Developing Scissor Skills...

Last summer I shared that Andrew had been struggling a bit with his scissor skills and that I was hoping to focus on helping him to develop his strength and confidence with some new activities. We've continued to work away, cutting lots of different materials and I am happy to say that his attitude and ability have greatly improved!! I wanted to share one of the activities he has enjoyed the most. It combines scissor practice with letter sounds and structure… bonus!

This Scissor Skill Development activity is something your little one can work on over many sittings. It takes a few minutes to set up at first, but is then ready to go for for the future with minimal prep. To make "Andrew's Book of Letters" I joined 15 pieces of colourful card stock with two ring clips. Using the front and back of each page I printed each letter of the alphabet (one letter per page), followed by "is for". 

When it is time to work on the cutting activity, Andrew cuts scrap paper into small pieces until he has a small pile. We talk about the letter we are focusing on, brainstorming a good word to complete the "is for" sentence. We trace the large printed letter with our finger a few times and he glues the paper pieces to the large printed letter. 

I found these scissors at Target. They have a small spring loaded switch that can be flipped up to help the scissors open up easily between snips. Andrew really likes them and thinks they help him to go "super speed"! He also enjoys using my scrap booking scissors. 

This has been a great activity for Andrew. It keeps him busy for just the right amount of time (before he loses interest and moves onto something else) and is well suited for him as a tactile learner. I have seen some great gains in his cutting accuracy, but more importantly he is much less frustrated when working with scissors. Success!

You may also find this helpful. 

Scissor Skills for Preschoolers

Our Girl Gracie...

It has been quite sometime since I updated this little blog on the happenings of the Leeper family. My last post featured our two little monkeys in their Halloween Ninja Costumes and ended with the question of whether we would have a third little pink ninja before the big night. As it went, our little girl didn't arrive before Halloween but waited patiently until her scheduled date of November 3rd.

Cecelia "Grace" Leeper

Nov. 3rd 2014 - 7lbs 6oz

Gracie was instantly loved by her brothers (a little too aggressively by Henry) and has taken to the role of little sister very well. She tolerates being held by both of them and recovers well from their less than gentle affections.  

Andrew is already one of her favourite people. She has an endless supply of grins and giggles for him and he is absolutely smitten with her.

The last two months have been a bit of a whirlwind and when people asked me how we were adjusting to having a third child I would respond with comments like, "it's going really well" and "so far, so good"! It all seemed a bit too easy... until we left the comfort of our home and made the trek to Canada for the Holidays. Having three kids, and traveling with three kids are two very different situations!! But we all made it back alive and have settled nicely into the New Year with our new girl, and our new normal!

(typical Henry!)

Gracie is perfect. She eats well, she sleeps well and her personality seems to fall somewhere on the spectrum between her all too serious oldest brother and her all too silly older brother. I feel so blessed to be the one to watch what kind of little girl she becomes!

Photo credit: http://www.monicaridgely.com

DIY Ninja Costumes...

Halloween is here and the boys couldn't be more excited! It was decided months ago that they would be ninjas this year and after much deliberation on colour options and symbols, we have finished our costumes!

Andrew is a big fan of the Lego show "Ninjago" and is adamant that he is dressed as the character Jay. I was happy he wasn't too particular about the specifics, because my plan for for the costume was pretty simple.

The photo shoot of the finished costumes didn't go exactly as I had imagined. I think I would have had more luck photographing two jumping fleas... but I guess that's what happens when you put two little boys in ninja costumes!

I picked up the black tights and and shirts for the ninja costumes at Target. I found them both in the girls department... don't tell Andrew! The masks are ski masks that I ordered from Amazon which should come in handy once we return to Canada.

To make the ninja smocks I folded a piece of fabric in half and lined up one of the boys t-shirts along the top fold. Using the t-shirt as a guide I cut the shape below making the top about one inch wider than the shoulders of the shirt. I used the neck of the t-shirt as a guide for the triangular neckline. At this point, I ironed, pinned and sewed a simple seam along the outside of the entire smock as well as around the neckline. 

To make the belt, I cut a band of fabric that was approximately 3' by 8" in dimensions. I folded it in half and ironed along the fold. Then opened the strip and folded each long edge into the middle fold. After ironing the length of the band I folded the entire thing in half (along the original crease) tucked in the ends and sewed along the perimeter to make a belt. This belt was then sewn to the back of the smock. 

Using my Silhouette and the Silhouette Fabric Interfacing, I cut out a dragon and added one to the front of the smock, sewing around the outside.

To make the boy's Nun Chucks I cut pieces of pipe insulation, glued a short length of plastic chain to the inside and wrapped the handles in duct tape. 

I'm happy to have checked this job off of my To Do list... who knows, we may have another little ninja to add to the pack before October 31st!