Outdoor Learning

Did you know that in Norway and New Zealand they have Preschool programs that takes place almost entirely outside. The children get dropped off outside 2, 3,even 5 days a week. They are exposed to the elements, they walk on wet rocks, they run and jump in the snow. They help make the fire in the fire pit, they widdle their own stick for roasting marshmallows with, can you imagine, here in the USA giving a 5 year old at a preschool program a sharp knife to widdle with. Insurance would be through the roof. I can't even get my Child Care Licensing Coordinator to license me with a few stumps in my yard. They may get a splinter, fall into one, or who knows what else. Is it because we are a sue happy nation?? That families in other countries don't take their children's accidents as opportunities to sue. I don't know the answer... I just know that I long to create an environment that allows the children in my care to be kids. To fall sometimes, to coexist with nature, in all her glory. Splinters and all.















If you go to Let the Children Play, Ms Jenny has some amazing posts on creating the most amazing outdoor environments for children to play in. I couldn't pick just one post, since she has so many... so hop over and just browse her site, if you aren't inspired than there is something wrong with you. Also, Earthplay has a slide show of the outdoor preschool, Open Spaces, in New Zealand. I went to You Tube and found a movie about the one in Norway. For some reason I can't link up to that one.


We have been trying to get outside right after breakfast. The kids are loving eating snack outside, and can't wait until we can eat a picnic lunch again. I know the cold weather will be back soon, but I don't want to let that keep us inside again.

I put out a sensory table full of bird seed... I also found the blog, Sand and Water Tables, where Tom (the teacher) makes the sensory table a vital part of his preschool program. It is amazing. He wrote that children love to transport things, almost anything. I know this. I watch as they transport all the kitchen things to the block area, and ALL the blocks to the kitchen area. I help them move all the pine needles we rake from one part of the yard to another (for no apparent reason). So, I know the need for toddlers & preschoolers to transport, I just didn't connect it to the sand table.

Where else can they experiment with this, than in the sensory table. The different material, the different weights, the different transport vehicles, the possibilities for learning are endless. We all use sensory tables I'm sure, but do we open them up to the possibilities of greatness that Tom does at Sand and Water Tables. He says, as a side bar, many times... "There will be spills." How many of us have said, "keep it in the table" before? I know I have, many times. I don't think I would have ever, ever thought to put ANOTHER bucket next to the table and let the kids transport the material to it (spills and all).

They had a ball, and I didn't even set up a chute to run the seed through, or a ramp to slide anything down. They loved putting their feet into the seeds (something they couldn't have done if they hadn't transported it to the lower tub from the higher one).

I brought the paint outside again today. This time I set up the easels, without any paper. They kids were stunned. They kept looking and waiting, I guess for me to put out the paper. I just kept busy with Little Man. Finally, Princess (my adventurer, my authority questioner) took the paintbrush, dipped it into the paint, and made a small mark on the easel. She quick looked over at me, shrugged her shoulders (with the cutest smile, like she got away with something) and yelled for her friends to come and try this new medium.

After painting, they got to use the spray bottle, clean what they made and do it again. The spray bottle was a lot of fun on it's own, of course.

After snack and Little Man's morning mini-nap, we went to the neighborhood park. Which always lends itself to explorations and investigations.

There are tree's to climb....

And slides to conquer!!

I didn't get a photo of the kids running & rolling down the little hill, or making Happy Birthday Cake with the onion grass and clover. I didn't get the photo of the beautiful plastic & metal play equipment that was used for a short while then abandoned for the trees, grass, and mulch. Kids seem to naturally find what's natural for them.

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!!!

The Day After Valentine's Day

Does it ever seem that the day after a party day is sluggish and the kids can be unmotivated?? Coming off all that sugar can cause us all to be a little out of sorts, I think. Yet, Little Man was having none of this sluggish business... he was movin, he was shakin, and he was playin!!!


Do you think babies evewn have a slow button?? Not this guy. I think what annoys him more is that he can't keep up with the big kids yet. He can't run after them outside... he is always yelling and trying to get down when we are outside. I think he'll be walking soon.

Today was a great day to build in the foyer, where all the sunshine just poured into the house. Even though the kids were not so motivated to do any of our learning activities, they had no problem building this Dinosaur/Zhu Zhu Pet Castle. They worked together, counted out blocks (so everyone could have an equal amount), problem solved when Sprout wanted to sit right in the middle of the castle, and a lot of communication between all of them. I even overheard D-Man giving Little Miss M the words she should be using when she wanted something from someone else. Ahhh, you have to love those moments.

Dress Up Time!! They wore these little dresses all morning. Through Circle Time, Snack Time, Play Time... they only took them off when I told them we were going to walk to the park.

Reading Books... Little Miss M told me she was the Mommy.

While Little Man took his early nap, we enjoyed circle time. We reviewed our ABC's (forward and backwards), Princess went through all the letters and gave the sound for almost every letter. We counted to 11, forward and backward... we found 11 things around the room and made patterns with some of the things we found.

Then we had a real treat, Little Miss M brought her Mixed Up Chameleon to school. Her Mom must have bought the Kohls book and stuffed animal for her and she brought them in to share with us. We got to read the book, while Mr. Chameleon watched from his perch on my chair. We even were able to move him around the room and pretend that he was sitting real still, waiting for his Fly to come by. Then we pretended we were Chameleon's and sat real still and quiet, only moving our eyes. Then we found a fly, out shot our long, sticky tongues... Yum, Yum!!

When Little Man woke, we got ready and took a nice walk to the neighborhood park. I love our park because not only does it have a nice climbing structure, but it has enough room for the kids to run in the grass, explore trees and dirt, and roll down little hills to their hearts content. That was how we spent the rest of our morning... now I am exhausted. They all get to take a nice nap after lunch... I have to wait until bedtime... they don't know how good they have it!!! I hope this weather lasts awhile :)

Happy Valentine's Day

I took 56 photo's today. I can't believe it. A lot of it was each child getting a turn at something, but otherwise, it was just of the randomness of a party day!! Oh, by the way, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! What a wonderful day here in NC... the thermometer is going to hit 65 degree's!!! The ground was dry, the sun was out, a breeze was blowing and that meant have part of our party OUTSIDE!!! Although, getting children away from the sandbox was hard after not being able to fully play with it for a while.

We started our day off with some yummy blueberry sweet biscuits, in the shape of a heart from Bojangles!! Yum, Yum!! Thanks Princess, Little Man and Family!! They were a big hit!!



We then had some free play where the kids proceeded to take out every piece of dress up clothing from the wicker basket we keep them in. They wanted to be fancy for our Valentine's Day Fun.




Also out was our Valentine Card Making material. They spent a lot of time making, creating, and then "mailing" the cards in a little foam mailbox I had from last year. Although many cards didn't actually make it through the process, a lot of learning and fun was had by all our little artists!!

Then we had to hand out all our Valentine's... what a great way to review and recognize our names, plus the names of our friends.

Hmmm, who is this??


Then, inspired by a a birthday party we all went to this past weekend, we played, "Stick a Heart on the Heart." Lots of spinning, giggles and laughs!!!

Little Man couldn't be left out, he even woke up early from his morning nap, I think he could smell those cookies!!!

Sprout gave each of her friends little cups with great twisty straws... they made snack time so much more fun!!

Then on to our cookie decorating... my goodness, how can we fit everything in!!

Ok, after all that silliness, all that sugar, and all that fun... OUTSIDE HERE WE COME!!!

Believe it or not these are some of the only ones I got from outside. Being busy playing, having games, making Valentine's Day Cakes, and just plain enjoying the sunshine made it hard to stop and take pictures. We are now gearing up for an afternoon full of more sugar, more games, and more fun!! Not being able to include all those yummy goodies during the morning, we had to wait and share some with our school aged friends!! Wish me luck!!

Learn, Practice, Work & Patience

This week has been one of learning and practicing. Working and patience. Over last weekend I moved the classroom around, making 2 separate spaces. I took many things off our shelves so we could work on putting the items that were out, back on the shelves correctly. I took time to really teach and practice the art of clean up with our 2's. That those toys don't miraculously put themselves away, is always a surprise to the 2's and early 3's ;)

It was definitely a week of patience. Whether it was the kids being patient with each other, or Shell being patient about clean up (I learned it will probably take longer than I expect and I should allow for that). We practiced using our words... when we played games, interacting with Little Man, cleaning up, and especially while we played "make believe." "Make Believe" is a concept the 2's are just starting to understand, especially as it pertains to playing with the preschoolers. They don't understand that Princess wants them to move to the closet, and they want to move to under the table. Words worked well in conveying that concept. We practiced and role played a lot this week.

Also, our practical life shelf has only 2 things on it this week. I had more on it before, but it seemed to be ignored for the most part for more imaginative play. When I took most of the work off the shelf, the kids seemed to gravitate to it more. Maybe I had to much and they couldn't see past what was on the shelf to pick something?? Not sure, but next week I will add 2 more things to the shelf and see how it goes.

The brooms, dust pans, and rags have been a big hit this week. Between the play dough and rice from the mini rice tub, the kids have been busy working on those clean up skills. Oh, yeah the whole patience thing comes in handy here too :)

One of the children that used to come to my home for child care, donated a cup cake maker to Kozy Kids!! (Thanks Guys!!) We decided that a Friday was a great day to try it out. Basically with this one, you microwave the cupcake, and then use the frosting machine to frost it. Well, we knew it would take to long to microwave all the cupcakes we would need, so Princess and her Mom bought us some great Valentine's Day cake mix!! Yum, Yum!!!

Teamwork!! We made those cupcakes and they are waiting patiently to be frosted!! I will try to post photos tomorrow. I can't wait to see them with this frosting machine. To cute.