<![CDATA[Crafty Morah

<![CDATA[Crafty Morah - Home]]>Fri, 24 May 2013 23:32:07 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[What I'm working on]]>Mon, 06 May 2013 19:56:48 GMThttp://www.playfulpreschool.com/1/post/2013/05/what-im-working-on.htmlRight now I'm in the process of my drawing final- which is a series of 3 related drawings. I decided to do a baking theme. Here is a sample of one of my drawings- the kitchen aid

]]><![CDATA[What do you do when your creative juices aren't flowing?]]>Mon, 06 May 2013 19:24:34 GMThttp://www.playfulpreschool.com/1/post/2013/05/what-do-you-do-when-your-creative-juices-arent-flowing.htmlI'm sitting here in my digital imaging class, and I'm supposed to be creating my final, yet instead I find myself here just typing. My creative juices are just not flowing today and I can't seem to come up with anything to do- what do you do when that ]]><![CDATA[Pesach Book]]>Mon, 04 Mar 2013 01:58:31 GMThttp://www.playfulpreschool.com/1/post/2013/03/pesach-book.htmlWhen i was teaching toddlers, I found a haggadah to be way above their heads and levee of learning and so instead we made a Pesach Book. Please comment with specific questions of how individual pages were made

]]><![CDATA[10 Plagues]]>Sun, 13 Jan 2013 18:19:32 GMThttp://www.playfulpreschool.com/1/post/2013/01/10-plagues.htmlSo this week we're learning about the 10 plagues I Egypt and we created this fun book to illustrate each one:

1 Blood- we did a red collage. Use paper Pom poms, red sticks, textured paper, ribbon etc

2 Frogs- I printed a page with a few different frogs on it, and then had the kids glue crumpled and torn green tissue paper in them

3 Lice- this is one of my favorites! Using a black ink pad we made black fingerprints then drew legs using a marker.

4 Wild Animals- we stuck stickers of animals on the page

5 Farm Animals Died- we cut and glued pictures of the various farm animals

6 Boils- we stuck red circle stickers for the boils and then put band aids on them

7 Hail- we glued red and white Pom poms next to one another to represent the fire and ice

The last 3 plagues will come next week...

]]><![CDATA[Target Dollar Spot Finds]]>Fri, 11 Jan 2013 04:10:14 GMThttp://www.playfulpreschool.com/1/post/2013/01/target-dollar-spot-finds.htmlTarget has recently restocked their dollar spot with some great finds including an assortment of paintbrushes, stamps, glitter glue, and a couple musical instruments! All for a dollar!

]]><![CDATA[My Pregnancy and the start of my Labor...]]>Thu, 03 Jan 2013 22:43:31 GMThttp://www.playfulpreschool.com/1/post/2013/01/my-pregnancy-and-the-start-of-my-labor.htmlMy pregnancy was fairly uneventful thank God. I had the usual morning sickness, and that did make getting to work on time a bit more difficult, but other than that I was healthy and energetic throughout the 9 months of my pregnancy.

As I entered my 3rd trimester though, I became restless. Not nesting and getting ready for baby restless, more that I was tired of being pregnant, and of being asked if I'm positive that I'm only having 1 baby, and of bumping into things because I hadn't accurately gauged the size of my stomach- I wanted out. I began to beg my husband, who was getting ready to begin nursing School, to please just figure out how to put me into labor and just take the baby out. As my due date approached, I began threatening my husband and myself that if I didn't go into labor ON my due date, I would demand a c-section. I just couldn't bear the thought of being pregnant longer than necessary.

These thoughts were all, as I'm sure you can tell, the beginning of my postpartum depression. Yes, PPD can begin and most commonly does begin during pregnancy.

My mother had flown in the day before I was due so that she could hopefully be with me when I gave birth. Luckily for everyone it seemed, my first contractions began as we hit sunset on my due date. That first contraction hit, and I didn't realize it was a contraction, because it felt like it was in my hips. 10 minutes later, I experienced that same shooting pain in my hips, and I realized that my wish had come true- I was officially in labor! The baby would be heading out shortly! Or maybe not so shortly...

]]><![CDATA[Hand Eye Coordination]]>Mon, 31 Dec 2012 16:12:30 GMThttp://www.playfulpreschool.com/1/post/2012/12/hand-eye-coordination.html

I noticed that my son Ari's hand-eye coordination appeared to be lacking, because whenever I'd play catch with him- he never really focused on where the ball was going.

So I set out to fix that minor problem, and here's what I cam up with: I used colored masking tape which can be bought here, and put up several squares on the wall. The green square was about four feet high with the center ones being at his eye level, and the lower squares at knee level. Then I had him take a soft ball- 'O Balls' are great for this, and encouraged him to throw the ball at the different colored squares that I'd call out. Within a few minutes, Ari's hand-eye coordination had improved tremendously! I tested it by playing catch with him, and this time he looked at me when throwing the ball to me, aiming it at my arms!

This was a super exciting discovery for me as well as him I'm sure. Now, we'll just need to work on catching the ball- do you have any tips or tricks to share?

]]><![CDATA[Introducing... ME!]]>Sun, 30 Dec 2012 21:24:01 GMThttp://www.playfulpreschool.com/1/post/2012/12/introducing-me.htmlMy full name is actually Nechama Dina- though I tend to be called "Dina". I'm an orthodox Jew currently living in Las Vegas, NV with my husband and son.

Two years ago, when I had my son, I was also diagnosed with Post Partum Depression (PPD), and since then, I've been changing a lot as a person and recognizing that I need to do what's best for me which right now means that I no longer teach preschool, and I am currently a full time student at the local community college studying art. My new goal is to write and illustrate childrens books of my own, and then maybe return to preschool.

As a result this blog is going through some of its own changes- I will spend some time sharing the story of how I dea; and dealt with my PPD as well as continue to post ideas for preschool age children.

In addition, after being inspired by Extreme Couponing to some extent, I've begun couponing to save money and enjoy the treasure hunt! So I will post deals that can be found pertaining to moms and kids!

For example, this week at Walgreens, Brainstrong prenatal vitamins are on sale for $9.99. In the Walgreens 'Vitamins and Supplements' booklet in the vitamin asilse there is a $4 coupon for the Brainstrong vitamins, and when you pay with your Walgreens card, you'll receive $10 in Register Rewards. Register Rewards are a manufacture coupon that can be used at your local grocery store, or at Walgreens for that matter.

I hope you enjoy this new site, and please feel free to email me with any feedback or just comment below!

Have a wonderful day!

]]><![CDATA[Fun with Shapes]]>Mon, 22 Oct 2012 02:21:21 GMThttp://www.playfulpreschool.com/1/post/2012/10/fun-with-shapes.html

So I'm noticing that as I am evolving this year as a person- currently pursuing a degree in Art, as well as more hands on "mommying" (I'm thinking that we should add that word to Webster's), AND as my adorable 2 year is now old enough to participate in crafts with me, I'll probably do more posts focused on activities and crafts that can be done at home OR school.

About a month ago, as I was making one of my periodic attempts to organize my crafting supplies in a more efficient manner, Ari got hold of my bucket of foam shapes. While I'd been attempting to introduce the various shapes and colors to him over the course of the Summer, Ari decided that today was just for fun- and with that decision made, he promptly emptied the bucket onto the carpet. He was so exciting to watch and feel the shapes fall all around him, that he spontaneously began to gather more shapes by the handful and toss them into the air, laughing as they rained back down on him!

While not educational in a traditional sense, the fun (that lasted close to 15 minutes!) taught Ari about softness, laughter, and is sure to be strengthening his arms for future sports ;)

And since it is Fall right now, why not incorporate the activity into your classroom with Fall leaves? Take the kids on a nature walk with paper bags and fill them with not only the soft freshly fallen leaves, but also the dead crunchy leaves; and when you get back to your classroom/play space, allow the children to just revel in the joy of experiencing the leaves!

Happy Autumn!

]]><![CDATA[How's YOUR Sukkah looking?]]>Sun, 07 Oct 2012 05:15:35 GMThttp://www.playfulpreschool.com/1/post/2012/10/hows-your-sukkah-looking.html

I would like to sincerely apologize for my lack of consistency with my posting lately. I'm truly trying to get myself back on track, and as of next week, I should have a more regular schedule which will actually have blogging time carved out (yay!)!

Anyways, hope you're all having a fun Sukkos. Although this isn't super preschool related, I'd like to share my latest "Craftcapade". This year is the first year we have our own Sukkah! My husband is super handy, so he went to Lowes, bought the wood for the frame and the canvas, built it in what felt like minutes (ok it was really hours, but who cares?), and then suggested that I paint the Sukkah. At first he was suggesting that I actually use a brush and paints (for those of you who don't know, I'm currently pursuing a BA in Art), but then I thought why not use spray paints? So- I headed over to Michaels, coupons and teacher card in tow (you get %15 your purchase with teacher ID) and chose my paints. I found some great Krylon paints that actually ha a vertical spray hole which was fun for the lulav in particular.

Anyways, I had a blast, and I highly recommend the experience- just prepare appropriately! I wore a pretty heavy apron and vinyl gloves, plus I had a thick newspaper to practice spraying on. Spray paint is extremely permanent so make decisions wisely, and then have fun! I sure did!

Chag Sameach!

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