Meaningful activities

I find it challenging to find "activities" for my child. I have to compete with her Montessori school. She does not want toys, she wants activities, preferably meaningful ones. Who wants to play pretend cooking when you can help make meatballs or pancake batter!?

So today I'll share a couple of activities we did with her last week. Our first activity was loop loom weaving. We went to a craft store and got a loop loom and a bag of loops. The cotton loops were too tight, we had to stretch them in order to make weaving easier. This was a fun activity per se.

She got an over-under-over-under pattern quickly and we made a potholder. Overall, it was a fun experience, and something a child could definitely do with little help or supervision. It's easy to keep the tension right comparing to a peg loom. I wonder if it is possible to weave using a string of yarn instead of the loops. We have a ton of old t-shirts that we are planning to cut into strips for future weaving projects. And I will make a peg loom just to have her try it.

Another activity repotting the violets. We bought two pots on our recent trip to IKEA for the violets that outgrew their small pots. So it was time for them to get new bigger ones. I did not even get a pot and a plant yet, when N. was already waiting for me armed with a plastic spade. She enjoyed scooping soil and putting it into the pot. Meanwhile we discussed the gardening plans for the summer. She asked if she could have a flower garden of her own. And I said "yes", because I remember my own "garden" (a 4 in wide strip of dirt alongside of the greenhouse in my grandparents' garden) and how fond and proud I was of it.

I prepped the plants, and potted them while N. ran and got our watering can and some water, then she carefully watered the flowers. She truly enjoyed the whole experience.

(images by Mamalya)