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!!!

It's Been Awhile...

It's been awhile since I have last been here. I couldn't believe so much time had passed. We have been busy, busy this past week. My camera is on it's last leg, it has been dropped, submerged, kicked, and now taken apart. Thankfully, I got it to work again. I was worried it would be stuck on movie forever. After a little fiddle here and a tweak there, I was able to get it to take and download photos again!! Yeah. I will cross my fingers it will last until I can save up some money to invest in another one :)

What have we been doing?? Well....

We have been learning to play ball!!

Playing in the water table is always fun!!

And educational... Roo is practicing her pouring skills!!!

Little Man is practicing Squeezing water from his cloth... he had a lot of fun with that one, especially when he took it to the table and left a trail of water (lots of water) behind him. I think we need a little more practice ;)

The girls LOVED cleaning the toys.

We made pumpkin puppets for our 5 Little Pumpkins song

Little Man used roll-on paint to decorate his Fall Tree


I don't think Lil Bit knew which she liked better, the roll-on paint or the Do-A-Dot paint... as long as it got on her hands she was a very happy girl :)

We even got to do a little baking. We have been trying to bake every Monday morning, this way we have some yummy snacks to nibble on during the week. My husband enjoys it a lot!!!

We did so much more... like painting, playing outside, dancing to music, pretending to be leaves and apples falling from trees, we even practiced kicking the ball outside in the yard. If I were to get it all on my camera I would never put it down. Yet, I forget sometimes all the little stuff and never get photos of us rolling on the floor playing get your belly, or sitting reading books, doing finger songs, or getting ready for breakfast, lunch or snack. There are so many little moments during the day I wish I could capture, because sometimes it's the things we adults think of as mundane, repetitive or insignificant that mean the most to a child.

Where Have We Been??

We are here!! We have been so busy this week learning about one another, painting, dancing, singing and playing outside. The beginning of the week we had some beautiful, cool mornings and we could be outside without it bothering our little ones, but as the week has worn on it has gotten hot, humid and "yucky" as one of the kids said this morning :) so our time outside has been done in smaller burst as the week goes on. I don't want to wish the warm weather away, but I can't wait for the Fall weather.

What a smile!!!

Painting is a great 1st art project for little ones. But even the old pros love it!!


Little Man really enjoyed painting, I think that his favorite part was when it would splash up at him.

Forming Friendships through play

The kids had a lot of fun making another "city" with their Cozy Coupes

Wheeee....

We painted our Paper Mache creations

It has been a full and exciting week!!

A Wonderful World of Paint

Painting is such a wonderful medium for the kids to work with. It can be done with fine motor skills in mind or with gross motor skills in mind. Below the kids are using small brushes to create on small paper that I cut. They really explored the paint with the little brush, actually discussing how "tiny" the bristles (they used the word "top" for the bristles) were. They noticed that L's brush top was a little fatter than Roo's and that his marks came out bigger than hers. Little Miss M noticed that her brush was more like L's than Roo's. It was an interesting conversation for two early 3 yr olds to have, but one they were very comfortable having.

In the next photo you'll see Roo using her whole body to paint on the plexi glass easel. She was huffing and puffing as she reached for the top most corner of the easel. When she decided it was time to clean the paint off, she was very happy that the spray bottle's spray reached those corners, but she still had to reach with the squeegee to remove some of the paint. The amount of energy exerted was amazing... she needed a rest (in the reading tent) and a glass of water when she was finished. She felt very proud of herself, she accomplished what she set out to do, paint and clean the ENTIRE easel :)

Then we have Little Man here experiencing the paint with both his fine motor skills and gross motor skills. He starts out tentative and moves onto to a more robust way of manipulating the paint. He thoroughly enjoyed himself on that day, working with the paint for almost 20 minutes (which I deem almost a life time for a 1 yr old :)). I think the only thing better than the paint, was the cleaning up in the sink when he was finished.



Paint is a gift to any Child Care Provider/Early Child Teacher. It provides the children with rich experiences, that can be explored through utensils, brushes, hands, feet, elbows and spray bottles. You can paint on something smooth, rough, multi-dimensional, or yourself. We can paint above our heads, on the floor, or right at eye level. You see, there is no wrong way to use paint. Paint proves to be one of those early childhood tools that is never ending and multi- faceted, something that all children from infant to preschool and older (I love paint days!!) should have access to. Look around your providers home, or your child's preschool classroom... are there paints out, splatters on the floor or wall, creations on the wall?? I hope so.

Water, Water Everywhere!!!

Water is our primary learning tool right now... sure we are "learning" about bugs, but it seems that everything relates back to water. How can we get our hands on it, what we will do or make when we get it, how will it feel, how much will we get, will it drown our bugs or will they be able to swim (ants float we learned).

Our Butterflies have started to hatch from their cocoon, but even that only holds their attention for a short time before I get the question, "When can we play with the water?" It doesn't matter inside or out, in the water table or the sink, or in the mud pit or sand pit... as long as, at some time during the day they experience water play!!

I think water play is an excellent teaching tool... it can be an independent activity as well as a social one, children use gross motor as well as fine motor skills and language skills are formed naturally, flowing freely from child to child, usually without much intervention from anyone else. Thus, children are more apt to take risks and try new things that they may not have otherwise felt comfortable to do. The teacher doesn't have to put a lot of thought into the water center, just setting it up with different cups will provide hours of play. But a teacher can use a water table to teach numbers, concepts, or letters just by what she puts into the water center. I personally, think that the main water table in a classroom should be for open-ended play. So much unintentional learning goes on during open-ended play, that in an early childhood program there should be lots and lots of time for it. But, if I have a concept I want to teach and feel that they may learn better if it has a sensory aspect to it, I will set up a smaller water table near by to teach that concept. I just feel providing ample water play opportunities is key to any early childhood program. And parents should be weary of any program where there is dust on the water table :)

People visit my home and see the dirt box, the water table, the science area, or the art area and cannot believe I allow that kind of messy play to go on IN the house. I really feel that providing these opportunities for the children helps them grow in all parts of who they are becoming. Isn't childhood the time to test the limits, in the safety of the ones we love, and are loved by. Isn't it the place that we learn right from wrong, by those we love, and are loved by. I try to give each child that consideration and love. Setting up the environment to learn how to function in a group, or independently. To allow those who learn a little slower than the others more time with materials, and more time to learn from those children around them that model the acceptable behavior. It isn't easy to clean up soil off the floor most of the day, or sop up water from the same child 3 times in an hour... but have you ever seen the smiling face of a child knee or elbow deep in a table of water or mud?? I have, and that makes it ALL worth it!!!

We Are Still Here

Haven't been able to post daily lately, so much going on. We have been practicing for our Graduation Program, wrapping up our last alphabet letters, enjoying the wonderful weather, and doing a lot of playing. So here are just a few photo's from last week to keep you updated...

Little Miss M and Sprout cooking together in the kitchen area... Thanks Miss Jada for the GREAT Chef Aprons & Hats!!

Little Man helping the kids wash the playroom table!! Water, bubbles, and wash clothes... who would have thought cleaning could be so much fun :)

Using the weight work from the shelf... they love matching the weighted cylinders, but I added a scale and it became much more of a group activity.

With lots of discussion, questions and explanations to the little ones on what was happening and why. I loved listening to Princess and D-Man explaining why the scale did or did not balance to the the little ones. I heard, "because they are wet." (they weren't), "because they have the same dot on the bottom" (some did, some didn't) and my favorite... "because I wanted it to be the same heavy." I love it.

We made flower pots and planted flowers for our Mom's for Mother's Day. This was the left over soil. We had a great time exploring and playing with it all week. So much so, that it is still out this week :)

A Few Things We Did This Week

It has been a very, very busy week. Posting has taken a back seat to all the other things that have been occupying our time this past week. That isn't to say we haven't done lots of neat things though.

Of course outside time is on the top of our list. Getting all those wiggles out and expending all that energy a baby, toddler or preschooler has is an important part of our program. Leaving a child ready to open themselves to learning.

Being Silly is also an enormous part of our program. Can you imagine not being silly?? These kids can't!!

Some play dough work is always a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of our daily routines.

A little Montessori work for those who need some independent time.

On the light table we had x-rays of animals and people. This one got A LOT of use. Not only were the kids totally in awe that they looked like that inside, but seeing the bones in her face just amazed them. There was a lot of talking and discussing about there own faces. They even would stare in the mirror around the light table and study themselves. Very cute.


Winding down the school year is always hard. Getting everything in is always hard, what with practicing for our Spring Program, and enjoying the beautiful weather, we don't have time for much else. Just remember... Play is an important job for a child :)

A Few Things We Did Today

Getting back into being at Shell's house couldn't have gone any better. It was a beautiful day, we had some new work on the shelf, and seeing our friends after a 2 week hiatus was pure joy!!! The kids found something new on practically every shelf this morning, but a few of our favorites were...

New Glue Bottles... with little paint style brushes to paint the glue on, Fun!!!

New Blocks!!!

A Magnetic Fishing Game

There was also some new science work on the shelf, but I was so busy with the kids I couldn't get pictures. I am sure I will catch someone playing with them this week and post later on.

Since it was a gorgeous, although a little humid, day, we went outside to play this morning. Little Man is moving all around and I was quite busy keeping up with him, so again, no photos of our outdoor play. We did the usual though... sand table, sand box, climbing, running, basketball, and swinging to name just a few. I am happy all the kids are back, I missed them.

Play

We played today...

When I am building with the blocks please don't say I'm "just playing".

For you see, I'm learning as I play, about balance and shapes.

Who knows, I may be an architect someday.

When I'm getting all dressed up, setting the table, caring for the babies, don't get the idea I'm "just playing".

For, you see, I'm learning as I play;

I may be a mother or a father someday.

When you see me up to my elbows in paint or standing at an easel, or molding and shaping clay, please don't let me hear you say, "He is just playing".

For, you see, I'm learning as I play.

I'm expressing myself and being creative.

I may be an artist or an inventor someday.

When you see me sitting in a chair "reading" to an imaginary audience, please don't laugh and think I'm "just playing".

For, you see, I'm learning as I play.

I may be a teacher someday.

When you see me combing the bushes for bugs, or packing my pockets with choice things I find, don't pass it off as "just play".

For you see, I'm learning as I play.

I may be a scientist someday.

When you see me engrossed in a puzzle or some "plaything" at my school, please don't feel the time is wasted in "play".

For, you see, I'm learning as I play. I'm learning to solve problems and concentrate.

I may be in business someday.

When you see me cooking or tasting foods, please don't think that because I enjoy it, it is "just play".

I'm learning to follow direction and see differences.

I may be a cook someday.

When you see me learning to skip, hop, run and move my body, please don't say I'm "just playing".

For, you see, I'm learning as I play. I'm learning how my body works.

I may be a doctor, nurse or athlete someday.

When you ask me what I've done at school today, and I say, "I just played", please don't misunderstand me.

For you see, I'm learning as I play. I'm learning to enjoy and be successful in my work.

I'm preparing for tomorrow.

Today, I am a child and my work is play.

Author Unkown