Just a little update

A little update on where we've been, where we're going, what we're doing and why! I should start from the beginning. It's much easier that way. 

This is our house in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where Nathan is in school. He did two years of medical school and one year of his PhD. I taught 2 year olds.

Our house in the early fall.

...AND the view from our house in the winter.

My first year here we discovered we needed to go to Long Island to finish his PhD. So we did. 

We lived here, in Oyster Bay, for a year and a half.  It was great. Nate worked on his PhD and I taught two year olds, again! We learned all the Yankee social graces like cussing on the Long Island Expressway, folding our pizza and hatin on Jersey. We were naturals. 

But once Nate defended his PhD, in December, it was time to leave. :(

Originally we thought we'd go back to Sioux Falls after NY. However the lab, where Nate was working, collaborated with Dr's in Italy and when we found out we could go, we jumped on it. 

We came here to Pisa, Italy in the middle of February.

 

Now we have just under three weeks left. 

We are sad but have a lot to be thankful for and look forward to. 

When we go back to Sioux Falls in June, Nate will start his 3rd year of med school and I will find a job a teaching. And we will finally have these goofy dogs under one roof again!

Easter Egg Activities

Egg Roll Painting

This is like "marble painting" but on a much bigger scale. 

First we coated the large plastic eggs in paint. 

I want to say I put marbles inside the eggs to make them heavier and easily to roll. 

Then we dropped them in the "sensory table insert" and rolled them across the paper. 

The children especially loved the teamwork aspect of this and the large scale.

Finally, we stepped bike and admired out work. Or started painting each other...I don't remember!

Easter Egg Discovery Box

for fine motor, sensory and language

This was very simple. 

I just supplied the children with different size eggs, pom poms and recycled egg cartons. 

We opened and closed the eggs, filled and emptied them of pom poms and put them in the eggs cartons, counted and matched letters on the eggs, etc. 

Magic Egg Experiment

i.e. Two-year-old-BUST

I got really excited when I saw this experiment on Pinterest last year about soaking an egg in Vinegar. The shell dissolves and the egg turns rubbery. 

This is what the egg looked like after soaking  in vinegar overnight.

This is what the egg looked like after letting the children touch it. 

Don't worry. A prepared teacher always has a back-up.

Oh.

My initial response was Really?! But then I had to "really" myself because how did I not see that coming. So we had a fun sensory activity with egg yolks. oy!

Cracked-egg Painting

This is another activity I saw on Pinterest where you fill eggs with water-down paint.

 You "paint" by opening the eggs up over the paper.

I think I made the paint too runny but it definitely didn't stop them.

Then I let them refill the eggs with the watery paint. 

 I'm also not sure any of the paintings were salvageable. Good thing that's not the most important part. 

Spring Activities

Spring activities for the little ones. 

At any given time the age range of the children is roughly 21-38 months. 

All of these activities cross developmental areas but mostly focus on sensory, fine motor and discovery.

 St. Patrick's Day

 We spiced up our shaving cream in march with green washable paint and shamrock confetti. 

For a little fine motor action we poked sparkley pipe cleaners into holes cut into a 

recycled yogurt container. Cheap and easy!

 Here we filled an old apple juice container with green pom poms. Over and over and over. 

I think the best part was shaking them out. 

Weather Time

We made a chart and graphed pictures of objects in the room that we could move by blowing through a straw. We also read The Wind Blew by Pat Hutchins before this activity.  

After using the straws and testing the objects, 

the children found the pictures and glued them on the appropriate side. 

Water Transfer

Here we talked about rain clouds and transferred water from one bowl to another using cotton balls. 

Never under estimate the ability of a child to get wet- no matter how little water is involved. 

Cloud Painting

We combined shaving cream and glue to make a fluffy concoction. 

Then they created clouds on their paper. 

Like most activities with two year olds-It started out clean and ended up messy!

Brushy Brushy

Forth dental health study we brushed giant teeth using upside down ice cube trays and egg cartons, shaving cream and toothbrushes. I think I eventually added some paint to extend their interest. 

Painting a Vegetable Garden 

We read stories about gardens like Little Bunny's Lunch by JoAnne Nelson and planted flowers and vegetables in our garden on the playground.

Then we dipped a variety of vegetables into trays of different color paint to make prints and textures. 

Then it turned into a runway. 

Later that week we had to water our garden. 

And paint with some flowers too. 

Winter Activities

Winter activities for the little ones. 

At any given time the age range of the children is roughly 21-38 months. 

All of these activities cross developmental areas but mostly focus on sensory, fine motor and discovery. 

Snow Painting

We brought real snow inside for art time and painted it with water colors. 

You could always take the paint outside but we were too cold from playing in the snow. 

 Ice painting

We filled ice cube trays with water and food coloring. Then we stuck mini popsicle sticks in each cube before freezing. Once frozen we poped  Next time I'll try washable paint so it doesn't stain their hands. 

Wax Hearts for Valentines Day

 The children sprinkled red, pink and purple crayon shavings on wax paper. After they played with the shavings, I ironed them between two pieces of wax paper as they looked on. 

I cut hearts out to hang in the window. (of course I don't have a picture of that)

Then I let them cut up the scraps and make a collage. 

Valentines for Children

I made these Valentines for the children in my class. They definitely helped contribute to the cup of broken crayons. I found a silicone heart mold and melted the crayons in the oven. Then I cut out hearts, wrote a note and tied them up with my trusty Martha Stewart kitchen twine!

Snow Pile 

We reused some packing peanuts in our sensory table to make "snow."

We used shovels, scoops and of course our hands to dig and scoop.

This is a smaller version using cotton balls. We added some winter animals and bowls for igloos. Apparently some felt shapes were needed as well! :)

Ping Pong Ball Chase

This is really simple and the kids love it!

I toss/bounce about 12 ping pong all across the room and the kids run and collect them. They put them back in the bucket and we start all over again. Genius, I know!

Great way to burn off some energy in the winter or on a rainy day. 

Great for hand-eye coordination. 

You can also incorporate position words when they are searching for them. 

Count the balls or count down before you throw them.  

You could always write letters, numbers, words, shapes etc for the children to identify before dropping them in the bucket. 

Menorah Spin-off

 During December we combined Hanukkah candles and popsicle molds for sorting and fine motor.

Other times of the year we used popsicle sticks with the molds. The possibilities are endless.