Craft Project: Cherry Blossoms

I just love cherry blossoms! There are so many wonderful things that happen in the Spring, that it's hard to pick just one for a craft project. Luckily, I don't have to (since I have plenty of Spring left in which to do more projects with the kids). I think you could do the pink cherry blossoms with either the soda bottle (as suggested in the video) or (my preferred method) using the child's fingers.

Let's see, what's new on the homestead?  I've got seedlings started for the garden and am very excited about this year's gardening projects that are still blossoming in my mind. My son is doing very well with his reading lately, as is the 2 year old (!).  Since many of our books are still packed away (from the relocation), I've been using site word cards with my son. We've only gotten through about 50 so far, and he's doing well with those.  The 2 year old recognizes all of her letters and numbers to 10, and she's doing fairly well with beginning shapes and colors.

Lately I've been doing a lot of research into Montessori education, so I'm planning to stock up on some of the great educational 'toys' they use at Montessori schools. I am particularly impressed with the math manipulatives and methods used. I'm sure I'll post about some of those from time to time as well.

Because of the relocation, I've been forced to go through our stuff and try to get rid of some of it. We've brought bags of donation items to the donation drop-off lately, and have piled a bunch of stuff at the end of the driveway for people to paw through if they choose. I don't know if they do that wherever YOU might live, but around here it is an invitation for people to stop and see if there is anything they can use.

The idea of living more simply and with less clutter...less STUFF...is really appealing to me. My goal is to bring less 'stuff' into the house, and to continue to get rid of stuff we no longer need.