Marble Painting

WHAT: Marble Painting - yet another fun idea I saw on the internet somewhere, this time on Teacher Tom, the inspiring website of a co-op preschool teacher in the Pacific NW.

HOW: Put your paper in a box or pan with walls, drop some paint puddles onto the paper, and roll the marbles around. Since Noah doesn't have his own marbles yet, I scrounged up some that I made back in my lampworking days. (Oh, how I miss melting glass!!!) We also used a knobby rubber easter egg that made fun polka dot patterns as it wonkily rolled about. A ping pong ball turned out to be too light and got mucked down in the paint. We did most of the rolling by tilting the pan, but in the photo, Noah is rolling with his fingers. It works either way.

WHY: Here are Noah's marble paintings, in chronological order. He told me which colors he wanted on the last two. Hence all the purple. I love them all, but the last one is my favorite.

One Lucky Kid

The big brown truck delivered a special surprise for Noah today. It didn't take too long for Daddy to put together, even with a 3 yr old at the wrench and an inquisitive little helper in his lap.


TaDa -- A Strider Balance Bike! What's a balance bike, you ask? This:


Balance bikes, or tiny bikes with no pedals, seem to be all the rage in Toddlerville, if you believe what you read on the internet. The concept makes a lot of sense: let the kid run around with a set of wheels and learn balance and steering at his own pace, then throw in the pedaling later. They've piqued my intellectual curiosity for several months now, but not enough to get over the sticker shock. Why would I have to pay twice as much for a bike with half the moving parts? But when that same internet gives you one for FREE (!!!!) well, what's not to love?



Noah had fun on his first ride walk. You can google "balance bike" and watch video clips of kids coasting around to see what's hopefully in store for us. We're not there yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Much Thanks to Feels Like Home and Pedal Cars and Retro Collectables, who hosted and sponsored the giveaway that we were so lucky to win.