Studio3Music Blog

Archive for the ‘Things to do’ Category

Dec
22

Miss Beth’s Gift Ideas for any Budget

Well, the holidays are upon us and I thought I would give you a few ideas on so gifts that you and your children might enjoy! Some are things we talk about or use in class, others you might just enjoy as a fun project! There are ideas for any budget! So here we go:

Those fun bilibos that we like to spin in during gathering time!

Melissa and Doug make wonderful wooden puzzles, toys and more. We have some at the studio, but here is a link to the pattern blocks that some of you were asking about:

These Interstar builders are so fun and the kiddos use their imagination to come up with some amazing things!

And here are some terrific recipes to make at home with your child!

Puffy Paint
1 part white glue
1 part shaving cream
glitter or food coloring
squeeze bottles

Directions: Mix equal parts of the shaving cream and glue in a bowl. Now you can add food coloring or glitter. The surprising texture after it has dried is fun, too.

Bubble Bath Finger Paints
2 cups flour
water
1 teaspoon salt
food coloring
bubble bath (not the foamy type)

Directions: Mix water with the flour until you get a paste. Add food coloring and bubble bath until you get the thickness you like. This works well in the bath tub. They can paint themselves or the walls and it washes right off. It may turn the water the color of the food coloring but it won’t stain the child. If you want to make different colors, try putting them in a muffin tin!

Bubbles
1 cup water
1/3 cup dish soap (Joy, Sunlight, etc.)
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup

Combine ingredients and enjoy. Try using different objects from your utensil drawer as a bubble wand.

Different Bubble Blowing Tools
Use a plastic straw, or make lots of little bubbles by wrapping colored masking tape around five or six plastic straws.
Berry baskets
fly-swatters
Plastic rings from soda six-packs
Wands made from pipe cleaners

Flubber!
In a large container combine:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 cups white glue
Food coloring

In second, smaller container, combine:
1 1/3 cups warm water
3 tsp. Borax

* Mix ingredients in each container thoroughly.
* Pour contents of smaller container in to large container.
* Gently lift and turn mixture until only about a tablespoon of liquid is left. FLUBBER will be sticky for a moment or two. Let excess liquid drip off then FLUBBER will be ready!
STRETCH IT! BOUNCE IT! ROLL IT!

Store in an airtight container for about three weeks of use!

Silly Putty
Need:
1 part Sta Flo Liquid Starch
1 part Elmer’s White Glue*
Food coloring (optional)

Mix glue and starch together until it feels like a putty. If desired, add food coloring and mix thoroughly. When not in use, Silly Putty may be stored in an airtight container.

*Important Note: Be sure to use Elmer’s White Glue, NOT Elmer’s “Washable” or “School Glue.”

Edible Peanut Butter Playdough
Need: 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup honey, 1 cup powdered milk
Knead until smooth.

Slime
Need: Corn starch, Water, Food coloring (optional)
Put cornstarch in bowl. Add enough water to make a paste. If desired, you may also add food coloring. This makes a messy slime that goes from liquid to solid.

-posted by Miss Beth, who would like more sparkles for Christmas. (Though those of us who know and love her can’t imagine she could get even more sparkly than she already is!)

Tags: Miss Beth, recipes, Things to do

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Dec
7

Advent Calendar Anticipation

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Family, Things to do

Children love surprises! So when a sheet of colorful cardboard has 24 enticing little doors with a surprise tucked behind each one, what child can resist? Add a piece of yummy candy behind each opening and kids go nuts. No wonder Advent calendars have been around for a couple of centuries.

The celebration of Advent dates back to the 4^th century. Converts to Christianity observed Advent as a season of preparation for baptism. In the Middle Ages, Advent was a time to look forward to the 2^nd coming of Christ. The traditional observance of Advent still celebrated today involves the anticipation of the nativity. By lighting a candle on each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas day, Christians prepare to celebrate his birth on Christmas day. While many people still celebrate the religious aspects of Advent, the use of Advent calendars has become part of the secular observance of Christmas too.

The earliest Advent calendars probably originated in Germany. German Lutherans in the 19^th century would draw chalk lines on their doors to help children count down the days until Christmas. Lighting 24 candles was another common practice.

The first handmade Advent calendars began in Hamburg, Germany. Soon, a printer in Munich named Gerhard Lang created the standard Advent calendar still recognizable today. He glued 24 little colored pictures to cardboard and then attached another piece of cardboard with 24 matching doors on top. His company, Reichheld Lang Printing Co. marketed 30 designs. In 1930, they were forced to close when cardboard was rationed during WWII.

After the war, Richard Sellmer Verlag of Stuttgart, Germany, began to print the calendars again. Today, this enduring company continues to carry a stock of 1,000 calendars.

Advent calendars come in a variety of styles ranging from inexpensive traditional designs, to more expensive 3D Lego versions and everything in between! Handmade Advent calendars are a popular craft this time of year. Just google “Homemade Advent Calendars” and you’ll find many easy –to-make ideas.

A 1946 newspaper article showed President Eisenhower’s grandchildren gleefully opening up doors on a “Little Town Advent Calendar.” Subsequently, the popularity of these calendars soared in the US. Of course. Advent calendars capture children’s anticipatory nature the world over.

Click on this link for more information on the history of Advent and the Advent calendar.

-posted by Donna Detweiler, who remembers how excited she was each morning to discover what tiny picture of a toy was behind the numbered door on her Advent calendar!

Tags: Donna Detweiler, Holidays, parenting, Things to do

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Dec
5

Making a Mess

Posted in Child Development, Education, Things to do

I really like the dance we do this time of year called Fum, Fum, Fum! The babies in class love all the sensory input – watching the swishing scarves, moving through the dance, and hearing the music. The more your little one has opportunity to experience activities through all senses, the stronger and more permanent learning will be.

In Spring and Summer, the outside world is chock full of colors, smells, tastes, sounds, and things to touch. By this time of year, socks and shoes are back on, mittens cover little fingers, and hats muffle noises.

Did you know that together, hands and feet have over 40,000 touch receptors? Pull off those socks and mittens and take advantage of those 40,000 learning possibilities! Here are some ideas:

Note: All of these work equally well for hands or feet. A tablecloth/oilcloth on the floor or bathtub work well for the feet activities, and a highchair tray or wax paper on a table is a perfect place to contain the mess made by experimenting little hands. Be sure to talk about what your little one is “feeling” (slippery, soft, rough, smooth, scratchy, bumpy).

Squirt shaving cream or whipped cream onto feet, or in little mounds on a high chair tray for exploration.
Put dried beans or breakfast cereal in a box or plastic tub. Place packing peanuts or crumpled paper in the other box. Let your little one stomp and jump and kick away. (With your help, a non-walker can do this, too.)
Make a box of ribbon and fabric scraps of various textures (satin, grosgrain, fleece, burlap, vinyl) for exploration.
Take those ribbons and scraps of fabric, add some cotton balls, and put them on floor for your little one to crawl or walk across.
Cook noodles, oatmeal, rice or jello. Name the different textures as you play with them.
Mix cornstarch and water until you get a goop about the consistency of glue. Add food coloring if you wish. This is a non-toxic mixture, so no worries if a little bit gets eaten.

This is not the time to try and contain the mess! Frequently, the messier the experience, the more is learned. Think about it – the more touch receptors (and other senses) that are involved, the stronger and more permanent the learning will be.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, whose favourite sensory activity involves sand between her toes.

Tags: babies, brain, language development, Miss Analiisa, sensory systems, toddlers, touch

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Nov
17

Marshmallow Magic

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Family, Recipes, Things to do

Squishy, poufy, sugary fun. See a marshmallow through your kids’ eyes, and you’ll know why they are so loved. They are just asking to be squeezed, pul-l-l-l-ed apart, or bounced on the counter top. When popped in the mouth, their chalky texture quickly becomes a slippery, slimy glob of sweetness.

Not all flavors are created equal

Along with marshmallows a’ la carte, roasted marshmallows are a favorite at fall campfires. The classic S’More can’t be beat, but lots of new marshmallow flavors exist. Chocolate, caramel swirl, strawberry and tutti-fruity have hit supermarket shelves, although not all flavors seem to be available all the time. And not all flavors taste good over a fire. When was the last time you enjoyed a hot strawberry? A toasted lemon? Or burnt-around-the-edges lime? To each his own, but caramel or chocolate seems to rest better between two graham crackers and a wedge of chocolate.

Crispy treat heaven

But melt strawberry marshmallows with some butter and crispy rice cereal and let it cool; well, that’s a different story. Strawberry aficionados will have a tough time leaving them alone. Chocoholics have the same trouble with chocolate marshmallow crispy squares, or with white marshmallows squares to which a handful of chocolate chips has been stirred in. Death by Crispy Square would be treats made with both chocolate marshmallows and chocolate chips. What a great way to go!

Fast, flavorful and fun

Since the invention of flavored marshmallows, rice crispy squares are practically gourmet and still fast to make; ten minutes tops If using the microwave. With different flavors and toppings, they can be adapted to any festivity. Orange, red and brown sprinkles for fall. Team colors for a sports party. Red and green sugar for Christmas. Multi-colored sprinkles or M & M’s pressed into the top for birthdays or any occasion.

Easy and popular

Crispy squares have become my number one choice when taking dessert to a potluck or providing a family with dinner. I often put three flavors side-by-side on a cookie sheet: 1/3 chocolate, 1/3 strawberry and 1/3 white with sprinkles. Inexpensive, easy to transport, fun to look at and taste, they always makes a good impression. (Of course all the other parts of the meal I provide are incredibly healthy and nutritious….)

Here’s the recipe:

Generously butter a cookie baking sheet

In a 3 qt. casserole dish or other microwave-safe bowl, melt ¼ cup of butter. Add one package of marshmallows of your choice (regular or minis work fine) and stir so that marshmallows are coated in butter. Return to the oven and microwave until marshmallows are puffy and melted together—2-4 minutes depending on your microwave oven.

Carefully fold in 6 cups of crispy rice cereal. Mixture will be gooey. Stir until cereal and marshmallows are evenly combined. If desired, fold in ½ c. chocolate chips (or more to taste.) Transfer mixture to cookie sheet. Dampen your hands so mixture won’t stick and pat evenly onto cookie sheet. One recipe will fill 1/3 to ½ of a pan depending on how tall you want them. Sprinkle immediately with desired topping. Press topping gently into squares while still warm. Repeat process with next flavor. Press 2^nd flavor onto cookie sheet next to 1^st flavor. Repeat with 3^rd flavor, creating 3 stripes of flavored squares. Cool. Cut into squares.

Mooshy, squooshy, sickeningly-sweet marshmallows bring out the kid in us. So next time you’re at the store, buy a package of your favorite marshmallows, and join your child in old-fashioned marshmallow fun, however you like ‘em best.

-posted by Donna Detweiler, who while blogging today munched a sprinkled crispy square with her coffee. Yum.

We found a gourmet marshmallow review here. They look YUMMY! Think Maple Pecan, and Kona Coffee Crunch. Or even Key Lime Sublime.

Tags: Donna Detweiler, Things to do

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Nov
10

A New Holiday Tradition

Posted in Family, Symphony Concerts, Things to do, Things We Love

Oh, I love Christmas…the beautiful wreaths, the cookies, the carols, the bows ribbons and wrappings, the Yorkshire pudding. I love decorating the Christmas tree, and shopping and rehearsing for Christmas Eve mass, and I love going to mass on Christmas Eve, and singing all the beloved old carols and the new ones, too. I love making my lists of gifts and deciding what to get for my family (except for my husband’s dad – he is so hard to shop for!) And I still wait anxiously to open my own gifts. (Although I may have recently joined the same category as my father-in-law…)

It’s the traditions that make Christmas and any holiday or special event stand out in our memories. Would it be Easter without dyed eggs and chocolate bunnies, or the Fourth of July without hotdogs, apple pie and fireworks, or a wedding without rings? The answer: of course it would, but it might feel kinda funny, especially at first.

But every one of today’s traditions, once upon a time, were new additions to a time honored event. “Joy to the World and “Silent Night” had premiers and were the new kids on the block. They had to worm their way into the hearts of the people and become a tried and true Christmas tradition. So over time the traditions of all our beloved holidays have changed.

I’ve added a new tradition to my Christmas – the family concert at the Symphony. So a part of my Christmas preparations now is writing a script (and it’s all new this year) creating props, (all those are new, too) picking the music, (all new- well, all new old music, I guess is the better way to say that) and writing new music that none of you have ever heard before.

I’ve been deciding what kind of wacky things the Story Fairy will say and do, and wear on her head, it’ll be all new wackiness, but she’ll still be bossy (that’s traditional, after all) figuring out what Stacey and Michael will argue about and who gets to cry (Stacey is so funny when she cries…) crafting a story- yes, it’s all new and working with the arranger (he’s new!) and the illustrator. She stays the same, thankfully! I’ve grown accustomed to her style, and love her work, which will be –don’t be shocked – all new. And we are adding a new twist. We have invited a choir to join us for the story… there will be lots of voices singing out with Christmas and Hanukkah spirit.

Things are starting to move quickly now in our quest toward an all new Holiday Symphony Serenade Show. The illustrations have already been sent to the photographer. The arranger is working on the lullaby this weekend, our first read through was on Sunday, and Michael and I will begin building a very large Menorah in our garage sometime this week. The Story fairy will be welding the Shamash – you just can’t miss that!

If you’re reading this and you feel kinda mystified, then you need to add our concert series to your Holiday Traditions. Your children will love it and you will love it. It’s a great way to spend a Saturday morning. There will be group singing, of course, and a bounce, and some giggles, great harmony, a steady beat and a story and a snuggle. If you now exactly what I’m talking about, get your tickets right here…. ‘cause it’s ALL NEW…..

-posted by Miss Allison, who will see you in the lobby after the show!