I've found a line of books that is absolutely wonderful for daycare. The focus of their company is on providing quality storytelling with quality art. I can tell you firsthand that the books are amazing. I'm working on building up my own collection. They also carry some wonderful music CDs called Putamayo Kids. I use them on a daily basis in my daycare and LOVE them. The music CDs feature music from different cultures that appeal to children and they're nice because it's great music and not that jarring, abrasive sound sometimes found in children's music CDs. I've got some of their board books and love them. A paperback that I bought is "Magic Train Ride" - LOVE it, LOVE it, LOVE it. Kiddos loved it too. Boo, my little one, asked for it "agaim" and "agaim" and "agaim". I'm actually considering basing the theme of his second birthday party on it as there's lots of room with the book to work in crafts, activities, etc...
Anyways, I'll stop gushing now. They've got free shipping this weekend. There's a banner on the right you can click on if you'd like to browse and get free shipping this weekend. Enjoy!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Water Play!
We did some water play the other day. Fun times. I put some water toys in a dish bin and added some dishsoap and food coloring. The kiddos had fun using whisks to make bubbles and playing with the water toys. Needless to say, they were soaked afterwards and needed changes of clothes. I would've stripped them down to diapers, but my house felt a bit cold that morning!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Pudding in a Bag
We made pudding in a bag for afternoon snack one day. I put the instant pudding mix into a bag with a slider zip thing. And then I added the milk. I zipped the bag shut and let my dc kiddo mush away. My own LO was still sleeping.
He mushed and he mushed until, voila - pudding!
He mushed and he mushed until, voila - pudding!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Whipped Cream Art
We did whipped cream art the other day. Oh so fun and oh so edible. Edible is a good thing for toddler art! I put dollops of whip cream into an egg carton and then mixed in a bit of coloring in the different compartments. They had a great time smearing around the different colors. A nice sensory experience too. I was quite proud of my dc kiddo who happily smeared away as he's sometimes a bit hesitant to get messy! My LO is ALWAYS all too happy to get messy...lol!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Seed and Bean Mosaics
I found this idea on a yahoo group that I belong to for home daycare providers who lean towards natural living and childcare. Here's a link to the group.
Natural childcare yahoo group
Anyways, seed and bean mosaics were really fun. I got an assortment of lentils, dried beans, etc...out of my pantry. Since I have a young crowd I put the glue on their paper for them. Older kids would have fun making designs with glue on their paper. Then just place the beans, seeds, etc...Fun.
This activity took all about five minutes with the ages that I currently have as they pretty much just dumped all of their seeds and beans onto their paper right away. But I tried to get them to mush them around on the glue. I have one that's a bit resistent to touching glue. So I had to work with him on it a bit. But he eventually did smear it around a bit. My own little one just wanted to eat all the beans and seeds...lol.
I long for the day that I have a digital camera so that I can take pics of stuff as we do it and post it for all to see. Someday!
Natural childcare yahoo group
Anyways, seed and bean mosaics were really fun. I got an assortment of lentils, dried beans, etc...out of my pantry. Since I have a young crowd I put the glue on their paper for them. Older kids would have fun making designs with glue on their paper. Then just place the beans, seeds, etc...Fun.
This activity took all about five minutes with the ages that I currently have as they pretty much just dumped all of their seeds and beans onto their paper right away. But I tried to get them to mush them around on the glue. I have one that's a bit resistent to touching glue. So I had to work with him on it a bit. But he eventually did smear it around a bit. My own little one just wanted to eat all the beans and seeds...lol.
I long for the day that I have a digital camera so that I can take pics of stuff as we do it and post it for all to see. Someday!
Monday, March 2, 2009
Working in Practical Life Skils
I'm trying to incorporate more practical life skills into the daycare day. Last weekend I bought a dishtub at Target - just a cheap white tub. I put dishsoap and water in it and set it on a chair during breakfast and lunch. After the children are done eating they put their plates, silverware, and cups in there. Right now it's food and all - a bit gross, but it still saves me a pre-rinse before I load the dishwasher and they are proud to clean up after themselves. With older children they'll be taught to scrape the dishes first. But I've only got two kids - my own and one full-timer. My full-time kiddo is just two and mine is 19 months old. I think they do great with it given their ages.
I'm open to other ideas on building independence. I am working on gathering materials to make some "works" for the kids. Right now I've completed one. I can't remember where I found the idea - not trying to steal it. I'm pretty sure I found it on a Montessori type blog. I put pom poms (the kind you get in a bag at the craft store) with a broom and dustpan for a "sweeping work." I put it all together in a tupperware container so that everything's all together. I got it out this morning and showed the kids how to use it. They had a great time. My older kiddo definitely got the hang of it. My own little one tried, but also wanted to eat the pom poms. This is definitely a supervised work with really young ones. Of course I think a lot of the works that I've looked at seem to be that way.
I've also started to refer to things as works. When my little one, Boo, got out the ring stacker I asked him if he wanted to work on stacking and helped him to work on it instead of throw the rings. My dc kiddo was mad that he wasn't working on the same thing. I finally got him to agree to work on a shape sorter. Granted, I left the room for a minute and their work pieces were thrown all over the place. Ah - such is life!
I haven't really spoken with my dc parent about this transition to Montessori-inspired. Honestly, I'm sure she'll be okay with it. I just want to do the approach justice when I explain it. So I plan to do more reading and researching and setting up of the environment.
I'm open to other ideas on building independence. I am working on gathering materials to make some "works" for the kids. Right now I've completed one. I can't remember where I found the idea - not trying to steal it. I'm pretty sure I found it on a Montessori type blog. I put pom poms (the kind you get in a bag at the craft store) with a broom and dustpan for a "sweeping work." I put it all together in a tupperware container so that everything's all together. I got it out this morning and showed the kids how to use it. They had a great time. My older kiddo definitely got the hang of it. My own little one tried, but also wanted to eat the pom poms. This is definitely a supervised work with really young ones. Of course I think a lot of the works that I've looked at seem to be that way.
I've also started to refer to things as works. When my little one, Boo, got out the ring stacker I asked him if he wanted to work on stacking and helped him to work on it instead of throw the rings. My dc kiddo was mad that he wasn't working on the same thing. I finally got him to agree to work on a shape sorter. Granted, I left the room for a minute and their work pieces were thrown all over the place. Ah - such is life!
I haven't really spoken with my dc parent about this transition to Montessori-inspired. Honestly, I'm sure she'll be okay with it. I just want to do the approach justice when I explain it. So I plan to do more reading and researching and setting up of the environment.
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