Apple Pizza

The kids LOVED preparing and eating this quick and simple pizza.  Delicious served with creamy butternut soup and strawberry lemonade.

Ingredients
Sprouted whole grain bread
Grated Cheese
Diced Apples


Step 1

Grate cheese with a child safe grater.




Step 2

Sprinkle cheese on bread with a variety of tongs.





Step 3

Use training chopsticks for an excellent hand eye coordination practice to add the apples.


Step 4

Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.


Enjoy with your friends!

We experimented with viscosity, density, and surface tension while we joyfully created our own calming glitter jar.  We didn't follow an exact recipe for the jars but instead tried out different combinations of glitter, water, glue, sequins, and food coloring to create our own unique jar of magic.  Calming jars are an awesome tool to help a child (or a parent!) regulate their emotions.  It feels great to shake out all your frustrations and then take a few deep breaths while you watch the magic sparkle settle.

First fill bottle half way with water and add some clear glue...

pour different colors and sizes of glitter through a funnel...

add a few drops of food coloring...

shake up your glitter bottle...

and marvel at the sparkly magic!

Mama Kindra came by and helped us build a bamboo fort. It's one way that Native people began their houses:  Stick sapling or bamboo in the ground in a circle then bend the tops and tie them together in a series of arches.  Then drape fabric or other cloth for shade over the dome of twigs.   Check out her Natural Building Design at claysandstraw.com!

We looked at a picture of the painting 'Lavender Mist' by Jackson Pollock and discussed how he was the first painter to abandon brushes and pour, drip or splatter his paint onto the canvas.

The kids enjoyed creating their own action paintings with marbles and using a splatter technique:

For the splatter technique we loaded our brushes with watercolors:

We love to work on collaborative art projects!

We created our own lacing beads with fimo clay.  Check out these developmental benfits of beading by Occupational Therapist, Kimberly Voaden:

* Improved fine motor, visual perceptual, visual motor and cognitive skills

* Improved dressing skills (especially clothing fasteners, like buttons and zippers)

* Improved pencil grasp and pencil control during coloring and writing activities

* Improved visual perception and better planning often help a child to become more organized (e.g. Where is that sock? Where did I put my pencil case or favorite toy? Do I have everything I need to complete my homework?)

* And last but not least, Beading can provide a sense of accomplishment in completing a project that offers freedom of self-expression and camaraderie with others. This sense of "Occupational Fulfillment" can contribute to improved self-esteem.

**In other words, beading is just plain FUN, and FUN is good for kids!!**

In the garden...

Making strawberry banana sandwiches for snack:

The park is a perfect spot for tree pose...

and we love to practice our forward bends by saying "Hello sky! Hola cielo!..."

and "Hello earth! Hola tierra!"

Mama Anya helps a friend master the monkey bars.

We read 'Like a Windy Day' by Frank and Devin Asch and then ran like the wind to fly a kite!

Nature hike!

The kids have become experts at identifying poison ivy. "Leaves of 3, let it be!"

We painted our own fairy wings and took a field trip to the Zilker Botanical Garden for the fairy house exhibit.

The kids are learning some great songs with our wonderful music teacher Amanda Panda:

The girls put on a play version of their favorite film 'Frozen'...

and the boys were a great audience.

Free play!