Dried up Markers

Did you know that dried up washable markers are nothing to cry about? I used to get so mad at the kiddos for leaving the caps off the markers and letting them get dried out so quickly. In fact, markers were banned from the playroom for a really long time because of that.

But now they're a favorite thing here!  One fun activity is to paint with them on coffee filters.  Just get an old ice cube try (less than $1!) and put some water in it... I don't even fill up the cubes - maybe 1/4 full in every space.  Then, the children can dip the dried up markers into the water and "paint" with them on paper.  Coffee filter are extra fun because the wet colors blend together.

There's lot of science here - you're teaching them sequencing (okay, so that's math) by encouraging them to dip the marker in the water THEN color with it. You're teaching color blending (obvious!) and you're even creating color in the water...   with an ice cube tray, there are more possibilities. (When you use a bowl or cup, all the colors quickly turn to mud but with an ice cube try, you'll see the children learning on their own as they dip one color into another color - often finding new combinations to make without your prompting.)

Fun stuff!

I will post pictures another time - right now I'm typing from the playroom computer, and guess what - there's play to be done! Bye!

What do you want for Christmas?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We have been so busy here!  The month started with each child decorating their very own advent calenders. The calendars are very simple, but every morning we get to glue another picture on today's date, and when we run out of pictures, we know it's finally Christmas Eve!  I actually stressed out about how to do advent calenders this year...  I'm glad I kept it very simple. The kids don't mind - they still love discovering pictures in their own little envelopes every day and deciding which one to glue on this time. :)  I wish I had a picture of these easy calendars for you, but I don't!  Oops.

We've also been busy making wreaths, snowflakes, snowmen, tree ornaments, and even a cotton-ball bearded Santa!  Today, was the busiest and most fun we've had all month, though - we spent the entire morning in the kitchen.

Morning snack was Reindeer Bread!  Check out these fun pictures. :)

After snack, we got busy with holiday treats for other people.  We started with the treats we're making for moms and dads this year.  Now, I know it's not right that I'm about to spoil the surprise... truth is, I've never been good at surprises anyway - especially when it comes to gift giving. :) Just ask my husband - we usually have whatever gift we bought each other long before Christmas is here.  I stink at holding out! So - if you want to be surprised, I guess you should just stop reading now and ignore the adorable and fun pictures below...



Here are the M&M treats we made this morning:












Kudos to my friend Judy who got the idea from another blogger.  What a perfect treat to make with these kids!  They really enjoyed laying out the pretzel squares, and of course they were super helpers when it came to unwrapping all those kisses.  By the time we were half done with the tedious job of squishing those M&M's down, the kids got tired so they scurried off to wash hands and go play while I did the rest. (Shhh, I'm totally okay with that!!) :)   Anyway - what a fun project it was.

Don't tell the kids, but they did a lot of learning during this too.  They used their small motor skills to get those Hershey wrappers off (muscles we need, to improve cutting with scissors and writing with pencils), and they had to use their cognitive thinking to decide what comes next (first the pretzels then the kisses) and of course they had match one-to-one. Let's not forget the task of working together. I had them work in pairs. (We missed Noah and Caleb today! They went to spend time with Nana...)  There's a lot of other lessons that went into this, too - like social skills and science discovery.

 

After the treats were made and the kids got some playing out of their systems, we got busy with old fashioned cookie cutter cookies. :)  This was SO MUCH FUN.   I'm so proud of how well we all worked together. In pairs (we made two batches), they took turns adding ingredients to a big bowl, then stirring, and kneading. (I should have snapped a picture of them stirring!)

Then, they shared their favorite cutter shapes with one another and they waited patiently as I scooped the shapes with my spatula to put them on the baking pan.  This task included pre-math skills as we had to figure out how many shapes we could fit into the dough before rolling up the used dough to start over again.














This afternoon, the plan is to ice and decorate these cookies. I love the holidays!!

(P.S. Thank God for naptime!)

Handprint Turkeys

This is probably my favorite craft of the whole year!!  I cheated this year, though - usually I use the child's foot for the turkey's body. This year, to save time, I pre-cut the bodies and shapes for the children.  There's so much to do and catch up on around here - we've all been so sick for the last few weeks and today it feels so good to be back to "normal" around here with everybody in attendance.  To be honest, I'm kind of sad that this is a really short week for the holiday - but that will just make our Monday back that much sweeter. :)  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Rainy day in November

The first rain of the Fall is here and instead of sulking about it with nothing to do, we decided to roll up our pant legs and enjoy it!

Typically, it's hard for us to enjoy the outdoors on days like today. It's pointless to go out with a towel to wipe down the swings/slides, because the forecast isn't promising dryness anyway.  There was a break in the rain, but I'm not anxious to let the kids play because it's not easy to stay dry even if it's not raining....  we almost always end up with wet bottoms, wet pant legs, and soaked shoes, socks and tootsies.

Luckily, the temp today isn't unbearable.  We only stayed out until the first comment was made about the cold.   :)  It was FUN!  And, the kids really enjoy the chance to go puddle jumping and not getting in trouble for it...  at least, my own girls do anyway.

And when the feet are cold, warm towels are retrieved from the dryer (Yes, I'm that nice!) and we put our socks and shoes back on to resume our regularly scheduled indoor play.
What a better way to spend a rainy morning than by creating things with Play Dough!

When it rains...

When it rains, we find other ways to expel energy!   And, it just so happens that we recently upgraded our TV. (Don't get the wrong impression: my job isn't one that rakes in the money and pays SO MUCH that we are able to run out and buy the newest, latest, and greatest.  This purchase was carefully planned and saved up for. We are proud to be a family - and a business! - that pays for everything with cash.)

Anyway...
I knew this box was going to be an exciting new plaything for the kids!  I saved it and kept it hidden all last week just so I could introduce it at just the right time. And what a more perfect time to bring out the big box than on a rainy Monday, when the school-agers are out of school!  Perfect. :)

This box will become a beautiful house, I think. We'll break out the box cutter, paints, maybe even fabric curtains sometime next week.  But, I'm going to savor this exciting box while I can. So, babysteps! First, we simply enjoy the simplicity that a big box is:

Caleb approves of the bigger-than-life size box!

The big kids get "thrown" inside the box.

The addition of balls!

Hiding from Caleb, the "monster"

And the initiation of a ball fight!

Laughter, running, throwing, and even screaming!

I'm with you Caleb: Let's box 'em up and ship 'em out! :)

Park

With over 14 days of DRY, cool fall weather, we have been spending lots of time outside.  It's so easy to skip lesson plans, crafts, structured learning time, and even snack once in a while when we get all caught up in an innocent game of freeze tag, or go on wild grasshopper hunts.  We LOVE the outdoors!

One of my favorite things to do is to go for a long walk to the park.  I like the park that is a little further away because there's a nice greenway path to walk on to get there.  We are so spoiled to live in such a pretty town with wonderful parks and playgrounds.

An added bonus: last week, our trip to the park included a meet and greet with Miss Toshia and her group! We love meeting friends at the park, and I love having another adult to laugh with, chat with, and share ideas with. Our recent trip the park was nothing short of AWESOME.  Enjoy some pictures!! :)

Tea Time

Four cute kids, a sunny afternoon, an old tablecloth, a new teaset, and some free time....   this is what it makes!

Full House

I really love my job! I'm thankful that many of my employers/clients/parents tell me regularly that it shows that I love my job. :) I try not to take for granted how lucky of a duck I am to be at home with my daughters while playing all day long, every day. Even our challenges are fun for me - most of the time.

When I first started this business 3 years ago, I knew I would be more into the small group playtime opportunities than the large business opportunities that were presented. I've always said that nobody ever does this for the money. Big money can be made in this business if you play your cards just right, but that's not the kind of card player I am. I'd rather enjoy my work and improve the quality of life for myself and my family than to make the moo'lah to buy more stuff that we don't need. To me, a full house isn't reaching licensing maximum capacity and charging top pay for mediocre childcare. Instead, a full house is having just the right amount of kiddos in care, all of whom have a fabulous, healthy chemistry with each other and with my family.

This work I do is no joke - it's a lot of work. My days are long, and I don't get overtime. I work 5 days a week, often 11 hours a day, and when all the kiddos go home to their families, I have my own family to spend time with - which happens to include two young children as well. I am super lucky to have every day with my Rebecca, and to be home when Julia gets home from school. But, that kind of privilege comes with extreme sacrifices. Often, using the bathroom by myself with the door shut is a challenge during business hours. Let alone enjoying a quick mid-day snack or a break of any kind. Don't forget that this career of mine also comes with zero job security, no health insurance, very limited vacation days, and taking a sick day is a ridiculous thought. Every household/family decision I make affects many more than just myself - how I keep the yard, whether or not to own a pet, even what kind of furniture to buy. (Incidentally, one reason I can't wait to retire is so that we can get new carpet! I'd be crazy to do that now, with 8 kiddos and a puppy tromping around daily.)

The popular misconception about this job is that it's all play all day with a luxurious naptime in the middle. Yes, naptime is indeed luxurious around here - but that's because I make very wise use of my time. I do the lunch dishes and clean-up, and I sanitize toys, as well as plan activities and crafts for the week during our naptime. Without this precious time, our learning space (and my house) is constantly dirty and in a state of chaos. I would like to humbly admit that lately naptimes have been short and random. So, yes - there have been days when lunch dishes pile in the sink until dinnertime. That just comes with the job. And the play is fun, but it's also structured. If I don't have lesson plans and materials for crafts and activities, the kids get bored and wreak havoc - just like adults do in the corporate world.

With all that said, I'll say it again - I love what I do. And I feel lucky to be grounded in the reality of this job, never wishing to reach maximum capacity just for the sake of making money. I spend my money on crafts, supplies, cleaning equipment, dish soap, copy paper, sunscreen, and ... maybe wine. ;)

I love my job. I'm blessed to have a full house by my standards.

Ashley Turned Five!

Happy Friday!

Painting with Water

With high temps only reaching the mid to upper 80's we are experiencing a COLD front around here!  The kids (and I) are enjoying this break in the uncomfortable humid heat wave we've had this summer.  Of course water play with toddler pools is always a fun way to celebrate the sunshine. And, simply running through the sprinklers is always a hit, too.  But on days like today when I can't seem to muster up the energy to help remove 6 adorable outfits to put on 6 tight swim suits and sunscreen 6 adorable kids just to reverse the process in an hour (only with dripping wet swimsuits and a laundry load pile of wet towels)- well, a little paint with water is a popular activity!  This one kept the kids busy (and quiet! my headache thanks them!) for almost a whole hour. :)  Enjoy the pictures!

The class pet

My good friend over at Little Feet Daycare posted some cute pictures of her kiddos making bird feeders. Right away, I loved the idea of learning about birds for a week or so and was sad that I didn't have any birdseed on hand.  We run a tight budget around here (to keep the rates down and be financially responsible!) so the purchase of necessary birdseed will wait another week. In the meantime, we decided to make some birds. Aren't they cute? 

I must confess, the birds were supposed to be finished with pretty feathers and bright beaks - but I lost my motivation towards the end of this.  The painting, folding, stapling, and gluing has taken us more than a couple of days and I always lose interest in a project after it takes that long...  Oh well! :)

In other news, the kids discovered something very exciting!  We have  new class pet named Mr. Hoppy!  He appeared in our gas fireplace, and how we got here - nobody knows.  He has been the topic of many conversations and we have learned a little about the green hoppers along the way.  We talked about how he got in there, how he was (eventually?) going to get out and what happens if he doesn't eat.  Sadly, Mr. Hoppy died sometime between 3pm yesterday and 8am this morning.  (I think we now know what happens when grasshoppers don't eat.)  His livelihood will be missed greatly, but for now we have to see the dead critter every time we go into the living room.  Now, I need to devise a plan to get him out and properly dispose of his remains...  your suggestions are welcome. :)