Learning When You Don't Even Realize It

I know, everyone thinks Kozy Kids is a place for only arts and crafts, games, fun, hugs and kisses, singing, or dancing... but we do a whole lot of learning and growing too.  I realized that I don't really talk much about some of the daily learning we do.  I think it is because it is so second nature to us that I don't think of it as "worthy" blog material ;)  So, today when Little Man was getting such a kick out of using his big boy cup I thought I better get a few shots of this, then I thought, look how big this boy has gotten, using his own glass cup at Shell's.  I knew I had to include it in our post today.  Self help/Independence skills not only help me, and believe me I start teaching them as soon as I can ;) but they help the child who is learning them.  They feel so independent, in control, proud, successful, and BIG.  

The little ones not only learn from me, but watch the big kids closely, and learn from them,.  Little Man has been watching Sprout and Roo put their cup on the counter everyday since August, and he watched his sister and friends last year, so when he finished his breakfast this morning he made sure I knew HE was going to put his cup on the counter and his bowl in the sink (which was the cutest thing ever, since he can't reach either one) I had to put the stool next to the counter, but with little help from me he accomplished his task and without waiting for the fanfare I wanted to bestow on him, he ran off to get ready for nap.  As much as I know it is inevitable that these little ones will grow up, it doesn't stop that little bit of loss I feel when it happens, okay, I'll be honest, A LOT a bit of loss when it happens.

You are right though to conclude that we do accomplish a lot of fun stuff during our time together.  If it isn't playing dress up or house, it could be building with blocks or train track.  Today we happen to introduce the letter Ee, the color PURPLE, a Square, the number 6 and VALENTINE'S DAY!!!  

We read Purplicious by Elizabeth Kann, at the end of the book it talks about how if you mix blue and pink you get PURPLE... so we decided to see if this book was really telling us the truth.  What fun we had investigating this hypothesis ;)

We started with BLUE first...

Then added RED...
and what do you think happened???

It turned PURPLE!!!
Right in front of our eyes!!!!

I love how Lil Bit is stretching to get to the top of her paper.

These two were very funny together...
They would continually touch one another's papers, but act very put out when it happened.
That didn't stop them though :)

Today, yeah we learned that blue and red make purple, but we also learned to share our space, to take turns with materials and toys, and to communicate with each other.  Miss Michelle learned that Little Man has learned things that she didn't even realized she'd taught him.  It was a good day.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

As everyone who has read this blog for awhile, knows I LOVE to take photos, especially of children.  I think they are the sweetest, most precious things in the world and I want to capture this time with them as much as I can!!  Children have the most wonderful expressions about them, facially and in their body movements.  If I could have my camera strapped to my neck all day I could probably get some really great pictures, but I can't, so I take what I can get and just snap away while I can.

So... I have been following a blog La-La's Home Daycare and she has some fun photography link ups that I thought I could participate in.  Today's Link Up is from Ramblings and Photos by Ashley Sisk.  Some of the photos are really unbelievable, makes me know just how far I still have to go for this to be more than just a hobby :)  So, without further ado, I introduce you to Scavenger Hunt Sunday.

This Sunday's Hunt consists of finding 5 photos to represent the categories of...

                                                              

                                                                 1.  Color Me Green

                                                                 2.  Strike A Pose

                                                                 3.  Shiny

                                                                 4.  Footwear

                                                                 5.  Hobby 

COLOR ME GREEN

STRIKE A POSE
Are they not the SWEETEST!!!

FOOTWEAR
Do you not just LOVE baby feet... especially in Feety Jammie's.

SHINY
I know this may not be the traditional meaning of SHINY, but the way the Sun is shining through her hair makes me love this photo.

HOBBY
Taking photos of my children and the children in my care makes me so happy.
It is a Hobby that I enjoy all the time, anywhere :)

I have linked up with Scavenger Hunt Sunday if you want to go over and take a look at all the beautiful photos other people have taken!!!

Action Photos

Over the years I have taken thousands of photos of my own children and the children in my care.  I love to look back on them and see how we all have grown.  I have learned, though, that sometimes the best photos are not the ones with a huge cheese face.  That sometimes taking photos of  them working and exploring are not only more fun, but usually brings me the best pictures, especially when I am lucky enough to get that natural smile, you know the one... that special smile that evades even some of the best photographers when they shot photos of children this age.  

The first set of photos are of the kids playing with our GREEN play dough that we made yesterday.  They were off playing in the housekeeping area when I put everything out on the table.  Once they saw it, they came running... no time to take off their outfits.

Little Man was the Knight in Shining Armor to Sprouts Princess ;)

I love this face... Sprout was beginning to make a new "cake" when Little Man started for her old "cake."
You can see that didn't go over well :)

Yes, Little Man is saying, "WHY?????"

The kids eventually wandered away from the play dough and went back to their Knight and Princess world, that is until I brought out the Dinosaurs... Making Dino Tracks is always enticing.

Even Head imprints can be fun...

Or wait, what about tails!!!

Sprout was bound and determined to get that Tail Track!!!
Little Man thought that was a great idea.

But feet were so much easier!!!

We got to spend another great morning outside today.  It was a little cooler than yesterday, but the sun was shining and the ground was pretty dry, so out we went and what a great time we had!!!  I can only hope for another 6 weeks of this!!!

Happy Green Groundhog Day!!!

Whats a Provider to do when she has taken 175 photos in one morning??  I can't put them all in the post, but I want to ;)  So, I chose the ones that most represented our day...

We celebrated our GREEN day by making some no-cook play dough.  I used a recipe I found on the internet (not sure where), but when I added the alum, it became like elastic, kinda like silly putty.  Maybe I didn't add it in the right order, who knows, after we kneaded it for a while, you couldn't even tell.

Tutu's always make art more fun!!!

Making sure it wasn't sticky was a little tricky ;)
We used a lot of flour to make sure it was a good consistency...

When the consistency was just right, we started added fun stuff to create all sorts of things...
When asked what he was making, Little Man said, "ARGH!!!"
A Dinosaur maybe??

Lil Bit loves anything ART related... this was no exception.
She spent most of her morning in her tutu at the art table... to cute!!!

This was real serious creating for Sprout...
She loved when we put sequins out and she took her time making sure they were just right.

After the kids began wandering off to other things, Lil Bit would walk around the table gathering all the sticks up and "using" them for her creation... I'm not sure what it was, but she sure knew exactly what she wanted to do :)

Picking up all the sticks became a coveted job... everyone wanted a chance to put them in the plastic bag
(I'm telling you, you don't have to spend a lot on toys, some wooden sticks and a container, your good to go!!)

It was a little hard to hear that Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and we may be in for another 6 weeks of winter, but then the kids and I went outside and we found that we could probably deal with it if it stayed this nice for the next 6 weeks :)  It was 65 degrees out today... It was beautiful!!  We put on our mud boots and ventured outside to find some shadows, puddles, and fun!!!

"Ring Around the Rosie, Pocket Full of Posies...
Ashes, Ashes...
We All Stomp Our Feet, In the Puddle!!!"

Oh Yes, this was a favorite!!
I got a little dizzy after awhile, and man, I know I'm getting old because my back was KILLING me after  5 minutes of bending over and going in circle :)

Finding our shadows... just like Phil

"Look, here's mine!!"

She soooo didn't care ;)

Even the trees made shadows!!!

And nothing could top off our GREEN day better than...

Lil Bit's Gorgeous GREEN toes!!!
You just want to eat them up!!!

Wordless Wednesday

I've tried something new, I've linked up with...