June Inspiration

Here's a little June/Summer inspiration from around the web to get you and your  child's creative juices flowing. Have fun exploring these links, but more importantly, get up and try some of the ideas once you've been inspired!



Have you read Counting Coconuts? It is one of my very favorite blogs for Montessori inspired children's activities. Mari-Ann does a great job of sharing what is on her Montessori shelves for the month, as well as giving great ideas for making I spy bottles, sensory tubs and more! Check out what she's got on the shelf for the month of June.

The Crafty Crow was created by Cassie as a place to keep track of all the great arts and crafts ideas for kids around the web. Check out her growing list of links for Summer and Outside activities.

Rhythm of the Home is a seasonal online, family magazine. With categories such as Warmth, Play, Celebration, and Connection, you're bound to be inspired!

Mmm, Yumm! Totally Distracted!

I just totally got sidetracked while looking for a picture of Mother Theresa to print for our studies of India this week. I was over at Charlotte's blog looking for her amazing hand drawn coloring pages, when lo and behold I saw this:Charlotte is having a giveaway for Barbara Beery's new book: Pink Princess Cupcakes
Pink, pretty, cupcakes, what more can I say? I totally got distracted! Anyway, it also turns out that Barbara Beery has a cool online shop dedicated to selling kids cooking supplies! You can check it out here: Batter Up Kids

Now to get back to work! I'm supposed to be gathering info on India and the Catholic missions there! I might need to take a quick sugar break first though ;)

Butterfly Circus

This beautiful and inspiring short film stars Eduardo Verastegui of the movie Bella. A while back I saw his wonderful conversion story on YouTube (in Spanish). Please check it out and let me know what you think! My kids and I loved it! I only wish there would more uplifting films like this. Luckily, I hear this may be turned in to a full length feature film!

It's A Big World Baby...

It's a big world baby and you're little for a little while...
My children and I absolutely LOVE this video for Renee & Jeremy's song, "It's a Big World". Check it out, and coming soon will be a giveaway for a free song off their newest CD!

Last Saturday of Summer: Farmers Market, Parade, & Urban Farming Harvest Festival

We had a great day yesterday. In the morning we went to the Farmers market and bought apples for our Montessori co-op this week, we also bought flowers so the children could arrange them and put them on our little class altar. We sat on the grass and enjoyed some bluegrass music and tasted some delicious fire baked pizza from an oven brought all the way from Naples Italy!

Later we went to a parade and festival at an art school where my husband teaches. The children enjoyed seeing some old cars turned into garden beds for pumpkins and sunflowers. We even saw a tumbleweed sculpture there. It was pretty cool.

After lunch and naps, we headed out once again for an urban farming harvest festival. We got to enjoy an afternoon hayride underneath clear blue skies dotted with puffy white clouds. It was a lot of fun and later we got to watch a short documentary on our local "farm to table" program. That got the children all worked up about eating the apples we bought at the farmers market earlier that day. It was a really great day, one that we'll surely remember! Thank you Lord Jesus for days like this! The pictures below are snippets from our day. Enjoy!

Wildflowers and Marbles: Eye Candy and More!

Check out Jen's blog, Wildflowers and Marbles, for a glimpse into her home learning space. Aside from all the eye candy, she also has some wonderful posts about how she stays so organized. I absolutely love reading about organization, especially from other mom's, and love being able to peek into a beautiful learning space such as hers!

My First YouTube Video!

My husband showed me how to make a quick 60 second video and upload it tonight. It was fun, and more simple than I thought. Check it out!

Fun with Color Mixing:

Photo courtesy of "Here We are Together"

"Here We are Together" has a fun idea for the kids to experiment with mixing colors while making fun shapes into works of art. Check it out!

A fun variation to this for the summer can be to put the color mixture into spray bottles and have the kids give it a go outside!

For my Birthday:

When my husband asked me to choose a birthday gift last week, this is what I asked for:

The above wooden toys are from the German company, Grimms Spiel und Holz and can be bought at Three Sisters Toys here in the U.S.A. and elsewhere. Aren't they pretty? As far as toys go, I'm pretty picky about them. The less toys the better and the simpler they are the better too. I am a firm believer that if children do have any toys they should be carefully chosen to be open ended. Blocks, art supplies and play silks are my favorite items for them aside from having them play outside and enjoy God's creation in nature. Besides educational books, "just for fun books" can be wonderful fun too. Again I am very careful and prefer books with illustrations and content that inspires them with rich and wholesome storytelling, beautiful artwork, and that are not in poor taste with crude humor or gross drawings, etc..

I am looking forward for the package to arrive in the mail tomorrow! My husband wanted to get me something I would enjoy, so he was hesitant when I asked for the stacking rainbow and stepped rainbow blocks because they were for the children. For me, there's nothing like the joy of seeing children engrossed in creating something beautiful, be it with blocks, sticks and twigs, in art and more. I think I am going to enjoy these wooden blocks and arches just as much as the kids. I am looking forward to playing with them alongside them too. Just to test them out of course! ;)

Just for Fun: I love cupcakes!

Below:

My German chocolate cupcakes with homemade whipped ganache frosting & crushed Ghirdelli's peppermint white chocolate bark. Made for Christmas gifts.

Below:

My comadre Amy's (comadre is the spanish term describing the connection between my chlid's Godmother and I)strawberry cupcakes which I topped half with homemade whipped chocolate ganache, round sprinkles, vanilla pirouettes & a strawberry malt ball. The other half was topped with a fresh strawberry and later poured over a white chocolate ganache, cream cheese & strawberry sauce. If you were to ask me to recreate the sauce I probably couldn't because it was made on a whim, but it turned out absolutely delicious! Made for my daughters 1st B-day.