art and max

Bear and i recently read a book that we stumbled across in our library called Art and Max by David Weisner.  the artwork in it is amazing.  much of it resembles the pointilism that often brings renowned artist Georges Seurat to mind.  so, before we left, i grabbed a book of his work for us to explore at home.

Bear was ecstatic to find the Eiffel Tower in the Seurat book.  it's the funniest thing..the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty and the Alamo just fascinate him.  maybe he'll be an architect?

a couple of months ago, i saw a post on Reading Confetti that used eraser heads to paint cat pawprints.  my plan was for us to use some pencil eraser heads to create pictures using the pointilism technique. 

Bear wanted the canvas flat i'd offered him,

but turned down my idea for the pencil-pointilism...

so i let him go and do...

he got out the paintbrushes. 

he snagged an easel from one of my pieces.

he moved a chair. 

then he asked for help propping up the books. 

this was the set-up he wanted
(just like art and max had in the book)

he wanted to "paint like a real artist"

so he painted

and painted

and i watched him as
                 he got lost in the paint

and the brush on the canvas. 

and it felt good to know that
instead of following
the example i had placed before
he was creating and
                          following that

little whisper inside of him
that so many of us ignore

buy these books on Amazon
    

more resources on pointilism
Melted Crayon Pointilism Art from Helping Little Hands
Pointilism from Arts for Life

linked here

tough questions: were there dinosaurs on Noah's Ark?

sometimes our children ask toUgH qUEsTioNS that we aren't sure how to answer...

the latest one actually came from Pip, who's 16.  she is learning about the evolution theory in school.  she isn't allowed to speak about the Creation Story and struggles with this because of our religious beliefs. 

Pip is quite the dinosaur enthusiast- always has been.  she's thinking of going into paleontology in college.  two of her biggest questions were:

how do dinosaurs fit into the Creation Story? 

how did they fit on Noah's Ark?

i had to stop for a second.  Pip doesn't usually go that deep, so i was shocked and proud to know that she was questioning what school taught her as a fact versus what we have taught her as faith.

thus inspires a new series on tough questions that kids ask.  just for fun, i asked some of my friends what their children thought about dinosaurs and the ark. here are their responses...

were there dinosaurs on Noah's Ark?

No. Just animals.

Lily (2) from Mama Smiles

Yes  {how's that for sweet and simple?}
Aiden (2) from Inspiration Laboratories

Yep. Dinosaurs. Went real far away. All way home. {In a very serious tone}
Grayson (2) from Imprintalish

Yeah {With a big grin and a chuckle in his voice}
Little Dude (3) from Davis Domestications

No..well... there were two of them
Lele (3) from Mama Mia's Heart 2 Heart

Johnny: Umm... Just animals.

Mom: Are dinosaurs animals?
Johnny: Uh huh.
Mom: So were dinosaurs on Noah's Ark?
Johnny: Yes.

Johnny (4) from Mama Smiles

No, because its not in my book {pulls out Noah's Ark book and points at the pictures.}
Putti (4) from Putti Prapancha

Yes! T-rex was on there and he went to a ginormous volcano!
Andrew (4) from Toddler Approved

Yes, of course there were dinosaurs on Noah's ark, they were just little baby ones.
Emma (4)

Dinosaurs died before Noah made his ark.
Aurora (4)

No, because I didn't see them in the Bible story.

CJ (4 1/2) from Creativity My Passion

No! They were from the Jurassic time. The ark was WAY before that.

Aikman (5) from Montessori Tidbits

Emma: I don't think so. 
Mom: Why?
Emma: I just don't know!

Emma (6) from Mama Smiles

No because they weren't mentioned.

Caleb (7)

No cause dinosaurs were already extinct.
Luke (8) from Christy's Cuties

Little Man: No.
Mom: Why not?
Little Man: It would have killed Noah.

Little Man (9) from Davis Domestications

dinosaurs on Noah's Ark

i'm not a pastor.

i'm not a biblical scholar.

i'm a mom who prays that God

will help me in guiding

my children in faith and life.

so here is how i answered Pip

and explain it to Bear.

so...were there dinosaurs on Noah's Ark?

here is how i answered the question to my kids:

• in Genesis, it says that God made animals.  dinosaurs were animals. so that means that He created them too.
• the specific names of the animals on the ark aren't written in the Bible.
• Scripture states that 2 of every animal was on the ark.  since we believe this to be true, dinosaurs were on the ark.  it was very big. 
• the dinosaurs that were on the ark couldn't have been the larger ones like the t-rex or anything like that.  it would be more logical that baby dinosaurs were taken.
• like most of the animals that were taken on the Ark, dinosaurs were not the ones that we "see" today in their fossils.  all of these animals were the predecessors to the ones we know now. 
• **added**  the above point does reflect on the evolution theory in relationship to how animals have changed.  we look at it this way: the original animals were created to live in a world free of sin.  after the flood cleared the earth, it stands to reason that God made changes (evolved) to the animals so they could survive in the world of sin.  

what tough questions have your children asked?

Other Resources
Dinosaurs on Noah's Ark
Were Dinosaurs on Noah's Ark from Discovery: Scripture's Science for Kids
Answers in Creation: Job 40-41

linked here

spring sensory bin...my worst choice ever

it's been spring for about a week now, so that means a spring sensory bin is in order. 

no fake plastic-clingy grass like i crazily did here...

no, this year, i thought i'd do something even meSSieR than that...

**grimacing**

i found this cute colored coNFeTTi in the Easter section at Wal-Mart and paired it with some split peas and green rice.  we also tossed in some springy erasers, small bitty eggs, and flower beads from the dollar store and the Target 1 spot. 

Bear had/has soooo much fun with it, and i'll admit that i do too.  it's really cool to watch it all fall...

or have it come out of the "cement chute"...

we also did a huNT for the small eggs by the top pink arrow.  and then we "picked" flowers (the bead by the lower pink arrow).

the only pRoBLeM?  is that this is what the floor looked like x5.  this is only after a few minutes....

now, before you start thinking of how retentive i am, i have to say this...

the motto in our house is

if you're not making a mess, you aren't having enough fun

i welcome exploration at the cost of having a clutter-free home.  stop by anytime and you'll see what i mean. 

but this confetti...ohhhh, this confetti... all in the living area.... stuck to the couch, the bottoms of feet.  we had a trail down the hall towards the bathroom and bedrooms that Hansel and Gretel would've been proud of.  likely the worst choice for a sensory bin...

but, i've been blessed with a little boy who loves to clean... especially when it comes to using our little hard floor vacuum.  when he was done, he went to the closet, got it out and asked me to plug it in.  then he cleaned it all up = happy, proud momma!

what's your biggest activity blunder?

linked here

tip-toe thru tuesday mar: 4

hello lovelies!! i don't usually do this, but Melissa from When One + One = Four tagged me in a fun little post where you share a few things about yourself.  i thought perhaps you'd like to learn a little more about me. 

1. What is your favorite childhood memory?

crawling up the door frame of my parents room like a spider



2. What time do you go to bed at night?

between 2-3 am

3. How often do you get your hair cut?

um.... every 6 months or so

4. Paper or Plastic?

i take my own fabric bags ;)

(it's 5 cents off per bag at Target and Hy-Vee)

5. What couldn't you live without?

my Bear... he's my everything

6. Are you craftsy? (some people might use the word crafty...not me)

i am a crafty mamma...or so i think

7. Where is your favorite place?

snuggling on the couch, watching a movie with my Bear

8. What is your favorite color?

yellow

9. Are you left or right handed?

right

10. What is your favorite blog to read?

ooohhhh... tough one... i've got soooo many i love. 

can't really say because i don't want to hurt any feelings...

11. Why is it your favorite?

they are my favorites for the following reasons.  they are:

written by my friends

they inspire me

they make me laugh

here are the toP 2 pOSts from last week plus one of mY faVEs.  if you're featured, grab a fEAtuRed button from my button page.

Chicks and Bunnies Breakfast Tablescape from Random Thoughts...

Mod Podge Dresser from Hit or Miss

Little Girl Ribbon Topiary from My Favorite Finds

PoST aNYtHiNG you've created (show me some etsy shops and giveaways!)

Feel free to share several posts

Link back to my page somewhere on your blog

Stay around and check out a few other links. wE aLL LovE fEEdBaCK!

in {her} shoes...gina

today's in {her} shoes guest poster is another one of my first bloggie buddies.  Gina from Random Thoughts from an Incoherent Mind is an extremely talented woman.  She does some of the most AH-MAZE-ING tablescapes.  Check out her latest Chicks and Bunnies Breakfast tablescape and my personal favorite, the Christmas Sentiments Tablescape.  well, enough of my rambling, here's Gina.

When AndieJaye asked me to participate in her blog's In {her} Shoes series, I was extremely hesitant...honored...yet hesitant. I thought I was much too old for this kind of thing. After all, I'm not a new mom, I've been one for over a decade. Somehow, she managed to convince me (probably because she's so sweet ) and here I am with you today.

My name is Gina and I have a blog called Random Thoughts from an Incoherent Mind. Yeah, that looooong blog name. What was I thinking?

Anyway, I have been married for 19 years to my high school sweetheart and we have two children, ages 13 and 10. I was a stay at home Mom for about 9 years. Now I work part time as a teacher's assistant. This is the perfect job for me as it allows me to be home when my children are home.

The most challenging part of being the kind of Mom I am is keeping it all in balance. I tend to walk a fine line between being a loose mom -vs- an authoritative mom. I don't want my children to view me as a pushover, yet I don't want them to see me as a tyrant either. I try to balance somewhere in the middle. My parents raised my siblings & I this way and it worked like a charm. Now if I could just figure out how they did it!

The most rewarding part of being a Mom for me is my children, themselves. I hope I don't get any rolled eyes over this, but neither of my children have ever experienced one second of time out when they were younger. My daughter had one temper tantrum as a toddler, I put a quick stop to it, and never saw another after that. My son never had one ever. They never fought then and rarely do even now. I have received many compliments about them over the years. So you see, they are the actual reward.

Let me add something though. My children, by no means, are perfect. I apologize if I've made it sound that way. I'm not one of those people who think their children do no wrong. I just believe there is no such thing as a perfect child, or adult for that matter. I try to set the right example and hope for the best. Remember my daughter is 13 years old, I'm sure there's lots of drama ahead!

The most important values I try to instill in my children are: respect, honesty, generosity, communication, the importance of family, and a sense of humor. Ok, maybe they're not the "traditional" set of values but I think a sense of humor is important to get through life, don't you?

Imagining how my children would describe me in 3 words, is a tough question. Since my children are old enough, I thought I'd just go ahead and ask them. They came up with a list of 11 words and said they simply could not narrow it down to 3. Do I dare share the whole 11 words? Bare in mind, my 13 year old has been known to use words that a normal 13 year old wouldn't.

Here goes: charismatic, creative, loving, expressive, excitable, energetic, entertaining, hearty, flamboyant, attentative and intuitive. Wow, I look like one heck of a person! I'm not so sure I'm deserving of all that, as flattering as it may be. Actually I'm really thinking, who is this person? I'd like to meet her! lol

I'm glad I've got to spend some time with you today. I love being a Mom and I can't imagine my life without my two children in it. May I leave you with one of my favorite quotes?

I never knew how much love my heart could hold until someone called me Mommy. ~unknown

Thanks for reading,

Gina

the 5 senses: hearing

today is the continuation of the 5 senses series. in case you missed it, check our inspiration, The Black Book of Colors here. the 5 senses activities we've done can be found here:

sense of smell

sense of sight

sense of touch

sense of taste

now for the sense of hearing activities.

this unit on the 5 senses is winding down quicker than i had planned.  Bear just isn't much interested in preschool this week... the beautiful weather is calling us outside! 

i had a list of activities i had wanted to do, but like yesterday's post, he wasn't too interested.   **drat that sunshine** 

some of the ideas were:

take a listening walk to see what sounds in our neighborhood we heard

talking through a safety cone (it acts like a megaphone)

we did make some music. 

i made a recording of us playing using the audacity program, but i can't seem to figure out how to get the lame program (actually what it's called) to work to transfer it to mp3. 

speaking of lame, i feel like it right now...

yesterday's and today's activities were

rejected by Bear, not because they were bad,

but just because he has different interests now

then he did when we started the unit.

but i'm still sharing my ideas with you,

even if i am not able to show you them in action.

partially because i don't want to leave you all hanging.

but mostly because i want to share why i think it's important to follow your child's interests.  it's okay to let them lead you, even if it isn't as

                                                                                   a.  structured

                                                                                   b.  educational 

                                                                                   c.  what you originally had planned

                                                                                   d.  all of the above

but i digress...

so, with those circling the drain, i found something that interested Bear very much.  we've been talking about special needs and disabilities lately on and off lately. so i thought that i would see if he would be at all interested in talking about people who have hearing impairments.  we used baby sign with him and he still uses "please" when he gets very excited and "all done" if we're talking and he wants to use the table.  

thanks to the amazing Rachel who does Say It Two Ways: Signing Time on NickJr, he was onboard with exploring sign language... so we looked through his sign language book and did a few signs. 

Image from Amazon

i also showed him this picture of the ASL alphabet.  (it'd be great for a classroom) then i did them for him with my hands.  it was something new, so he wasn't willing to try it. 

source

and that's where we left off this week.  it provides a great segue into something that we'll be exploring here and there over the next few weeks. 

down a bit lower, there are some links for great activities from some of my amazing fellow bloggers.  check them out for some more great sensory-related ideas.

off to enjoy the sunshine!

for more 5 Senses Resources, check out these blogs:

Signs of Spring from Childhood Beckons

The Five Senses from Rockabye Butterfly

Fancy Shaker Eggs from Mama Smiles

We Explored our 5 Senses: Hearing from Teach Preschool
5 Senses:Sound Safari from No Time for Flash Cards
Fun and Learning with Boxes from No Time for Flash Cards

linked here

find today's books on Amazon

    

the 5 senses: taste

today is the continuation of the 5 senses series.  in case you missed it, check our inspiration, The Black Book of Colors here.  We've also done the following 5 senses activities:

sense of smell

sense of sight

sense of touch

sense of hearing

here are the activities for the sense of taste.

Bear seems to like searching magazines for items, so i gave him a lip pencil to circle mouths in a magazine... {get it? because it goes on your lips?}

we made a list in Bear's journal about all the things that mouths can do besides taste food. some of the things were bite, talk, whistle, sing, and play instruments.

we also talked about the various parts of the mouth: lips, teeth, gums, tongue, and braces. {the last one was Bear's addition to the list}

now these next activites seemed fun to me, but are where i lost Bear...

i had planned on a taste-test of a variety of foods to identify different flavors:

salty- potato chips
plain- water

sweet- fruit snacks

sour- lemon slice
tangy- mustard

creamy- yogurt

fizzley- pop rocks

this is as far as we got when he decided he was done...

and i had planned on painting with spaghetti, but that grossed Bear out.

i'm not one to force activities, it only makes him more insistent that he does not want to do it.  so we'll leave the taste activities at that for now.  perhaps in the future i'll have a more willing assistant :)

tomorrow is the sense of hearing!  see you then!

for more 5 Senses Resources, check out these blogs:

We Explored our 5 Senses in Preschool: Taste from Teach Preschool
Making Applesauce and the 5 Senses from Creative with Kids
5 Senses-Ice Cream Taste Test from No Time for Flash
The Five Senses from Rockabye Butterfly

linked here

find today's books on Amazon

the 5 senses: touch

today is the continuation of the 5 senses series.  in case you missed it, check our inspiration, The Black Book of Colors here.   the 5 senses activities we've done can be found here:

sense of smell

sense of sight

sense of taste

sense of hearing

here are the sense of touch activities.

the first book that we read today was, I Will Be Especially Very Careful, a Charlie and Lola by Lauren Child.

after reading the book we went on another photo scavenger hunt to find things in our house that were fluffy and soft like Lotta's coat in the book. here's what bear found:

when we were done we made a touch window suncatcher.  before he started, i traced his hands on the contact paper with a permanent marker.  he even traced mine a few times.  then i gave him the sticky clear contact paper and soft fluffy white feathers. 

his sense of touch collage turned out like this:

we also read the awesome book by Robert Munsch Up, Up, Down. 

after reading about how Anna bandaged up her parents with 10 bandages, i offered Bear materials to make his own.  first i had him count 10 bandaids out of a pile.  then he stuck them down on a giant paper bandaid while counting them.  (also good small motor practice...those wrappers are tricky)

for Bear's journal, we talked about what hands can do.  he also pasted magazine cut-outs of hands.  then i provided different textured objects for him to make a sensory page out of.  i labeled them with the words he used to describe them.

see you tomorrow for the sense of taste!

for more 5 Senses Resources, check out these blogs:
Sensory Wall Mosaic Art from Mama Smiles
We Explored our 5 Senses in Preschool: Touch from Teach Preschool
A Touchy Case: Making Observations with Our Sense of Touch from Inspiration Laboratories
Feel and Learn Collage from No Time For Flash Cards

linked here


find today's books on Amazon