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We've had a busy week with lots of hush-hush Mother's Day projects going on. It's been tough to blog about things we couldn't talk about, so here's the rundown of our days leading up to our Mother's Day celebration on Thursday.
Tuesday the children and I had a great time making special birthday cupcakes.
Everyone got to take a turn helping out. One of the littles did a nice job dumping the dry ingredients in...
... and the big kids did a fantastic job pouring in the liquid ingredients.
Great pouring!
All three littles (and even one of the big kids) really liked putting the cupcake papers into the muffin tin. It's great for fine motor skills and requires both dexterity and a gentle touch.
Later in the day we went outside. Despite the chilly weather, the children enjoyed playing at the mud kitchen station. Grass soup was on the menu- yum!
Many of the (insidious!) dandelions in the yard had gone to seed and with the day being windy, it was perfect for blowing dandelion clocks. The children and I counted the number of blows it took to make all the seeds fly away. We're not sure dandelions are reliable clocks (18 o'clock?), but they sure are fun to blow!
Later in the day the children got to enjoy the cupcakes they had made earlier as we all sang "Happy Birthday" and the birthday child got to blow out her candle. What a nice celebration!
On Wednesday, we had a nice morning working on some nursery rhyme fingerplays during circle time. We are focusing on "Jack and Jill," "Jack be Nimble," and "Sing a Song of Sixpence." We've also been working on some classic clapping games like "Miss Mary Mack" and "A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea."
When we went outside, the big kids were fantastic gardening helpers- one wanted to help water while another helped me pick some weeds from the flower garden beds.
The sand in the sandbox was perfectly moist for making castles and such, but one child ended up making a birthday cake...
... complete with a candle on top...
... to blow out!
The littles worked hard at scooping and dumping the sand into a big pot.
After we came back in, my camera battery died, so I didn't get to take pictures of the children mixing up brown sugar, olive oil, and some essential oils to make tea tree and peppermint foot scrub. What hard-working mommy doesn't deserve some relaxation and pampering? The children had a blast stirring, stirring, and stirring up the mixture and even helped scoop and dump it into glass jars.
We ended the day with some fun gymnastic exercises like somersaults, rolls, and jumps, then we settled down to read Make Way for Ducklings.
On Thursday morning after our morning calendar and weather routine, the children and I settled in to do lots of coloring with markers. Earlier in the month the children had told me they wanted to give their mothers flowers for Mother's Day, so we decided to make delicate paper flowers that would last. Coffee filters are perfect for allowing water to blend the colors and make beautiful, organic flowing patterns and are easy for the children to turn into flowers. Once all the coffee filters were colored, the children and I took turns spraying them over some newspaper. Using a spray bottle is tough work for little hands, so I had to step in and help every so often.
Once the flowers were dry, the children helped me rubber band a set of three filters together and then attach a pipe cleaner stem. They did a lovely job!
While the filters dried, we headed outdoors for some more fun. Some of the children enjoyed picking flowers...
...While others wanted more action, so they ran races.
At the end of the day, the children were able to give their beautiful flower-printed bags filled with a special photograph, a flower, and some foot scrub to their mommies. The gifts were a hit, and it was clear that the children were proud of what they had done. It was a Mother's Day success!