Whenever I get this Montessori supply catalog in the mail, I remember all the stuff I have in the house I need to get out for the girls. It's such a great resource and just looking at the images gives me so many ideas about play. (I'm sure there are a billion other similar companies out there and I don't know that much about this company and all that.) Okay, water, water pitchers, and thick glass cups. How fun is that? Simple. I already have it around the house (or can find it super cheap) and can put it on a tray. Even better. They serve each other water outside and if they spill, good for them.
Cleaning supplies. They love to clean. A lot. Like it's really fun and kind of weird. So, we have been doing that for awhile now. A small bucket, rags, little sponges - they have a bunch of small cleaning tools from their grandparents and they love them. Outside they get to clean with water, and that is even better. I heart spray bottles.
Maybe this is just me, but polishing a mirror (the polish makes a little film easy to wipe off) and then making it clean? This would have kept me entertained for hours. It still would. This kit has a ton of stuff, but the "polish" is all we really need, and maybe a little glass eye dropper. . . this is my new obsession, trying to assemble this kit with stuff around the house. Finding a box, lining it, getting out the aprons, etc.
Peelers, egg slicers, small whisks, grinders, apple cutters - all that. I try to find tools that really work and that are made of real materials. You know, sharp and breakable. Not dangerous really, just not for pretend. This is surely not new to many parents out there, especially ones familiar with Montessori programs. My girls are home all day so I am always looking for ideas and piecing together my favorite bits of activities from a wide range of resources, so catalogs and ideas like this are a wonderful way for us to fill up the day. Seeing the girls slice their own banana before they eat it (with a banana slicer!) is the coolest thing ever. I know there are tons of theories about the whys of all this, but I just like the catalogs. . . and I remember peeling carrots (I used sticks) was my favorite thing to do when I was 5. Seriously.
I am always tempted to give this kind of stuff as gifts, like a little homemade kit of little cleaning supplies, etc, or a pencil sharpener kit with a few really nice colored pencils and a nice sharpener and a little brush all tucked in a little box... I think it would be really cool. I need to do that.
I changed by banner for (early) summer-hit refresh and bring on the sun!
