Sewing Together on the Tapestry Table

Some readers may recall our group sewing project several years ago which was highlighted in THIS post.  Since so many of our children have enjoyed the series of sewing lessons over the past couple of years, one of our assistants decided to put together the following culminating sewing activity using our beloved tapestry table to coincide with the Short Bead Stair:

Working back from the golden ten bar, these circles were placed in a row... 

…and embellished with golden beads, buttons, etc.

The same for number nine...

…all the way...

…to number one!  

We will certainly will find a special place to display the piece in our classroom - I am thinking on the wall above the Bead Cabinet.  Stay tuned!

Montessori Maslenitsa

Brightly colored scarves, long dresses, the sound of accordions playing traditional Russian tunes, children singing…  all against the backdrop of a Montessori school!  What a gift to be given opportunities that combine two of my major interests in life - all things Montessori and all things Russian.  Many of my readers might not be aware, but my undergraduate degree is in Russian Studies while my master's is in Montessori education.  Our time in St. Petersburg has afforded me chances to seamlessly weave these interests, creating unique experiences that are personally meaningful.

Last weekend, my family and I were invited to Mikailova Montessori School to help ring in the traditional celebration of Maslenitsa.  I can still hardly believe that I was able to take part of this type of cultural event at a Montessori school!  It was evident that this school has built a strong community, full of committed families, teachers, and students.  The children were friendly, inquisitive, and clearly had put forth a lot of effort in preparing for this event.

Several classes participated in plays depicting traditional Russian folk tales and stories.

Tea was served from several traditional samovars.

Children and adults enjoyed various games.  Here the children are practicing flipping blinis (Russian pancakes).

Part of the Maslenitsa celebration includes symbolically parting with Winter by burning a scarecrow and welcoming Spring.

What would it be with out dancing?!
 

The students prepared a vast array of handiworks ranging from knitted bracelets to pottery which were sold during the event.  Proceeds went directly to the school - what a fantastic way to include the children in fundraising!

Print Making

This past year, I have very much been enjoying the discovery of loom knitting.  As a result, my stash of yarn leftover has exponentially increased!  What better way to use some of it than to make an art activity for the classroom?

Print making art activity at a table:  I used a hot glue gun to attach thick yarn around wooden blocks.  We chose to use the red paint to correspond with our color/number theme with the Short Bead Stair.

Imagine the open-ended creative possibilities!  

Such activities in the classroom not only allow children to enhance fine motor development, but they also provide opportunities for them to practice decision making and following sequences of lessons/activities.    

There is still a lot more yarn left - I am sure we will be using it for more art activities in the future!

Sewing Drawers: Part Two

I have always had a soft spot for sewing in the classroom.  I love the serenity such activity evokes and appreciate the fine motor and concentration skills it develops.  Last year, the children in my class were introduced to a set of Sewing Drawers which have since become very popular in our classroom.  When I first made the drawers, I never suspected we would have so much interest and so many eager sewers! In recent weeks, our class has seen an even bigger increase in sewing activities - what better time to introduce a second set of sewing drawers?

The next set of drawers is housed in identical three-sectioned bins.  The first drawer contains necessary materials to sew a button, the second drawer is for making a bracelet (with a button), and the last drawer is for making a small pillow.

Sewing Drawers:  The left side contains the first set of drawers; the right set contains the latest additions:

Top drawer:  Sewing a Button
The drawer contains one hoop with felt, extra felt pieces in the back, small box with buttons,  a needle, small scissors, and thread (wrapped around the clothespin).

Middle Drawer:  Making a Bracelet
This drawer contains strips of prepared felt (see below) for the bracelets,  various wooden buttons, a needle,  scissors, and thread.

I cut a small opening for a button hole toward the top of each strip...

…and placed a small dot with marker toward the bottom for button placement.

The materials are brought to a workspace on this tray.

And, here is the bracelet!
 

Bottom Drawer:  Making a Small Pillow
The drawer contains squares of fabric, a box of batting, and needle, scissors,  and thread.

Here is the small pillow my son made as I was setting up the classroom.

The children will be excited to see these new additions to their sewing options and I am looking forward to watching their skills expand.  Call me old fashioned, but knowing how to sew a button has got to one life's most practical skills and I am proud my students will have this knowledge! :-)

Weaving Paper

The children have been demonstrating plenty of concentration while completing this weaving activity.  They take such care to place the paper (weft) 'over, and under, over and under' the weaving strips.  A deep sense of pride can be felt with the completion of this lesson which is the finest result of all!

Colored paper for weaving; basket with glue and pencil; white paper cut with slits for weaving

The student chooses a few pieces of colored paper and brings them to a table along with the other materials.    After weaving the strips of papers, the ends are glued in place with the glue stick.

Soon, I would like to set up an activity using yarn (I think it would tie in well with our South American studies…).  I'll keep you posted!

Finger Knitting Fun

One lonely teapot on the shelf at Goodwill becomes the inspiration for a ton of finger knitting fun:

Teapot from the thrift store with yarn inside; scissors for snipping the yarn...

Simply irresistible!   The children have worked  hard to make many finger knitted creations such as bracelets, rings, and necklaces.  They also enjoy giving them as gifts to their classmates.  I love how focused their attention becomes while working with their hands in this way. 

A New Favorite Pastime

A couple of months ago I discovered loom knitting.  My son received a loom as a gift on Christmas and I took it upon myself to figure out how it worked so that I could show him…   It turns out I am quite addicted to this new pastime.  I find it the most relaxing activity and I so enjoy working with my hands to create "something out of nothing."  And can you even imagine the gift-giving possibilities?!  Here are a few pictures of what I've been working on:

This is the loom (and the very first scarf I ever made!).

I am so enamored with this new hobby that I created a Pinterest board for new ideas as well as a board of all my projects.   If interested, you can see the rest of my projects HERE.

Happy Knitting! :-)

A Little Christmas Gift

Each year, the children make a small gift to take home at the holidays.  In in keeping with recent years of tradition and making tree ornaments, this year's class completed a variation on the same theme:

We rolled Christmas-themed scrapbook paper with pencils and placed them in clear ornaments (which is a fantastic fine-motor exercise, by the way!)...

…and added a little bow.  Very simple, yet festive - best of all, the children took such pride in making them and are looking forward to sharing them with their families!

Mini Looms and Late Autumn

These crisp, November mornings afforded us the opportunity to explore the outdoors and take in the fine beauty of late autumn:

We discovered the beauty in past blooms .

                                                         

Throughout our walk, we collected small, dried flowers (and other interesting items) in our collection basket...

And weaved them into mini looms - a big thank you to the parent volunteer who made the looms! :-)

The children loved making their late autumn displays.

They remind us of the turning seasons,

and that winter is not too far behind.

Bringing the outdoors in - so beautiful, we had to hang them up!

Beaded Snowflakes

One of my student's favorite activities is making bracelets and necklaces with the bead stringing materials.  Periodically, the contents are changed by providing different beads, pipe cleaners, string, etc., depending on the class' topics of study, seasons, or holidays.  Inspired by ideas I found on Pinterest, I decided to provide the children with snowflake pipe cleaners for stringing beads.  As with most creations by the children, there is always a story behind their masterpiece.  To highlight this aspect of the activity, I thought it would be interesting to document the children's thoughts on their art work.

First, the children will gather the materials for creating their beaded snowflake:

Tray with snowflake pipe cleaners; assortment of beads; small tray for gathering beads.

Then, they will place the beads on the snowflake:

Beaded Snowflake

Lastly, the shape is stapled to black card stock and the children are asked if they would like to share their thoughts or make a story about their snowflake.  This will be recorded on the the white paper on the documentation page:

Beaded Snowflake documentation.

Not only do we begin to better understand the child, but we are also allowing them another opportunity to observe the action of writing.  I  also appreciate how the simple step of writing the child's thoughts and ideas brings an entirely new dimension to the child's work.  

Sewing Drawers

I've really tried to focus on something unrelated to my Montessori life during this Christmas vacation - really, I have.  The thing is, I can find something "Montessori" in just about anything!  Such was the case when, in an attempt to clear my mind of all things Montessori-related, I revisited my old hobby of counted cross-stitching:

Revisiting a favorite hobby - the beginnings of my latest endeavor...

While enjoying the simple quietude of this pastime, it came to me...  sewing drawers for the classroom, of course!  And with that, while removing some of the rustiness of having not cross-stitched in over a decade, I began formulating my plan for some sewing lessons in the classroom.

Enter the sewing drawers - I've started with three, but have ideas for at least three more:

Sewing Drawers

Drawer one:  Sewing with yarn on white shelf-liner.  Embroidery hoop with shelf liner; blue needle is hard to see in this photo, but it is directly behind the two choices of yarn; scissors.

Drawer two:  Sewing on burlap with embroidery floss.  Hoop with burlap; several choices of  embroidery thread wound on clothespins; small sewing scissors; needle.

Drawer three:  Cross-stiching.  Hoop with gingham (ideal for introducing cross-stitch); color choices of embroidery thread; scissors; needle.

Next to the drawers will be three baskets for the child to gather the necessary materials from the drawers and bring to a workspace.  Each drawer is set up so that only one child may be using the materials from any given drawer at a time.  These lessons will come after much practice with the preliminary sewing lessons such as the lacing shapes, sewing block, Threading a Needle as seen HERE, and working with pins:

Transferring straight pins.

I can hardly wait to introduce the lessons in the sewing drawers to my students.  Later, for some variation, I plan to change the yarn, fabrics, and add beads for the children to embellish their sewing creations.  Also, I have plans to add more drawers for learning to sew buttons and make small pillows...  But first we'll start with these first three sewing drawers, and I'll be reminded of how inspiration came to me when I least expected it - I'll let you know when I finish my latest cross-stiching project!

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