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Story Stones

Story Stones

Posted by on Jul 31, 2014 in Camping, Literacy Activities, Rock Activities, Sensory Bins | 0 comments

My bugs love listening to stories and engaging in pretend play, so when I came across the idea of story stones on Pinterest I was inspired to make some of our own. Being avid rock collectors, my boys already had a pile of stones stashed under the deck ready to be washed and used. If you don’t have any smooth stones on hand, you can always purchase some from the dollar store. I’m not very good at drawing, so instead of painting directly onto the stones, I cheated and resorted to using stickers and Mod Podge!

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Melting Ice Globes

Melting Ice Globes

Posted by on Jan 18, 2014 in Light Table, Outdoor Activities, Science Activities, Sensory Bins, Winter Activities | 0 comments

The other day I was outside sprinkling salt on the treacherous patches of ice scattered haphazardly on our driveway, when M posed the question, “mommy, why are you doing that?” I explained to him that salt lowers the freezing point of water, causing the ice to melt quicker. M pondered that and then replied, “well, the puddle is a liquid, but then it froze and turned into ice, which is a solid.” I have been teaching M about the three states of matter, so I was THRILLED when he was able to transfer what he had learned about solids and liquids and apply it to situation that was relative to him.

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Apple Pie Cloud Dough

Apple Pie Cloud Dough

Posted by on Oct 7, 2013 in Apple Themed Activities, Fall Crafts and Activities, Motor Skills, Outdoor Activities, Sensory Bins | 0 comments

I came across this recipe for cloud dough from Tinker Lab and figured my bugs and I should give it a try! Cloud dough is really fun to play with it. It has a unique, soft, texture that is airy yet moldable. I gave it a bit of a fall twist by adding two powdered, red chalk pieces (for colour), along with some cinnamon, nutmeg and clove spices to give it a yummy apple-pie scent (you could also just use apple pie spice). The cloud dough was so much fun to run our fingers through and to squish and mold, and the apple pie scent added an extra lovely sensory element!

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Sticky Wall Art!

Sticky Wall Art!

Posted by on Jun 20, 2013 in Contact Paper Art, Motor Skills, Sensory Bins | 0 comments

It has been EXTREMELY wet here the past few days, so much so that many areas in southern Alberta, including Calgary, have declared a state of emergency! Luckily, there has been no flooding in our area, but all this rain has definitely made it more challenging to keep my bugs occupied indoors. Today I raided my craft stash and set up a sticky wall for the boys to create a unique art piece together.

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St. Patrick’s Day Sensory Bin and Literacy Fun!

St. Patrick’s Day Sensory Bin and Literacy Fun!

Posted by on Mar 15, 2013 in Activities for Spelling, Literacy Activities, Rainbow Activities, Sensory Bins, St. Patrick's Day | 0 comments

Earlier this week, the boys and I had a whole day full of rainbow activities and experiments. The boys enjoyed learning about the colours of the rainbow so much, I thought I would extend it a bit further by introducing a rainbow sensory bin, and incorporating a literacy activity for M as well. I also want to highlight one of M’s favourite books he borrowed from the library this week: A Rainbow of Animals, written by Melissa Stewart.

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