back, and in the studio

Hi. 

I'm back.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a little caravan in the woods?

A quiet spot to think.

Mist in the trees.

Mossy scents

Birds and small creature sounds.

light, drawing, hands

We've all been sick this week and finding slow, peaceful activities has been key. We made a light table for the first time and we were all entranced. I didn't know but this same box with lights can be used for starting seedlings as it becomes slightly warm. My avid gardener of a sister in law passed on this tid bit.

R's beautiful gum ball machine drawing lying on the warm radiator in the afternoon light.

My sketch for an illustration of Woodie Guthrie's song containing the lyrics "Tom cat, Mama cat".

R's hands working those fine motor skills. He hummed and sang to himself as he worked, calm and happy.

M's sweet hands doing what she loves best right now - drawing.

Dirty Concoctions

Miss M is sitting at my side begging to make another dirty concoction right now! Its her favorite pastime at the moment, along with drawing on her face with markers a close second.

Materials needed:

Lots of small bowls
Lots of small spoons
Apron

As many or as few as the following as you wish:
flour (wheat or white)
sugar
baking powder / soda
water, milk, juice, cold coffee or tea, vinegar (if you want froth try vinegar and baking soda)
salt
oats
sprinkles
glitter

Plus any other things you find in the back of your kitchen cupboards that you think would be fun to stir into a messy oooey gooey mixture!

To change the color try spices like paprika, or cumin. Throw in a few drops of food coloring or experiment with veggie juices like beet root.

We usually start with a small amount of water and I put a little of each ingredient in bowls as we go along. She scoops the various powders and liquids in to her mug or larger bowl and stirs with delight. I also try to remember to have her smell the various ingredients, but she normally does it before I even mention it now!

Please let me know what other ingredients you stumble upon that are a hit.

oh, flour

Flour is a hard one for many people, and I understand it. It gets everywhere, it makes hard wood floors slippery and it can be breathed in inadvertently. However, it makes the best snow scene; the best race track for matchbox cars, the best dinosaur stomping ground, the best beach; the best cafe; the best hills for little figurines to smash down. Plus, it's oh so soft and lovely to run through your fingers.

What could be better than a tray of flour, two rice spoons, a VW match box van, and a tinker toy wheel. M, who's three and a half played with this for half an hour before bringing a tiny Playmobile lady and her baby in a jogger out for a spin around the 'park'.

 Here she is, face covered in a fine dusting of flour.

Our Seven Senses

Alright, you say. I thought we only have five - -

Well, yes you are right. But we also have a couple more.

Proprioception

"When this sense is working effectively the brain, at all times, has an awareness of where the various body parts are in space, if they are moving or not, and how fast and in what direction they are moving...We talk about this sense enabling us to ‘feel’ where our body parts are, but this does not mean ‘feeling’ like ‘touching’ one body part with another – it is an entirely internal sensation". 

David Brown, Education Specialist with Deaf-Blind Services in CA.

Vestibular

The New York Times has a short piece about the importance of this sense saying:

"it isn’t a high-profile, elitist sense like the famed five of vision, hearing, touch, taste and smell. It’s more of a Joe Sixth-Sense, laboring in anonymity and frequently misunderstood". 

Simply put, the Vestibular sense helps us balance and have spacial orientation. No mean feat. 

My son has Sensory Processing Disorder and so he struggles to regulate his senses in many situations. Learning about the last two senses has given me more empathy in the challenges he faces every day. It has also informed my understanding of how we feed our senses and how we can unknowingly hinder their developement.