Grab a Song

 

 

 



 I’m baaaacckk!!! We had a very busy summer full of Disney adventures, lazy beach days, camp, play dates, gardening, and travel; but we are back into a daily routine of school (for Sean), play, and learning. I feel like my kiddos grew exponentially over those short summer months and are both taking on new stages of development and learning. Miss Olivia is now a lover of babble and learning to say new words daily, mastering fine motor skills like using a spoon/fork/crayon and stacking blocks. She loves music and outdoor play. Sean has mastered recognizing all letters (upper and lowercase) and their phonetic sounds and has moved on to learning to read cvc words. We recently began –at and –an words. He continues to have a love of science and art.

 

 

Now that Sean is back in school part-time, Olivia and I have a few days together to focus on things that interest her. My little songstress can’t say no to a good nursery rhyme and still likes to rummage through treasure baskets, so I combined the two and made her a basket we could explore together.

As I shared in previous posts, treasure baskets are a Montessori inspired activity that promote self-discovery while using various senses. I usually just grab items I have laying around the house and create themed baskets like textiles, balls, color, etc.

For this basket I  listed some of her favorite songs and found or created items that could represent them.

The Wheels on the Bus- a toy bus from the toy box

Old McDonald- some animal shaped play dough cutters

Itsy Bitsy Spider- an old spider teething toy

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star- I cut out a star shape from an old box and traced it onto a sheet of foil, cut it out and used modge podge glue to adhere the foil to the front and back of the cardboard.

Baa Baa Black Sheep- I cut out an outline of a sheep on cardboard and glued cotton balls to it.

Pat a Cake- a wooden rolling pin from the kitchen

5 Little Ducks- a rubber duck from the bath toy bin



Checking out the goods

Singing Baa Baa Black Sheep

I tossed all the items into her old Easter basket and let her dive in. She was instantly attracted to the shiny star and soft sheep. As she played with each item I sang the song they represented. Next up was the rolling pin and she hummed along with me and did the hand motions for Pat a Cake! After a few songs she realized that she could pull the wool off the poor sheep and spent several minutes piling cotton balls into the basket. She delighted in playing and singing with me for a while and then threw her basket on her arm like a purse, as a lady does, and carried on with playing.   

 







...and she's off!

Arrrrghhh A Baby's Treasure

Treasure baskets are another Montessori inspired concept that I discovered during my research and reading of Montessori practices before Sean started at his Montessori school. These simple baskets, or boxes, are an easy and essentially FREE way to engage your infant’s innate desire to explore and discover on their own.

To make a treasure basket, find a basket (“Montessorians” lean towards natural products like wooden baskets) or a box that is sturdy and is the proper size to allow your infant to safely be able to remove and place objects from. Next find 8-15 items that appeal to your infant’s senses. Think about how it feels in their hand, can they roll it, does it make a sound, how does it feel or taste? These items should be things from around the house of from nearby nature. Place all of the items in the basket and let your baby explore.

 * Olivia at 5 and 11 months!

 

Olivia loves to take everything out of the basket, inspect each item, and then place it back in the basket. I often place a large quilt on the kitchen floor and give her a treasure basket while I cook. It’s a great way to keep her actively engaged in something other than destroying the kitchen while I attempt to cook or clean.

So what should you put in your baby’s treasure basket? Glad you asked!!! They can be any odds or ends that are baby safe (try to avoid electronic toys). I love themes, so I tend to pick items that share a commonality. I have done treasure baskets for the following:

·         Seasonal (Sean collected various items on a fall nature walk- leaves, pine cones, sticks, rocks. I choose items that were safe for Olivia to taste.)

·         Wood (I included some of my wooden cooking utensils, a variety of Sean’s wooden blocks, a train track, coaster, unsharpened pencil, and paintbrush.)

·         Textiles ( I used random scraps of ribbon, felt square, wash cloth, tissue paper, old bib, faux craft fur, sock, scarf, and large pomp pom)

·         Balls (This is her current favorite! I gathered all the balls of various size and texture. Some make noise, some are rough, some light up, some are cloth…just tons of balls)

 

 

For older toddlers you could do color, shape, or beginning sound  themed baskets.

One thing that I love about the Montessori educational philosophy is the freedom of learning through exploration. They begin with the child’s desire to explore, to spark a genuine desire to dig deeper. It starts from the beginning! Engaging infants and children doesn’t require all the bells, whistles, lights, and batteries. Sometimes we just need to slow down and enjoy the simple things much like our wee ones.