Granola

Yesterday the children made granola to have as their snack today.  Many of them took turns helping in the process.  They are really getting used to cooking and now understand they must wash their hands and put on one of the child-sized aprons in order to help.

Pumpkin Spice Granola

Here is a child using a small spice grater to grate the nutmeg.

Adding ingredients, including pumpkin to the pan.

Spreading the granola on the pan for baking.

Enjoying with a bowl of organic vanilla yogurt!  YUM!

Pumpkin Spice Granola

3. c. old fashioned oats

1/2 c. canned pumpkin

1/4 c. honey or brown rice syrup

3 T. vegetable oil

2 T. packed light brown sugar

2 t. vanilla extract

2 t. ground cinnamon

1/8 t. ground ginger

1/4 t. ground nutmeg
Optional: dried fruit, sunflower or pumpkin seeds

Spread oats onto a 15 x 10 inch jelly-roll pan.  Toast in preheated 325 degree oven for 20 minutes, stirring halfway.  Reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees.  Pour toasted oats into large bowl.  If using, add the optional ingredients.  In a medium saucepan, blend pumpkin, honey, oil, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.  Heat gently and stir until honey is melted and incorporated.  Pour over oats.  Toss well to coat and spread in greased (or parchment) pan.  Bake for 30 minutes stirring at 10 minute intervals.  After cooking add fruit.  While still hot, press mixture in to a hard pan with a flat spatula.  Cool and break apart. 

Clementine peeling

Another way to strengthen fine motor skills and practice a useful skill (while having a yummy snack) is peeleing clementines.  First the child washes their hands then they pick up half a peeled clementine.  They place it in a bowl and take the tray to the table. 

The child peels the clementine and places the wedges on a plate.  Then, they eat!

This is one activity the children really like to repeat!

The Sand Tray

The children are very interested in the sand tray in the school.  We have two sand trays which allow the child to trace various numerals and letters.  Once given a lesson on the name of the number or the sound of the letter, they trace the sandpaper to feel the shape and then trace it in the sand.  This gives the child the opportunity to practice writing letters/numbers before writing them on paper.  We have heard various shouts of joy when a child writes a "three!" or a "zero!" in the sand tray!  They are excited to be able to produce what is on the card themselves. 

This activity prepares the hand for writing, gives a stereognostic impression of the letter or numeral and gives the child the satisfaction of doing it themselves.

Marble transfer

We have introduced another transferring activity this week.  The children use a special spoon (picture a teeny tiny ladle) to pick up one marble and put it in the bottle.  When they are done they carefully pour the marbles back into the bowl.  The control of error here is the marbles make a loud clanking sound when they fall off the spoon. 

 Most of the materials in the practical life are self-correcting.  "The control of error through the material makes a child use his reason, critical faculty, and his ever increasing capacity for drawing distinctions."  Dr. Montessori

(The Discovery of the Child, 1967, p. 103).

Water transfer with a pipette

During Thanksgiving time we put out a work with a baster in the practical life area as we thought they may see someone basting a turkey.  To do this we used a child-sized baster and two bowls, one with colored water.  The children were able to figure out how to suck up the water with the baster and then move it (transfer)  to the other bowl.  We have now progressed to transferring water with a pipette.   This is a bit of a challenge as they have to demonstrate a great deal of control while squeezing the pipette - only one drop!

With repetition, the children are able to gain that control and most are now managing to get the drops in each little area. 

Transferring is fun to do and can be a great at home activity.  You could use a large turkey baster and two bowls.  Make sure to show the child how to use the baster, that is always the tricky part. 

Mammal study- visit from a special dog named Raven

As a continuation of the vertebrate studies, we have now begun the study of mammals.  The children have looked at cards of mammals, we have pointed them out in our environment (humans, squirrels, deer) and have now had a visit from a friendly, specially trained therapy dog named Raven.  Some children brought in photos of their mammal pets to show the rest of the class.  To enhance the whole experience, the children could choose to match picture cards with the various parts of a dog. 

A few made their own 'parts of a dog' booklet to take home. 
At the end of our morning time, Joan and Raven stopped by for a visit.  The children sat on the floor and took turns petting Raven and were able to have a very concrete experience with a mammal other than ourselves.  We discussed the various characteristics of the mammal such as: has hair or fur, gives birth to live babies and feeds their babies with their own milk. 

Joan answered many question about Raven while the children were shown how to pet her and let her smell their hands. 

A huge thank you to Joan and Raven, what a special morning!

Snow paintings with puffy paint

The excitement of last week's first real snow overflowed to inside our classroom. We made snow paintings with puffy paint. We used a large plastic bristled paint brush to dab the paint onto colored construction paper. Some children enjoyed making snowmen and swirls.



The paint has a great feel, airy and voluminous. It keeps its puff after it dries. 

Puffy paint is easy to make. Mix 2 parts shaving cream to 1 part Elmer’s glue. I mixed it in a big bowl and then spooned it onto a small tray. It dries pretty quickly and does not keep so make only as much as you will use.

 

Today it rained and all the snow melted but more is forecasted this week.