Tag: dirt

Dirt Day!

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Armed with a giant bag of potting soil, Veronika and I had a day all about dirt! Here are three ways we played.

We started out inside, with a giant Mud and Dirt Sensory Box. Pour in dirt (or the above-mentioned potting soil), and add a few items that are fun to get, well, dirty! That meant a few of Veronika’s toy construction trucks, plastic cups for scooping and dumping, and some marbles.

First she explored with the trucks. She loved digging through the dirt with the bulldozer and then dumping into one of the cups.

We then pretended that the marbles were little seeds for planting, perfect imaginative play for springtime! She loved digging holes with a spade and pressing the marbles down in the dirt. Then we decided to make some of the dirt into mud; simply pour in a few cups of water and stir. Veronika marveled at the new consistency, as well as the earthy smell that resulted right away! When you’re done, take that sensory bin outside for a rinse down with a hose.

But we weren’t done yet with the dirt! I made a few circles with chalk on the back patio, labeled with point values. Older kids can play a classic game of bullseye, with concentric circles. For Veronika, I spaced the circles all over the patio with different point values based on their size.

Now we needed mud! I scooped some potting soil into a cup and we poured in water. Veronika was in charge of stirring until it was thick and goopy.

Big kids can now stand back, pick up handfuls, and take aim!

Veronika preferred to scoop up the mud with our spade and dribble it over the point values, delighting in the splat of the mud hitting the patio.

Bullseye!

Finally, we took some of that mud and decided to make art! I divided the mixture among 4 plastic cups and we squirted a generous amount of food coloring into each.

Dip in paintbrushes, and brush onto thick white paper. This made surprisingly beautiful colors, from vivid yellow…

…to a deep blue.

Veronika loved pouring and mixing the “paints”, too, or sometimes pouring them directly over the paper and then scribbling through with a paintbrush.

Older kids (and grown-ups!) can have fun making artistic paintings, like this little fishy fellow.

In sum, we had fantastic fun on this dirt-y day!

Phoneme Week 10: IR

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IR Phoneme (7)

As with the AY phoneme, we’re now doing a much-simplified version of our original plan to explore letter pairs. We’ve had the IR poster up on our wall for nearly two months now (!), giving Travis ample time to enjoy with how the two letters together say “errrrr!” Here’s some fun we had along the way.

Words of the Week:

  • Birds: This was loosely our “theme” for the unit, so we made bird feeders from pine cones and old milk containers…Pinecone Feeder (6)and enjoyed quirky games like a bird beak buffet. Bird Buffet (8)In addition, we made sure to head out bird watching one afternoon! IR Phoneme (4)We also started a collection of Audubon bird friends. IR Phoneme (8)And of course checked out library books on the subject.IR Phoneme (5)
  • Birch: Believe it or not, I found a craft to go with this word – birch tree tape resist pictures! Fall nature walks resulted in the chance to see the striking smooth bark of these trees up close and in person.BIrch Tree (6)
  • First: Find a toy – old baby ones are good to pull out for this purpose – that stacks or nests, and count them “first,” “second,” and “third,” instead of one, two, three. Since it was the holiday season, we also sang ‘The First Noel.’IR Phoneme (1)
  • Skirt/Shirt: For these two clothing words, we made a batch of craft stick doll, wearing a variety of fashions!
  • Birth: Like many toddlers and preschoolers, Travis is developing a fascination with babies. It’s a good time to introduce the concept of birth in an age-appropriate way. Check your library for cute books on the topic.IR Phoneme (6)
  • Stir: This word got us into the kitchen of course! First we did some real stirring to make a pie together. Then it was time for something even more fun: magic potion spoons, where stirring unlocked a secret color ingredient. “Mom, can I still stir?” Travis asked while we played the game, wanting to do it over and over again.
  • Virtue: Hmm, this was a hard word to teach to a three year old, so we tested out the old adage that “patience is a virtue” … By waiting for a batch of cookies of course!
  • Dirt: To end our IR fun, we brought a big bag of dirt inside (well, potting soil), and created a dirty mud pie kitchen.

Chances are we won’t get to the next phoneme until well into the New Year, so stay tuned!

Mud Pie Kitchen

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Mud Kitchen (2)

In an ideal world, we would have done this activity outdoors in beautiful summer weather; it’s the kind of activity that can keep your kids happily occupied while you garden or do other outdoor chores. But if a kid needs dirt in the winter, then you bring the dirt inside!

To set up our “kitchen”, I spread an old shower curtain liner on the floor to contain any mess. I then set up a variety of kitchen items. We used disposable foil pans, but you can also use items from a flea market or thrift store. Add in spatulas, spoons, ladles, or other kitchen utensils.

Mud Kitchen (1)

If it’s summer, simply scoop up dirt from your yard and get to work! Here in the winter, we used a leftover bag of potting soil. Travis loved adding water, until we had a nice muddy consistency.

Mud Kitchen (6)

Then it was time to make mud loaf cakes!

Mud Kitchen (5)

Cupcake liners were a whimsical touch, so we baked a batch of mud muffins.

Mud Kitchen (8)

Travis kept up an imaginative narrative as he played; here is a cake inside of an “oven.”

Mud Kitchen (9)

When he was done, I simply folded the old shower curtain over the muddy pots and pans and put everything into a trash bag – easy as mud pie!

Mud Kitchen (7)