The CPSC-The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has a web site with recent press releases for recalled consumer goods. Included is a toys and children’s products list.

Plastic Easter Eggs are in abundance this time of year. For these games get the large plastic eggs at your local craft, dollar or superstore.

You will need:
6 or more plastic eggs
6 or more objects (Plastic ones from a discount or dollar store are great for this.)
Pictures of the objects
Containers for the eggs and pictures

Put an object in each plastic egg, put the eggs in a basket. In a container or basket have the pictures of each object. Show your child how to spread out the pictures in a column. Show your child how to open the egg and take out the object. Let your child match the object to the picture.
Control of Error:
The last picture and object won’t match.

Put the game in the baskets or containers and put it away on a shelf.

Advanced game:1
Write down the name of the object and put one word in each egg.
Let your child match it to the actual object and/or picture.

Advanced game: 2
Put an object in each egg.
Let your child spell the word on paper or with the moveable alphabet.

ABC teach directory has
a good printout of pictures/words for this activity. Click on Sample: Doulch Noun Sample Picture Flashcards.
You can glue pictues from magazines or clip art on card stock, poster board, or heavy construction paper.
Use stickers placed on note cards for a quick picture card.

It is fun and exciting to use ingrediants from your kitchen and garden to make your own plant dye. If you are coloring Easter Eggs, you can add oil to the dye to make a swirled effect on the eggs. Use wax crayons to make designs before dying your eggs for a mosaic effect.

Here are some colors you can make:

Melted frozen dark purple grape juice- makes lavender
Melted frozen cranberry juice- makes red
Pickled beet juice- makes light pink
Dark tea-makes light brown to rose
Coffee-brown

Here are some plants you can cook-
Strain the cooked items from the juice before soaking

Cooked yellow onion skins makes -yellow to orange tan.
Cooked blueberries-makes blue
Cooked carrot tops-makes yellow
Cooked purple cabbage leaves-makes purple
Cooked parsley leaves- makes green
Cooked spinach leaves- makes green

You can adjust the brightness of the colors by adding water.
For dying eggs add some vingegar to the color solution.
You can use this dye for water colors.

About once a month I take a mental health day. I usually take a detox bath that consists of 1 cup of salt, 1 cup of baking soda and 1 tablespoon of ginger. I soak for 30 minutes and drink a glass of water. I finish with a shower. Usually, I spend the rest of the day outdoors just enoying nature. Connecting with nature increases your mental health. I even turn off the phone and just relax to watch the birds and smell the roses.

When my children were younger we took mental health days together. We would hang out in our pjs, eat popcorn and watch great vintage movies.

I actually make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with tofu. I use about 1/8 cup of tofu to replace an egg. Instead of butter and shortening I use oil. Use a combination of vegetable oil and olive oil. Also, a few tablespoons of nut oil gives more flavor.
The cookies turn out great!
Here is a site for good vegetarian crock pot cooking.

Montessori encourages observing your child. Remember writing all your child’s accomplishments and events in a baby book? You can continue doing this as your child grows. It will give you an insight to your child’s talents and abilities. Also, when someone else is with your child, ask what did your child like to do and what was his or her interests. The goal is to help you mentor and guide your child.

Earth as a Pepper Corn is a great way to show the scale of our solar system. You will probably have to go outside to do this.

This is an fun way to make your own egg dye.

Use about 1 tablespoon of vinegar, 1/3 cup dye and water. Soak the eggs and let them dry on a rack or egg carton.
You can use food coloring instead of making the homemade dye. Use less water for a darker dye.

After you have peeled and eaten the colored eggs, you can use the colored shells to make a collage.

Jars and Lids-sensorial exercise
This is like a puzzle-it teaches visual differences of size-small to large, wide and narrow, tall and short

Materials:

Various size of jars and matching lids. Make sure each lid is a different size.
Put the jars (with lids on) in a box .
Take out the three jars that vary the most in size.
Show your child how to screw off the lids.
Mix up the lids, carefully pick up one lid, and look at each jar to find the one that fits.
Screw it on the right jar.
Let your child do the exercise. Add more jars as your child masters the exercise.

Talk about the difference in jar and lid sizes, such as large, small, tall and short, wide and narrow

Advanced lesson:

Take out all the jars, lids, and let your child match the correct jars to the lids.

This exercise has a control of error because there will be at least one left over jar lid if done incorrectly.

Montessori Dad

Practical life skills with dad are fun for both your child and dad. My children loved washing the car with their Dad.
He can show the kids how to squeeze out the excess water from a sponge, hose down the car in prep for washing, fill up the bucket with water, and scrub the car and dry it.
If your husband is handy in the workshop, he can guide his child how to saw and hammer wood.
Even a small child loves to screw and unscrew large nuts and bolts.
Your child can pick up nails and screws, hold a screw with pliers, screw and unscrew with a screw driver and sort nails and screws.
Whatever dad likes to do as a hobby or chore, he can introduce his child to some fun and different practical life skills.

Here are some more ideas:
Shoveling snow
Raking leaves
Planting a garden
Baking
Cooking
Cleaning
Painting-a young child can paint with water instead of paint
Sweeping the sidewalk or driveway
Plumbing-changing a washer in the faucet
Changing batteries in a flashlight
Water play with plastic bottles, sieves, funnels in the bathtub which is a great introduction to pouring water.
Help to get ready for bed- show how to brush teeth, comb hair, and wash face.

Grandpa and uncles are great at doing this too!