Going for Gold!

Like so many people around the world, we are all coming back to earth after much Olympic excitement over the last few weeks. As Canadians and citizens of the host country, the level of enthusiasm was certainly running on high in these parts. Chi-Chi and Muffy have been hockey lovers for quite some time, but the Team Canada gold medal win has sparked an even deeper interest in the game. The fact that we spend our Friday mornings skating on the very rink that Sidney Crosby grew up on, well that is just the icing on the cake for these two! Oh how I love Muffy's play silk goalie mask! Although Mommy is proud of his creativity, she won't be allowing this one on the ice.

The games also sparked some new found patriotism in the boys, perhaps something they had not experienced before. I discovered this great flag project on one of my favorite sites, My Montessori Journey. This blog has become one of my favorite resources for both Montessori specific work, as well as great crafts and activities. The flag templates were easy to print and in no time we had a huge collection of Canadian flags for our cheering efforts. This would be a wonderful project for wee ones any time of the year. There is definitely something alluring about flags in general and the children are simply captivated by them. We used wooden dowels instead of straws as Chi-Chi wanted to make larger flags. This would be a great activity to pair up with learning on other countries and cultures.

No Olympics would be complete without the Olympic torch and a few medals. These were quickie projects that I pulled together during one very wild storm and a power outage. They certainly filled the gap on one very cold and dreary day. The torch is a simple roll of white card stock stuffed with a little bundle of orange, red and yellow wool fleece. Is there nothing wool can't do?? The boys spent hours performing the relay, doing snowboarding stunts off the couch (eek!) and accepting their multicolored medals. After singing Oh Canada for an entire day, sweet Chi-Chi mastered the lyrics in no time. I love the way one activity leads to another, how one moment of learning opens the door to another. The curious and enthusiastic nature of children makes the process feel so natural and organic.

So much activity and excitement around here has left little time for blogging these days. I've been working on some fun projects behind the scenes that I hope to share in the near future. One certain little boy is turning 5 in a few weeks and we are all having fun planning and preparing for the big day!