Playdate

No photos today... so busy, and the camera's battery died, that I just wasn't able to get any shots. That doesn't mean we didn't have a very busy and fun day. Our new friends from around the corner came for another play date. It was really nice to have them here. Our Princess likes having other girls to play with sometimes. Though, everyone enjoyed playing together.

We made some new YELLOW play dough to have when our friends came. It was so soft and warm, they couldn't help but play with it. I also put some rice in the sensory table, and I'm sorry, but I only had red, but it was a review color so it was ok :) Our easel was up and running and the kids were actively engaged pretty much the whole time. Of course the trains, blocks, & house keeping were utilized as well.

I think the kids enjoy having new friends to play with and the time flies. I hope they can continue to come and play. It gives us new friends to try out all those great skills we work on everyday. Like using our words, problem solving, turn taking, patience, modeling appropriate behavior, and friendship. The kids really enjoy showing their new friends how to use their materials and equipment. Having this chance helps them find their leadership qualities and try them out. I love watching them.

Let's Bb a little YELLOW...

We had letter Bb fun and a Rainy Yellow day today. The rain came again this morning, and I have to say we had fun anyway. We didn't go on our Rain Walk like I had planned (it was raining to hard for babies to be out) but we had fun anyway. The kids loved playing in the centers this morning. We had lots of Blocks, YELLOW Play doh, Bugs, and YELLOW painting.




During Circle we played a really fun letter Bb game. I hid objects with the Bb beginning sound... ball, bib, bowl, bumble bee, & banana, in a Blue mystery Bag. I then Blindfolded the kids and they reached in the bag and picked an object, trying to guess what it was. The only hint they got was that it began with B and the b-b-b-b sound. Everyone guessed correctly, Everyone!! Even our 2's... I was very impressed. The kids loved it and played with it after circle time with each other.

She actually guessed Bib, before I pulled the Blindfold off. Now, I'm not sure if she could see under the mask, but I am leaning towards all the kids being Genius's.

After circle time and a quick nap by Little Man, we got these two guys together for some play time. They love to look at one another and just laugh and smile... way, way to cute!!

"Ok buddy, what do you have there??"

"Here, let me show you how it's done"

"No, really I can show you how to play with it. I've been doing this for at least 4 more months than you."

"Alright, fine, you can have it. I'll just play with your hair."

**We caught him before he got it Moms :) **



Learning together is a lot of fun. There is so much more to learning than the Three R's... I love to watch the kids learn how to socialize, solve problems, take risks and grow in their own self-confidence through play. It means a lot to me to know that I have something to do with that.

To the Nature Preserve we Go!!!

We went to the Nature Preserve in our development today. It rained all day yesterday, so we had to be inside. Even though we did some gross motor activities (dancing, hopscotch, freeze tag) it is so not the same as running through the trees and exploring the "Rain Forest" as the kids have taken to calling it. So, when the sun began shining this morning, and Little Man got up from his morning snooze, off we went. I love the way Little Miss M is copying D-Man... she walked the whole way there exactly like him.

Climbing trees is always a favorite. I wish we had a climbing tree in our yard. Sprout is just like the big kids... "Shell, Shell... Up, Up" Very Cute!!!

Exploring for all types of acorns, pods, & leaves took up some of our time. As well as running up and down the hills. (Sorry Mom's, I tried to keep them on their feet, but it was way to tempting to go down on our bottoms)

We also went on a Bb hunt... we tried to find things that began with the "b-b-b-b" sound...

Like:

BOY

BARK

BALANCE

and BABY

What a nice day!!!

A Rainy RED Day

We had a wet, rainy RED day!!! What fun we had. I had all kinds of RED things to use today. Lots of crafty kinds of stuff, paint, crayons, do-a-dots, and toys.

We all wore our RED shirts too. It was great. Even the littlest ones had on RED. (I did too, for about 40 minutes. Then I got pooped on, oh well, a day in the life of a Child Care Provider)




We also did a crayon melting activity on the Hot Plate. I saw it on Annie's blog, but for the life of me I can't find the post for it. We love it and haven't done it in a real long time.

We used just RED today, but we will addmore colors as the week goes on. It wasa favorite today. I think we have about 100 melted crayon prints. We learned to keep our hands and arms away from the sides and bottom of the Hot Plate. They did a lot of experimenting on how far they could get the crayon to melt before it got to hot for them.

The light table got a little dirty today. It was fun seeing the light shine through the paper and water colors.

Building & Patterning were both busy today too.

These guys had fun today too, they jumped, climbed, and had floor time together. I think we have some friends in the making :)

Water Fun for Everyone!!!

What a little WATER won't cure.

We had a trip to a Farm planned for today, my own son had to stay home from school sick today, so we had to cancel... did they mind?? See for yourself.

Fun Day

Today was an immensely fun day. We had some new friends come over for a play date. Miss Beth comes everyday, and we LOVE her and her crew. Having friends to share and socialize with is what Child Care is all about. I "lost" 3 of my preschoolers to Kindergarten this year, leaving me with Princess and the D Man (both 4) and then Little Miss M, Sprout (both 2) and Little Man (infant). Well, Princess and D Man are both trying to find their niche since the older kids went off to school. It is coming along, they are experimenting and taking risks, and navigating the Leadership Role really great. But, while D Man had his a little friend (that is a boy) come over with Miss Beth, Princess is the only preschool girl. She goes with the flow, plays great with D Man and his friend, even playing with Sprout and Little Miss M can be fun sometimes. Yet, she is missing her kindergarten friends. So, at my son's bus stop, a neighbor comes with her daughter (4), son (almost 3) and a little girl she watches (4)... YEAH!!!! This morning I invited them over for a play date!! Princess had a ball. It was nice seeing her play with the little girls, and they both immediately allowed her into their twosome. (I was worried, a little.)

When they arrived we were already immersed in some free play choices.... we had the water table set up, free choice art at the table with paper, scissors, markers, tape and glue, we had the easel going, and of course the housekeeping, blocks, and light table. I think the kids had a great time.

What color is your Apple? at the Easel

Then the many, many Easel Paintings that came after.

Lots of fun!!!

Can You Guess??

We read 10 Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss today... Well, we have been reading it all week and doing some really fun activities to go along with it. Yesterday we tried balancing an apple on our head, but all the kids weren't here and I didn't have my camera handy, so, we decided to do it again today. The photos above were of the kids having fun with 2 apples... we decided we couldn't try to do more, since we didn't have enough hands to keep those apples on our heads. The kids had a lot of fun. It was a silly experiment that all the kids took part in (well, except the real little ones, they just wanted to eat it).

First, we talked about how we thought the animals in the book kept the apples "Up On Top" and could we do it too?? Then I asked how many they thought they could balance Up On Top themselves... we got answers like... 1, 7, 70 (lots of giggling) and 10. We then put our guesses to the test... It was hard to balance 1, but 2 was "really, really hard Shell."

After our experiment we got to do our 10 Apples Up On Top craft that I got from somewhere, I was blog and web hopping and for the life of me I can not find where I saw this craft. (So, I am sorry to the person whose site I saw it on, but it was another great idea I got from someone else, I just wish I could send you their way.) I took photos of all the kids yesterday pretending to balance something on their heads. They were curious to why I was doing it, but I told them to be patient, they would soon learn why. Today when they say their photo cut out and glued to a large piece of construction paper they were very excited. So, after our experimenting, each child got to choose how many apples they wanted to glue Up On Top of their heads. They turned out very cute... not so much a process crafts, but a fun one none-the-less :)