Hammering With Kids / Zakucavanje eksera sa decom

Kids usually want to do everything that we (the grown-ups) do. At least my kids. So, while making the geoboard the other day, both V and baby Z were importuning me to let them hammer the nails as well. Since the wood log for the geoboard was to hard, I found this small wood board that was soft enough for little hands.

Deca obično žele da rade sve ono što rade odrasli. Bar moja deca. Tako su pre neki dan, dok sam pravila ovu geo tablu, navaljivali da im dozvolim da i oni zakucavaju eksere. Pošto je panj bio suviše tvrd, pronašla sam ovu drvenu daščicu, koja je bila dovoljno mekana za male dečje ručice.

We used large nails so that small hands can hold them easily, and a large but a lightweight wood hammer (that we use for meat). V didn't miss a nail. Ha!

Namerno sam dala V-u velike eksere, da bi mogao lakše da ih drži, i ovaj veliki ali lagan drveni čekić za meso - zbog velike udarne površine. Nije promašio ni jednom, i nije udario prstić ni jednom. Ha!

After that, V was so curious to see how the pincers work, so he took out all the mails.
Nakon toga, V je želeo da proba kako rade klešta, pa je izvadio sve eksere.

But, there is another kid oround here that always cries - 'Let me do it, too!' - so here is the same activity set up for a two-years-old girl. The same lightweight wood hammer, clay and some sticks. 

Međutim, ovde imamo i jednu malu devojčicu koja stalno traži da radi sve što radi i njen strariji brat, pa sam ovu aktivnost ovako prilagodila njoj: isti drveni lagani čekić, glina umesto drvene pločice i grančice.

A Handmade Natural Geo Board / Geo tabla

You all probably know what a geoboard is, and what it's used for. But, here, where we live, there are no geoboards in stores, so I decided to make one myself for V. I took a wood log and nailed some nails in it. Very simple. 

Geo tabla je tabla koja se uglavnom koristi kao matematičko sredstvo za usvajanje i vežbanje različitih koncepata iz geometrije, ali je nama zanimljvija za likovne igre. Budući da ih u našim radnjama nema, napravila sam jednu od jednog panja i malo eksera. Vrlo jednostavno. Nisam sigurna da li geo tabla mora da zadovoljava određene standarde (npr. određen razmak između eksera, pravilno rastojanje između njih i sl.) da bi se koristila za matematičke vežbe, ali kako je nama za sada potrebna da bismo pravili 'slike', nisam vodila računa o tome. Slike jesu geometrizovane, i da, naučili smo usput kako izgledaju trougao, četvorougao, itd, a ta usputna saznanja su nekako i najslađa, zar ne?

How Many Kinds of Green / Koliko zelenih nijansi

We are surrounded by green, here. A beautiful color! But is it only one color? 
When talking about color-mixing people usually say: "We add white to a specific color to get a brighter tone, and black - to get a darker tone". But actually color-mixing is much much more then this simplified statement. In order to mix and get a specific color, one has to search for it, and try out different combinations.  What would happen for example, to a green color if we added some yellow, or some red, or orange, or a pinch of dark-blue, or some amount of light-blue, or gray, or pink, or violet, and then again some green... Mixing colors is an exploration adventure, not a prescribed recipe. In order to make children understand the concept of 'many kinds of one color' - nature can be our best helper! Just observing, talking about and spotting (in an 'I spy game') these gentle differences of one color - is a good exercise for little kid's eyes. So, choose a color, take a look around yourself, and try to see - how many kinds of it, can you see?

Ovde smo okruženi zelenom. Prelepom bojom! Ali, da li je to samo jedna boja?
Kada razgovaram sa ljudima o mešanju boja, obično kažu: "Dodamo belu u određenu boju da dobijemo svetliju nijansu, ili crnu boju - da dobijemo tamniju nijansu". Ali mešanje boja je mnogo mnogo više od toga. Da bismo dobili određenu nijansu neke boje, moramo tragati za njom, isprobavati različite kombinacije boja. Šta će se desiti, npr. sa zelenom bojom ako u nju dodamo malo žute, ili malo crvene, ili narandžaste, ili mrvicu tamno-plave, ili dosta svetlo-plave, ili sivu, ili ljubičastu, pa onda ponovo malo zelene? Mešanje boja je istraživačka avantura, a ne gotov recept. Da bismo pomogli deci da razumeju koncept "mnogobrojnih nijansi jedne boje" - priroda nam može mnogo pomoći! Samo posmatranje, razgovor o, ili opažanje (u igri pronalaženja određene nijanse) - je dobra vežbica za malene dečje oči. Tako da, odaberite jednu boju, pogledajte oko sebe i otkrijte - koliko njenih nijansi možete da vidite?

In Our Mud Kitchen / U našoj blatnjavoj kuhinjici

Here is where hours and hours of beautiful play is spent. I am always fascinated by the greatness of the simplest things (and in this case - the attraction that they have on kids)! And this is one of them: some old kitchen pans and utencils, a little sand or mud and some nature bits of this and that to set up a perfect playground! Sand and mud are some of those wonderful open-ended materials that calm the kids and relieves them from excess energy. So when ever you can - let the kids play in sand and mud! You will be surprised by what you will get to see (besides dirty clothes)!

Ovo je mesto gde deca provode sate i sate igranja. Uvek sam fascinirana veličinom najjednostavnijih stvari (i u ovom slučaju - moći kojom privlače decu)! A ovo je jedna od njih: stare kuhinjske šerpe i pribor, malo peska, blata i prirodnih drangulija za savršen kutak za igru. Pesak i blato su fantastični likovni materijali koji podstiču kreativnu igru otvorenig tipa ali i matreijali koji oslobađuju decu viška energije. Zato, kad god ste u mogućnosti - dozvolite deci da se igraju u pesku i blatu! Bićete iznenađeni onim što ćete videti (osim prljave odeće)!

 

Making a Felted Blanket for Dolls / Filcano ćebence za lutke

Here is another Waldorf craft activity that we did another day. Waldorf pedagogy is fueled with love and care for animals and all living beings.  Making a small felted blanket for a doll or an animal-toy, or even a real animal, if we have one - is one of the many ways to develop this loving and caring attitude in kids, according to Waldorf pedagogy.

Evo još jedne Valdorf aktivnosti koju smo probali pre neki dan. Valdorf pedagogija pridaje veliki značaj prirodi, ljubavi prema životinjama i svim živim bićima, kao i prema ,,drugima" uopšte. Izrada jednog malog filcanog ćebeta, za lutku ili životinju-igračku (ili čak za pravu životinju, ukoliko je imamo) je prema Valdorf pedagogiji, jedan od mnogih načina da se kod dece razvija i neguje ova vrsta saosećanja i brige za druge.

You will need: a zip-lock bag, some wool for felting, and warm soapy  water (with dish-soap).

Za izradu filcanog ćebenceta biće vam potrebna jedna zip-lok kesica (može se kupiti u Dm radnjama), nepredena vuna za filcanje (može se naći u radnji Modellina u Hilandarskoj u Beogradu) i malo tople vode pomešane sa tri kapi deterdženta za sudove.

1. Make the design on a flat surface.  It shouldn't be larger than the surfce of the zip-lock bag. Here, we took one colored wool for the background, and then played with the pattern on top, adding wool in another color. (It is important to put enough wool so it doesn't come out to thin once it's felted.)

1. Položite jedan deblji sloj vune na ravnu površinu stola (površine ne veće od površine zip-log kesice). Ovde smo upotrebili vunu u jednoj boji za podlogu, a zatim smo na nju stavljali manje komadiće vune u drugim bojama. (Važno je staviti dosta vune tako da ćebence ne ispadne suviše tanko prilikom filcanja.)

2. When the design is done, place it carefully into the zip-lock bag.

2. Pažljivo ubacite vunu u zip-lok kesicu.

3. Add some warm soapy water, so the wool is completely soaked in it. Take care not to spoil the design.

3. U toplu vodu dodajte 3 kapi deterdženta za sudove i tu vodu ulijte u kesicu dok se sva vuna ne potopi. 

4. Once the wool is wet, lay the bag flat on an absorbant towel and starting from the bottom of the bag, press with your hand flat moving it towards the top of the bag squeezing out most of the excess water and air.

4. Položite kesicu i počev od dna kesice povlačite dlanom prema otvoru, kako bi izbacili vazduh i višak vode.

5. Close the bag and start working the wool by poking, bumping, hitting with hands and fists, rubbing with hands in circles, etc, for a few minutes, until the wool becomes firm and felted.

5. Zatvorite kesicu i počnite sa filcanjem tako što ćete trljati dlanovima ukrug, udarati dlanovima, pesnicama, drvenim čekićem, valjati oklagijom, itd. Treba li napomenuti da je ovaj deo najzabavniji za decu?

6. Open the zip-lock bag, take out the felted wool and rinse it under water.

6. Izvadite ćebence iz vrećice i pažljivo isperite i iscedite.

7. Place the small balanket on a towel to soak excess water and to dry.

7. Položite ćebence na peškir i ostavite da se osuši.

8. Let the play begin!

8. Neka igra počne!