Squeeze bottles and Wood for All Ages!!

Great three dimensional activity for all ages!!


The set up for this activity (and all activties we do) is super important. We use trays to help the friends know their boundaries and the table is inviting with baskets to keep the loose parts accessible and neat. Throughout the morning theteachers are constantly straightening, cleaning and refilling the baskets, facilitating the activity to be "inviting" when a child comes upon the table so then he or she will decide they want to engage in this activity. We have 2 year olds, three year olds and four year olds doing this activity, working hard, engaged in their creative process.

This friend tells me while he is working hard: "I made a bridge!" I asked him, "Whats the bridge for?" He says "For the people to walk across the lake and not fall in the water"










"Look, its a slide, for the bridge, WAIT I need green"
So much concentration and intentionality with squeeze bottles filled with white paint, a little glue and some water color.

SPLATTER PAINTING!!

1, 2, 3 SPLAT!

Knee hi stockings full of sand, paint on trays, paper and somewhere to climb equals lots of fun and learning

Standing or sitting, its all fun!

Learning with a Pendulum!!

Gathering blocks for pendulum play!!

Measuring for success Ready, Set, Swing!

Pendulum Play!!!
I am so blessed to have a dad that is kind and gifted enough to make almost anything I need him to. His wood talents have not only saved me money in the last 5 1/2 years but has provided hours and hours of learning opportunities for our friends. My dad's latest addition to our preschool is this great Bev Bos design made with a few items he already had and few items I purchased at Kmart.

Providing lots of learning and fun!

Math Activities for Mixed-Age Groups!!

I found a pack of colorful small bowls at Ross Dress For Less for under $4, used decorater gems bought at a yard sale for $1 and printed number cards with dots. For older children I used dobbers to make the addition problems seen below and used small bowls I purchased at a yard sale too. This activity can be teacher assisted or the children can work by themselves. The great thing is that there is no wrong way to do this!!! If children count and sort like the 3 year old boy above is so excited about completing or if they match the dots and do one-to-one correspondence or if they just want to pick up the gems and put into bowls - its all good and so much learning is going on!!

During this morning we were also doing activities that encouraged learning about "Bears" - I didnt connect this activity with the theme until I saw a bag of Teddy Graham crackers in my office. I switched out the gems with the little bear shaped crackers and even the children that had already done this activity wanted to come back and do it again. I explained to the children that the crackers weren't for eating but I saved some and they would get them at story time. The bowls and number cards can be used over and over again with different counters depending on your theme.

Hope your children enjoy this activity that cost less that $5 and is rich with so much fun and learning!

Water Play!!

What does an old vinyl sign, water and dish soap make?

A slip n slide or "slippy slide" as the friends called it!!!

I was looking for items to add to the pool of water outside and came across an old vinyl sign that we dont use anymore and wondered what the kids could do with this! I laid it out and another teacher suggested adding dish soap to make it slippery and guess what - so much fun!!!
One of our favorite water tools are a simple hose from Home Depot attached to a funnel (you have to find a funnel that fits snuggly into the hose)!
You can see all the different uses the children find for this great tool, including some team work!

Mortar & Pestals

One of our favorite activities at You're Invited is working

with mortar & pestals!!

We provide the children with bowls of different textures, smells & tastes and the children experiment with their very own "creations." There is so much learning going on with this activity! The friends are experiencing science because they get to determine the mixtures and combinations. Also being developed is their creativity and learning cause and effect. Also, all of their senses are being engaged.

This is an easy activity to provide for children and not very expensive once you've invested a small amount into a collection of mortar & pestals and trays.

We found the mortar & pestals on Ebay or at Worlds Fair Market for around $7 each!

The "ingredients" are seasonings from your pantry (or the 99cent store) and we added fresh rosemary, gardenia petals and mint from our own garden.

We also have salt and flour, each each with a koolaid packet mixed in for scent and color. Other great ideas are brown sugar, oatmeal, cornmeal, cocoa, peanuts (watch for allergies), bacon bits (very scentful) and we combine water with a flavored extract in paint cups with droppers!

Notice the mortars are on trays. This is done to give the children their own space and keeps the mess to a minimum!! When a child is done with this activity we either empty their mortar into the trash or back into a bowl for another friend to use.

Mortar & Pestal activites also give children agreat opportunity to develop a sense of their own power when they pound, mush, combine, determine how much and what ingredients they will use for their "creation"

For a list of mortar & pestal ingredients and activity ideas, send me an email at

youreinvitedchildrenscenter@gmail.com

“you need to share!”

Lets talk about "sharing" - I think this is one of the BIGGEST issues for children, no actually its a big issue for grown ups! Parents often shudder when they see their child not willing to give up their toy to another child, most times this comes from a valid concern that their child be caring and compassionate. It is important that we encourage the development of compassionate, giving children but perhaps a common response to this issue is doing more damage than good. Let us begin the discussion:

-Young children are at the developmental stage of being egocentric. They are only capable of thinking of their own needs and their own desires. It isn’t until 7 -8 years that children began to see the world from someone else’s perspective.
When adults expect/demand a child to share it is developmentally inappropriate and an unrealistic expectation. Children are negatively affected when they are consistently expected/demanded to do something they are unable to do.
Children will learn to “share” when they are allowed to complete their experience (have their beginning, middle and end). When they can trust they are going to be given the opportunity to meet their own needs. When children have completed their task they are willing to allow other children to use the materials. When adults do not allow the child to get the whole experience or complete the task, we are teaching the child not to trust the adult and really pushes the child towards not being able to let anyone else us the object. Think about what happens when a child is engaged with an object and another child comes up and wants the object. Often the adult response is “friend, you need to share” or “you’ve had it long enough” and forces the child to give it to the friend. Do you see how this actually encourages the child to hold even tighter to the object and be more wary when a child approaches them to play. Also, the child becomes more concerned about losing the object then even playing with it.

So, what to do:
Taking turns – I tell a child “when you are done with that it will be Amy’s turn okay, when you are done give it to Amy” I also encourage him to tell Amy “Amy when I’m done it’s your turn.” It really works! The child with the object is learning that he is being respected and he can trust his needs will be meet. Amy sees the other child is being given as much time as needed and knows she will get the same opportunity when it is her turn. I am also intentional about following through when I see that he is finished, to remind him when he said Amy could have it when he is done and ask him if he wants to give it to Amy now.
We are charged to develop in our children healthy relationships that consist of trust and respect and help them begin to develop the desire to meet others needs. My desire is that each child knows they can trust us, that we really know and respect them and will do everything in our power to make sure their needs are met.

Any thoughts, comments, questions?

Welcome Welcome

Its 12:47 am and I had to get out of bed because I couldn't stop thinking about important matters of the world - "sharing" and saying "I'm sorry." As I sat here with a pen an paper and worked out how to share my thoughts on the detriment of forcing both of these expectations on young children I considered how often I find myself processing like this and it dawned on me ... I need to blog, so wooo hooo! Here I am and I am excited! But thats enough for tonight, I have to be up in few hours. Next time, more on sharing and sorry.