Our local toy store, Monkey Barrel Toys, has a section reserved for products by Green Toys, a manufacturer that constructs all of it's items from a mixture of sawdust and recycled plastic milk jugs. The packaging is made of 100% recycled cardboard, so even the box has a nice brown happy/earthy feel to it. | The Cookie Train
When we entered into our Kindergarten year of homeschooling our children, I made the conscious decision to let the gentle passage of time to be one of the main focuses of our attention.| The Cookie Train
After three short playful hands-on activities, my four and six-year-old children are now enthusiastically able to tell the difference between ODD and EVEN numbers - even very large six-or-seven digit numbers. My four-year-old daughter is beyond proud of herself for figuring out the key to this important little puzzle, and has been happy and excited to work on Math all week. If you'd like to give this lesson a try, gather together 30 wooden blocks, a Sharpie marker, a roll of painter's tape, s...| The Cookie Train
Both of my children are easily daunted by the sight of their own blood. The tiniest pin prick requires immediate attention and the prettiest of Band-aides. And then we must peek under the Band-aide and inspect it every hour for three or four days, until the wound "zips up", as they say.| The Cookie Train
Q. If April showers bring May flowers, then what do May flowers bring?| The Cookie Train
This afternoon, the children (ages 4 and 5) and I discussed Columbus Day and what it must have been like for the ninety sailors who accompanied Columbus across the Atlantic, as well as how the Native Americans may have felt after their encounter with the European explorers.| The Cookie Train
This week, we were gifted with a large collection of petri dishes, so I've been looking for creative ways of using them. This morning, we discovered that they make excellent "rotating floors" in an alphabetical order car show!| The Cookie Train
Supplies: | The Cookie Train
The Boxcar Children is an excellent read-aloud for| The Cookie Train
This afternoon we worked on reading comprehension using the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.| The Cookie Train
One of my five year old's recent obsessions is the Statue of Liberty and other world landmarks. So this week, we explored science through the Cleaning Pennies with Vinegar experiment, which was recommended to us by Danielle at The Plain Satisfactions, and originally posted by Science Bob.| The Cookie Train
This week, we've been enjoying the stories in Crockett Johnson's Harold and the Purple Crayon series. This book and activity are perfect for the children, who are now nearly four and five-and-a-half. | The Cookie Train
Today we used Angela Wilkes' My First Green Book to learn about lichen - the fungi-related, moss-like substance often found on tree branches, stone buildings, and gravestones.| The Cookie Train
Just a super-quick post with some super-quick October ideas;| The Cookie Train
At 4.5, Patrick is beginning to add numbers together on his fingers, so I've begun introducing more games directly related to addition. This game involves adding two dice together. Peggy, 2.5, isn't quite ready to add yet, so while Patrick had two dice to roll and count, she had just one, and that worked out fine for our purposes and each child's abilities. | The Cookie Train
Every time we take a trip to the rocky shore of Lake Ontario, I gather baskets of stones from the beach to be used in crafts and as educational materials. I love the natural beauty of the stones, and have used them in so many projects. You can check out my River Stones Memory Game, here.| The Cookie Train
For today's experiment, we used sponges from the Dollar Store. You can buy a pack of 10 sponges for only $1, or spring for the extra sponges mentioned below, and pay only $2-$3 more. Plan to do this experiment outdoors. | The Cookie Train
If the kids are lucky and the weather is nice, we often try to squeeze in a "Pajama Walk" just before bedtime.| The Cookie Train
This week I received a donation of a collection of miniature straw hats.| The Cookie Train
Patrick asked us this week, "How come the water in the bathtub gets bigger when I get in?" We briefly explained the idea of water displacement, and decided to make it into the next afternoon's science experiment, so he could see it in a few different forms. | The Cookie Train
Today seemed like a good day to learn about Hummingbirds!| The Cookie Train
Every day, when we go on our walk, the children always run ahead to check on their favorite attraction - three hollowed out stumps that they pretend are volcanoes filled with hot liquid lava. They go on and on about the volcanoes and the lava inside (and also the crocodiles and dinosaurs! It's a very dangerous place!). So today I finally decided to try out Ye Ol' Science Standby:the Baking Soda and Vinegar Volcano. | The Cookie Train
I found this awesome idea over at Amy's Cooking Adventures.| The Cookie Train
Friends, did you know?| The Cookie Train
The weather is getting warmer and it's finally time to Play Outside again!| The Cookie Train