Third Color Box and Boot Lacing
I put together two new works for Turtle not that long ago.
The first is a take on the Color Tablets that are found in Montessori Primary classrooms. I got the idea from Melissa at Chasing Cheerios (can't find the exact link).
Basically, I picked up the free color swatch strips from a paint store -- there are nine colors, black/white, blue, red, yellow, green, purple, orange, pink and brown. I found strips that graded nicely and noticeably from darkest to lightest. The strips I got were eight shades of color and I eliminated one shade that seemed confusingly close to another to make a total of seven shades in each color. (It was hard to find bright colors -- guess people don't normally paint in those!) Then I showed Turtle how to take each color, mix up the chips and grade them from lightest to darkest, or vice versa. The old jewelry box I got for about $2 at a thrift store. It doesn't divide into nine sections, which would be ideal, but I put three colors in each section and keep each color separate from the others with little clothespins.
Not quite as durable or appealing as the "real thing," but I'm happy with it!
The idea for the Boot Lacing was found at The Wonder Years. I found a comparable wooden board at a thift store for $1.40, the eyes were from Home Depot for a dollar or two, and the boot lace was left over from replacements I got for my husband's boots. Since Turtle loves to help Daddy unlace his boots, I knew she would love being able to practice lacing them. I didn't expect her to be able to tie the bow at the top for a while, but that was what she immediately wanted to do. She worked and worked on tying after I put out this work and was finally triumphant with a nicely laced and tied "boot" on the second day! She and I were very proud of this unexpected accomplishment.
The first is a take on the Color Tablets that are found in Montessori Primary classrooms. I got the idea from Melissa at Chasing Cheerios (can't find the exact link).
Basically, I picked up the free color swatch strips from a paint store -- there are nine colors, black/white, blue, red, yellow, green, purple, orange, pink and brown. I found strips that graded nicely and noticeably from darkest to lightest. The strips I got were eight shades of color and I eliminated one shade that seemed confusingly close to another to make a total of seven shades in each color. (It was hard to find bright colors -- guess people don't normally paint in those!) Then I showed Turtle how to take each color, mix up the chips and grade them from lightest to darkest, or vice versa. The old jewelry box I got for about $2 at a thrift store. It doesn't divide into nine sections, which would be ideal, but I put three colors in each section and keep each color separate from the others with little clothespins.
The idea for the Boot Lacing was found at The Wonder Years. I found a comparable wooden board at a thift store for $1.40, the eyes were from Home Depot for a dollar or two, and the boot lace was left over from replacements I got for my husband's boots. Since Turtle loves to help Daddy unlace his boots, I knew she would love being able to practice lacing them. I didn't expect her to be able to tie the bow at the top for a while, but that was what she immediately wanted to do. She worked and worked on tying after I put out this work and was finally triumphant with a nicely laced and tied "boot" on the second day! She and I were very proud of this unexpected accomplishment.
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