The Girl and The Dinosaur

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One of my favorite things to do is take a favorite picture book and really explore it for the week. For us this means that besides reading it out loud to the girls multiple times, we also all learn how to sign it in ASL. I will also set up either a sensory bin based on the story or maybe a small world. 

Last week we used The Girl and the Dinosaur written by, HollieHughes. The story is about a young girl who digs up dinosaur bones at the beach and then imagines what it would be like if they came to life. The illustrations are amazing and the story was captivating for my young audience aged 7-2.

To set up a sensory bin around this story I pulled some wooden dinosaurs, some resin dinos, and some bones. Added all that to the bin filled with cocoa shells and some tools and let the kids at it. It did end up with cocoa shells everywhere-but they vacuumed up nicely, so it was fine. The cocoa shells also made the whole room smell like chocolate which was a nice added bonus. This activity was a hit for all the kids and lasted several days.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mud Kitchen

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We try our best to spend a part of everyday outside, regardless of weather. Nothing has been as engaging to my kids as our mud kitchen that we put together this year. The great thing about a mud kitchen is that it can be as simple or extravagant as you want it to be, or that your space allows. In the past my kids were extremely happy using a large under the bed storage container and some measuring cups and bowls. 

First mud kitchen

First mud kitchen

This year we were lucky enough to be gifted a ‘traditional’ mud kitchen from my Mom which was the starting point for our expansion. This one is from amazon and was pretty easy to put together. It has so far held up really well and the sink basin is great to add different sensory elements to play. I knew that I wanted to add a cauldron to it because my 4 year old loves being a witch. A near by tree that had been taken over by an invasive vine was perfect to make the tri-pod to hold it. It looks awesome and creepy and is perfect for the kids. And makes my four year olds dreams come true.  

The next thing that we added was a large bowl sink that was needed because we always have four kids playing at the same time. If I had less kids then we would have been fine with out any more additions but we needed more play stations so that there is plenty of room for every one.

Then for just decor purposes I added a rainbow of flowers above the kitchen and we usually have a table with and under bed storage container to extend play as well. Another practical addition I will mention is that before we built anything we dug up the grass in this area and added gravel so that it doesn’t get flooded and has some drainage. 

We have had so many great set ups this summer already, the easiest has just been the obvious, mud, but also foam soap has been super fun. We have done small world set ups as well such as mermaids, and a pond set up. The best part of the mud kitchen is that my 18 month old is just as entertained as my 6 year old! Anything that allows everyone to play together is a win in my book!  

Soap foam mud kitchen



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Introductions

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All four of the kids.

Welcome to Ok Mom, a blog where I will be posting all of my attempts to entertain and educate my four kids! I am Jess, mom to four amazing humans, Esther who is 6, Jo who is 4, Pearl who is 3 and last but not least Truman who is almost 18 months. While I am doing my best to raise good, and kind children, we don’t strive to be perfect here and that’s why I am only an ok mom.

Like so many families this year had been particularly difficult to keep kids engaged in activities while we are stuck at home due to COVID and not buried in screens all day. While many things are opening up we are still pretty quarantined since my youngest, has a tracheotomy and is particularly susceptible to respiratory illnesses. Homeschooling is not something I would have ever considered doing until this pandemic, and the last three months were hard to say the least. However, Truman has been doing so amazing since not being exposed to any viruses during this time, he has really thrived under quarantine. This has really given us something to think about. I’m not sure what we will do in the fall when schools start, because I do think there is so much to be gained from the social aspect of school, but this is also the longest Truman has been out of the hospital.

So for now we are staying home and doing our best to keep everyone happy and healthy. Which means a lot of messy play, sensory bins, mud kitchens, and learning through play.

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