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. :) 

Royally Inspired!

One of my favorite sources of inspiration is the Frugal Family Fun blog. It's there that I happened upon the make your own castle craft idea.  I loved it, because it is something that is collaborative and creative.  It also inspired my next focus theme...   after vacation, we're going to use stories, music, games, and activities to talk about Kings, Queens, and Castles.  Mmmm, I already have so many great ideas in mind.

Here are some pictures of our castle. (Give me a break, okay? I aim to inspire creativity in children, my rough draw of a castle is proof that I am not an artist!)  Enjoy.

Start with a box. :)

Draw your castle and carefully cut out the pieces. (I did this part, the kiddos watched.)

Use Markers and Crayons to decorate

Tape the box back together inside-out.

The finished project - except that Julia wants to glue on some pretty jewels and some tissue paper.

Busy Busy Fun!

Sorry to have dropped off the blogging bandwagon! We've been very busy around here.  For Easter, we had a small egg hunt in the backyard - it was such a treat to find all the eggs in and around the playground. :)  For Mother's Day, we made a DVD with pictures and video.  Now it's the beginning of June already, and I'm trying to figure out where Spring went!?! Summer came HOT and QUICK.  But, we manage to stay cool.  Here are some pictures from today's water play fun. :)  It was Caleb's first time having water play at Maggie's house!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This week is Cooking Week at Maggie's house! We made our own pig-in-a-blanket for lunch on Monday.  On Tuesday, we made our own Fruit Pizza for snack and then pepperoni pizza for lunch.  Today's Wednesday and it happens to be St. Patrick's Day - so we made our own Green Eggs and Ham!  We also had green applesauce for snack this morning.  Enjoy the pictures below!

Things I have learned on the job...

(In no particular order.)

• Art and Crafts time comes a lot less often when  you throw a 4 month old into the mix of preschoolers.
• Kids are okay with missing Arts & Crafts time once in a while.
• Having a baby in the house makes my job easier, not harder.
• Sanitizing toys is fun for everyone (more fun for me when I get to delegate the job to others!)
• Pouring lakes of Elmer's glue on regular printer paper can actually make the paper stick to the table, even though there was no glue on the table until after the project dried.
• Glue sticks aren't so bad! (I used to refuse to use glue sticks, adamant about teaching children to use bottled glue correctly without the expensive, wasteful convenience of glue sicks.)
• Scissor practice can entertain a group of 2-3 year olds for almost a whole hour at a time.
• If you teach 2-3 year olds how to properly and safely carry scissors from the drawer to the table (and vice versa), the children will practice this with diligence and will demand almost as much positive affirmation from such an exercise as from potty training.
• Paint washes out of everything - even the t-shirts we created that were supposed to stay that way forever.
• Generic fabric medium doesn't really work. Buy the good stuff.
• Peeling the paper from the crayons is sometimes more fun than coloring with them.
• The PBS TV show "Between the Lions" makes for a great babysitter when lunch requires complex cooking and leaves little time for direct supervision. 
• The show "Between the Lions" comes on at precisely at 11am every weekday. Reminding children of this will help them get motivated to clean up the playroom quickly at clean up time.
• It is possible to have a successful nap time with a 4 month old, 2 two year olds, a 3 year old and a 5 year old all under the same roof. (Hallelujah!)
• It is possible to work on our gross motor skills during freezing weather - if running in the house counts (and yes, I do completely and totally allow this... sometimes).
• Hide and seek with this age range of kids is more fun than duck duck goose.
• Cooking projects can be lots of fun and stress free if you keep it simple. Kids are very happy just stirring in a cup of sugar - they don't need to feel involved with the whole entire process to feel some ownership in the final product.
• Home-made play-doh is way more popular with the kids than the store bought crap.
• When making home-made play-doh, never skip the Cream of Tarter ingredient - thats what keeps it fresh for longer.  
• When serving a new fruit or vegetable to children, it's smart to let them try it raw before cooking it. (I was really surprised at how well the kids will eat raw broccoli, as opposed to cooked!)
• Vinegar and water is not only a cheaper cleaning solution, it's also more effective than a lot of the store bought crap.
• Song and Dance play is so much more fun when there's a camera in the room too.
• The train set I bought 5 years ago on clearance is the most popular item in the house, and must be kept away at all times when 3 or more children are present. (I'm shopping around for another one just like it so we can better share!)
• Watching for the trash truck to come on Thursdays is exciting when there are 2-3 year old boys watching for it too.
• Little kids can hear sirens outside, even when the sirens are miles away and we are in a closed playroom dancing to music.
• A princess can play superhero's almost better than the boys can - she helps the heroes rescue and save each other, whereas the boys like to find trouble for the heroes to get into.
• Learning never ends on the job. Every single day, it's something new. I could never capture it all - but it's fun to try!!