Princess Week: Snow White Apples and Letters to Cinderella

Fairy Tales
Yesterday we made Snow White's Poison Apples from The Fairy Tale Cookbook. While M ate, I read the story of Snow White from Grimm's Fairy Tales. The recipe actually called for grenadine to color the apples, but I decided to use cherry pie filling instead. I cored the apples and peeled the top half. I poured the cherry pie filling into a dish, and placed the apples upside down (peeled side down) for about 5 minutes to let the apple soak up the color. I moved the apples to a baking dish, filled the middle of the apples with cherry pie filling, and baked them at 300*F for about 30 minutes. Every ten minutes or so I spooned some of the cherry pie sauce from the dish over the top of the apples so they didn't dry out.

Of course, she wanted a second story, so we moved on to Cinderella. After we finished that story, I figured it would be a good time to get out our stationery and write a letter to Cinderella. I wrote a short letter, and M decorated it with princess stickers. I showed her how to address an envelope, add our return address and a stamp, and put it in the mailbox. I hope Cinderella writes back!

 

If you'd like to try yourself, mail a letter to the Disney character of your choice at:

Walt Disney World Communications
P.O. Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040


Letter P Collage
Our final activity of the day was a quick sticker collage. M loves princesses, and I really thought this week was going to be so easy, but I found that we ran through most of our activities in just a few days. I needed an activity to keep her happy while we waited for my husband to get home from work, so I rummaged through her sticker box and pulled out anything that started with the letter p: princesses, Paddington Bear, pizza, penguin, pig... whatever I could find.  

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To see what we did earlier in the day, click here.
Check out the rest of our Princess Week activities!

Princess Week: Sensory Play

What Princess Week would be complete without a Royal Tea Party?


We started the morning with some pancakes (I used bottle cap letters to spell the word "pancake" so she could see that it started with the letter p), then moved to the playroom to look at her calendar and see what was in the Mystery Bag.

We read the two books (What Is a Princess? and OP book from My First Bob Books), then talked about what the cookie cutter and birthday candles could be used for.

We immediately pulled out her basket with several colors of play-doh, princess cookie cutters (glass slipper, castle and crown), a circle cookie cutter, a small cookie spatula, a small rolling pin, and beads and birthday candles for decorating.

She got right to work flattening the dough and cutting out different shapes. She added some birthday candles first, then added the different pink and purple beads to decorate the cookies.

When she was finished decorating (which took quite some time - she was very thorough), she preheated her oven and put the baking sheet in to bake the cookies.

While the cookies were in the oven, we took out her new Minnie Teapot Set and the table setting placemat I printed from Simply Fresh Designs. We worked together on the first place setting, adding a large plate, napkin, spoon, knife, fork, glass and cup and saucer. She then went around the table and set out the remaining dishes.

We put her flowers in the middle of the table, along with the teapot, milk and sugar. 

 

We got the cookies out of the oven, and she decided which cookies would be best for each of her "friends." She also poured tea and lemonade for each of her guests. She was really proud of herself when everyone was served!

After the tea party she wanted to read a story about princesses. We read "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" from Grimm's Fairy Tales - (Free Kindle Version), followed by "The Princess and the Frog." She followed along with her princess sticker set (can you see the princess standing by the well?).

She noticed the Letter P box when she was putting her princess stickers away, and took it out long enough to look at all of the objects. (She's making a face because I "stole" some of Daddy's pistachios to put in her box!)

After lunch and rest time, we went to the grocery store to stock up on ingredients for our Fairy Tale Cookbook meals. While I baked Snow White's Poison Apples (that we'll eat tomorrow), M baked a cake for me in her kitchen. Isn't it beautiful??

I bought an orange to use the zest in a recipe, and M wanted to taste it. I cut it into quarters for her to eat, but she started squeezing the juice out on her tray. I figured if she was going to juice it she might as well do it right, so I gave her my hand juicer and showed her how to squeeze the juice into a glass. This was a huge (messy) hit!

We wrapped up the day with some of Strega Nona's pasta. I don't have the book, so we watched this PBS Video instead.

Disclaimer: All Amazon links are Affiliate links.

To see everything we have done this week, check out the first post in this series: P is for Princess.

Princess Week: Let Princesses Be Princesses

None of my plans for the day appealed to M, so we scratched it all and let her choose what she wanted to do. She wanted to play with puzzles, dance, play with dolls, explore outside, and help me clean the house (I swear- she loves to clean!). It was another reminder of the fact that kids know best what they need to learn.

Practical Life

Care of Self
Since M is now a 3-year-old, she has decided that there are so many things she must do on her own. She wants to brush her own hair, pick out her clothes and dress herself, use the potty by herself, and wear big girl underwear to bed. She also loves playing with dolls right now, and has started trying to change their clothes and brush their hair.

We recently got my old American Girl doll (Samantha) out of storage, along with her entire wardrobe and several pieces of furniture that I had collected during my childhood. I had the sets of books about Samantha too, which we started reading last spring (who knew a 2 year old could sit through a chapter book with very few pictures?). I love the historical references in the books too.

Care of Environment
I am so thankful that M loves to help out with housework. She doesn't have a very long attention span, but she is actually able to help with small tasks like folding wash cloths and dishcloths, moving clothes from the washer to the dryer, sweeping dog hair, watering plants, and cleaning up her toys.

Fasteners
I haven't created a true Montessori activity for fasteners or dressing frames, but M gets a good bit of practice in our day to day life. Here's an example of a small lunchbox-style container that M uses as a suitcase for her dolls. She has gotten really good at opening and closing it by herself.

Puzzles
M played with the princess magnet doll and the ballerina dress-up puzzle for a while. She hasn't been into puzzles much lately, but the novelty of these kept her attention.

Scooping and Pouring Fairy Dust
This was pretty short-lived, but M spent a few minutes transferring fairy dust (salt and glitter) from cup to cup. She wanted to know if the fairy dust would make the glass or tray fly.

Sensorial

Princess and Letter P Lunch
M really liked the themed lunch I did last week for our B Week, so I prepared a quick and easy lunch with foods starting with the letter p. We had grilled cheese sandwiches cut into princess shapes (a castle and a crown), peaches, and pink milk with a pink straw.

Tasting Muscadines
We have some muscadine grapes growing in our backyard that I noticed when I was emptying the compost bin. A few looked ripe, so we did a quick taste test. I split the grape open and removed the seeds to make it easier for M to eat. It was a little sour, but she said she liked it and asked for another.

Listening and Dancing to Music
It doesn't take much to get M moving. After playing with her ballerina puzzle, she requested some dance music so she could have a dance party in the living room. She even asked to have a video chat with Gigi (her grandma) so she could show off her dance moves. You've got to love modern technology!

Language

Aesop's Fables
M chose this collection from her bookshelf, and we sat on the couch for a long time reading the fables. Most are really short (no more than a page), so we were able to read a lot without her losing interest. I chose the fables that had a picture so she could look at the picture to help her understand the story (the language isn't exactly targeted at 3 year olds). After each story I asked her what she thought, and she would ask questions.

Cultural Studies / Science

Caterpillars
When we were looking for muscadines along the edge of our woods, we noticed that there were TONS of caterpillars on the leaves. We spent a long time watching the caterpillars, talking about their coloring, and using my phone to look up what kind of moths they would turn into.

Orange Striped Oakworm

Yellownecked Caterpillars

I think M had a pretty good plan for the day!

To see everything we have planned for the week, check out the first post in this series: P is for Princess.