These past days was All About Me activities. We did lots of the same themes but trying to change the way we were learning about them. As for example, we did many activities about our body parts but using file folder games, books, worksheets, paint, songs and Montessori inspired activities, too. It seems too much for a 3 years old one but Pinky love it. She thought these were “homework” and was so happy to find a different activity every day. We were doing this theme since is what she is doing at school, too. I will try to follow their schedule so she can practice at home. (I am just following my child desire to do “school” at home, too….of course, after she comes back from school, she plays with her toys, watches tv, dances, sings, rest and when she feels like doing “homework” she just tells mommy).

Here’s our week in review (just the Montessori part for now):

• My body book: I did this one a while ago with the body parts in English/Spanish so she could use it with magnetic letters. This time we just looked at the pictures and named them.

• My body file folder game. I did this one but don’t remember where I got these printables. The front and back pictures are from magazines.

• Body puzzle- got this one at Target a long time ago. It’s a little hard for her so I wrote upper and lower case letters for her to match.

• Fine motor activity. Fingers cake: Kind of Montessori inspired activity. It’s a foam where we added golf tees and she had to use tongs to transfer the fingers (from the dollar spot at Target) over each golf tee. (Does it make sense?)

• Fine motor activity. I have eyes on my feet!!! Practicing pincer grasp by putting gloogly eyes on a feet suction shower holder.

• Dot your name.

• What are those lines??? Explore your fingerprints!

• Dora’s life stages. Will need a pregnant doll and an old lady!!! The life stages of a woman is from here plus here you can find a body lapbook idea in Spanish. Great blog!She loved it but told me that the last one was Barbie and NOT Dora..lololo

• Taking care of our body! Match the picture with the product.

• DIY Hand book. The parts of a hand: Just trace your baby hand (He/she will be very excited as mine was) and photocopy many times so in each page he/she can just color each part of the hand as: right hand, left hand, thumb finger, index, middle, ring, pinky, wrist, palm of the hand, back of the hand and, the most excited one, finger nail which you can color using nail polish! Also, this will be great as a 3-part cards activity.

That’s all….FOR NOW!!!

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This is so excited….my little one’s FIRST Day of Pre-pre-school….

That September 7 2011 morning she was so happy when she went to the living room and found this poster mommy did for her the night before….!

She said: Look..that’s me! I am going to school!

With mommy and daddy!

First day of school breakfast!

I am ready…Let’s go!!!!!

Arriving at school!

After a long day at school!!!

What a First day of Pre-pre-school….!!!! Mommy expended the whole day waiting for the time to go back and look for you, my princess. You are growing so fast….but mommy loves you everyday and everyday more and more!

For my Princess’ birthday party, I tried to make fairy decorations without expending a fortune on them, plus including the family.

Here’s what we did together:

• Re-used furniture cardboard drawing fairies and painting them with acrylic and adding glitter for a great ending. After I made my “drawing”, I cut them with an utensil knife, later painted and added the glitter mostly on the wings and dresses. Glitter makes them to look great for the party decoration but it is so messy…if you don’t want to have too much mess, there’s paint with glitter on it and it’s less messy but less pretty.

• The workshop- including the whole family: even the birthday girl helped with the decoration! Kids love to paint so my little one and my niece helped painting the name letters and flowers plus they added some glitter (really MESSY but fun for them so you need to do this OUTSIDE!)

• Birthday hats: The big kids helped decorating the birthday hats with stickers and glittered glue. My mom did these ones coping a pattern from one store brought hat into a cardboard paper (3 of them made 32 hats). Since they were handmade, all of them were different and too CUTE!)

• Yes…you’re right! That’s a placemat which I added my baby pictures: newborn, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years old and, now, a big 3 years old girl. Those are the letters painted and glittered by the little ones. They were feeling so proud and needed!!

• The cake: Just a simple one but delicious with our decoration theme colors and I added 4 fairies I got at a store (they were intended to use as my little girl gift, too!) plus Tinker bell and number 3 candles.

• Balloons: Don’t forget to add LOTS of them….they are cheap and make every kid birthday party a magical one. Just use the same theme colors (Mine were of different colors since were the cheapest ones!)
• Just need to add your own Thinker bell fairy princess:

Have fun celebrating your VIP birthday!!!

Hey if you LOVE Montessori Print Shop materials as much as I do, but would love it more if it is for free, here’s another giveaway for you. Go and check this amazing blog Chestnut Grove Academy (which I just hop into for the first time- lucky me because it has great ideas!).

The giveaway is for the Classified Cards Bundle from MPS. This Bundle is valued at $63.40 and contains 41 sets of printable 3 part cards! That is over 589 images and you can WIN IT HERE!

Click HERE for a full list of what is included in this bundle.

Check them out since the giveaway ends 9/22 12:01am!

But, I really want to win it!

The idea for our beanbags came from the Martha Stewart show. One night I decided to search my On demand tv channels and found some videos from this show (which was the first time I watched it). For a long time, I was looking for an easy and not-sew-needed beanbags for those rainy and cold days.

So, what’s better than duct tape beanbags??? Easy duct tape beanbags made by my 3 years old girl….She made them!!! (with some little help from mommy)

Here are our beautiful beanbags (and discovery bags at the same time):

How did we do them?

• Recycle those rice and beans from your sensory box. Bye bye farm animals!

• We recycled some vinyl bags we got from plastic toy animals I bought a time ago at a dollar store (I knew I would use them some day!) But, Martha used a clear vinyl shower curtain and cut it in squares. Also, 2 Ziploc bags (one inside another) can do it, or not? Grab some foam stickers, beads, small toys or treasures for your discovery bag or you can leave it plain.

• Fill it up!!! Great fun Montessori practical life practice for your Kid….

• Put your treasures inside (we got some bottle cap with her first name and last name written on them for name recognition practice)

• Now is mommy’s time to help closing the bags with some duct tape. If the kid is older, maybe can do it by him/herself. Put duct tape by all the sides front and back.

• And you are ALL SET to enjoy your hard work.

First attempt!!!

Second, third, fourth….attempts!!!

SCORE!!!

This is such a FUN game and it’s better when you made it ALL BY YOURSELF!!!

For mommy, it was an opportunity to teach my baby to Don’t GIVE UP after trying to score 5,6,7,8 times. She was getting FRUSTRATED but with just a POSITIVE stimulus she learned to tell herself to keep trying…(it was such a cute moment hearing her to tell herself to keep trying) until she got it! She was so proud!!! The last 2 photos are her victory dance moment! lol

Other DIY bean bags resources:

1. How to do your own Bean Bags (if you like to sew) and a cute recycled toss box.
2. Tutorial and pattern: Counting bean bags from Chez deeper bebe. Good for learning your numbers tossing your bean bags around the house.
3. Bean bag toss game for fourth of July carnival from Roots and wings have a great tutorial for DIY.
4. DIY bean bags from old jeans pockets at Chica and Jo. Cute bags.
5. And if you have a baby or a toddler here at The Spaghetti Westerner is a great twist to bean bags using plastic bananas plus a cute sock monkey theme DIY toss board.

Take care and have fun on your rainy, sick or next to come cold days!!!

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