Brynn's Birthday

We needed a different game.

Brynn can tell when we've done something before and therefore loves a challenge.

I like to think of her as my little ally in what the children will want to participate in.

So.......We did the basic games like

"Hickory Dickory Dock"

Then there were some cool coloring pages.

And there is always the parachute. That is synonymous with our birthday parties.

Learning to make "the mushroom" with the parachute lasted quite awhile.

but a word of caution...

There is a chance of heads banging together if you have a smaller parachute.

We avoided this thankfully.

And we took her favorite activity (instruments) outdoors.

For Birthday treats, we ate fudge stripe cookies. Yum!

But

let's

get

on with

the

reason I am blogging.

For the game I came up with, we needed to hide our eyes.

In case you are unaware, children under age 5 typically don't like scarves around their faces.

So this is a way they will enjoy not peeking.

I searched High and Low for some jewel type stickers but had to resort to these color coding labels.

You must understand, we live in Sedalia, Missouri and have a Walmart, Kmart and

small town dollar stores.

I needed a wide sheet of paper so I resorted to taping 4 of these 11x14 inch sheets together and drew the crown you see. Sorry there's no pattern, just free hand one with pencil and go over it with a marker.

Children won't judge your artistic abilities :)

We placed it on the wall and took turns spinning around each child 2 times with sticker

 at the ready.

Establishing ownership is important for this age group so we labeled each 'jewel' with initials so they could show their parents at the end of the day.

And yes, learning still occurs even during a party.

Recognizing letters

Color recognition

Sharing

Taking turns (Math)

Rhythm (with instrument free play as well as singing "happy birthday")

Listening to Directions

And Spacial awareness when we are turned around without all our sense of vision.

Why did we choose the crown instead of a

pin the tail on the donkey game?

 Because our gift to Brynn was the Princess paper dolls.

Happy #4 Birthday Little Miss Brynn!!!

Sidewalk Fun

For some fun in the driveway, we decided to try out the Fizzing Sidewalk Paint I learned about in another blog... Mama Smiles. You can find the recipe there.

It's a Birthday Party day here at daycare and Hot (again) and before Hurricane Isaac brings us long awaited relief from our horrible drought, we intend to fix up the driveway for a huge welcome!!!

By the way, Lou turned 4 today :)

Just for keeping parents' sanity, aprons were required.

We split up the paint in these recycled lids from laundry detergent containers.

Special thanks to my in-laws for this recycleable we found a special use for in this project.



These bottles were filled with vinegar. Disregard the writing on the bottle that says Bleach H20.

The fun is about to begin.

One shot of vinegar causes the fizzing.

What did we learn in this process????

• Color recognition
• Sensory experience through the scent of vinegar
• Sensory experience through feeling textures in painting different surfaces such as sidewalk, leaves, rocks, fingers :)
• Don't paint our friends, they may express their opinion
• Eye-hand coordination
• Fine motor practice in stirring paint to keep it from setting up
• Sharing space and cooperation

Happy Birthday Miss Lou!!

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......... 

We say 'Sodee' in Missouri

I read about this somewhere, forgive me for not remembering where......

But this is a way to use empty 'sodee' bottles for your kiddos outdoors. We also have a Gatorade bottle included here for good measure. The large 2 liter ones don't work so well for your general information.

First you cut off a portion of the bottom. I chose to use the first natural point where the bottle curves.

Next I applied duct tape for keeping fingers from getting scratched on the sharp edges.

We really like the funky polka dot design :)

Then we apply masking tape to each bottle to label with their names. No sharing cooties here.
And very important.......remove the lid.

Finally the fun begins! (Notice Savannah's new dress her mommy made for her! It's pretty darn cute)

Next to Lou is the 'dipping' bowl for bubble mix. We got ours thanks to Grandma Nancy who finds all the deals at $1 for the bottle. Thanks Grandma!!

What we learned:

• You get the biggest bubbles when you bend forward & point your bottle down. They were huge!
• Taking turns
• Bubbles can pop in your face (or your friends')
• Bubble mix doesn't go well with sand
•  Wind can wreck havock on a great bubble
• Babies won't let you finish blowing a bubble if they can reach your bottle. There were some anger issues. But we worked them out.
• Lots of fun for a morning that was cooler than we've had for a long while. A fabulous Friday!!!

Have a wonderful Summer!!!

9 Reasons Not To Walk Babies | Janet Lansbury

I saw this post on Facebook and I confess, I have been guilty of this on occasion....as I figure most of us are.
Also, most of us are always learning. So hope you'll check it out.

9 Reasons Not To Walk Babies | Janet Lansbury

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 :)

Our Father's Day Project

It started on Pinterest with a picture of a spatula. This is not that picture just for the record.
 It had a cute saying engraved on it,...

"Dad, You Are Flippin' Awesome!"

And so it begins....

A bag of pancake mix with the recipe (includes an egg-free variety for our children with no-egg diets)

Then there was the card with a glued-on clip art pic from Word

Here's Alexa's version of the inside of her card.

Hope every dad out there has a

"Flippin Awesome Fathers's Day!"

http://youtu.be/J68XhyH97BA

Check out the youtube video.

Dedicated to My Daddy!!

Tried to teach me the 2 Step with this song to no avail. :)