Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Easter, Easter, everywhere! (and a give away!)

I love decorating for the holidays . . . I don't really go all out, except maybe for Christmas, but every holiday there are things here and there to make things a wee bit festive. When I taught, the practical life area would get a complete overhaul would this time of year and become all things spring/Easter. Here is one activity that the kids would love. Sadly, my Easter box was one of the few things that I couldn't get to in storage and I'm not in the mood to buy things that I already have - just not accessible to right now. . .

Here's what you need: a tray that is made to hold eggs, the corresponding number of plastic eggs, a bowl, and these cute, bunny-eared "scissor/tongs" that you can find in almost any Easter section right now.

Here's why you should do it: Ummm . . . fun Easter entertainment! Oh yeah, it also helps with their fine motor skills and helps increase their concentration, coordination and sense of order.

Start with all the plastic eggs in the tray. Grab the tongs and transfer all the eggs into the bowl.
Lawton insisted on holding the tongs with two hands and I kept telling him to hold them like scissors, it would be easier. Finally, on the fourth egg or so, he finally decided to listen to me and realized that it was, in fact, easier.
See the tongue? Trademark Lawton concentration face . . .
Once they are all in the bowl, transfer them back to the tray. Voila!
And, because I am in the Easter spirit, I want one of you to have this activity! Sorry, but the bowl is not included . . . just the tray, eggs, and tongs. Just leave a comment! I would love to hear what activities you like most so that I can maybe do more posts along those lines. . . Friday night will be the deadline. Good luck! :)

Oh, and guess what we have at our house now? Caterpillars! They are tiny! Stay tuned!

16 comments:

  1. What a creative idea to tie in Montessori with Easter! So creative!!! My favorite activities right now are very basic (I am new to montessori and so i am just developing my manipulatives and idea database! I really enjoy teaching my daughter the practical life skills- setting the table, helping mommy cook, cleaning up after herself... we got her a small table and chairs that she can eat her snack and do her learning activities on and she LOVES it! you can see the independent spirit shining through! i love your blog- keep the great ideas coming! they are so helpful!

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  2. I've really enjoyed your posts and have done several of the activities with my daughter. Not sure if this is part of Montessori or not, but I could use some ideas for gross motor activities.

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  3. New to your blog and I love it! Such great ideas for my 3 year old. Since I'm new, I don't really know the entire idea of Montessori, (but I am trying to learn). I like the posts about fine motor skills...this seems to also help my daughter with her patience. :)

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  4. this is such a cute easter idea!

    i have two year olds right now, but im filing all these cute ideas away for when i have children a little bit older in my classroom.

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  5. I've read several books about Montessori in the home and am really enjoying your variations on the activities. We really enjoyed the spooning activity you did a while back. After spooning into bowls, I let Jonah (2 1/2) pick fabrics from my stash and I made bean bags which he proudly filled himself! We are also looking for little items (unfortunately most of that sort of item is in storage in Seattle - we are in Scotland for three years) to start our own fun collection.

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  6. Love your ideas!!! I'm new to the whole Montessori "idea", but I'm learning - thanks!

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  7. I am loving your blog... thanks for sharing with all us Moms out there!! I am definitely LOVING the Easter activity!

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  8. I love your blog! My oldest went to Montessori school from age 2.5 until 8.5. Now we are homeschooling her and her 2 brothers. These activities are great for the younger two. Thanks!

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  9. Great idea. Not sure if this fits the Montessori parameters, but Jackson loved egg dying. He thought it was neat to see the eggs change colors. It also made him want to taste a hard boiled egg (added bonus).

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  10. Looks like fun! My kids love the activities I choose from your site. Would be egg-cited to win your give-away!! :)

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  11. All of your activities are so fun! I am a speech-language pathologist and have taken several ideas and added my own spin to tie in the language piece. There are a lot of possibilities for this one. I liked the medicine bottle activity - simple, but great for practicing comparatives and superlatives (heavier, heaviest / louder, loudest, etc.). Thanks for all the great ideas!

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  12. great idea. my daughter would love it.

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  13. Too cute! I can't tell you how much I love reading your posts. You have given me so many new ideas to do with my children and for that I thank you!

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  14. We LOVED the egg activity...especially since we got to try it in person at Lawton's house!!! Love all your ideas!!!

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  15. I love all of your post. I have a list of to pick up the next time I am at Hobby Lobby! Thanks for the great ideas! Keep them coming!!

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  16. So I'm too late to win, but I think I'm going to do that one. Too cute and I think Luke would love it. Are those tongs seriously easy to find? I haven't seen them. And Lawton totally had that same expression doing his excellent cutting on Wednesday night.

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