Seven Segment LEDs

Isn't it amazing how much kids notice? And pay attention to?
We had a great conversation about something I never would have thought of introducing to a 5 year old - Seven Segment LEDs!!

Batman was checking the time out on the oven, and after a minute or so, he came and told me, Mamma, did you know there is an "8" behind all the numbers on the microwave and oven? But they are not all lighted up :)

How true! So I talked to him about seven segment LEDs, about how a "chip" controls which segments to light up to make the right numbers.

He totally got it. And then he wanted to make his own number.

He got why they are "seven segment" even before we started making our own numbers :)

Seven Segment LED 8

I cut up the coffee stirrers, and we went to work making the numbers with just seven of them. He was way ahead of the game, after making the numbers, he wanted to see how many letters he could make with them. 
 The "B" looks just like "8", so maybe we should display "b" instead?
 

Seven Segment LED "b"

 
Then we went around the house to check what else uses these LEDs.
Alarm clocks, DVD players, music systems....

One thing he did not ask me, was what LED stands for. When I told him about it, he said with a shrug, I did not know it was the short form of something :)
Duh, of course not, silly mom!

Do  you follow the lead of your child? What interesting adventures do you embark on with your child?


Linked up to:
Link & Learn, Montessori Monday, Eco-Kids Tuesday

The First Grain of Rice

How do you celebrate the "milestone" of baby’s first initiation into solid food? 
After all, it is a big deal, something for the first time to wash down all that milk with :)

In India, this milestone is celebrated with a ceremony called Annaprashan, a Sanskrit term which means “grain initiation”. In West Bengal, this tradition is called Mukhe Bhaat.

 The baby gets dolled up as a mini bride and groom for this special occasion. 

A seven course meal fit for royalty is prepared... 

Sounds interesting?

Please head on over here to read more!

World Culture: Mukhe Bhaat Ceremony in West Bengal, India

Thanks to +MaryAnne Mamasmilesblog for hosting this wonderful series.

Now it's your turn. What special traditions do you have associated with the first year of baby's life? Would love to hear about it!

Montessori Inspired Tea Party - High Time for High Tea

I am all about gender equality! My super-heroes have the Green Toys Dish set with blue tea cups, and they are always having pretend tea parties with teddies, super-heroes, a few villains, and of course, mom and dad.

And Batman came across some pictures of mom having a High Tea on girls night out, or rather, evening out! So he wanted one as well. Why should they be left out, right?

This a great way to motivate the little ones to do all the pouring and transferring activities. The tea party could be their graduation ceremony, lol! Pouring the tea into the cups, while making sure the lid does not fall off takes concentration and co-ordination. Then there is the matter of holding the cup with thumb and forefinger, placing the cup gently on the platter without making noise, slicing the pastry, transferring it to your plate, picking up the cookies, and strawberries with tiny tongs, scoping the nuts and blueberries with spoons, you get the picture.

Not to mention the feast it can be for your other senses.

Venue for the high tea: the kitchen counter.

I had these black cappuccino cups - just the right size for tiny hands.  
Batman thought we should call it a cappuccino tea party!

The super-heroes practiced pouring water from tea pots into cups before the party, so they were all ready! You can find them practicing here.
Don't worry, the sake cups and the tiny pot in the picture only has water in it. 
Spiderman chose a light weight pretty white teapot (the bigger one in the picture) to contrast with the black cups.

Next were the plates- beautiful pear shaped plates, and flower plates, to hold all the yummies.

Candles for setting the mood. Fresh flowers for the ambiance, picked and arranged by the super-heroes. Hint hint - Montessori Practical Life... 
And a tiny vase with one white rose as a place setting, one for each guest.

And of course, shiny spoons and forks, serving spoons and tongs, and co-coordinating napkins!!
 
Let's start with the tea - chamomile with honey (chosen with forethought, as chamomile helps with digestion, lol). 
Now on to the snacks...
We had slices of yummy cakes, heart shaped petite palmier cookies, madelines, gold fish crackers, chips, and some nuts, and plateful of strawberries and blueberries...

Of course, although the tea was technically for the kiddos, mom and dad also helped, especially with the snacks!!

They drank 3 cups or more of the chamomile tea per super-hero, (which is great, I am sure it helped them digest all their appetizers), and loved pouring their tea from the pot, and drinking water from their sake cups! No spills :)

Batman loved the High Tea - his comment at the conclusion of his High Tea - I am not sure I would like to go to too many of them, I ate too much! Sensible boy :)

  

 

Linking it to: Link & Learn, Tot School Gathering Place, Get Schooled Saturday, Show and Share Saturday, The Sunday Showcase, Montessori Monday, The After School Link-Up, Mom's Library

Montessori Manipulatives - Master of manipulation!

It is very important to train the next generation of super-heroes who will open that stubborn bottle of pickles, or jelly.

And even more important, that they co-coordinate their hands and eyes, learn about concentration, and develop their fine motor skills, all while having fun.

I tried to come up with things that will appeal to the super-heroes in training, and will have different kinds of closures - such as simple lids on the boxes and bottles, screw on lids, snap on lids, zippers, drawstring, latches...

Batman zipped through everything, I did not even get in one click. Fortunately, Spiderman took his time :)

We opened and closed an assortment of boxes, bottles, and a few other what nots. Spider-man's favorite were the hermetic jars. Surprisingly, it was the small black netted bag with string closing that was the toughest for him. Maybe it was the tiny black box inside the black bag. The picnic basket was a hit. The handle has to be just at the right position for the lid to stay close. Few of the boxes had surprises waiting for him, to reward him for all his hard work, and to keep him motivated. He loved aligning the hands just so, to close them, and thought the surprise inside was "cute". He loved the smell of sandalwood from the fan inside the green box.

Spiderman also found a sippy cup, and opened and closed that a few times, all the better to spill the water next time if so desired!



  
After that, we hung some fairy clothes to dry on the wash-line. The clips are kid sized ones, with just enough spring action so as to challenge Spiderman. and went on to some manly work with nuts and bolts.

Batman gave braiding a try.

Water play is always welcome. Big dropper, and then the smaller dropper to transfer the water from one bowl to another.

We then decided to do some pouring with more colored water. Tiny and medium sized pitchers, colored water, and go.

Linked up to:
Tot School Tuesday 

Toddler Style Montessori Object Boxes

There is no reason why "big kids" like preschoolers and kindergarteners can't play and learn with these, of course, but these are geared more towards toddlers, and beginners. Both my super-heroes still use these for a variety of language work. But they are at a stage where they are more attracted to miniature ones.

 
Look how small the astronaut and anchor are compared to the wooden apple. I have all 3 and some more for "A", but that is another post :)









Here is a snapshot of what Spiderman played with till 2.5 years or so. You are the best judge of your child. You would know best when to introduce them, and when to graduate from these to something smaller, and more complex! These are all sturdy, does not need delicate handling, can't be swallowed, and can even take some gumming and chewing (mostly!)

.

A-M Toddler Object box

A - wooden apple
B - ball (from a b'day goody bag)
C - caterpillar (came with the Very Hungry Caterpillar book)
D - wooden duck
E - plastic or wooden egg
F - feather from craft stash
G - glasses from Dollar Store
H - straw hat
I - wooden Iguana
J - jar (of baby food)
K - wooden kangaroo
L - plastic leaf
M - wooden monkey


I started with one object for each letter.  They should be the short sounds for the vowels, and hard sounds for consonants like C or G. C as in cup, not as in city. G as in gum, not as in giraffe.

Once the kiddos know their letters, and are beginning to learn the sounds, you are ready! 

As a side note, both the kiddos learned their letter sounds by watching the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD!!
They love the catchy song, and I love the painless way they learn the letter sounds. 

The letter cards shown here came with the DVD. These were already familiar to my kids, so I used them. You can let them match uppercase or lowercase letters to the cards, and then introduce one or two object with that sound, or let them choose the object. We also use the sandpaper letters occasionally, so they can trace the letters.

The toddler version of the object box I stored in the cardboard memory boxes, one with the letters A-M (shown here), and the second one with letters N-Z. I would take out a few at a time.

For smaller miniatures, you could use a metal box, like this one, one for every letter, or combine a few and label them.

Storing your miniatures

You will be amazed at how much stuff you already have lying around the house - from every day objects like clip, or spoon or whisk - for sounds ending in -sk, or fake flowers and fruits and veggies, toys, more toys, birthday goody bags, especially the ones that comes from pinata (we got alien, surfboard, maze-tiny plastic ones that don't work very well, but works great for silent e work, fake finger with nails - use it for finger or nail lol, putty, ninjas, rings from cupcakes, tiny erasers....). Raid the dollhouse, or tree-house for more miniatures. Grab a few of their vehicles. I could probably make a whole alphabet object box just with all the transportation themed stuff lying around the house (hmm...).... You just need mindful searching and pilfering...

Linked to Link & Learn, Living Montessori Now, Tuesday Tots, TGIF Linky Party, Show-and-Share Saturday, Weekly Kid's Co-op

Asian Inspired Montessori Pouring and Transferring

It's Raining, It's Pouring....

The super-heroes love new presentations of the same concept, but then, who doesn't? So we added an Asian flavor to our Montessori Pouring and Transferring.  

It was a big hit. If you are doing the rounds of the continents, or visiting certain countries, this could be a great activity for a tie-in.

We started  with India, with water beads in the stainless steel Karahi (Indian version of a wok), and two small steel bowls with lentils/beans. The wobbly water beads require concentration, the beans, not so much.

Indian flavored transferring activity with Karahi and bowls

For pouring, we gathered some ceramic sets. 

Japanese flavored pouring using Sake cups and pot

We had the Sake pot, called tokkuri, and Sake cups from Japan. This is an extension activity, so a good one for kids who have already mastered the basics. We added some blue food coloring for fun. Batman had no spills, and neither did Spiderman. The notch in the Sake cup has to be aligned just so when pouring.

Next was a tea service in a traditional Chinese motif, with tea-pot and the cups being just the right size for small hands. Pouring from the tea pot needs extra care, as you have to place a finger on the lid to keep it in place, making it a bit more challenging. There were quite a few drips with Spider-man, although no spills. Batman did a perfect job.

We finished it with some play food from Japan and China, and chopsticks.

Transferring with Dimsums and Chopsticks

Montessori Transferring with a chopstick

The play foods gave Batman ideas! So we also served pizza and transferred nachos...

We are global citizens after all.

Montessori Transferring with pizza slices and nachos

For this and other great ideas, visit:

Science Behind the Shamrock Green

Science Experiment with water and colors

Here is an experiment that takes minutes to set up in your kitchen. In honor of St. Patrick's Day, we are going with the green theme!

We are going to learn some science, along with colors. 
Get three cups. Fill two of them with water, about 2/3rd.
Get your scientist to put in a few drops of yellow food coloring in one, and a few drops of blue in the other one. The two cups should have the same amount of water.

Set the two cups, with the empty one in between the two. Roll two paper towels (or cut a big one in half). Place of the first towel in the blue cup, and the other end in the empty cup. One end of the second towel goes in the yellow cup, and the other in the empty cup. The towels should be just long enough to make a bridge between the cups, otherwise, the magic takes longer.

While you wait for the magic, get your scientists to predict what might happen. What will happen to the paper towel dipped in the water? What will happen to the empty cup? What will happen to the cups full of water?


In about 6-10 minutes, hey presto!!

Blue + Yellow = Green

The  scientists just saw "capillary action" in action! The water gets absorbed through the fiber of the paper towel, and makes its way to the empty cup across the paper towel bridge!!
The water level in all 3 cups is the same.
That might be enough for younger kids. Or you could take it further. I talked to Batman about the similar process by which water makes its way from the roots to the rest of the plant. We are going to do same experiment with white carnations and some colored water next to demonstrate this principle in action. 

More variations on this theme are here.