Happy Birthday, Babies & Messy Art

This post will be a little longer than most... I have been away (from the computer) for 3 days so there is a lot to cover. I have to say, the weather here has been gorgeous and we have been taking full advantage of it. So beautiful that I haven't stopped to sit down and post. What have we been doing, you ask??

Princess turned 5 this week!! How time really does fly. I remember the day she ran through my house and yard, like she owned the place. Her parents came for an interview and she fit right in!! It was like she had been here before and was just away for a while, because it feels like that little girl belongs here :)




Birthday Friends get to be my helper for the day... she got to run Circle Time.

Doing ALL the important tasks!!

What's the Weather, Princess??? SUNNY!!!

The Days of the Week!!

Princess pointed out the pattern she made with the color and shape cards. She is one smart cookie!!

She even helped her friends counting gumballs!!

Princess and D-Man will be going off to Kindergarten next school year and I can't believe it. It is amazing how they have grown and matured. It will be with GREAT sadness that I send them off.

BABY, BABY, BABY!!!

Ok, I am going to go off the beaten path a little here and talk about Babies in Child Care. It is hard having infants in Child Care. They beat to their own drum, they require a lot of attention, routines are non existent, and they never seem to sleep when you want them to. All that being said, the absolute joy they bring makes all that other stuff worth it!!

I am a Provider that believe in learning through play and lots of experiences. I am soooo lucky to have families that agree with me. Because I know many parents of an 8 month old infant would NOT take to kindly to me allowing their baby to do this...

This is just a shot of today... you should have seen him yesterday.

Little Man caught a glimpse of the kids playing... there was no holding him back!!

He stopped along the way to inspect anything that caught his attention. Looking at it, feeling it, and yes, even TRYING to taste it.

Almost there!!

Hey Guys!!!



I made it!! He stayed right there, in front of that door, for a good 20 minutes. "Talking" & Yelling at the kids. He would pull himself up to look through the window and laugh at the kids inside. He inspected the dirt, pine needles, sand, and anything the kids would give him to play with. When they realized he wasn't going anywhere, they started to include him in their pretend play... his most important character was being The King of the land... they made him "pies" to taste (thankfully I was there for that one) and stick salad (which he thought was out of this world!!).

Having a multi-aged group is really hard sometimes, but on days like today, when it all comes together, I can't help but stop and realize what an important job I'm doing. I have a lot more to say about Babies and how they explore... but I will save it for another day!!


3-D ART... OUTSIDE!!

I think I got this idea from Teacher Sheryl over at Teaching 2 and 3 year old's. I went over and can't seem to find the post, and I get A LOT of great art idea's from here, but I could be wrong. So, if I got this idea from another blog, please contact me and I will link to the correct one... and many sorry's !!! :)

Anyway, I thought a process over product craft was in order. We have been so busy practicing and reviewing our ABC's, 123's, shapes, concepts, etc... that with all this nice weather that being free to explore the paint and using large movements to cover these boxes would be a lot of fun. The kids had a blast... it was nice to just experiment, touch, smell, squish, and move the paint around.

It all started out innocent enough...

But that drive to experiment for some was to strong...

I love the paint in her hair!!! Working so close together was part of the fun... I thought they might start putting the paint on each other on purpose, but they didn't. Not to say it didn't happen, but it was all on accident.

Blending... "Look Shell, Thomas is BLUE!!! Always."

This is what they left. I didn't get a photo of the water tub after they were finished. It wasn't pretty. But, they had a grand time and begged me to leave it out so they could play some more after nap. They seem to think the school agers will want to experiment with it too. Which leads me to ask, "Why do the same children who, just last year, loved getting messy and experimenting, want nothing to do with messy art this year??" I wish schools allowed for more of that kind of experiences... but, that's why I must keep offering it here!!

We had a wonderful week, I hope you did too!!!