A homemade Montessori-style puzzle

Inspired by Montessori materials but dejected by their price, I decided to try and make something myself. I made a knob puzzle with six circles of graded diameters. I used the saw blades I had and consequently I wasn't able to use diameters with an equal difference, which means that this material is as mathematical as I would have liked it to be, but it still appeals to toddlers.

A voucher book

Alex picked "Make a voucher book" from the art jar a couple of times and asked me what it was. By the time I had finished explaining he had already wandered off saying that it was too boring. I really like the idea of him making voucher books for his friends and family as they are simple and much appreciated presents that he can make himself (and practice handwriting, but don't tell him that). To show him what it was, I made him one this afternoon.

He really liked it and immediately redeemed his "snack" one. He asked if I could make him another snack voucher afterwards because he was still hungry.

The voucher book has a nickname here: "the thing that mummies like", after one of my attempts to convince him it was a good idea to make one for his mum. He never remembers the word "voucher" but he does remember that his mum would like one!

Frames

A tip found on The Artful Parent to encourage creativity is to draw frames for the children to paint/draw in. Irresistible! My frames only remained empty for 5 minutes before being used and abused by two excited boys!

Art jar

I stole the idea for the art jar on Chasing Cheerios, and montessorised it a bit with the tongs. It has been such a hit with Alex! I am convinced that at least half of the success of the art station has been down to the art jar. When I ask him what he wants to do after school, his answer is invariably: "I want to do the ideas box" (he has a bit of trouble remembering the name, so we might just rebaptise it!)

Our "art jar" is not only about art. It also disguises some writing activities since it is a perpetual challenge to convince Alex to practice handwriting. Some of the writing activities were found in The Write Start by Jennifer Hallissy, which is an amazing book with tons of ideas to encourage writing:

- writing your favourite menu

- making a voucher book for someone

- writing clues for a treasure hunt

- writing a card to someone

- making a doorknob sign

I can't remember most of them now but do check this book if you know a reluctant writer in need of help.

Art Station

Alex (5) and his brother Leo (2.5) have got a new art station! I have rearranged their space in the kitchen to optimise it for creativity. All the art materials are organised in a tidy way in the drawers on the left and I always make sure there is ample space on the desk to carry out any project. Each of them has their own drawer in which I put printables that are adapted to their skills. They also have a blank sketch book each with detachable pages so that their art is kept in one place. On the right of the picture you can see a blue bin; In there I put things from the recycling: egg cartons, cereal boxes, kitchen towel rolls and any interesting packaging. They use them for junk modelling. So far this setup has worked really well and both boys go to the drawers to find new exciting things to do.

We also got a new easel, the Melissa and Doug Deluxe Art easel, which is great. It has three positions to accomodate the children's size, a chalkboard on one side, a dry erase marker board on the other and a roll of paper down the middle that can be pulled over the top for painting. I made them the Petit Artiste Art Smock from Sew Liberated which they like pulling over their heads independently.


More photos of their art to come!