Thumbs Up to Loose Part Materials.

I've been thinking about the use of Loose Parts in the daycare setting for the last couple of years.  A few years ago I presented a workshop on Loose Parts and enjoyed researching as I prepared for that.  Since then, I have experimented with using loose parts in an infant room and a toddler room and a shared infant/toddler room.  It matters what loose parts are offered and how much.  It matters how they are presented.  It matters what the educator's expectations are.

What I love the most as I observe young children explore and use loose parts is that they allow them to be curious and imaginative. For the toddlers, I like having a mix of open-ended toys in the room as I find when they are coupled with loose parts, the child has a basis from which to work.  For example, I like pairing cars with planks, blocks, tree cookies, fabric, tiles, tin cans, and pipe.  Today I saw a toddler driving a wooden car in one hand, and in the other hand, he held a mardi gras necklace.  He was driving the car through and along the necklace.  Was it a road?  Was it shiny and attractive?  I'm not entirely sure what he was most fascinated with, but what I did notice was the extreme focus and concentration on his little face.  He was learning and engrossed and that was good enough for me!

For the infants, I just love to present treasure baskets or place loose parts around the room for them to discover.  They use all of their senses to explore them.  They can mouth,  drop,

carry and dump and if the proportions are right it is all very manageable.

I was able to spend this past weekend with my grand-daughter who will be seven years old in January.  She has been playing with loose part materials since infancy.  I have to confess that I am that grand-parent who gives her a lot of them!  What was incredible to me is that she is still playing with a lot of the same ones.  Things that I gave her when she was two years old are still in circulation!  Even though I believe in the value of this style of materials and play, it's really great to see it work!  Her imagination is incredible and I can attest to the fact that playing with open-ended toys and loose part materials is one of her favorite ways to spend time.   She engages in epic "plays" that can last for days.

This is a fairyland she created.  The loose parts she used are:  gems, coins, chestnuts, wool, wool felt shapes, a Magna former, small unicorns and a fairy,  and a homemade crystal all carefully laid out on a metal tray.

In this instance, she and I had a contest.  This girl loves contests!  She shared all of the loose parts and open-ended toys, made up all the rules and then we had to create our own design.  The trees, leaves, squirrel, and flowers are all part of some felt stories and songs I gave her years ago.

Thumbs up to Loose Parts and Open-Ended materials!

Celebrating and Preserving Imaginative Play for Children. My endeavor.

I completed my Early Childhood Education when I was a mere 18 years old.  When I was around the age of 30, I had the opportunity to take the Infant/Toddler and Special Needs courses so that I received a post basic specialty diploma.  As life would have it with working and raising kids and building a house, that would be the extent of my formal education.  I have read stories of 90-year-olds going back and finishing their grade 12 education and inspiring as that is, I don't see myself back in school.

However, it sure is great to live in the information age and be able to continually learn and be on the cutting edge of Early Childhood practice by following other Educators, reading rich and thoughtful articles, as well as participating in online forums and workshops.  I think it's all pretty amazing and I find myself continually challenged to refine my work with children and apply the new things that I learn.

One of the fun things that I did a few years ago was to start what I call my work Facebook Page and blog.  I thought long and hard about the name.  And the carrot came up.  It's based on the book, The Carrot Seed", by Ruth Krausse.  In this short and adorable story, the little boy plants his seeds and his family is in doubt that anything will grow.  The little boy faithfully waters and weeds and waits.  Soon, he is rewarded with a carrot.  The carrot came up!

 I resonate with this story. Hope and hard work pay off.

 I am at the point of my life and career where I am interested in sharing what I am learning and what I have learned.  I post articles and share ideas on my facebook page that I am confident are good ideas with value.  My blog is a combination of family life experiences, and work experiences mostly from my time spent with infants and toddlers.  I want to be an encouragement to parents and co-workers.

I have, recently, started a small business of the same name.  I am having so much fun designing handcrafted children's toys along with my husband Darrell.  He is a journeyman carpenter and enjoys working in his shop.

As part of my business, I have opened an Etsy shop where I sell wet-felted play mats or small worlds, and sometimes accessories. This past year I have been a vendor at conferences and markets where I have been able to sell wooden blocks, tree blocks, Waldorf nature shelves and other items. I have been pleasantly surprised by the positive feedback.

 One of my main goals in this endeavor is to Celebrate and Preserve Imaginative Play for Children.

As my little business has been moving forward my daughter has helped me develop a web page.  I am so proud of her and of my page!  The blog is there, as is the Facebook Page and link to my Etsy shop.  There is a tab listing workshops that I can facilitate.

Please take a look sometime!  I will leave this post with a variety of items or related items that I have (or had ) available in my shop or will sell at a venue.  I am happy to custom make play mats or toys if you want to leave a message in that regard, please do so.

www.andthecarrotcameup.ca

Please share! Thanks!

Dreaming of a Moon Gate.

Fall.  My favorite time of year.  A great time to work outside as it is not too hot and one is motivated to get things organized and ready for winter.  

Our property is literally surrounded by a forest. When we bought this seven acres years ago we cleared an area in the middle of it and that is where we built our house and garden.  There is an area in the front of the house we call the meadow.  We mow it, but it is not a manicured fancy lawn and never will be.  Our property is rustic and we like it that way.

I have always dreamed of having some clearly marked paths through the woods that could be maintained and therefore used easily. One of my ways to decompress is to amble through the forest and let nature work its wonder.

The task of clearing paths through seven acres of the forest is daunting so today I picked one area and got busy.Snipping and sawing and raking.  I was quite pleased with the progress I made.

I piled lots of brush.  About ten piles in this section.

My son, who is visiting this week, and Darrell, helped me haul all the piles to the burn pile.  No burning will happen yet until it rains a lot. After the summer we have had in B.C. it's just too risky.

Our kids are all grown and their tree house is sadly rotting.  I had the idea that I would like to transform this area into a moon gate.  A moon gate is a circular opening in a garden that acts as a pedestrian passageway and a traditional architectural element in Chinese gardens.  

There are many images to be found on the internet and this is what we thought might suit our place.

It might not look quite like this and I might have to wait a while for the construction to happen, but it doesn't hurt to dream a little.  Meanwhile, I'll keep going with raking, clearing, and piling.

Rock Art Therapy.

In many ways, this past year has been really hard for me.  My wise social worker daughter warned me that moving is up there with death and divorce. I don't think this move was quite that serious but the point I think was to give myself space to adjust and allow for the emotions that were sure to come. The move from one town to the next meant leaving loved ones, and what we had come to be familiar with for six years. While we were excited to move back to our hometown there was a lot of adjusting that had to happen.  Reclaiming our house that we rented for six years including cleaning and repair.  Looking for work, meeting old friends and reacquainting.  Figuring out where to buy groceries and on and on. 

What I experienced was a mix of fear, nervousness, exhaustion, longing, and also happiness, joy, and nostalgia.

I found myself turning to crafting and the creative side of my brain kept me balanced and grounded.  

Because I had to wait for garden seeds to grow and produce color I got impatient and decided to add some color a different way.  Rock painting!

I went online, got some ideas, probably plagiarized some artists beautiful ideas, and got to work.

First I made some ladybugs.

I thought they were pretty adorable.  I finished them with modge podge which isn't totally waterproof but they seem to have made it through a few rain storms just fine.

I placed my colorful and whimsical rocks in strategic places around my garden and they warmed my heart during the year of garden restoration.  I'm not sure if I should be proud or embarrassed but I carried on painting all summer until my patio garden was in full bloom. 

I might have 20 painted stones in the garden.  Only the fairies will actually know.

Garden Restoration

We have owned this 7 acres of property for many years.  Actually for about 28 years.  My second child had her third birthday here shortly after moving onto this land.  However, we chose to rent our home for six years while we moved to another city.  And now we are back.  We are happy to be back.  It's a good place to live.  There are trees and forest animals, there is a creek, there is a quaint small town 15 minutes away and there are mountains and a lake nearby.  My cup overflows with beauty and nature.

I also have the opportunity to have a garden.  When we first made this garden we decided on the size and put a rustic split rail fence around it.  There are five raised beds and room around the fence for planting.  We have to think about the deer who are like goats in that they indiscriminately eat pretty much everything except maybe a few things like daffodils.  So as well as the split rail we have wire surrounding the garden as well.

I have really enjoyed my garden in the past and got a lot of pleasure out of planting veggies and harvesting them in the fall.  I planted perennials and loved the splash of color they produced throughout the seasons.  When my oldest daughter was married we used flowers from our garden to garnish the tables.

When we were away for the six years we didn't really have the time or ability to care for the garden so it now needs restoration.  I have been pulling wild oregano since last fall.  I have been pulling weeds of all kinds as they grew all around the walkways and literally took over the way weeds do.

I feel like I pretty much have that under control now.  Now we need to add the compost we have been building up all summer and some manure to the depleted soil.  I planted seeds but not much grew sadly.  Hopefully, with care, next year will be better. 

The rhubarb survived!

I transplanted some irises this spring.

My daughter's peony also survived and produced one beautiful bloom.

This bush needs pruning but produced lovely blossoms this spring.

Later in the summer the cosmos I planted bloomed.  I love cosmos.  They are gentle and wispy and colorful.

I will plant cosmos every year in honor of my dad, who passed away in the fall of 2008.  He was an avid gardener and green thumb and he loved cosmos too. 

The Russian kale was the most prolific as I grew it right in compost because the raised beds were short on soil.  Clearly, it was happy and I harvested many big handfuls such as this.

Our little apple tree produced a nice bounty this year despite being neglected for a while.

Apart from my main garden, I have a little patio garden that was really quite new when we left.  We had planted a few perennials in it and then the renters used it for the next while.  When we got back I had to get reacquainted with what was growing in there and remember back to what we had planted.

Darrell had always had the idea to create some kind of fencing to behind the garden.  This summer we decided to go with a whimsical fence made with bleached branches we pulled out of the creek.

I was quite pleased with how it turned out!

As the garden grew over the summer I found lilies, phlox, and our rambling rose.

I added in some nasturtiums, calendula and more cosmos.

Overall, considering the garden needed restoring, I was pleased to get anything at all.

The End of an Era for #17.

He finished playing University ball in the spring of 2016.  

#17

We loved watching him play.

He had fun, which, if you asked him, was one of his main goals.

He learned many skills, some of them about baseball, most of them about life.

He loved chasing down fly balls in the outfield.

He stayed true to himself.

Some of the guys that he respected, looked up to and really enjoyed as team mates.

We are so proud of you #17, for this great accomplishment.  For hanging in there when things were really, really tough. For overcoming obstacles of fear, exhaustion, and frustration. You graduated from this program a better athlete, a more mature person, and an amazing son!

Well done!