I Caught A Rainbow Art Project

With St. Patrick's Day around the corner we've been having fun with some rainbow themed projects.

This one is not only super fun but also ties in art, open ended dictation, and serves as a great story extension activity.


We started by reading the story A Rainbow Of My Own by Don Freeman

Afterwards we talked about the story and I asked the girls if they wanted to catch a rainbow. Of course they both said yes and I told them I would show them how they could catch a rainbow of their very own.

Ahead of time I chose 5 different paint colors of the rainbow and squeezed each color onto paper. I used a small paint brush to paint a color on each girls hand and then they made a print.

They were delighted to see their handprint with colors of the rainbow on the paper. I said "You caught I rainbow, now that are you going to do with it?" This was the open ended question I chose to ask but you obviously can ask anything you want another idea is to say "How did you catch the rainbow?" Really any open ended question that will encourage creativity will do.

Once they answered the question I wrote their words down exactly as they said it and then I read it back to them. This is where the dictation part comes into play. It's so important for children to see their words being written down. It now only demonstrates that print has meaning but also is a great way to encourage self esteem- your words are important, what you say is important, I'm going to write them down.

For added fun I tied in sensory play with soap and water waiting in a bin when we were done to wash hands and play! 

The girls had a blast with this one!

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Letters to myself

I've always loved journaling, writing, keeping a diary. In fact, I've kept a diary from the time I was in third grade. I recently ran across this post from the very lovely Ashley from little miss momma.

It struck a chord.

I remembered when I wrote something similar an entire decade earlier.  A letter to myself saying goodbye to my 20's. It inspired me to go through the boxes of old journal entries and try to find that letter.

I spent the next hour sifting through those old journals. There they were, remnants of my past. I hadn't read them in a very long time and it brought up so many emotions as I was reminded of my former self. Who I was before I was a wife and mom. When I had time to just sit and reflect, ponder, dream, and write. Before my days were filled with all the endless mommy duties. We all love our kids, we all love being a mom. That's a given. But while we dive into that role and consume our days with giving every last ounce of energy to our children it can get so easy to lose ourselves. Often, before we even realize it's happening.

I loved reading that letter that my 29 year old self wrote. Through those words I momentarily rediscovered who I was before becoming a mom. This is how I ended the letter....

"My life by no means has been mapped out. So as I look to my 30's in terms of what I get to do now, I know I have so much to look forward to.... 

"And as I look to the next decade of my life I know that I'll embrace these experiences with a sense of dignity and spirit of wisdom that only come with age. Lastly, there will be a fond appreciation as the great things enter my life because I'll know that none of it came easy. And truly, the best is yet to come." 

Funny how those words still ring true as I say goodbye to my 30's, in a good way of course!!

I love blogging and journaling about my kids. I've written about how I write letters to my kids on their Birthday every year. However, today I was reminded how important it is to take the time to really get back to me, to nourish those passions outside of the mom/wife title. We've heard it before, taking care of yourself makes you a better mom at the end of the day. You all know the airplane/oxygen mask analogy. (If not message me, I'll enlighten you.) ;) Knowing this and actually doing it are two different things. Last year, with the help of a very supportive husband I took one session of guitar lessons at one of my very favorite places. It was a place I had frequented in my 20's, where I first learned to play guitar.  A place filled with music and inspiration. It was glorious to spend a couple hours of week doing what I had once loved. It's little baby steps, finding the time here and there, that collectively help us to connect with our authentic selves.

 Finding my journals inspired me to bust out the pen and paper and jot down my thoughts, write letters to myself again. I think it's a simple way to engage in self reflection. If you don't know where to start in the journey of rediscovering yourself, start there. Write yourself a letter. Blog about it, share it, or keep it private.

I plan to make a conscious effort to do this more often as I truly believe in the importance of writing things down. Pouring your thoughts onto paper gives them power and gives you the writer a sense of clarity. For me personally it helps to reflect on where I've been so I know where I'm going and what I want to achieve, what I want to let go of, and what I want to put more time into. Writing letters helps me to see my life now in a way that I might look back on it in 20 or 30 years. That I may see it for all it's goodness, it's aliveness, and the love and joy that surround me every day.

This is my hope for you as well.


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Valentine's Day Play Dough

I realize this is nothing new here but just wanted to share how we kicked off Valentine's Day week! And perhaps by chance you haven't seen this done before. :)

  Play Dough Recipe 

- 1/2 cup salt 
- 1 cup of water
- 2 Tb cream of tartar
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 Tb oil
- red food coloring
- peppermint extract (for minty smell)

Mix all the ingredients together, stir well.
Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir often.
Remove from heat and knead until desired consistency.


We added red sprinkles to the recipe as well!!


I included heart shaped cookie cutters as well as other play dough utensils/toys.

The play dough can be stored in the refrigerator in a concealed container and it should last for a good 6 months.  Enjoy!!

Valentine's Day Mural

We had a lot of fun with this process oriented project.  It's a messy one but the girls had a blast and that really does make it worth it!

I started with a large sheet of butcher paper taped to the window and rolled onto the floor. Then I included a variety of Valentine themed materials including pink and red paint, red glitter, heart shaped
doilies, glue, and heart stickers.

I invited the girls to come and create and let them lead the way with the materials provided. 

My 2 year old used the hear shaped cookie cutters to make prints. My 4 year old wanted to get messy and immediately started finger painting and making hand prints.

  They both enjoyed painting on the floor as well as painting standing up on the window. This mural style was a fun and new way to paint and create.

The heart doilies were a big hit as well as the glitter!!

  Like I said before this was a messy one but everything we used was 100% washable!

  Such a fun way to get creative celebrating Valentines Day! I think we will do this again for a St. Patricks Day mural!

 

This was project was linked up with

Project 365 One Month Complete

Just wanted to share a few of my favorites from my photo a day project this past month. I fell way behind after the second week but I'm proud to say I am now caught up! However, I'm sorry to say I'm behind in commenting in the 365 blogs I am following. I hope to get better at that as well. It's really one of the best parts of the project, watching and encouraging others in their journey.


 Only 11 more months to go....

Anyone else doing a 365? How are your projects coming along?