Recap of our Kwanzaa Celebration

Kwanzaa is a non-religious holiday that honors African-American people and their heritage. Everyone can join in the Kwanzaa celebration, which lasts for 7 days from December 26 until January 1.

Kwanzaa was started in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, an African-American teacher. He wanted to help African Americans learn about their African history, culture, and customs.

Dr. Karenga took the name for the holiday from the Swahili word "Kwanza," which means "the first fruits of the harvest." The extra "a" was added so the name would have seven letters to match the seven principles of Kwanzaa. First harvest, when crops are gathered, is a time of great celebration in many regions of Africa. Like the first harvest, Kwanzaa is an exciting and joyful occasion.

Jaguar and I worked on many things to celebrate and to learn about Kwanzaa. We read a few books, and read stories to exemplify each meaningful day therein.



This is the Kinara that Jaguar made from homemade playdough, which was crusty in texture by the 7th day. A kinara is similar to that of the Jewish Menorah used on Hannukah to represent each day of the celebration. The middle candle is supposed to be black, the left three red, and the right three green, but we made due with leftover birthday candles used on our prior menorah.

Jaguar made a Bendera, which is the African-American flag that is displayed during Kwanzaa. The black represents African-American people, the red symbolizes their struggles, and the green stands for a happy future. We used dollar store felt and scrap yarn from my stash, and Jaguar sewed the 3 strips together. He utilized popsicle sticks to make the flag's handle. Sewing is great for dexterity and coordination, even for a 4-year-old.

African quilts are a customary part of the culture. Making quilts is a wonderful part of gift-giving during Kwanzaa. Jaguar and I picked out different African designs off of the internet, sized them, and printed them. He then meticulously colored each patch to his liking and put them together to form the perfect African paper quilt.

Jaguar created a woven place mat with common African colors, and he used this as his book cover. Within his book, he has numerous pages that include crayon-colored images of Africa, Kwanzaa scenes, and more. He also did matching activities, letter fill-ins, word fill-ins, write the Kwanzaa words, and more.



Happy (Belated) Kwanzaa!!!

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Homemade Christmas Play Dough

Making Christmas play dough couldn't be any easier. Just follow the recipe from the play dough article from November of 2009. The white is simply made with no dyes. The red assortment was made with about 40 drops of red food coloring and 7 drops of yellow. And the green was made with about 20 drops of green and 7 drops of yellow, once again. Below, are some ideas for sculpted Christmas creations. The other colors utilized are the leftovers from the Fall collection of play dough.

Brothers: Sewn Letters Wall Hanging

I decided to make an experimental decoration for the boys' room. This ornamental wall hanging is composed of brown suede, scraps of random fabric, embroidery floss, and a stick from outside. I was going to make some cute lizards or turtles on each end, but I decided it was enough work spelling out an eight-letter word. One can easily adapt this creation to any word or phrase or use any material or use a rope, wire, or rod instead....This a fun, universal project.

Hanukkah: Celebrating as We Learn

December is full of holiday spirit. Not only Christmas falls in this month, but also Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. Hanukkah is a celebration we are just learning about. I have read a few Hanukkah books to Jaguar, began a small Hanukkah coloring book, and created a few activities, along with his older brother, Lynx.

Since we are on such a low budget, we just made a menorah out of leftover homemade autumn play dough, which actually looks quite like a submarine. We poked holes in it with birthday cake candles and Ta Da! We have been adding a candle and lighting it every night.



Both Lynx and Jaguar secretly made gifts for one another, and exchanged them the next morning. They each made picture frames, which was funny because they picked out almost identical features for each frame. This was very rewarding for each of them.


I drew and colored a menorah as an example for the boys, and then Lynx and Jaguar created their own. Good symetry and line activity.


There are other activities we plan on doing, so stay tuned for he next Hanukkah update.

Quick Knits for the Holiday Season

As the holiday season progresses, I get more and more into winter and the Christmas spirit. Winter weather inspires me to start knitting again. I have been more into sewing and completing other projects that generally have to do with making things for the boys. It seems like there are always times when the boys are awake and needing stimulation or at least my presence, so I can't often settle in my bedroom where my sewing station is. Also, if I am making a gift for one of the boys, they cannot be present. So, I am stuck not being able to accomplish many of the projects I set out to complete. This is where Christmas knitting comes in. I can knit little projects just about anywhere and at any time I am not busy doing my many other daily tasks. Here I have a queue of adorable, festive holiday decorations. I hope to enjoy it myself and inspire others to get crafty this coming season.

Knitted Ornaments


Mistle Toe


Holiday Lights

Nutrition Lessons - Part I

We are sort of working in conjunction with our Montessori preschool, by accident actually. Each month they pick a few themes to follow along with, and so do we. This particular month, I chose nutrition, Native Americans, autumn, and harvest. To coincide with our nutrition home school studies, Jaguar was challenged to place each of the grocery store advertisement cut-outs in the correct pile. Each pile represented a different food group, and amazingly he caught on to the differences pretty quickly. These are the piles he so proudly made. I was originally going to mount each of these on index cards, but I then thought we could make a food guide pyramid on poster board and then he could arrange these cut-outs in their proper food group, creating a visual collage of colorful healthiness.


Jaguar also played a game of determining which food did not fit in with the other 3 in a given group. Below are a few of the arrangements he had to figure out. Once he figured out which food did not fit, I would have him explain to me what food groups each of them were in to double check his answer and reinforce his understanding of the variety and categorization of nutritious food.

Never Too Old to Play with Play Dough

Play dough is one of the age old activities for young children. However, working with your hands to mold artwork is beneficial for any age and can bring a family together in a fun, often funny manner. Play dough can be easily made at home, where you know the ingredients are safe (in case your little ones munch a few pieces). In fact, there are several recipes that can be utilized, including edible picks that include peanut butter and honey. They are quite easy to find on an internet search. I chose to use a traditional recipe, as shown below. I made 5 different colors with food coloring to represent Autumn colors. We all had quite a bit of fun creating, cutting, rolling, molding, cookie cutting, mashing, building...Well my husband and I just molded a turkey and a couple of faces...The kids really did all the work.

Recipe for Play Dough
1 cup flour
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons cream of tarter
1 teaspoon oil
1/4 cup salt
food coloring

Mix all ingredients (add food coloring last). Stir over medium heat until smooth. Remove from pan, let cool slightly, and knead until blended and smooth. Store in a plastic bag or airtight container when cooled.

Making Montessori Materials - Part II

Sensory experiences are critical to developing children, especially in their younger years. According to Maria Montessori, among these sensory experiences are not only smell (olfactory), sight (visual), touch (tactile), taste (gustatory), and hearing (auditory), but also weight (baric), temperature (thermic), muscular awareness of shape (stereognostic), and colour (chromatic). Today, Jaguar and I utilized Montessori scent bottles to flex his sense of smell and ability to match common aromas. I could have bought an expensive Montessori set, but I decided it would be easy to make on my own. I saved 8 baby food jars from Bobcat and filled them with 4 different spices: parsley, oregano, basil, and nutmeg. I then made a blindfold for Jaguar to wear while he matched each smell with only his nose and his hands manipulating each jar. He had fun doing this, and once he properly matched everything, we took off the blindfold and rematched the smell with his ability to see what he was smelling, and we also named each spice so he knew exactly what he was sensing.

Making Montessori Materials - Part I

There are so many ways to save money when homeschooling your child or just giving them gifts that are developmentally geared for their age. One way to save is to make your own materials. Though there are many things that would be easier to buy premade, there are also many other things that could be created with improvisation and the right materials. I have made a couple items so far, with many more in mind...hopefully to be made before Christmas.

This is a set of counting beads that I made for Jaguar as a Christmas gift. These are great for all sorts of mathematics. I simply utilized beads, wire, and a cheap craft box. These are just flashcards I made, mainly for Jaguar. I used old magazines, other publications, and computer images. I simply glued them on index cards and organized them in a recipe box from the Dollar Tree. There are about 7 of each letter. There are so many ways to discover language and reading with these cards, and they are fun to make!

Likewise, I decided last night that Jaguar can easily begin learning to read the clock. So, I made 24 cards, each with a clock on them. Half of them have the time on every hour and the other half has the times on every half hour.

There will naturally be more items. I have already made one zipper frame. I have yet to make make at least 4 more. I plan on making puppets for Bobcat, as well, and a fabric box and matching ricebags in various textured fabric....My husband plans on making a pink tower, brown stairs, maybe even a dollhouse..... We will see in later posts as these couple of months progress.