This newsletter is brought to you by fun turkey crafts and hats, the food pyramid, tessellating tangrams , dolly make over, baby doll bath time and some great books to read.
Hi everyone!
I hope all is well with you this holiday season. I am busy making Thanksgiving for 14 this year. We are going to have tofurky, turkey and ham. Lots of different diets, so this year's feast should be interesting!
This foot and hand turkey would make a wonderful cutting project and decoration. If your child is a beginner , you can help cut the more difficult parts, such as the fingers. Also, gluing the project with a glue stick would be great fun for a young child.
If you are in a really festive mood, make a fun turkey hat
Here is a great How to Make a Pilgrim Hat and Make A Pilgrim Bonnet
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Toddler Fun
You can buy a plastic doll at a discount store or thrift shop for this water activity.
Washing a Baby Doll
Here is what you need:
One plastic baby doll at least 10 inches long
1 plastic tub -mark with a water line (This prevents the tub from overflowing with water!)
A large towel to put under the tub
A pouring pitcher-put a line on the outside with a marker
A small plastic squirt bottle with a teaspoon of soap, fill the rest of the bottle with water.
One face flannel
One hand towel
Optional- for after the bath-
Diaper the doll with homemade cloth diaper with velcro sewn on for fastening diaper.
Show the child how to fill the pitcher to the line. Fill the pitcher two or three times to fill up the tub.
Let your child squirt the liquid soap into the tub. If you are teaching them to count, let the children do it 1,2 or 3 times. "Squirt the soap, "one, "two" "three' times."
Carefully and slowly how the child how to cradle the baby doll's head. Wash the doll's arms, hands, fingers,legs, feet, toes,They can wash the baby with the face cloth.
After the bath, the child wraps the doll in the hand towel and drys it off. They can put a diaper on the doll.
Show how to empty the bath water, dry the pitcher and tub. Also, find a place to put everything away. Have a floor cloth or mop to clean up any water off the floor.
We have the children put on plastic macs or rain coats when they do this.
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Dolly makeover
Your child can even help with this, the hair spray needs to be done by an adult.
Buy a baby doll that needs a make over. Thrift stores, yard sales, or even the bottom of your toy box can provide some good candidates for a makeover. Even a doll with a bad hair day can look great after your make over.
Here are 5 simple easy steps to make your child's doll look as good as new-
1. Wash the baby doll in dish washing detergent, use a small tooth brush for toes, fingers, ears, and other small areas.
2. Wash the doll's hair with conditioner and rinse well.
3. Dry the doll well. If the doll has been drawn on, spray inexpensive hair spray on the markings, wipe clean, and wash the doll again.
4. Comb and brush the doll's hair. When it is styled, comb into the hair sugar water -(mix 1 tablespoon of sugar into 1/4 cup of warm water) Cover the head with a nylon stocking. Leave the stocking on the head until the hair is dry. This may take several days. The doll's hair will be smooth looking.
5. Sew a simple doll dress and have fun dressing your "new" doll. Make a simple T-shirt pattern dress and add a ribbon belt.
These dolls make great gifts.
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Shapes that tessellate
A shape that tessellates can form with other shapes, such as a square, to make a pattern.
Honey combs are made of hexagons that tessellate together to make a strong structure to store the bees' honey. Your floor tiles tessellate in a pattern. Also, some religions use tessellation's to decorate their religious objects.
What is a tessellate shape?
Here are some simple shapes you can print off and make into shapes that tessellate.
A square
A triangle
A diamond
A hexagon
Various shapes
Here is a site that shows different cultural and historical tessellations from Rome, Persia, Arabia, and other parts of the world
Tangrams are ancient Chinese puzzle shapes that can be used to tessellate as well. They usually consist of a square cut into five triangles, a square, and a rhomboid. Tangrams can be put together to make different patterns and figures.
You can print them out or make your own with craft foam or construction paper.
Here are some activities you can do with Tangrams
Montessori World has wonderful lessons for tessellations.
This game is fun for grade school kids. It helps with complex designs using different shapes.
This shape dice game helps match solid shapes to written shapes like the geometric cabinet.
Food Pyramid
Food is the main topic during the holidays. This is a great time to teach about cooking and the food pyramid.
Try the Food Pyramid Game
You can cut out pictures of food from an old food magazine to put in the empty pyramid compartments.
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Books about Food
The Edible Pyramid: Good Eating Every Day
The author uses the USDA Food Pyramid to show children how to eat healthy. The setting is in a restaurant and the patrons learn how many food servings they need from each food group. The food presented looks delicious!
The Kids' Around the World Cookbook
This cookbook has easy recipes from around the world. My favorites included hummus from Turkey and pizza from Italy. This a good cookbook for parents and kids to do together.
The Kids' Multicultural Cookbook: Food & Fun Around the World
This cookbook has recipes from 41 different countries from Asia, Africa, and Europe. The food recipes are different and exciting, such as peanut butter soup.
Poem Stew
This book has some fun poems about food. Your child's sense of humor will be tickled by this book.
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Question Answered
What type of toys should I provide for my preschool aged child?
Dr. Montessori developed "toys" that were attractive to the child instead of the adult. She believed that a child needed to learn through experimentation. Also, a child needed to practice an activity often to control his or her movements. This accomplishment gives children a sense of order and control. Montessori also believed that a child should have available items for a child's unique development and personality. Educational toys are great, but you can also provide real activities such as practical life skills. Also, music, singing, art, physical activity and drama should be considered for your child's unique personality. Talent is still in the cocoon stage during the preschool years, but exposure to different activities will show you as a parent or teacher a child's special talent .
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
