Chinese Lantern Project for Kids

We had a lot of fun today making our Chinese lantern in celebrating Chinese New Year.  Mavi and I did this years ago, and I think he would love to do this again, and of course for Vito to experience.

Best Arts & Crafts for Kids and {Learn & Play Link Up}

Years ago, Mavi would do a lot of artist study.  One of my favorites is our Van Gogh project, The Sunflower.  It was one of those rare moment wherein both Mavi and I were in depth with our subject and were absorbed by the beauty of painting.  But it was just more than artwork. We studied the life of Van Gogh, and how his life reflected in his work.  (click the image below for more details)

Now thinking about it, I picked the best art projects and crafts in our link up this week.  Here are the featured post:

Tot School Snippets Week 1: Ice

I was reading my old blog the other day (private) and I am amazed on how I recorded Mavi’s learning curve week by week. Mavi enjoys reading that blog now! I just have to say that it is quite different when you have one child, you have focus, you have MORE time  and well,  I was organized.  Now, I’m managing and engineering a bigger household, with a school boy and a hyperactive toddler, I barely have time to blog. 

So  now, I will start writing about Vito’s activities in a week. I have to put a little effort on this, for keeping memories and for Vito to read someday.  Currently, we’re not following schedule of doing totschool weekly.  There are days when we do a lot of activities, and there are times when I just whip anything that goes into  my mind. 

Vito is 26 months old.

Getting the Most Out of Sensorial Play

I am often asked by friends, after all the hassle of setting up a sensory bin, with all the mess here and there, what would the child learn from it?

Well basically, this kind of activity is for the child to explore his senses. It includes the sense of touch, smell (scented objects), eyes and hands and etc.  But I don’t limit myself in these.  We use sensorial play for literacy and math as well.  When we do sensorial bin, I make sure that I play with my kids, that I interact with them (especially with Vito) so he’ll learn how to communicate.

Here’s a video of how we play with the ice and used it as a tool in learning vocabulary words, counting and more! No need for fancy toys