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cooking with kids
If You Only Do ONE Montessori Activity...
I challenge you to think of one activity that exposes your child to math, language and science, while helping her develop concentration, motor skills, and delayed gratification. It’s not found in workbooks, and you probably won’t see it taking place regularly in most schools (unless they’re Montessori schools).If you want to know what it is, click here!
Happy Pi Day!
In honor of Pi Day, Zachary and I made a quiche following this tried-and-true recipe. While not the speediest quiche to make, it was perfect for keeping us entertained on an otherwise lazy afternoon. Here are some pictures of Zach working, to give you an idea of what a toddler can help with. Please pardon the shades; he's 100% three years old and 100% determined to assert his will. And that includes cooking with sunglasses.
Transferring chopped chard from a bowl to the pan with tongs.
Rolli…
Transferring chopped chard from a bowl to the pan with tongs.
Rolli…Absolutely the World's Best One-Bowl Toddler-Friendly Banana Bread Muffin Recipe Ever Invented... Ever!
You might be able to tell by this post's title how excited I am about this recipe. It was given to me six years ago by a Toddler classroom assistant on a small piece of scrap paper. Now, it's time to share it and record it on the interwebs for all posterity.
World's Best One-Bowl Banana Bread Muffins (can be made dairy-free!!!)
(makes 18 muffins)
Ingredients:
World's Best One-Bowl Banana Bread Muffins (can be made dairy-free!!!)
(makes 18 muffins)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of melted butter (or melted coconut oil)
- 2/3 cup of brown sugar (or 1+ cups if you have a sweet tooth, but honestly 2/3 cup is ple…
Pom-Poms vs. Broccoli
Practical Life activities should be, above all else, practical: real activities that have a purpose and a goal. Practical Life 
should never, EVER be busy work. Busy work is insulting to the child's intelligence and developmental drives.
So, let's say you want to introduce transferring with tongs. Instead of the ubiquitous pom-poms you see all over Pinterest, how about using broccoli?
Here's what I did with Zach (who just turned 3), when he asked if he could help in the kitchen:
I had already choppe…
should never, EVER be busy work. Busy work is insulting to the child's intelligence and developmental drives.So, let's say you want to introduce transferring with tongs. Instead of the ubiquitous pom-poms you see all over Pinterest, how about using broccoli?
Here's what I did with Zach (who just turned 3), when he asked if he could help in the kitchen:
I had already choppe…
10 Quick Tips for Baking with Your Toddler
Note: You'll find our fabulous, healthy, and toddler-approved recipe at the end of this post! Try it out and let us know if you like it!
I love to cook, and I'd love to include Zach every time I'm in the kitchen. But as a working mom, I rarely get more than 15 minutes to cobble together a semi-healthy meal during the week. Instead of pressuring myself to involve my toddler in weeknight dinner preparation, Zach and I bake muffins on the weekends, and we've been making the same recipe for the pas…
I love to cook, and I'd love to include Zach every time I'm in the kitchen. But as a working mom, I rarely get more than 15 minutes to cobble together a semi-healthy meal during the week. Instead of pressuring myself to involve my toddler in weeknight dinner preparation, Zach and I bake muffins on the weekends, and we've been making the same recipe for the pas…
All in Good Time
Dr. Montessori realized early on that young children were concrete thinkers. This means that their brains have a hard time interpreting concepts that cannot be isolated and experienced through the five senses. Color is one such concept. Hues are almost always connected to an object: "red" apple, "blue" sky, "yellow" duck. The very young child struggles to separate the name of the color from the object it belongs to, and this can bring about imprecise impressions that take time and effort to …
Playing Catch Up
There's one thing that sets children ages 0-3 apart from children in all other Montessori age groups, and it's been throwing me for a loop recently:
THEIR NEEDS AND ABILITIES CHANGE SO DARN FAST!!! AAARRGGGHHH!!!
I spent almost two hours observing through a one-way window in my son's Toddler Community. What I saw was amazing. And disconcerting.
Because the environment I worked so hard to set up for my one-year old just a few months back? Yeah, completely useless now.
My baby, the one who was con…
THEIR NEEDS AND ABILITIES CHANGE SO DARN FAST!!! AAARRGGGHHH!!!
I spent almost two hours observing through a one-way window in my son's Toddler Community. What I saw was amazing. And disconcerting.
Because the environment I worked so hard to set up for my one-year old just a few months back? Yeah, completely useless now.
My baby, the one who was con…
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