Children's Creativity Museum- San Francisco

We finally took a trip to 'the city' (San Francisco) to visit the Children's Creativity Museum where my sister works. It was so worth the drive and I wish we had done it sooner! We all had an absolute blast! Here's a few photos from the trip~

Lucy and Aunt Jill getting the museum ready- We were lucky enough to be the first guests on that particular day!

The 'Build It' area~

Theo absolutely loved building! He was not happy to move on to other areas and probably would have been content to stay there all day.

They have a fun puppet theater area with dress up clothing as well.

 Lucy creating her own creature.

Even Paulie had a blast. Here he his working on his stop-motion video using letter magnets.

Here's Aunt Jill helping Lucy do some claymation. I thought this may be beyond her 4 years, but it ended up being Lucy's favorite part of the museum.

They have an area in the museum where you can make a dance video. (Lucy wasn't quite ready for that, but we had a blast watching the other kids make theirs.)

The 'Mystery Box' area! This was one of my favorites. It really inspired me with lots of classroom ideas and even stuff to do with Lucy at home. Basically you are given a task card- Lucy's was to create a bunch of flowers that can fly. Then, you choose a mystery box. You have to create your task using what's in the box. Each box is filled with different materials. Really loved this! Started thinking how we could do mini-versions of this at home or even transition it to different subjects in the classroom. 

The Lego Wall~ Paulie and Lucy could have stayed for hours. We want one in our house!

Love this ceiling decoration! I want to now try this at home with the whole family involved. Maybe gather some longer twigs to hang our flowers and origami from?

I think we all came home inspired. Lucy immediately got out of the car, headed for her bristle blocks and started creating all kinds of 'inventions'. Paulie and I got so many neat ideas to try at home and school, and I'm sure Theo was still dreaming about those giant, foam blocks he loved!

Photo a Day: Days 21-23

Friday- 2.24.12 (Day 21) Theo's first time eating beets and potatoes!

Saturday- 2.25.12 (Day 22) I was on a cooking rampage making pitas, granola bars, tapioca pudding and pizza. Paulie played with the kids while I was busy cooking. Looks like they're doing some xbox!

Sunday- 2.26.12 (Day 23) We took a little drive downtown to a local bookstore. (Wasn't feeling up for the walk since I've been a bit under the weather.) It was our first time there, and Lucy loved it! They have a cute little children's book area. Lucy immediately grabbed a book and got comfortable! I'm so amazed by how much she's ready at 3 years old! She knew her basics (letter identification, letter sounds, phonemic awareness, concepts of print etc) very early on, and now she's really getting comfortable decoding big words. So excited for her! 

Calendars

When I was a primary teacher, we did activities with calendars daily in class. Kids can learn so much from them! But, at home, I was not really exposing my daughter to them. Glad I finally did!

At age 2 Lucy began showing an interest in what I was writing in my personal calendar. And in her early 3's, she started counting while pointing to the numbers on my calendar. I would put my wall calendar on the floor and let her count with it. I really attribute this to her being able to count to 30 so early. I think she's a visual learner like me, so seeing those numbers while saying them really helped her. (She can now count to 50 at 3 1/2! Proud mama!)

So I finally decided to get her her own calendar. There was one on clearance at Target for about $3 so into my cart it went! I brought it home and she loved it! It's hung right at her level on the wall on a little hook that she can take it on and off of by herself.

We use it almost every day:
- At the beginning of each month, we sit together and fill in the activities for the month.
- We practice what sounds are in the words as I'm writing them and brainstorm a little picture to draw next to the words.
- We cross off each day together in the evening and talk about what's coming up soon.
- We count how many days until an exciting event- like Grandmommy visiting!
- We learn the order of the months as we flip through the calendar to find special days throughout the year.

This calendar is a bit boring looking, I'll admit. I'm thinking around Christmas I'll get her a special one for a gift.

Here's one of our favorite books to use year round. It's called Around the Year by Elsa Beskow. I absolutely love the illustrations! It stays near our nature table to refer to and read often!