Boundless Playground

We love to try new playgrounds and today we went to a boundless playground made for special needs children. The playground is designed so that special needs children can play alongside other children. The whole playground is wheel chair accessible and there are areas for physical therapy, a music center, and the historic league city park is just a walk away. Here are some pics from today:

Phones!

Lizzy is mesmerized by daddy's new phone

Turkey Feathers

Lizzy is really into singing and dancing right now so I try to come up or get ideas of activities she would like. I got the idea to make this felt turkey from a montessori felt turkey that had buttons to connect the feathers onto the turkey. Lizzy can't do buttons yet so I used velcro so that she can learn to pull the velcro pieces on and off. She enjoyed doing this. With the feathers we can practice counting, colors or sing a song.

Turkey wore his red feather, red feather, red feather.
Turkey wore his red feather, all day long!

Turkey wore his orange feather, orange feather, orange feather.
Turkey wore his orange feather, all day long.

.........etc.

Perfect for Thanksgiving theme!

Santa's Arrival

Here we are with Santa. (I am in the picture because take one didn't go so well so I got in there with her)

This year we will be celebrating Saint Nicholas' Day as they do in Holland. As a child we celebrated Saint Nicholas' Day on the years we would go out of town for Christmas so that we could celebrate at home then celebrate Christmas Day out of town. My father's family is half dutch so it also allowed us to learn about Christmas in Holland and share stories of his grandfather's coming to America. The tradition of Saint Nicholas' Day is celebrated in much of Europe on December 6th, in the Netherlands it is celebrated on the eve of December 5th. Families get together for a feast and children set their shoes outside filled with carrots and hay, after the feast the children will find their shoes filled with candy, fruits, and small gifts. If the child was good then a bag of gifts will be left somewhere for the child to find.

Saint Nicholas was a bishop who was very kind and generous and often gave secret gifts to children and the poor. During the 16th century in Europe religious wars were occurring and Saint Nicholas became unpopular but to keep his tradition his name was changed to Sinterklass and in the USA to Santa Claus.

Santa's arrival is always in mid November, this marks the start of the season. So today was Santa's arrival at the mall. We were there for Santa pictures. In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas arrives in Amsterdam by steamboat, Church bells ring, the mayor welcomes him and there is a big parade. The US Santa encourages consumption whereas Saint Nicholas encourages compassion. Mike and I have decided to keep Saint Nicholas' Day simple for Lizzy with only a few small gifts and time with family. We would like to encourage Saint Nicholas' good deeds and compassion more than consumption. Here is Lizzy with Santa Claus last year:

Bella with Santa a few years back

Play Time

Open play time is a large classroom set up with all kinds of toys for parents to bring their toddlers and play together. Here we are playing with Lizzy.

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Happy Martinmas!

I had never heard of Martinmas until I started learning about festivals celebrated in Waldorf schools. Waldorf schools celebrate lots of different festivals and not all appeal to me but Martinmas was one that did and I chose to celebrate it this year. This is the adapted story by By Cerdiwen Anya Coit

"One bitterly cold winter evening, the young Martin rode through the gates of Amiens on his fine, proud horse. He was dressed in the regalia of his military unit: gleaming armor, a bright helmet and a beautiful white cloak, lined with lambs wool. It was nearly freezing outside, but his thick cloak kept him warm. He was hardly aware of the cold.

But then, as he approached the gates of the town, he saw a poor man, a beggar, dressed with clothes so ragged that he was practically bare. The man was shaking and blue with cold, but no one reached out to help him. People would pass through the gates, looking straight ahead, so their eyes would not meet with those of the poor, desperate man.

Martin, seeing this, was overcome with compassion. He rode straight to poor man and took off his white cloak. And with one stroke of his sword he tore the lovely mantle in two. He wrapped half of the cloak around the freezing man and the other half around his own shoulders.

The people nearby watched in amazement. To see a fine military officer do such a lowly thing was a ridiculous site to many, but others were touched by the goodness that Martin showed.

That night, as Martin slept, he had a dream. A man appear to him who looked so familiar, and he was wearing the half of the cloak Martin had given to the poor beggar. And then, Martin saw in the eyes of this man, the light of the Divine which we each carry within us."

The lanterns represent the light of Christ that shined from Martin as he shared his cloak with the beggar that day and the lantern walk represents the light that we shine unto others in need.

To celebrate we made a lantern from a glass jar. A toddler friendly way to make a lantern is to put double stick tape on the outside of the jar and have your toddler stick small pieces of tissue paper onto it. Afterwards you can add a glue wash to secure the tissue paper and make the jar into a lantern. Here is Lizzy doing this:

We had dinner by the light of the lantern we made.

May you shine your light unto others!

At the Mall

Today we went to the mall and Lizzy usually sits in her stroller while we go shopping but now Lizzy resists the stroller at all costs and wants to walk instead. After Lizzy had a good walk we found these little car strollers and she was happy to ride the little car and say hi to everyone as she passed by. Here she is today:

Open Play Gymnastics

Today we took Lizzy to play at a gym where they have open play gymnastics. This is basically a time for toddlers to play in the gym and have access to lots of tumbling space and equipment without the structured class. Lizzy had lots of fun playing.

Lizzy started jumping for the first time on the trampolines today!

Once we got home Lizzy passed out on the couch.

Fun at the Park

Out and About

Lizzy's great aunt is in town so we have been busy showing her around town and going shopping. Today we went to Ikea and Lizzy has gotten really good about holding my hand and walking with me but now she won't sit in her stroller she prefers to walk instead. Ikea is a huge store and Lizzy walked the whole time and occasionally would take off running.

In the past few months she has learned a lot of new words and ways of expressing herself to us. It is truly amazing how much babies/toddlers learn in so little time. Lizzy is her own person. Here are some pictures from today:

Give Thanks Countdown Calendar

Thanksgiving is about giving thanks and a fun way to remember those things we are thankful for is a Give Thanks countdown calendar. I made this simple calendar the same way I made the Halloween Countdown calendar. The calendar has 12 days of thanks that will countdown starting on Nov. 14. Bellow are examples of what are in each pocket.

We are thankful for our teeth.
Brush your teeth real good in exchange for a gift.

We are thankful for our legs.
Go outside and run and jump!

We are thankful for our Family.
Send out Thanksgiving Cards.

We are thankful for our kitchen.
Cook or bake something fun together in the kitchen.

We are thankful for good food.
Go to the grocery store and pick out a food that you haven’t tried yet.

We are thankful for Turkeys!
Art Project: Make paper turkeys.

We are kind to others.
Think of something fun to give someone or Volunteer.

We are thankful for Daddy.
Do something nice for daddy and be extra nice to him all day!

We are thankful for Mommy.
Do something nice for mommy and be extra nice to her all day!

We are thankful for our Family.
Take Family Pictures together.

We are thankful for Nature.
Take a fall walk.

We are thankful for each other.
Play a game together.

We are thankful for our hands.
Art Project: Finger painting.

We are thankful for our eyes.
Watch a special Thanksgiving show together.

We are thankful for our ears.
Play some fun music.

We are thankful for books.
Go to the library and pick out some Thanksgiving books.

We are thankful for pies.
Make or buy a pie to eat.

Lizzy Today

Story Time with Grandma

Lizzy loves books it's amazing how she's already memorized and associated so many of the words with the pictures.

Boxes

Children are entertained by the simplest of things. Lizzy loves boxes, she loves to stand on them, try to sit in them, put things in them, and whatever else she can think of. One thing that really entertains Lizzy is cutting a hole on top of a box, then she will put anything that fits in the hole. She has lots of fun doing this.

I can't believe it's already November, October just flew by! We've been very busy lately with work, family in town, and all the October festivities. We hope to slow down sometime soon...

Halloween

Halloween at the Children's Museum

Last night we went to the Children's museum for their Halloween night. Lizzy can't eat candy or even say trick or treat so we skipped that and went up to the tot spot for her to play. She absolutely loved it, we had been there several times in the past but this time she was non stop running around playing with everything. Here's the little fairy:

Footprint Ghosts

Today's activity was footprint ghosts. I had seen these ghosts on a website and knew I had to make them with Lizzy as a Halloween keepsake.

Basic supplies include: white paint, black card stock, paint brush and black sharpie.

Brush the white paint unto the foot sole and have the child stand on the black paper.

Let the paint dry then you can add the face with a black sharpie. I added stickers and glued it onto orange card stock. This is an easy Halloween activity to do with small children.

Bath Time Fun

Lizzy and Bella