Exploring more light box possibilities

And there was light and it was good

Since opening my early childhood program 6 years ago, I've been intending to buy a light table, but somehow hadn't yet. This year, however, the children's interest in light, color, and transparency is very strong, and my drive for a fresh start had me eager to finally get one. (Not to mention that suddenly it seems they're all over blog-land, so it just felt ridiculous that I hadn't ever gotten around to it!).

I followed Mariah's advice and got this one (no affiliation). It arrived this week, and it's just as wonderful as I had hoped. I couldn't wait to give it a try, so at the moment, it's just on the table in the middle of the studio. I'm hoping to set it up with its own organized spot soon. Meanwhile, we've explored water beads (another bloggy discovery, thanks to Play at Home Mom),

Lucy's used it to create an "x-ray" of "Boogie Bear" (Andi's childhood bear),

and this morning (still in pjs), we explored purple sand with paintbrushes. I started out with a pyrex casserole dish, but wanted to expand, so looked around the basement for something that would keep the sand on top of the light box. I found a storm window, which worked pretty well.

I added jingle shells from last fall's beach excursion, and loved how they glowed. I couldn't resist the gorgeousness, and had to join into the play.

A little winter hike

Shadow dancing

With the changing light, the children have been noticing, exploring, and talking about shadows. Yesterday, Lucy danced with her shadow outside.

Forward.

Backward.

Forward.

With a friend.

Like an airplane.

With another friend.

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, And what can be the use of him is more than I can see. He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head; And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.
-Robert Louis Stevenson

Changing station to bird-watching station

I've been wanting to set up a bird-watching station for Lucy ever since reading this post, but I didn't have the right spot. But when I dismantled the changing station we've had on our office window seat for the past year and a half, we suddenly had a perfect spot. As soon as we thought of it, we had to do it (excuse the horrible evening photos!). We made some pinecone birdfeeders and hung them in the bush right outside the window:

Come and get it, birds!

We gathered some bird books, and watched and waited for the birds to arrive.

They didn't come right away, so we contented ourselves with reading bird books. As Lucy looked at this book, she recognized something, and asked me to find it in this book:

Sure enough, two almost-identical pictures of a cedar waxwing.

And then, of course, we had to play around with the binoculars, just in case:

(Oh, and the hat? Andi made it; details here. Isn't it the cutest thing?)

Books for my bird-loving babe

Writing about books yesterday reminded me that I never gave you a closer peek into my recently-found treasures, as promised. Here's a start.

I have a bird-lover in the house. Lucy and I have spent tons of time watching our chickens, the turkeys at the farm, the sparrows outside the window by her potty, the crows in the compost bin. She can identify a "dee dee" (chickadee) by its song. She nightly asks for "story: birds" as I put her to sleep. So when I spotted this book at the book sale, naturally, I snatched it right up.

It wasn't until I brought it home and took a closer look that I recognized it. A few years back, I'd had it out of the library at the school where I then taught, renewed and renewed and renewed for a group of children who were interested in learning how to paint birds. We'd used its large, simple illustrations as models for many of our own paintings.

Lucy loves them, too. Most of the birds are ones we've seen, and it's become routine for us to discuss on each page "Mama know? Me know?" (In other words, do you know that bird, mama? Do I?) At the moment, we just look at the pictures, name the birds, and talk about our personal connections to each one. Later, we'll enjoy reading the text.

And then, I spotted this one. Oh, was I excited! Pretty much, if it's by Brian Wildsmith, it's going into my bag. But this had the added bonus of being about birds...

...and fascinating vocabulary. (It gives the language for groups of various birds, as in "A wedge of swans. A sedge of herons.") We love looking at the gorgeous illustrations, and repeating the intriguing words.

Lucy particularly enjoys this illustration of turkeys, which reminds her of those at "our" farm.


One of the things I love so much about vintage books is their beautiful, artistic illustrations. So many of today's books are super-realistic (photos) or condescendingly cutesy-cartoonish. Books like these respect children's intelligence while offering up artistic inspiration. Lucy and I can't get enough!

Let me know if you enjoy these reviews. If so, I'd love to share more of my finds with you.

A peek into a morning in the purple house

I've been quieter than usual here in this space, but life has been anything but. With little time to post today, I thought I'd share just a quick peek into our day...

The day began slowly, with just a few children checking out the changes to our resident tadpole (all four legs now, and a shorter tail) and getting our first glimpse at all the river creatures we caught yesterday (the silt has finally settled and the water cleared enough for viewing). We started out with a handy identification guide, pencils, and paper:

As the house filled with more children, the table and couch filled with more evidence of our work. Out came a favorite book about frogs. Talk of frog life cycles reminded us to pull out the frog-life-cycle puzzle:

Pages filled with sketches:

Some of those pages were turned into a book (this page says "A kapl day rlr my teche had kot a talpl," or, for those not accustomed to invented spelling: "A couple days earlier my teacher had caught a tadpole."):

And then it was time for snack (morning snack that is; our day had just barely begun).

The day continued in a whirlwind, as always, and now I've got to be off to tidy it all up and prepare for tomorrow...

Good ideas gleaned from blogland

A short post after yesterday's novel...

I've been inspired this week by some of the loveliness I see daily on other blogs.

I had to pull out bubbles after I saw gardenmama's photos of bubble wands made from branches. What a brilliant idea! So naturally beautiful, I couldn't wait to try. (Lucy's using a forscythia wand; Andi's using a rubber canning ring.) I did it again today with all the kids, and they loved it, too.


And today, when one of the 5-year-old boys picked up a Y-shaped branch, I was reminded of the wonderful natural weavings I'd seen on Child in Harmony. I described it to the kids, and they were eager to try. Two boys and I worked on them for a good part of the morning, and they were so thrilled with the results, they brought them over to the neighbor's house to show them off, (and to the mail carrier, and to the UPS driver). This boy decided to add a flower he drew and cut out to the things he found in nature. I love the mixed-media result.


What's inspiring you and your kids lately?