I strew their paths and then they strew mine

I can't remember where I first read about "strewing," but there's a good explanation of it here. It involves providing materials to our children that we think may spark an interest. Then you can sit back and see where they go with it. I am especially fond of this concept right now, because Robert is teething and miserable. The time we manage to find for actual instruction, book reading, or mom-led projects is hard-won. When I practice strewing, they have an activity they can enjoy while I nurse Robert for the 30th time in a day!

Last night I was going through my craft room and found a bunch of wooden beads that I'd picked up at various at yard sales. I didn't have a plan for them; they probably came in a box with something else I really wanted. I also had an old silverware organizer, and I knew we had a new pair of shoelaces laid aside in a dresser drawer. So I put together this little work station for Suzi. First you sort the beads (by size or color), then you can decide on a pattern, and then you string the beads on the shoelaces! I placed it on her desk for her to find in the morning.

Of course, if I make something for Suzi, I have to do something for Ivey too! It couldn't be more beads, because Ivey drops things in the floor all the time and Robert could find one and put it in his mouth. But I had a little container and a bunch of small clothespins. Kids love these clothespins, because they aren't clothespins to them. They're little people. So I painted the little people red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple and left them out for Ivey to find. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of them.

They both liked what I made them. Suzi played with her beads for a while, and Ivey shared her "rainbow guys" with Robert. The rainbow guys are now all over the floor, naturally.

I had a bunch of extra clothespins that I didn't find time to put away, and Suzi picked them up. She took them to her desk, asked to borrow a pen, and started making them into unique characters. That was a little accidental strewing!

This is Little Sunshine. He has a black eye because his little sister, Alice, punched him.

We had to have a talk with Alice. She claims she did it because he was being aggravating.

Suzi wants to make these for people for Christmas. Some of them are happy, some sad, some angry. That one on the bottom right is a Suzi self-portrait of sorts, in a bowtie and suspenders. I love that girl.

It's so neat to see what I get back when I give them little things like this to use--aside from the mess in the floor, which is a given. I get to see Suzi's creativity. Ivey shares with her little brother and includes him in her play. I am gifted a little clothespin person to keep me company on my end table. Most of all, I get feedback about what I can do next! I may see if I have some magnet strips to glue on the back of these guys so they can congregate on the fridge. I wonder what other things I have stashed in my craft room that I can use. You probably have some good stuff at your house, too!

Homeschool crafts: Make a feely box!

When I was little and my mom was in the middle of her career as a teacher, there were a few things she had in her collection of classroom learning tools that I was especially drawn to. One of them was a yellow box with a hand drawn on the top and a sock coming out of a hole on either side. There were all kinds of things inside the box, but you couldn't see them. You couldn't even peek because of the socks. You had to put your hand in and feel instead. I loved to feel around in the box, guess what I had grabbed and then pull it out to see if I was right. It sounds simple, doesn't it? But that feely box was so... so... mysterious! I can still remember reaching in and finding a soft, scruffy hairbrush.

The other day a Facebook discussion on homeschool manipulatives and activities made me realize it would be fun to have craft days to make some of these things. The feely box was the first thing that came to mind. It's versatile and easy to make.

The feely box makes for a fun, relaxing activity that can easily be revamped by changing out the items in the box. I'm thinking of keeping several sets of items handy and reloading them every month or so. You could also fill the box with items to go along with whatever you are learning at the time. If you are learning about the ocean, perhaps some seashells, sponges, driftwood, and smooth stones. You could combine the feely box with a sink-or-float experiment, asking the child to guess if the item will sink or float before they pull it out of the box. Obviously, the feely box would be perfect for teaching sense of touch, and it also helps develop vocabulary.

It's mostly self-explanatory, but here are the instructions for making the feely box. I took the time to cover mine and sew special tubes for it, but you could skip some of these steps and make a simpler box. Sorry there are no process photos; with the kids distracting me, I was doing great to finish my box at all!

Items needed:

sturdy corrugated cardboard box, ~10x10"

two socks (I prefer to use sweater sleeves)

poster board in a pretty color

duct tape in a coordinating pretty color

small paper cup or other circular item to trace (your hand needs to fit through)

brads

scissors

exacto knife or cutting tool

ice pick or other pointy tool

items to put in your box

1) Tape your box together and tape it shut.

2) Cut a square of poster board for each side. Don't forget which sides of the box are the non-taped ones. Put a dot or something on the center of two of the sides that are solid during this process (one on each side) so you will know for the next step. Cover the box with the poster board, and use the duct tape to secure the edges and make it look pretty.

3) Place your cup in the middle of the box on the two sides you marked and draw around it. Then cut the circles out with your cutting tool. You should be able to look straight through your box.

4) Use your ice pick to make small holes around each big round hole. I did 12 holes about 3/4" from the circle, arranged like the numbers on a clock.

5) Cut the top of your sock off so you have a tube a few inches long. Tuck the raw edge inside the hole in the box and secure it all the way around with brads. Do this on both sides.

6) All you need to do now is stuff your box with fun feely items! In ours I put toothbrushes, combs, seashells, erasers, baby spoons, tiny slinkies, scrubby sponges, little plastic maracas, wooden eggs, squishy stress balls, and some of those gummy/spiky toys that feel so neat. I included two of everything so we could play the following game.

One of my friends sends her sons to Montessori school and told me about a Montessori work that could be adapted to the feely box. I put two of each item into the box. Then I let Suzi put both hands in and feel around for a pair of items. Once she pulls out two things that are alike, she passes the box to Ivey. Ivey (almost three years old) is able to play this game too and it makes her so happy when she is successful. This game would work with one child or with a bunch of children having circle time.

To tell the truth, I still enjoy playing with the feely box myself. Brings back good memories. A big thanks to my mom for the inspiration, information, and help creating these!