Thursday, August 30, 2012

my little super readers

Concluded this years Summer Reading Challenge with capes, treats and new books. Missing our Faye and Emer, next year I will plan it when we can all be together.

Emer in all his superman glory:



Faye hasn't warmed to her cape and mask yet. Maybe because in the package I sent I included a princess crown and wand.



Here's her cape, minus her:



Cate and Maddie looking especially heroic:



Lovely Jiao supporting the reading effort:



Way to go masked crusaders. Your Gamma loves sharing stories and books with you.





A story is a special thing

The ones that I have read

They do not stay inside the books
They stay inside my head.

Monday, August 20, 2012

nursee lesson #14 I Will Obey

The great thing about being a nursery leader at my age is I can try activities out on my grandies first. If they enjoy it, then chances are it's a go.

I can't remember when I've had so much fun in a calling. I go to church, take the sacrament and then go play for 2 hours. Also, there are marshmallows.

I'm passing these nursery lessons on to my girls for FHE, these pics are so they can see the context. Teaching every other week, so will post soon after.

The first hour of nursery is spent playing with toys. Toys which the other leader and I hate. So we bring our own.

And apart from bubbles, books and blocks the children never tire of these:

Putting Q-tips into the holes of a Parmesan container.


Pushing squishy pom poms into little holes.


Lacing cards. Some I made and some I bought at Dollar Tree. Score.


Flannelboard Stories. They love these. Goldilocks and the 3 bears and Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?


Stringing curlers onto pipe cleaners. Seriously, some children become obsessed with these. Just cut up those little spongy pink curlers into about 3's.



Transition for lesson. A couple of reverence reminders. Prayer boy, opens and closes his eyes.



The chapel doors seem to say to me. Doors open, Shh! Be still.



Found this great little flannelboard visuals from the Feb 2008 issue of the Friend. Lehi and Nephi Obey. Printed it out on color printer and backed it with sticky flannel.

Sang the song, Quickly I'll Obey

When my mother (father) calls me,
Quickly I'll obey.
I want to do just what is best
Each and ev'ry day.

Next a little role play. Your Mother asks you to help with the laundry. What will you do? Will you obey?

They liked hanging the clothes on the line. Only I used bigger clothes pins than pictured. Cate likes the teeny ones, but she's older.


Now your Mom is asking you to set the table. Will you obey?



They liked setting the table, but they didn't get the utensils in the right place. Ha. Nearly all of them pretended to eat.

Hey, your Dad asks you to take out the trash. Will you obey? They liked sweeping up the crumpled paper I dumped on the floor.


Snack time follows the lesson and then we usually do a handout/art activity. I let them paint with Q-tips using watercolors. Not too messy if you bring towels.

Play doh with cookie cutters is always a hit, so we did that for a bit.



When we do play doh I usually set out a few plastic animals, too. They like to hide them in the clay.

And then I brought out this:



Yup. They hammered golf tees into pieces of foam using little wooden rolling pins. They loved, loved, loved this. I would have let them hammer away the rest of time but it sounded like a shoemakers workshop. All that tap, tap, tapping. Next time I'll try covering the golf tees with felt or something.

The last 15 minutes or so we have a little singing time. Rain is Falling is their fav. I squirt/mist them with a little water bottle on their face if they want or on their hand if they don't.

And because the lesson was on obeying, we used our Stop/Go sign and brought out the stick horses. We sing and gallop until the sign says stop and then we freeze until it says go. Great fun.





And then it's time to go home.

The marshmallows, the play doh, the galloping. I have died and gone to heaven.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

august

August

The sprinkler twirls.
The summer wanes.
The pavement wears
Popsicle stains.

The playground grass
Is worn to dust.
The weary swings
Creak, creak with rust.

The trees are bored
With being green.
Some people leave
The local scene

And go to seaside
Bungalows
And take off nearly
All their clothes.

-John Updike, From A Child's Calendar

Friday, August 10, 2012

model #XXA2rc

Couple of days ago ld came home from work and asked me how my day went. I told him I had spent some time cleaning out the garage. Let me guess, he said glancing around at the cardboard strewn dining table, you got distracted.

Yeah, I sheepishly replied.

I had discovered an awesome just-right-size box out in the garage and that coupled with the pink cupcake box Megs sent me for my birthday just begged to be made into a play kitchen.

Cate and Maddie came over this afternoon and they deemed this project a success, so not a total waste of time.

Back to the garage on Monday. Sigh.



Note its special features.

Knobs that really turn. That cupcake box came in really handy, Megs:)


Pink burners. Which seriously was the inspiration for this whole project. When the cupcake box arrived in the mail all I could think about was how this swirly graphic looked like a stove burner. They are supposed to be chocolate swirls or something but work much better gracing a re-fashioned cardboard appliance.



More knobs that turn.



Potholder pegs. Made from cardboard tightly rolled up and glued.



Tiny stove-top shelf to hold whatever. Cate suggested pepper.



Metal bowl sink. Works because the bowl has a rim to hang from.



Under sink storage. A box in the cupboard to hold fake food and play dishes.



A towel rack.



Here it is again, in context.



Let me say this about cardboard, friends. It is an amazing medium. It really is. It's strong and moldable and has wonderful texture. I have a healthy respect for it. As long as you understand its quirks and understand scoring you can make almost anything out of it. Also, not all cardboard is the same, there are different grades. Plus, it is cheap, cheap, cheap. This whole project cost me absolutely nothing. Well, okay, about 40 mini glue gun sticks.

Besides, what's not to love about something that produces a response like this.



ld thinks I should paint it, but I love the cardboardy rawness of it.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

jeff channels barney in sunday school

Mother was a master. A gifted teacher by profession, she employed many methods but it's safe to say she never tried parody. Leave that to her son. He's also gifted, and pretty weird funny, too.



I know this is up on facebook. Posting it here for the historical record.