Spring on the farm- take two age 4!

 This is our second attempt at a shoe box diorama meets window box (see her first edition HERE). The barn is a tea box, and we lined a shirt box with a plastic bag for the field. 


We spent the day talking about food and farming, and created this mini farm complete with alfalfa field. Its already sprouting on day 2, which is a great reason to choose alfalfa seeds.

We read a bunch of farm related books, here is the collection Saule chose and a bunch we read together to Ursa. 

We also used youtube.com to watch everything from  orange picking here, sheep shearing, my old job as night lamber, carrot harvest, and olive oil production (those are some good links). We talked allot about how farmers choose which crops to grow, and what it means to them if the crops fail

A couple of weeks ago we started some Kentucky Wonder Pole beans in the window, and they are growing, even with just 4 hours of day light! 

Farm themed gaming (Hi Ho Cherryo) and lots of farm themed songs (old Mc Donald, Bingo, farmer in the dell, etc). You can find lots of songs on youtube if you need more. 

A couple of farm puzzles we did.

Real tool use!

Montessori education has some really great ideas about respecting your childs ability and self by allowing them to use real tools- 

"Using real, child-size tools and materials will engage your young child. Using real tools, not play or pretend ones, lets them know that they are working just as an adult. It doesn’t negate their experience by putting it into the realm of make-believe. Real tools also teach respect and responsibility. They are not to be handled carelessly, but cautiously and carefully."

Saule really does love having her own real "tools", which in our house includes not just craft tools, cleaning tools, art tools, but also other trade tools as well.  She is very careful and responsible when using them, and tried hard to master them quickly. She has several sets of tools that we have put together for her reasonably inexpensively. she really enjoys.

For Christmas we made Saule a real Dr. kit, after being inspired by "Play at Home Mom"  

 

She quickly went to work helping Peter Rabbit who had eaten way to many radishes. 

 

Our set, which we put in a upcycled box with a clasp and handle, included:

Pen lights

Stethoscope

Otoscope

Tuning Fork

Child size blood pressure cuff

Thermometer

Reflex hammer

A small notebook 

Band aids

Lab coat and Scrub set

trifold bandage

Ace bandage

Several empty medicine bottles

Magnifying glass

Tweezers

Glasses

Measuring tape

Snowy day reading list

 Some days are great days to just stay at home and read and play in the snow. Here is our snowy day reading list. Do you have any favorites to add?

Snow day reading list:

Owl moon 

The Big Snow

Winter At long Pond

Owl's Secret

All you need for a snowman

Footprints in the Snow

The Snow Child

50 Bellow Zero

Highlights magazine has some great winter stories and crafts. If you live overseas and don't want to deal with shipping (zoobooks wanted an extra $70 to ship to Denmark!) you can order back issue sets off ebay for cheap! We got 4 full years for less the $10usd each set! We just stick them in the mailbox once a month and let Saule get the mail. She is also getting Ranger Rick and Zoobooks.  

Harold and the Purple Crayon, Or Saule and the multicolor paint...

 Harold and the Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson  is one of those great books that just seems to have so many great creative projects to do with it.  Last night we got a box from amazon that a couple of huge sheets of packing paper in them, which was perfect for this project (any long stretcher paper would be fine, or many sheets taped together).

Saule choose her paints and brush, and we taped the paper to the floor. Then we started to read, and she painted her way all the way across the kitchen, in a true Harold style. 

 

This is the end project- it really turned out nicely. 

 

Ursa enjoyed exploring all the paint bottles and brushes in her sand box (we use this for water/messy play).  She took them in and out of the jar, and felt the ends. We also had fun pretend painting her with the different brushes (she loved the tickling feeling!).

Just a side note- here is Ursa playing with Cheerios in her box.

Finding your tribe

I recently posted the following message online, and I am re-posting it here in an effort to attract even more people. We have since started a facebook group called "Copenhagen Alternative Parenting Group". Please feel free to join the group!
 "I'm looking to connect with families that have more in common than just being from someplace other than Denmark and having kids. Its nice to meet other English speakers- but its also nice to have something to talk about :) 

Are you interested in attachment parenting, baby wearing, extended nursing, mothering.com lifestyles? 

Maybe you like to travel off the beaten path, or have a passion for serious camping/biking/trekking/bungee jumping/etc with your kids? 

Maybe you home school or have considered doing so?

Maybe you dream of living off the grid, or giving it all up and moving into a tee-pee or a bus or a house boat? 

Maybe you raise worms under the kitchen sink, or tomatoes in window boxes, or goats in your backyard?

Maybe you are just feeling like the mainstream is not your stream and are seeking other ideas and fresh conversation?

Or maybe you are really open minded and mesh well with other people seeking the road less traveled? 

If you think this might be you- please email me or join our new facebook group. I look forward to meeting you. "