Child-sized Fridge and Snack Tray

A few weeks ago, I had an inspiration! One of my long-standing goals is fostering independence and allowing our children as much control over their environment as possible (and still be safe, of course). I've been pondering the "freedom of food" issue for a while. It's very important to us that our children regulate their OWN food intake right from birth (nursing on demand, self-feeding solids, no purees, no pressure to "clean their plates, etc.)

I've also long wanted to hand some measure of control over to our older son over choosing, preparing, and serving snacks. As we know, toddlers are grazers and more likely to require many small meals during the day rather than "three squares." How often I've heard other mothers in our group complain that their young children would prefer to eat a few bites, get down run around, then come back for a few more bites. Repeat, repeat. Not the most polished of habits, perhaps, but completely normal. I've wanted to embrace that tendency in our son, but the method has puzzled me for some time.

Dr. Sears and others recommend leaving a muffin tin or similar sectioned serving device available to a toddler at all times whether in the fridge or on a low table. Our refrigerator is a freezer-on-the-bottom mode, however, and the fridge portion is far too tall for a toddler to reach. While some food can be left for long periods of time to allow free access, others cannot (especially in the summer!). So after months of tossing the ideas around, I finally reached a rather obvious conclusion:

CHILD-SIZED FRIDGE. DUH.

Happily, I had a mini-fridge in college and my parents still have it. A quick phone call to my mother later, and the plan was in action! I had the perfect corner for it and voila! Further independence and lessons in responsible use of a refrigerator created instantly! We did install a lock on the top to keep little brother out once he starts crawling and until he can receive the same tutorial as M., but fortunately our little locksmith can still access his snacks.

I'm still "stocking" it, but here's what we have so far: water bottles, applesauce, cheese sticks and cubes, ham cubes, pre-cut veggies, and yogurt. I would also like to add hard boiled eggs and hummus and leave portioned amounts of crackers and granola on top of the fridge. After a week or so, things are working very well!

Here is this morning's snack tray:

I put this out about 9:15 and replenished it with bread and butter about two hours later. M. still wanted a small portion of what I had for lunch (potato soup) then in the late afternoon he wanted some ham cubes. He then ate a good-sized dinner. Mealtimes are much smoother, there is less waste, and our little guy is really growing up!

Around the House

A month or so ago, we cut down a broom and mop and hung them at our son's level...

Over the last week, I rearranged the shelves in the playroom and "extension"...

Most of M.'s Montessori works are on this shelf. It's not perfect since he can only reach the three lower shelves, but I rotate what's higher every few days. I don't have enough shorter shelves to keep everything at his level-- or the room for that many sets of shelves! The top shelf has works that are out of rotation (one good thing about the tall bookcase-- toddler-proof!)

This side has our arts and crafts supplies on the highest two shelves and more learning toys on the lower three.

Creating a Child Friendly Environment: Low Shelf

I was inspired recently to keep working on our child-friendly environment. I have toyed with the idea of moving tableware to a cupboard for a while, but wasn't thrilled with the idea of rearranging our cupboards so thoroughly to accommodate such a change. After reading this post at Chasing Cheerios, however, I had a brainstorm! Why not move around my pots and pans and use the rolling shelf for our older son's tableware and some of his other supplies? My mom helped me find new homes for about half of my pots and pans, and we were in business! Our little guy spent time washing windows after I unveiled his new set-up, and happily helped himself to his dinner plate at suppertime!

On the right, you can see I also attached a hook for his apron!

The left side features his window washing/cleaning kit, our child-sized washboard, and his brush and dustpan. On the right are his plates, several bowls and cups (I couldn't fit everything!), and his toddler-sized silverware, courtesy of Oneida Limited. I love these sets: they include a spoon, fork, and butter knife and are not the small baby sets, but not quite full-sized either! Just perfect for preschooler hands!

Creating a Child Friendly Environment: Table and Chairs

We've been working very diligently over the past few months to outline our homeschool philosophy and create a very loose "pre-school curriculum" with our son. As time has gone on, it appears that we are becoming "eclectic" homeschoolers, embracing parts of the Waldorf, Montessori, and Charlotte Mason philosophies/approaches. I hope to do a series of posts detailing what our days look like in the coming days and weeks.

Here you can see part of our playroom (what was a formal dining room-- note the wallpaper) and what we've done to create a child friendly environment. Part of our inspiration came from Barbara Curtis's book, Mommy Teach Me.

DS is playing with his play dough here, and working on cutting out a star. His table and chairs were an early birthday gift from Grandma and Grandpa. For some reason, he likes sitting facing the wall. Wouldn't be my choice, but hey!

Behind him, you can see one of the clotheslines we have strung to display various pieces of art, DS's creations, religious images, etc. We have three of DS's fingerpaintings on our other portion of clothesline. Above the clothesline are our corkboard and whiteboard. Neither are in use right now, but they should be again soon! His rocking chair is on the far left, as well as a basket of books: his Bible, book of the saints, etc. I'm working on the logistics of creating a better reading corner for him: moving all his books to one location and finding a better way to display current library and seasonal books.