Waking Up Full of Awesome!!

If you are a girl, a mommy or daddy, aunt, gramma to a little girl, please read this:

http://blog.pigtailpals.com/2011/08/waking-up-full-of-awesome/

Engaging Babies with Photos!

Our wonderful teachers at Infant Care by You're Invited posted these beautiful pictures taken of the children at the center.

Photographs help our babies feel more comfortable with these images that are familiar to them. They also help build language when our teachers are sitting down with them talking with them about what they see.

ARRRRRRR Matey, Pirate Fun for Preschool!

Creating Pirate costumes for Pirate week!

Creating telescopes!!

More fun & learning with the Pirate theme!
Look, I made an ocean!" (playdough with boats & pirates)

Outside we had these activities:
"Cozy Area w/ pirate booksPirate Puzzle

Counting coins and cash from the pirates treasure chest!
The friends also learned and had fun doing these activities:

Created Pirate Hooks, borrowed from www.busybeekidscrafts.com/Pirate-crafts.html

Outdoor treasure hunt with treasure maps (learning the letter X)

Used a plank of wood and a kiddie pool to, yep you guessed it, "walk the plank"

The friend dicated pirate stories then they decorated page with Jolly Roger stickers (we learned how the Pirate flag got its name from Roger, the Jolly Pirate)

We read these great stories:
Do Pirates Take Baths, Kathy Tucker (our favorite!)
Pirate Girl, Cornelia Funke, et al
, Roger, the Jolly Pirate, Brett Helquist

October Orange!!!!!

Although we dont celebrate holidays at You're Invited Children's Center we do use the colors and some symbols of the seasons to create learn by play activities. These are some of the Orange/Pumpkin activities we did this week! Counting and sorting with candy pumpkins. We used pumpkin scoops for fine motor development.

Pumpkin cookie cutters with orange paint mixed with glue and orange colored salt in shakers.

Outside we painted on small, medium & big

pumpkins with water color tablets.

Salt colored with orange water color in cookie sheet with sticks and other tools!
Potato Head peices with real oranges

All orange collage


Outside we did pumpkin sponge painting w/ green paint and yard for making a pumpkin patch Juicing oranges with hand juicers. This was great for large muscles and the juice was super yummy!

Another outdoor activity - Pounding golf tees into pumpkins with small mallots

Easel painting - red & yellow make orange :)

Splatter Painting at You're Invited Children's Center

Child-led, fun creative experiences with no predetermined outcomes for young children!
We used plastic drink bottles with a small hole in the lid (I used a nail and hammer to put the hole in the lid), spray bottles, rubber band brushes (instructions to follow soon), toothbrushes and other fun splatter tools.

Definitely an outside activity, unless your like Teacher Tom and have space inside thats suitable for paint to splatter on the walls :)

Spread the kids out on the grass and let them express themselves!

I had paint all over my legs, shoes and the friends had paint all over them! So much fun! To make the paint go farther I mixed it with some water and liquid starch.

Cornstarch and Watercolor!

I wanted to share these pictures of two year old friends from You're Invited Childrens Center. We put out some containers of cornstarch, cups of water colored water with eyedroppers, scrapers and scoops and a bunch of small bowls. This activity is best done outside so the friends (and teachers) dont have to be nervous about a mess. As the pictures show, we didnt worry about the mess :)

What learning is going on in this activity?

Science - mixing, solid vs liquid, color combinations

Cause and Effect

Textures

Fine motor skills

Math - estimating, quantities

Can you help name more learning that is happening during this activity?

"MMMM this smells goooood!"

Yogurt Painting

We mixed watercolor with plain yogurt for a different type of painting experience. I added tools (q-tips, combs, playdough rollers, etc) and used aluminum foil because I thought the colors would pop more than on construction paper or cardboard and its sturdy enough.

This is definitely a process art project, when the friends were done with their experience we threw the foil away and put out a fresh sheet for the next friend. I accidently deleted a great pic of one of the friends with both pf her hands all the way in the paint cups scooping the yogurt paint out. Who needs paint brushes right? :)

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.

Ocean Snack!

We had fun with graham crackers, blue tinted frosting and colored goldfish! One of many activities we have been enjoying to go along with our field trip last week to Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific!

A completely self-help activity as the friends smoothed on the frosting, we counted out the goldfish and create ocean snacks!

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!