My Little Yogi

Z-man and I have started a new routine...YOGA! I'm so excited. I've been wanting to incorporate some morning or evening yoga into our daily routine. Maybe this will help us connect more, be a fun bonding activity, and will provide him with some coping skills that I can remind him (and myself) of during stressful, angry, sad, or grumpy times. I figure the more tools I can give my kid to handle life's stress, the better.
I came across a pin for a website that has a handful of easy yoga poses with kid-friendly names and clear descriptions. I wrote down the ones I wanted to introduce to Z-man. I have been to less than five yoga classes in my life, so I'm learning along side my guy.
We started on a Saturday morning when Z's dad was in town and he participated, too. First, I asked Z if he wanted to do yoga. To my surprise, he said yes and started showing me some moves of his own. He put his feet high in the air and balanced on his bottom-a valiant attempt at the boat pose.

Ignore the constipated look; I swear he was actually having fun!

Our first time doing yoga, I modeled the poses I had written down, encouraging Z and his dad to join in. He loves the Donkey. We "hee-haw" as we hold this pose, which makes it so much more fun.

Our pjs are pretty cute, huh?

Jumping Tree is my favorite. We hold hands and raise a leg, jumping slightly until he starts to fall. We yell out "TIMBER!" as he falls slowly to the ground.

 The Flying Heart is very calming, though I think we have only successfully held this pose for about five seconds together.

When Z switches poses or moves on to a nearby tractor or drum, I continue with the pose for a few seconds and dramatize what I'm doing to encourage him to join back in. If he doesn't buy in, I move to the next pose- asking him if he wants to do the "falling star!!!!" with lots of excitement.

The coolest thing we have done with our yoga--and I use the term yoga loosely-- is tell a story. We used the wolf pose, child pose (for the pigs),  and deep breaths (in through nose, out through mouth) to act out The Three Little Pigs. This was so much fun. Z-man brought it up several times later in the day, demonstrating his howling wolf and talking about his chin-y chin chin.

Namaste, friends!

Seven Little Minutes a Day

Since I had Z-man, I have not had a normal work out routine. I've made grand plans to do all kinds of exercising, from running (I HATE IT) or Zumba (my fave, but not so kid friendly) to yoga (still working on this) or Wii Fit (by the time I get the Wii up and running, I'm over it). When I work out, I am more balanced, healthier, and less stressed. All good things. The problem is, once I get Z-man in bed, I'm tired. AND I still have a long to-do list! Being motivated to work out has been a challenge.
About two months ago, I was glancing through a magazine in a orthodontist waiting room with the kids I nanny when I came across a blip about the best apps of 2013.  One caught my eye. An app that leads you through a seven minute work out that has been scientifically proven to be effective? EFFECTIVE IN SEVEN SHORT MINUTES? Sign me up! 
The work out is pretty self explanatory and as challenging as you make it. When I'm tired, I run the app once (12 exercises, 30 seconds each, with 10 second rest between each) and give it as much effort has I have left in me. Other days, I run the app a few times and pump it out. When I can't bear the idea of doing side planks or push ups, I switch out the side planks for a similar exercise. I have consistently done this work out at least three times a week for two months now. Some weeks, I have done it every day. Finally, I found a work out that this mama can stick with!

Fire Fighter Fun

My classroom theme is Community Helpers this month. Our school tries to incorporate 3-D art into classroom learning so when I came across this diaper box upcycle, I was inspired. My students painted three diaper boxes, one red (fire house), one blue (police station), and one white (hospital). 

On fire fighter day, the kids drew plans of what the station should look like. I gathered some accessories such as construction paper flames, red ribbons, and white rope "hoses" and followed their plans as best I could. I pulled the Lincoln Logs out of my cabinet and we borrowed fire trucks from my Z-man's collection and from other classes. 

 

This quickly became the most played with toy in the classroom. One student even added a second level for the fire fighters to sleep.  (I was too busy enjoying their creativity to snap a pic.) They pretended that various areas of the room were on fire with paper and ribbon flames and called 911 on play phone in the classroom. The fire trucks raced out of he station to the rescue. Luckily, the rope hoses put out the fires quickly, but this play opened the door for some great fire safety conversations, too!
As an added bonus, Z-man, who plays in my class before and after school, loves this. All week he has been happily entertained with these boxes for about 20 minutes of independent play at a time! That's a goldmine with my 21-month old. Winner all around!

My New Classroom Easel

During a recent trip to NYC, we took Z-man to The Children's Museum of Manhattan. Among their four awesome floors and various rooms to explore is an art area. They have what is basically a light box on the wall with a drip container underneath. Then there are shower squeegees and spray bottles for museum-goers to wipe away their masterpieces after painting. I felt inspired. I found some plexiglass left over from some project my dad started years ago, bought a $17 window planter from Home Depot and a $3 squeegee from IKEA, and created this.

My students love this. They stand in line to take turns. I'm not sure whether they enjoy painting the board or wiping it away more. I love that I don't have dozens of pages with drippy paint drying around the classroom. I love the way they manipulate the spray bottle and test which distance from the plexiglass works best for optimal erasing. I love how the paint slides down like rain once its been sprayed. I just love this.

(I DO NOT love cleaning it. The planter is not as easy to clean as I wish it was. The drain in the planter is not where the watery paint collects when it is hung like I have it. A drill and a new stopper could fix that, I think.)

Snow day. Sick day.

I got so much grief for not taking Z-man out to play in the first snow of his life.  Or the second.  Or the third. It is so much work to put on all that gear. Boots never go on quite right. Sweat is pouring down your face by the time you are all suited up.  And as soon as you get out, you are wet and cold and want to come back in. Uhhh.
I finally took my guy out and minus the wrestle with his boots, he loved it. And I loved it.  We played with dump trucks in the snow, sledded down our front yard, and ate icicles to our hearts` content. (Gross,  I know.)
I was actually quite bummed when the next snow, a perfect,  fluffy snow,  came while Z-man had strep throat. House-bound.  Sick. Grumpy.  That's a long day to stay inside.  Then my sister suggested I bring the snow inside.  Genius.  A tub full of snow, some utencils, Tupperware,  and a pot and we "cook"ed the day away. At the end, we turned on the hot water and tried to melt all the chunks with the shower house. Not as fun as sledding, but it was a pretty good substitute!

Really "nailing" Halloween

Another teacher at my preschool gave me this idea, so I can't take the credit for it. I brought in our pumpkin the day after Halloween and some random nails from our tool box. I let the kids hammer away. They loved poking the nails in, swinging the hammers,  and guessing what the inside looked like with nails poked through it. The pumpkin had an awesome design on it at the end. 

We put in next to the paper bag pumpkins in the hall to display. Once it started to rot, we opened it up and looked at the spikey nails. Some of the nails had pierced seeds, which, with three year old humor, was hilarious!

Pumpkins!

I've been meaning to get started on this blogging thing for a while. I just haven't made it a priority until now. For the past few months, I've been taking pictures of stuff I've done and writing down ideas I've had to eventually write about.
I'm big into Pinterest. I stayed off it for a long time, but now I'm hooked. I love the ideas people share and I love how it inspires me to try new things. 
Anyway, I was looking for an idea of a gift to give my students for Halloween that didn't involve candy since they get enough of that already on that holiday. I found this idea for pumpkin pie playdough. As Halloween approached, I got busy and realized making play dough, especially a new recipe for the first time, was ambitious. Using her idea for inspiration, I bought clementines and made jack-o-latern faces on them. The cutest ones are the ones I drew stem side up. (Obviously I'm no artist, but the kids got a kick out of them and the parents loved them!)