Sensory Play with Goop

Corn starch goop was a big hit with Ian. It is very fun stuff, a great sensory experience. Corn starch mixed with water has wonderful and unique physical properties: this mixture will feel like liquid sometimes and sometimes it will feel solid.
First, Ian poured the dry corn starch into a tub and I let him feel the powder between his fingers.

After experimenting with the dry corn starch, he added water to it and mixed it with his bare hands. This created an impressive substance that Ian enjoyed touching and squeezing in his hands.

 

Next I added food coloring into the mixture and Ian mixed it with his hands. He liked watching how the colors swirled and blended in.

Then he decided to feel the texture with his bare feet. He had a lot of fun getting into and out of the tub. It was a great balancing exercise for him.

As Ian likes to make footprints on the floor every time he has wet feet, he attempted to run around the backyard but the goop was so slippery and we moved to the grass where he continued getting into and out of the tub until he fell and made me laugh :-) It got funnier because Ian loves to splash in puddles.

ut the fun was not finished yet. After that he poured clean water in the tub and sat there for a while and looked at his painted face in a mirror.

Walking around the neighborhood / De paseo por el barrio

As a prelude to the rainy season we have had some cloudy days. Early in the morning temperature has been lower than normal. Later, the temperature can reach 35 degrees more or less. So we have taken advantage for a early walk around the neighborhood.

Como antesala a la temporada de lluvias hemos tenidos algunos días nublados. Temprano por la mañana la temperatura ha estado más baja de lo normal. Después, con el correr de las horas la temperatura puede llegar a 35 grados más o menos. Así que hemos aprovechado para salir a caminar temprano por el barrio.

During our leisurely walks, we found a neighbor who has some cows, horses and chickens in house (which is usual in this village). Ian loves to stop there to observe, call and, to my surprise, to count them.

En nuestro recorrido, encontramos un vecino que tiene algunos vacas, caballos y gallinas en casa (lo cual es usual en este pueblo). A Ian le encanta detenerse ahí para observarlos, y para mi sorpresa, para contarlos.

Elections will be soon, so there are many political slogans painted on the walls. Ian paid attention to the big letters and stopped to observe every one. I believe that he thought they were numbers, because he began to point some letters and mention some numbers.

El país está en campaña electoral así que hay muchas propagandas pintadas en las paredes. A Ian le llamó la atención ver letras tan grandes, se detuvo a observarlas una por una y creo que pensaba que eran números, porque empezó a apuntar algunas letras y mencionar algunos números que se les parecían.

Another thing Ian liked was walking across each narrow structure he found.

Otra cosa que le gusta a Ian es aprovechar cada estructura para hacer equilibrio.

Swinging and singing / Cantando en el columpio

John built a swing for Ian a month ago; however, it was only until the last week when Ian wanted to use it. At this moment, swinging is part of his daily routine, he wants “sw tree” 1, 2 or 3 times a day, by about half an hour each time.
Ian is a very active child and I rarely see him as quiet as when he is swinging.
While he is on the swing, he listens thoughtfully one of his music CDs (he carries the CD player by himself). He has begun to sing the easiest parts, something like “ooooooh” :-). He gets so cute that I overcome my pollen and grass allergy and the itchs from mosquitoes and ants.

John hizo un columpio para Ian hace un mes, sin embargo, fue solo hasta la semana pasada cuando él quiso usarla. Ahora es parte de su rutina diaria columpiarse 1, 2 o 3 veces al día, por alrededor de media hora cada vez. Ian es un niño muy activo y pocas veces lo veo tan tranquilo como cuando esta columpiándose.
Mientras se columpia escucha, muy concentrado, algunos de sus CDs de música (el lleva el reproductor de CDs). Ha empezado a bailar con menos inhibición y está intentando cantar las partes más fáciles, algo así como “oooohhhh”. Imagínense lo lindo que es para que yo soporto mi alergia a los jardines y todos los mosquitos y hormigas que me pican.

Let’s Pretend Play / Juegos Imaginativos

Ian is developing his imagination. Lately, we have seen him chattering away to himself, having fun acting out his favorites books characters, for example being the baby bird of Are you my mother, or being Max of Where The Wilds Things Are.

Ian está desarrollando su imaginación. Ahora es s usual verlo hablando solo, divirtiéndose representando a los personajes de sus libros, por ejemplo, siendo el pajarito de Are you my mother, o siendo Max de Where The Wilds Things Are.

Yesterday, we were cleaning up the entrance of our house. Ian took his broom and I thought he was going to sweep (I was doing so), but he pretended to be a rider on his horse (I understood that because he asked me to make the neighing, snorting, and the clop-clop of hooves).

Ayer, mientras estuvimos limpiando la entrada de casa, Ian tomo su escobita, pensé que iba a barrer como yo lo estaba haciendo, pero él empezó a imitar a un jinete en su caballo (lo supe porque me pidió que hiciera los sonidos de los relinchos del caballo y los sonidos de sus cascos).

Then, after he swung, I put his stuffed koala on the swing and Ian pushed it as I expected; actually it was not as easy as I guessed, but he tried it anyway.

Luego, después de columpiarse, le traje a su koala de peluche para ver si lo empujaba en el columpio y, efectivamente, Ian lo sentó y trató de columpiarlo, aunque no resulto ser tan fácil como imagine.

Another game that Ian enjoys is Thomas the Tank Engine. He makes “choo choo” noises while he is pushing his toy trains. When he finishes playing, he knock down the circuit and I have to reassemble it, which is something that I dislike. I prefer this simple train truck on a rustic rump.

Otro juego que Ian disfruta es Thomas the tank engine. A él le gusta hacer sonidos “chuu chuu” mientras los empuja y cuando termina derriba el circuito; lo cual no es muy divertido porque no me toma mucho tiempo armarlo de nuevo. Yo prefiero algo más sencillo como esta rampla.

Push me / Empújame

John has been doing some carpentry over the last two weeks helping prepare the Montessori environment for Ian and we know this will take several weeks! He is missing some tools and most importantly we still don’t know where in the city to buy wood, nor how we’ll get it home. Meanwhile John is recycling wood from scrap at his work. With this wood he built a work table for his workshop and yesterday almost finished a swing for Ian. There’s still a few more pieces of wood to start our garden project. We hung the swing in the front yard and Ian tried it; although he enjoyed it a lot, John decided that we’ll have to make a few changes to avoid it from being stolen.

John ha estado haciendo un poco de carpinteria las ultimas dos semanas, ayudandome a preparar el ambiente Montessori para Ian. Nosotros sabemos que esto tomara varias semanas! Aun le faltan algunas herramientas y lo mas importante todavia no sabemos donde, en la ciudad, podemos comprar la madera ni como traerla a casa. Mientras tanto, John ha estado reciclando madera que han desechado en su trabajo. Con esta madera ha hecho una mesa para su taller y ayer casi ha completado un columpio para Ian. Y todavia queda algunas piezas de madera para empezar nuestro proyecto jardin. Hemos colgado el columpio en el arbol de toronjas en la entrada de casa para que Ian la probara. Ian disfruto muchisimo, sin embargo John decidio que hara algunos cambios para evitar que la roben.