Sensory ideas
Things I have used in a sensory table this year.
Rice
Flour
Oatmeal
Cornmeal
Beans
Bird seed
Cotton Ball
Mash Potato Flakes
Salt
Salt and Spice
Ice
Water
Feathers
Pom poms
Corn Starch
Sand
Shredded Paper
Bubbles
Dish Soap and Corn Starch
What would you add?
Painting Ideas
I have been working on this list of painting ideas for the last half year. Here is my start.
Try painting:
WITH
Water color
Water color then cover with plastic wrap, let dry and remove plastic
Do a dot (bingo dabber)
Do a dot on dark paper
Frozen paint
Pudding
Kool aid
finger paint
tempra paint
Watercolor on ice block
How about painting on:
ON
Newspaper
Cardboard
Boxes
Laminating
Tubes
Crumpled paper
Ice
Tin foil
Wax paper
Paper towel
Felt
Big branch
Mirror
Rocks
Shells
You might try:
USING
Pine Cone
Pine needle
Flower
Weed
Yarn
Balloon
Ball
Bumpy ball
Cotton ball
Marble roll
Tea bag painting
Lego
Dinosaur
Animal
Brush
Foam brush
Roller
Sponge
Squeeze bottle
Eye dropper
Kitchen gadget
Fork
Scrub brush
Fly swatter
Spray bottle
Spaghetti
Rocks
Cups
Tubes
Bow
Comb
Bubble wrap
Car
Truck
Train
Cardboard scrapper
Teabag
Feather
Painty elastics around a tray, twang
ADD this:
Spice
Sand
Corn syrup
Baking soda ADD vinegar after for fizzy
ADD AFTER painting:
Salt
Can you add to this list?
Trusting young children
When did we stop trusting our young children? We believe that young children will not exercise good judgement about being safe even if we have provided a backdrop for safety including supervision. We say, “stop”, “be careful”, “you’ll get hurt” long before we give children a chance to investigate, explore, discover and problem solve on their own. We need to teach children about safety without being over cautious and “helicoptering”, allowing them to take risks because we trust them. This is not a conversation about keeping children safe by using sound judgement when it comes to safe practices like car seats and helmets.
This past week our canopy made of branches was taken down. How that came to pass is another story. The branches were left lying on the playground. The children investigated and began to build. This is what I saw as I SUPERVISED the area by watching and listening. Toddlers, all under 3 years old able to wield large branches and not hurt each other. Sure they got beaned on the head a few times but they figure it out without any adult help. I also saw children figure out how to duck as long branches moved around them or over their heads. I witnessed them knowing enough to leave if they didn’t like it. I saw children being safe, smart, inventive little humans. I saw cooperation, communication, negotiation, reasoning, problem solving, imagination, language development and compassion. I watched self-esteem go up and pride abound! These are all skills I want all children to develop.
It was not without some lip pursing moments where I wanted to shout out, “oh, sh*t” and bite my tongue. The result was worth it and the next time was easier! The branch building area is an incredible area to supervise!
Will you try it?
Patriotic Cupcakes/Muffins
Feeling Patriotic? Let’s make patriotic cupcakes or muffins for a Fourth of July celebration!
Here’s how.
Purchase a white cake mix or muffin mix. Follow the directions for making cupcakes/muffins on the box. Let the children add the ingredients as directed and stir the mix.
After sufficiently mixing, divide the batter into three bowls. Now it is time to add color! Add red food coloring to one bowl, mix well. Add blue food coloring to a second bowl. Mix well. Please leave the third bowl uncolored.
Use one color to fill 1/3 of your individual muffin cup. Here we used red first.
Use the second color to fill the next 1/3 of the individual muffin. Here we used the uncolored batter.
Scoop the last color to fill the muffin cup. We scooped blue last.
Bake according to the directions on the box. Here is the final baked muffin! Enjoy
Spin Art
As a child I loved to watch spin art at the local agricultural fair every summer. For a while my colleagues and I attempted to replicate the experience using and old record player. This produced a rather interesting splattering of paint everywhere, which was a different kind of fun! One day I saw instructions on making spin art with a salad spinner. My life as a spin “artist” came alive. Now every summer the teachers at preschool dig out our collection of salad spinners and let the children create their own fair inspired spin art!
Here’s how. Measure and cut circles of paper to fit in your salad spinner. 
Tape a paper into the bottom of your spinner. Fill some squeeze bottles with slightly watered down tempera paint. Squeeze the paint onto the paper adding lots of colors and designs (or not as the child chooses).
Put on the top and turn the crank! Young children love to be in control of the spinning. Try different speeds.
Take your masterpiece out and hang it to dry!
Beautiful!
Spring Newsletter 2016
See our Spring-2016-Newsletter here.
Potato Container Garden
Want to try container gardening with your little ones? We had success with potatoes! Here is why it worked for us!
First, seed potatoes or potato eyes are large enough for little hands to manage. Have you ever tried planting tiny carrot seeds with young children………you get the idea, potatoes are doable!
Second, the potato grows under the soil so there is minimal disruption if a child or children pick the leaves of the potato plant. Unlike, if a just forming tomato is picked, the project is over!
Third, the potato is not delicate. Children can dig into the box at the end of the growing period and find the potatoes without harming the produce.
Here’s how to set up a potato container garden.
You will need some kind of big container, soil, starter potato, a trowel,water and mulching material.
We used an old window box, filled it with soil, dug a few holes into the soil, plopped the potato in and covered the whole box with more soil and a layer of old leaves and straw. Place your container in a sunny location.
Water your container steadily if you don’t have rain from time to time. Water it, watch the plants grow and when the plants die off sometime about 10 weeks from the start of the project, it is time to dig up your potato!
Small potatoes, big impact!
Process Art Experiences
NAEYC has written a great article about process art experiences. I have edited the content to show the benefits of process art. The whole article is here. http://www.naeyc.org/tyc/article/process-art-experiences
Many of us still look for “cute” projects. Cute is usually not art, it is craft and product based. Pinterest has made it easy to find product oriented “cute” projects. One needs to understand the difference between process and product art and use that knowledge when offering art experiences to young children. There are many ideas online however don’t be fooled by posts that come up with the heading process art but are product art in disguise!
The following is about process art as summed up by NAEYC.
Characteristics of process-focused art experience
- There are no step-by-step instructions
• There is no sample for children to follow
• There is no right or wrong way to explore and create
• The art is focused on the experience and on exploration of techniques, tools, and materials
• The art is unique and original
• The experience is relaxing or calming
• The art is entirely the children’s own
• The art experience is a child’s choice
• Ideas are not readily available online
What children might say
“Look what I made!” “I’m going to do another!”
“Can I have more time?”
Provide open-ended, creative art experiences by offering activities such as
• Easel painting with a variety of paints and paintbrushes (with no directions)
• Watercolor painting
• Exploring and creating with clay
• Finger painting
• Painting with unusual tools like toothbrushes, paint rollers, potato mashers
• Printing and stamping (stamps purchased or made with sponges)
• Creating spin art using a record player and paint, squirt bottles, paintbrushes, or markers
• Stringing beads independently and creatively
• Weaving cloth, yarn, or paper
• Drawing with pencils, art pens, various sizes of markers, or crayons
• Using homemade doughs
• Making collages using tissue paper, various sizes of paper, glue, paste, glue sticks, scissors, and recycled materials
Tips for leading process-focused art
- Approach art like open-ended play—for example, provide a variety of materials and see what happens as the child leads the art experience
2. Make art a joyful experience. Let children use more paint, more colors, and make more and more artwork
3. Provide plenty of time for children to carry out their plans and explorations
4. Let children come and go from their art at will
5. Notice and comment on what you see: Look at all the yellow dots you painted
6. Say YES to children’s ideas
7. Offer new and interesting materials
8. Play music in the background
9. Take art materials outside in the natural light
10. Display children’s books with artful illustrations, such as those by Eric Carle, Lois Ehlert, and Javaka Steptoe
11. Let the children choose whether their art goes home or stays in the classroom
12. Remember that it’s the children’s art, not yours
What children do and learn through process-focused art
Social and emotional
Children relax, focus, feel successful, and can express their feelings
Language and literacy
Children may choose to discuss their art and add print to it (on their own or by dictating to a teacher)
Cognitive
Children compare, predict, plan, and problem solve
Physical
Children use small motor skills to paint, write, glue, use clay, and make collages
Full article is here: http://www.naeyc.org/tyc/article/process-art-experiences
The Poop Blog
Today we found “poop” on the playground.
It was just another day on a snow covered playground when all of a sudden above the din of the children playing there was the call of “poop”! Several two and a half year old children gathered around the spot as did I, their teacher. Much discussion followed as to how this poop got here. I listened intently as the boys discussed. There discussion went from “a dog did it” to “a moose did it” to naming one of their friends who must have pooped there on the ground (fully dressed in snow gear, giggle giggle). I looked at the “poop” with the children and would occasionally utter, “oh” and “I see” and “interesting”, I wondered aloud how a moose entered the yard. Sometimes I repeated with an inquisitive tone, “a dog?”. As time went on they got a little braver and a little closer to the “poop”.
Another teacher wanted to know what was going on here. I answered we were looking at poop. To which she replied, “oh, Riley spilled her coffee yesterday”. My little friends overheard this and the investigation came to a halt. I casually said, “or it could be split coffee”. NO one answered. Their behavior turned. Where they had been exchanging and processing information, taking turns and learning they began to stomp on it and kick at the snow!
I later reflected the impact of adults “solving” the “problem”. These children were not in harm’s way. Why are we as adults so quick to fix what these young children were able to negotiate? I don’t know if they would have concluded “coffee” however I did watch them getting physically closer and closer.
At lunch time we recalled the situation and talked about one of our favorite stories, It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Shaw (http://www.amazon.com/It-Looked-Like-Spilt-Milk/dp/0064431592) where the clouds take on different shapes. The children were processing that what we see can sometimes be something different. Young children can be trusted as intelligent problem solvers. Let them investigate, explore and come to conclusions, right or wrong, no need to solve their poop!
I am going to read Duck and Goose by Tad Hills (http://www.amazon.com/Duck-Goose-Tad-Hills/dp/037583611X) which has a similar “things are not what they seem” story line. I’ll report back with results.
Creating a Win-Win
How do you create a win-win situation with your toddler?
The young preschooler by nature is the master of battles. We have witnessed and experienced the change of season clothing battle, the “I want it the way I want it” battle and the “I don’t like it” battle for the past few weeks! It is important to choose your battles wisely and create a win-win for you both!
Let’s look at how to create a win-win situation, since that is the preferable outcome.
When your young child is thrashing about, stomping, yelling or whining, you might want to banish them to the moon until they grow up. Not possible? Then remember this, your child is not being disrespectful but rather learning how to be a leader. He/she is learning how to voice his/her opinion and looking for your respect. The young child is learning how to navigate the world by asking why (over and over) instead of accepting your word. So let’s see, raise your hand if you want your child to blindly follow the leader! Not so much. You want your child to listen and respect, remember respect is earned.
There are several ways to make things easier for both of you and empower your child at the same time. First, create an environment of mutual respect. For the young child this means, listen to their side of reason. It might be completely unreasonable to you that suddenly your three- year-old wants to wear her party shoes to school. Stop to find out why and there may be a great explanation or story how she and her friend had a plan to have a princess dance party at school. If the rule is “shoes with ties for school” you now have a place of understanding for compromise. Remember you are not giving in, just respecting his/her opinion which is part of your win-win plan.
Second, offer choices and make sure that either choice is acceptable to you. Put out two pairs of pants that you find appropriate and then let your child choose. Your young child is just beginning to understand that he/she has an individual voice, and that it can have an impact on his/her world.
If compromise or choice is not possible, explaining helps your child learn that there is thought and reason behind what you have asked him/her to do. This goes back to raising a leader not a follower, remember perhaps your child is not being disrespectful but rather he/she is seeking an explanation to a situation that makes no sense to him/her.
Lastly, to fend off some outcry try to give clues or “warnings” that a transition is about to occur. In nursery school we have a timer or we flicker the light or we give a verbal reminder. This helps to set the children up for what is ahead.
We all want to win, child and adult alike. Cheers to setting up win-win situations!
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