We did the yummiest of the Practical Life -- baking (and cleaning)!
Today we made chocolate chip banana muffins. Nugget got to cut up the bananas with a plastic knife, add ingredients, mix, and taste!
Once the muffins went in the oven, I started cleaning the biggest bowl since it doesn't fit in the dishwasher. Nugget asked if she could help -- well, of course! So I filled up the sink with bubbles and gave a quick presentation on washing, rinsing, and setting out to dry. She then proceeded to wash the couple dishes I had set out and ask for more. She ended up washing all of them!
Now we're reading books, waiting for them to cool so that we can enjoy the muffins of our labor.
I have to say, I'm not the best at doing things like this around the house with Nugget. I shy away from the mess and extra work. Which isn't like me at all! -- I'm not a naturally neat person, and this is the last hang-up I would have expected that I'd have with kids.
So I'm making a concerted effort to get her more involved in cooking (and messy artwork). Every few weeks she gets to help her Daddy make grumblecakes (pancakes made with crushed graham crackers), and it's always a highlight of her day. So since I do nearly all of the rest of the cooking, it's up to me to involve her more in my day-to-day meal preparation.
We have a Learning Tower, which is a HUGE help. I'm thinking of outfitting her with her own set of smaller-sized utensils for her birthday (in early May) -- some from the kitchen aisle, some from For Small Hands (thanks to another mom on a Montessori homeschooling thread for the idea!). I'm thinking a few mixing bowls that aren't as deep as the ones I have (being short for her age, she can barely see into those), some smaller mixing spoons and whisks, and maybe some specialty tools (an egg slicer for cutting her strawberries, etc). We'll see what I can pull together.
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Do you ever get frustrated? I am just starting to let my ds do more on his own ala Montessori methods (HD is 2.5) and find myself becoming impatient. And when I ask him to "put that toy away before getting the next thing out" he says, "no". Not defiant-like but as if "that's not the right way to do it". Hmmm... You know how this age they have such ideas of how things should be (like your dd wanting to place the fork where it goes. :)
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