Watercolor Eggs

Recently, I set up a new painting activity on the Art shelves which uses egg-shaped doilies - a fun dollar store find.  This is the first time watercolors have been available to the students this school year, so the children have been eager to complete this colorful lesson:

Tray with watercolors, brush, pencil (for name writing), sponge (for wiping the board when finished), jar (for water), egg-shaped doilies.

In the process...

Some colorful eggs for our hallway!

Easter Egg Art

I didn't get to post this in time before Easter, but here it is nonetheless...

Another activity the children have really been enjoying these days is this Easter Egg stamping lesson.  As with most art projects in my classroom, this one is set up with all the necessary materials on the shelf.

Egg shape templates on multi-colored card stock; container with pipe cleaners; tray with decorative container filled with a small amount of white paint; pencil.

First the child gathers all the necessary materials - an egg template of their color choice, one pipe cleaner, and the tray.  At circle time, I showed the children how to form the pipe cleaner into a shape and gently press it into the shallow paint.  This becomes their "stamp" for creating a design on their egg.  During my demonstration, I made a big deal about how little paint remained on my fingers when I was finished - the kids took it to heart because several of them came to show me their fingers after completing their stamping/painting to tell me, "Look, just a little paint on my fingers!"  Too cute! :)  Here are some of them in the hallway:

Colorful Easter Egg Art

On the Shelves: April

I think I may have had too much fun setting up the shelves for April!  I found myself giggling out loud while putting together some intriguing materials.  Here are a couple of favorites:

Can you guess what is inside?   Inside each egg is just enough clay for one pair of small hands.  The children are used to having clay available for use for two at a time - so, this was just a fun way to vary the presentation. 

A tiny egg to hold in a tiny spoon for Walking the Line.  The nest just looked so cute, I couldn't resist using it on the tray for the egg... :)

Just for fun, I took the following picture to show how it really looks in my classroom when I'm setting up the shelves:

So...this is why I always try to set up by myself (without any kids around - my own children or my students)!  ;) 

I really just want them to see this when they come to school:

Prepared shelves for Practical Life - Dry Transerring activities and...

...some fun Wet Transferring lessons too.

Here are some close-ups of some other favorites:

Aren't these irresistible?  Kid-friendly Faberge!

Perfect for tweezing 'jewels.'

A basket of five eggs for Opening/Closing practice.  Inside each one is...

...an adorable finger puppet.  This set up has brought on spontaneous singing of the "Five Little Ducks" song!

This lesson reminds me a bit of balancing marbles on golf tees...

...because it is quite a challenging to place these eggs just right!

THIS post also highlights other activities on the shelves during the coming weeks.  I'm looking forward to sharing with you some of our art lessons too...so stay tuned for more! :)

Springtime Delights

Last weekend, I placed some new Spring and Easter activities on the shelves.  I plan to share more details about some of the materials in an upcoming post, but here are some photos of these lessons in use over the course of this past week.  Unfortunately, I was having trouble uploading photos, so I am running a bit short...  I think you will still enjoy them though!

Opening/Closing variation:  The children have not only been practicing their opening and closing skills, but also have been using this as an invitation to act out the "Five Little Ducks" song.

Practical Life:  Wood Polishing
These beautiful eggs have renewed interest in polishing - some of the children have not polished in ages, so we had lots of  'review' lessons to remember the sequence of steps necessary to complete the activity.

A festive Spooning activity.

Fine motor development with Water Transferring.

Matching colors.

Multiplication with the Stamp Game

Carefully counting the Teen Beads.  Here, the child is counting for the number 14.

Walking the Line while holding a tiny spoon with an equally tiny egg - so much fun! :)

The Hundred Board

 Decimal System Cards

Easter Eggs:  Cards and Counters variation.

Making words with the phonogram, -ar.

Hanging eggs on our festive tree.  This has been a fun, relaxing activity for the kids.

A variation of last month's Sealing lesson:  This month, I simply changed the shape from a shamrock to an egg and added some more colors to the tissue paper.

Addition with Number Rods and Cards.

Paschal Greetings

From our home to yours,

Sending warm wishes for a joyous Easter!

Easter Kulich and Pascha

"Every Russian Easter table, from the most modest to he most lavish, has as its center - Kulich and Pasha - the most awaited and special of the traditional Russian foods.  Each family has a treasured recipe for these delicious treats which are first sampled on Easter Night and may be served only during the Easter celebrations."  (From Babushka's Kitchen)

As I wrote in this post, thanks to my mom, who has already sent us a Kulich, we only had to make the accompanying Pascha to complete our Easter Table. 



Key ingredient - Farmer's Cheese.  I love how the price tag indicates, "Russian Gourmet!"



Mixture of Farmer's cheese, sugar, and butter - and next to it, my 'secret recipe,' hand written by my mom.



Mixing the heavy cream...



Adding the best part - vanilla, straight from the bean!



Lining the wooden Pascha mold with cheesecloth...and realizing that we used only 1lb. of Farmer's cheese and not 2 which this mold requires. So...



...a variation on a theme - Clay Flower Pot!  Now, the Pascha will drain for a couple of days while setting in the clay pot (which conveniently already has a drainage hole in place!). 

You'll have to wait until Easter to see the finished product on our Easter Table!  In the meantime, I know three very excited children who, "just can't wait 'till Easter!" to take part in this festive tradition.

Easter Eggs

We've been busy in the kitchen today.  First, we dyed our eggs in the Eastern Orthodox tradition using a red egg dye.  Then, we used "shrink-wraps" to create Slavic style Easter eggs. 




And after all was said and done...

These eggs, along with the traditional kulich and pascha will be featured at our Easter table on Sunday morning.  Now, onto  making the pascha...

Spring Break

This week, we are fortunate to have our Spring Break - the kids and I are all home.  Several projects are on the horizon, mainly in the Easter preparation department!  This morning, we put together our Easter Tree which is a cheerful reminder of the season.  Little Miss was so excited to see the festive display on our table and gasped in delight!  While Big Stuff and Mr. Man did not say much, I could tell they appreciate this tradition. 


And speaking of traditions, we took a trip to the store to buy some key ingredients to make our traditional Russian Easter sweet cheese spread, Pascha.  This is a special Easter treat which is always served with Kulich, a special Easter bread.  My dear Mom has already sent us our very own Kulich, sparing me the hours it takes to make a batch - thanks mom!  Later this week, we will make the Pascha so we may greet this Easter season with our traditional Russian ways.  It just wouldn't be Easter in our home without these delicacies!