole set for our family! I was inspired by Etsy sellers Winter Nook, Rikrak, StudioTree. I love the modern stockings on Etsy!

French paradox

I just made some Herbes de Provence. Well, I'm calling it faux herbes de provence, since I was low on basil, out of sage, and was missing the savory and lavender. It's basically not Herbes de Provence at all.

Which is a good thing, because apparently the recipe I chose has 1.6g of fat in it, or 21% of your daily value — and 3% saturated fat! However, I'm missing out on 43% of my dietary fiber.

I wasn't aware that oregano thyme and basil were so fattening. It must be the rosemary?

Something tells me there's a problem with their nutritional facts on this one.

Crafting Binge - Holiday pillow covers

I decided to stitch some fleece pillow covers for the pillows on our outdoor furniture. The 18" pillow inserts are from Ikea. I was inspired by modern felt Christmas stockings like these on Etsy, and of course the classic Crate and Barrel mod images we see every year.

The design was simple but MAN was it time-consuming! It probably took more than an hour to cut and applique each snowflake. I didn't think about the math of the distance around the edge of the snowflakes. But I like the design!

I made the red covers for our outdoor table and chairs, and the white ones for our front porch swing. Fleece is washable!

Each tree pillow has a slightly different design. I ran out of fleece, so I still have one more pillow to make.

I cut out the cardinal freehand, and you can see it took me a few tries!

Starboy helped me with the photos for the blog in our fake-o natural light studio. We're still working on the "light and shadow" chapter of his visual education!

Crafting Binge - tea and cookies

I've been binging on creativity! Our neighbor just turned two, so we gave her tea for two and some felt counting cookies!

Why blocks are better than iPads

Yesterday I posted about a discussion on my email Mommy List, about whether or not the Feminist Pig should buy an iPad for her two-year-old son. Despite creating a ridiculously robust and rich environment for her child at home with her partner, my guess is that she felt she could further his education and understanding with a technological boost. Because More is Better, right?

Let's put the expense aside, or the idea that the $500 could be put to use feeding and building community, or accruing interest in a college fund. What's wrong with a little technology, here and there? Isn't it like having just a taste of cake, or just one cookie? Just a teeensy weeensy little dinner mint?

Well, as adults, our brains have finished their major growth. This wraps up around age 25. (Did you catch that? That experimentation in college maybe did cost you a few brain cells.) A little Cow Clicker isn't going to be as dangerous as it would be for a preschooler or toddler, whose brain is frenetically building neural roads for future commerce.

Before first grade, children learn by touching, feeling, experiencing and moving. Building with blocks, as the New York Times noted today builds excellent skills for problem-solving and processing previous experiences. Computers also don't allow children to develop their own rules about turn-taking, time spent, or being nice. These rules, called "executive functioning" skills, are a key predictor in academic and professional success.

Parenting and Technology are Complicated

photo ©Apple

First, let me point out the irony of blogging about screen-free parenting. It's a bit like "jumbo shrimp," or "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here, this is the war room!"

But this is where we are in 2011. Telling everyone about recycling on an expensive gadget that will end up in a landfill in short order. For example. Offering so many choices, that it's changing the landscape of our society, as Barry Schwartz wrote about choice-making here, as Gabriel Kahane talked about creative loss (at the end of the interview with Audie Cornish) here, as John Tierney wrote about decision fatigue here as Richard Louv wrote about here. And more, of course.

I participate in a Mommy listserv of at least 2000 local moms. It started as a breastfeeding support group, which over the years has morphed into a chat room of topics from babies to new apartments to great hostess gifts. Last week, someone posted: What's the best tablet I should put on my two-year-old darling's Christmas list? iPad, or can I save a few bucks on something else?

Come on, seriously?! An iPad for your two-year-old? Because his iPhone is boring him? Because his big-screen TV won't fit in the car? Because he needs to be online at all times to maintain his high score in Angry Birds?

Crafting binge - aprons, tablecloth, bunting

Happy Birthday, Mary Jane! The bunting now hangs on her bedroom wall so she can celebrate all year.

I forgot to make a nice photo of the tablecloth I made for Mary Jane's parents when they moved into their new house! It's intended to work for long folding tables, so I used about 2 1/2 yards of fabric in two styles. It covered a 10-foot folding banquet table easily! And it turns out their massive, mod kitchen table is about the same size, so they'll get a lot of use out of it!

For the striped fabric, I just slit it down the middle so I could use the selvedge without hemming. It doesn't look too bad.

Mary Jane's lavender gift bag

...Filled with one of Meg McElwee's aprons, which I hand-embroidered. I made the aprons earlier in the spring. Her second book has great projects in it!

Crafting Binge 2011

It's been a bit nutty around here for the last month or two, with the sewing machine finally clickiting away, and prepping for my moms club holiday party. My mother-in-law loaned me her machine when mine was in the shop, and hers is a steady workhorse! Combined with Starboy actually going to sleep before 9:00 some nights, I've been binging on creativity. Over the next several days, I will present you with the Parade of Projects!

Raccoon energy

John and Karen Hollingsworth photo

So I'm in the basement switching the laundry loads tonight and suddenly I see some movement near the doorway. Silently, a good-sized raccoon turned and glanced at me, as if to say, "Oh? Is this room busy?" And his pal, who was on his way into the other room, luckily changed tack and scooted back outside. The first guy had to think twice about it and receive an invitation back into the yard as I clapped my hands loudly.

My heart was pounding. Raccoons can be mean, right? And there were two of them between me and the way out, creeping in on nothingness and leaving on a whisper. Two, right? Two? Is that everybody? Everybody is out? They seemed fairly non-plussed, however. Not half as excited as the squirrel who came exploring into the living room one afternoon, through the front door.

I looked up the bandits in one of my animal medicine books since the encounter was so bold and direct.