An August Snow Event

Last winter after one of our larger snowfalls, I took a couple 2 gallon freezer bags outdoors and stuffed them full of the fluffy stuff, sealed them up and found a spot for them in my deep freeze.

Fast forward to the first week of August. You know, the time of year when everyone has exhausted all their summer ideas. We went through the bucket list and nothing sounded good for the umpteenth time. Boredom officially reared its' ugly head. After I made sure vacations were over with all the families, and we'd have all hands on deck, I pulled these bags of awesomeness out. I had several sets of watercolor paints and brushes and we proceeded to experiment with a Pinterest idea. We found out:

*you can indeed paint on snow with watercolor but it helps to first dip brush in bottom of container where there's a bit of thawed out snow. Once that technique was discovered, there was a moment of silent (yes it can happen in a room of children) artistry.

After awhile they naturally were tired of the project so we decided to finish it off outdoors in the

 80 degree heat.

(It's pretty ironic that a couple of my families had been playing in the sand in Florida the previous week and were now dipping their feet in snow)

 

A couple other 'snow' ideas we implemented in our theme were

"Watch Out Snowmen!" bowling

(Cat not meant to be included)

And.....

Their grand masterpieces, "Snow Paint" i.e. shaving cream paint.

Sorry peeps, these aren't for sale :)

 

 

 

Upcycling wallpaper

You know those wallpaper sample books you can get for free at your local paint store? That is if your town/city still has one with all the large chain stores. (cough Lowe's, Home Depot, Menards, etc)

WE still have a couple here. My dad being a painter by trade during his life, this was a popular spot for us to shop. So... throw in a few decades later and you have me, painter's daughter doing childcare. And this is one of those ideas I use those sample books for.

Here's one example.

So we tear them out for this activity and use 'masking tape' (another painter's utensil) to attach them together. Thus, saving me $$$ from buying butcher block paper and also keeping my costs for families from skyrocketing due to needing more supplies. That( could be a whole other blog post)

 

 

 Now for the writing we picked out all the basic colors to keep track of them in case our little friend Hudson decided to run off with one to practice chewing :) And also, notice the print on the back is not a deterrent to the drawing going on.

 

In fact I used it to my advantage and created a writing prompt for Ben, age 2. Here's his little story.

Hope you enjoy our tutorial and story.

 

 

 

Our Bean Bag Olympic Training

Our Olympian podiums.

Last week we practiced some bean bag fun. Here is a list of some of the 'challenges' we handed out:

• Toss your bean bag up & catch it
• Toss the beanbag and clap 1 time and catch it
• Toss it, clap 2 times and catch & 3 times, etc How high can you go?
• Throw the bean bag under 1 leg and catch with the other hand
• Now switch legs
• Throw the bean bag up, jump 1 time and catch it.
• Now jump 2 times, etc. How high can you go?
• Try to catch with just your right hand.
• Now just your left hand
• Balance it on a foot, toss it up and catch it
• Now switch to the other foot.
• Put a beanbag on your shoulder and run without letting it fall. (This became a relay game.)
• Can you throw it up and catch it behind your back?
• Can you run with it on your head?

What we learned:

1. Fine motor skills
2. Social skills
3. Spacial awareness
4. Counting
5. Color recognition
6. Physical development

More beanbag fun coming up this summer......... 

Heat Wave

We started our week with painting the walk with water.

This toddler decided to see what happens when you pour out your cup.

(Science/Predicting/Sensory)

Notice he also painted the center of each brick.

(Math/fine motor)

The neighbor's cat stopped in for a visit. We found out what happens when we pet a cat's fur with wet hands.

(Sensory/Empathy)

This 3 year old used water pumps in the bubbly water

(Science/Sensory/Large Muscles)

Older minds decide to see what happens when you dump out the water pump into the water wheel

(More science/predicting)

Now we begin washing dishes.Notice the toddler to the left is opening an egg filled with water?

He got a surprise when the water poured out!

(Dramatic Play/Discovery)

More of them using those large muscles. That old coffee creamer container came in pretty handy for water play.He's dumping water & plastic lids with the ABC's written on them for more floating items.He discovered the lids won't go down the water wheel hole.

Another vantage point below our "water wall".

I forgot to get a photo of it. Maybe later.

Note to all providers/parents/caregivers.....

ALWAYS be present during water play

&

Have extra clothes :)