Rainbow Water Xylophone

One last rainbow themed activity for us this week. We saw this post over at Meet the Dubiens and had to try it.  I didn't really want to pull out all of our drinking glasses so I reached for our ever plentiful canning jars.  We used regular liquid food coloring so we had to mix them to get the orange and purple but that just added in another educational dimension to this activity. 







Kinsley got to mix all the colors herself. It was really pretty fun to see how the colors spread through the water, she was most impressed with that part.



The colors turned out really vibrant. She may have added a bit much to the purple, it's a little dark, but she says she liked it better that way so we left it. We also learned very quickly that in order to make it last we needed to add lids to make it a Kaitlyn proof toy so using canning jars turned out perfectly.



The girls have used wooden mallets, knitting needles and sticks to see what different tones they could make. They also discovered that everything looks different when you hold them up to your eyes. I think we'll leave the jars out on our window for quite a while.

Froot Loops as art

Froot Loops. They are a guilty pleasure snack at our house, I've loved them for as long as I can remember. Yes, I realize how bad they are for you but I just can't help it. I was happy to see this printable from Making Learning Fun and knew it was a must for our rainbow week. It is a great activity for practicing fine motor skills and color recognition.  Kinsley is happy with any activity that allows the use of lots of glue so she thought it was great. 
















You really wouldn't even need the printable for this activity, the kids could just make their own rainbow on a blank sheet of paper. I thought the detail would help Kait if she wanted to participate, which she didn't. She colored for a minute and then ate the Froot Loops instead.

If you do want some printables, there is a really sweet set we're using from 2 Teaching Mommies.

Rainbows

It finally feels like Spring is here, and with the sighting of our first robin today we're going to embrace it. We've grown weary of the long cold days of winter and are more than ready for some sunshine and warmth. Looking forward to the days where we can begin to move outside and spread out a bit more. The girls and I have also been looking forward to this week because it is going to be filled with Rainbows in honor of St. Patrick's Day. The girls absolutely love rainbows. I understand their love, rainbows are fun, bright, and beautiful. We started our Spring nature table this week and it's amazing how much brighter the house feels because of it. It makes me happy to look over and see such cheeriness. We also added a rainbow window star next to our window prism. We ordered the window star (and some playsilks) from The Purple Tangerine. It was the first time I've ordered from her shop and I am thrilled. We're going to use the playsilks in the place of grass for the girls' Easter baskets this year.

We're going to fill this week with rainbow themed activities so don't forget to check back and see what we have going on. If you need some more Rainbow ideas check out this list of Rainbow links over at No Time For Flashcards. And don't forget that Pink and Green Mama always has a ton of rainbow activities as well.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by Soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

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Weather Week

This week our lessons and activities have centered around the weather. With Spring on its way in we're also entering tornado season around here so I thought it would be the perfect time to really get to know our weather and what causes it. Especially with two littles that aren't quite over their weather related fears. We chose a few topics that are of particular interest to the girls and categorized our activities. We chose thunder, lightning, rain, clouds, and tornadoes. This morning we made rain in a jar to match the rain falling outside our window.



Supplies:
Glass Jar
Hot Water
Plate
Ice cubes




Heat your water until it is almost boiling and pour into your glass jar.



Quickly cover your jar with your plate and then place the ice cubes on top. Keeping a towel handy to clean up the mess when they knock the jar of water over. The voice of experience speaking there.



Watch what happens as it begins to rain inside your jar! The warm moist air from the water rises and mixes with the cool air created by the ice cubes causing condensation and then the rain.

The girls loved this activity and Kait was actually the most entertained. She loves to play with ice so this shouldn't have surprised me.



She kept sneaking the ice cubes off the plate and then she started her own ice experiment.



We have lots more in store for our weather week and lots more "rain" activities. If you're looking for some weather related idea and information check out Weather Wiz Kids, they have compiled an amazing amount of weather related info. We printed most of our worksheets and info from them.

Woody!

The girls and I took a surprise trip to the Disney store about a week ago. It was a big deal for Kait especially. It marked the first time she was in the mall without her stroller and the first time she was able to pick her own toy at the store as well. You could just tell she was proud of herself walking around the mall like a big girl and when we came upon the ridiculously huge face of Mickey Mouse at the entrace to the store she stopped abruptly and wispered "wow". She stood just inside the door staring at everything in complete awe.

Our trip was prompted by Kaitlyn's intense love of Woody and all things Toy Story. I wanted her to have a set of small Toy Story figurines (like the Princesses that they love so much) to play with while she was still so enamored with the movies. I hadn't expected her to zone in on the stuffed versions first thing. We walked around the corner and she spotted them. "Woody!!" she yelled and snatched them right up.



That was all she wrote. She clutched them to her while walking the remainder of the store with us waiting for Kinsley to pick her new toys. Even when checking out she held tight afraid if she put them down that she'd never see them again. She was so proud to get her own special bag, though a little hesitant to put the toys inside.





Bullseye had to be sticking out of the bag while they were inside. She'd walk a bit and then stop, take all the toys out and carry them for a while before stopping to put them back inside.



It was such an incredibly fun day for all of us. I found myself swept up in her complete satisfaction and excitement over such a special day. The fact that we don't do things like this often at all (this was her very first time to get a toy from the Disney store) make it that much more memorable and special. These toys have quickly made their way to the top of the play rotation and she has slept with them every single night since.

Planning and Planting

It's that time of year again, time to start preparing our garden and gathering our seeds. I love the excitement and anticipation of this time of year. I'm hoping that my enthusiasm will rub off on the girls sometime soon, so far it hasn't happened. They love playing in the dirt for sure but when it comes down to actually planting they are less willing to help. Maybe their love for gardening will come soon, for now they just enjoy the eating and really I can't complain about that.

This year we decided to plan our garden together and each make a map of what we would have the garden look like and what it would include.









It was fun to see what everyone thought was the most important element to their garden and the fact that the only items present in all our drawings were tomatoes, corn and watermelon.

This incredible early Spring weather we've been having also got us out to do our first bit of planting, if a bit early.





Kinsley got out there and helped her Papa plant about half a row of potatoes and refused to help me with the onions at all. She much preferred to play lemonade stand and swing. Or sit on the sidelines with her baby sister.





Kait, on the otherhand, loves to be right in the middle of whatever happens to be going on in the garden. I have a feeling she'll be a ton of help when it comes time to start picking, we'll just have to teach her to not pick the whole plant.