Branch Blocks

I know that there are other directions for making these blocks and I know how expensive they are in the catalogues. If you are like me, you've probably drooled over the ones in the supply catalogues and wondered about making your own.

Years ago, I had been very fortunate to have an apple tree growing in the daycare yard. We enjoyed every bit of it and the fruit it produced. As time went by, the apple tree got old. It had a few abundant years, then stopped producing fruit or even leaves. Sadly, our tree had died. When we trimmed branches off the tree, it was clear that they had been dead for a while. They were already quite dry.

I had my husband slice them into chunks for me and then I sanded them. Getting my husband to slice them was the tricky part, the rest was easy. The cuts he made were so smooth they required very little sanding. I know that the commercially made blocks have been treated, and most of the directions I read say to treat them with a mineral oil or varathane. I just left mine natural. Some have bark on them, some don't have bark, but do seem to have some fascinating insect damage in the form of tiny grooves along the sides. A few have cracked now, but I don't really have a problem with that. My set is about 5 years old now. They have been rained on, buried in the sand table, floated in the water table, rescued from the path of the lawn mower and coloured on with chalk. They are as popular with my buddies today as they were when I first intruduced them.






If you have been wanting some of these for your buddies, I encourage you to go ahead and make some. If you are lucky enough to know someone with a saw, or brave enough to use one yourself and have acces to some tree branches, you're all set!

Chalkboard Apron

I thought it would be cool to have an apron that I could easily adapt to whatever my buddies were learning at the moment. What could be better than a chalkboard for that purpose? I didn't have any chalkboard paint, but I have lots of acrylic paints. I thought I would give them a try. I was counting on the rough texture of the fabric to substitute for the texture created when using chalkboard paint on a smooth surface. I knew that I could write on the plain fabric with chalk, but I wanted it to stand out more.



It was really easy to do this. I taped off the area I wanted to paint and then painted it. I made a large rectangular black chalkboard at the bottom of the apron and then a smaller green chalkboard at the top. I had to try out the chalk on the black as soon as it had dried. I love the way it stands out! After the paint dried, I threw it in the dryer for 15 minutes on high heat to set the paint.



My buddies and I will use this apron to focus our learning. Whether we are learning a letter, or number or word, I can write it on the chalkboard and we can review it all day long. When we're done, I can throw the apron in the wash and start new!



Washed and ready for day 2!

Fall Leaf Plates

Inspired by the many fall leaves around us, and all the wonderful ideas circulating on the internet, my buddies and I made some of our own.



We used clear plastic plates, red and yellow biocolor paint, and black construction paper.



I gave them each a squirt of red and yellow paint and they fingerpainted to cover the plate. While they painted, I cut out black construction paper circles and from the circles the outline of a maple leaf. When they were satisfied with their painting, I placed the construction paper circle over their paint and wiped the excess off the edges.




The plates look quite pretty displayed in our window!

Colour Apron

Because my job is a messy one, I usually find myself wearing an apron. The aprons I have have been donated and aren't the most attractive, but they save my clothes from bleach, food and paint stains. They were, like the mat from my word walk, a blank slate. How could I make them more attactive and educational, too?
Here is what I did:

I took one of my aprons and traced some circles with a marker. I strategically placed some spots to cover stains on my apron, 'cause I am smart like that. I painted inside the circles white. I used paint I had on hand, it doesn't say it is for fabric, but I will take my chances. I put on about 3 coats of white acrylic paint.

When the white was dry, I painted each circle a different colour. Again, I just used whatever acrylic paint I had on hand. I'm not picky, and I am cheap - or trendily frugal.

When I finished the colour spots, but before they were dry, I got impatient and wanted to add a title up at the top. I had a couple of tubes of actual fabric paint with tips for printing. So printing UPSIDE DOWN, I added "We Can Learn Colours!" As a recovering perfectionist, I think I did remarkably well. Notice that the word "colours" is on a bit of a slant? Yeah, my recovery from perfectionism is nearly complete.

(When the paint is completely dry, I will throw it in the dryer for about 15 minutes to set the paint.)  There we have it!  My clothes will stay clean and I can teach my buddies their colours, too!

Sensory Bag

Inspired by a wonderful lady who uses the title Play at Home Mom I had to try this for my buddies. I adapted a bit with materials, I used materials I had on hand, with a trip to the dollar store for the bag. I found what I thought was a perfect bag. Sturdy and large enough for group play. So I began.


I had some peach bubble bath that I knew I would never use. (Bottles of bath products mysteriously reproduce under my bathroom sink, I'm sure of it.) And, glitter, of course, I had glitter.



I wanted a more vibrant colour, so I added red biocolor paint, too.



It looked really cool! I couldn't wait to share with my buddies, but before I did, I reinforced the edges with duct tape!



And I have to say, they really, really liked it. I wish I could stop and leave it at that, but that wouldn't be honest. Within 5 minutes, my buddies had used their nails to scrape holes through the plastic bag, even though it was heavy duty plastic. I was really disappointed, but I am determined to re-create a more durable version. Perhaps with heavier plastic and some type of adhesive to seal the edges? I already know the kids will enjoy it, it's just a matter of making it buddy-proof!

Word Walk

I have always wanted to create a word wall for my buddies but I am really short of wall space and couldn't do it. I tried using pocket charts that hang on a stand but they always seemed to get in the way of their play and would get knocked down.

I had this big clear plastic mat that I use to protect the carpet from getting dirty in front of my buddies' lockers.


Oh yeah, and my cat likes it, too. But to me, it was a big, blank space, and kinda boring - like a blank canvas. But... I had this template for some maple leaves and I had lots of construction paper.



I think I made about a dozen. Then I put my buddies' names on them. I had some left over so I added the names of our pets.



I laminated them and cut them out. I turned my mat upside down and used clear packing tape to tape them down - with the names facing down, of course.



Then I turned the mat over and put it in place. I think my buddies will be surprised. After the initial novelty of seeing their names wears off, we will use it to play games that will help them recognize their names, practice colour identification and eventually identify each letter in their name. I think they will enjoy games like tossing bean bags onto their names or onto certain colours. I can also ask each child to stand on their name or a colour. I'm looking forward to seeing their reaction!




The names are actually easier to see than they are in this picture. Here's a close up!



I shared this idea on No Time For Flashcards! Link & Learn

Walking With My Buddies

My Buddies and I are avid walkers. We try to get out as often as possible. We might not walk very fast, or travel very far, but this doesn't diminish our enthusiasm or enjoyment in the least. In addition to the benefits of healthy exercise, we have the best conversations and make many great discoveries along the way every time we walk. We are fortunate to have great places to walk right outside our front door, so getting there is easy. People tend to notice us when we walk by, too. Maybe it's because we like to hold hands and people aren't used to seeing that. Or maybe it's because of our short stature, I'm only 5'1" and my buddies are all considerably shorter. I guess it could also be our slow pace, which is plenty fast enough for us and our short legs. It's not a race! Personally, I like to think it's our good looks that gets everyone's attention.

For Want of a Smock...The Lesson Was Lost

But NOT HERE!!!
I'm a terrible child care provider. My kids go home with clothes so terribly dirty, I'm sure their parents consider purchasing shares in Procter and Gamble. Actually, maybe I should purchase some of those shares... But, I digress. It's not that I intentionally want the kids to GET messy. It's not that I don't own any smocks, either. I do. In fact, I have hand made at least a dozen colourful red and yellow smocks out of plastic table cloths and duct tape (a daycare provider's best friend, right??). I have even gone so far as organizing things so that the smocks are stored conveniently next to the art table. Even so, I am not consistent in using them.
The way I see it, when the weather is nice and we're doing a lot of our messy art outdoors, smocks are kind of hot. I don't mean fashionable, I mean uncomfortably WARM. I wouldn't want to wear one. So IF I offer a smock (and we've already established that you can't count on me to offer one), if the child declines, so be it. The activity goes on, they can participate and get messy. We're all happy. I have asked parents to dress them in comfortable, washable, play clothes.
So today it was clay day. I brought out real clay, not play dough,not play clay, not plastercine, but real, from the earth, squishy, slimy, water soluble CLAY! Definately qualified as an especially messy activity and I DID bring out the smocks, only to have them rejected after the first two minutes. But the play must go on!


Some kids were a little unsure about this new stuff but my youngest was totally absorbed in the activity. (She was also happy to keep her smock on.)
Most of the kids came and went from the activity, squishing and smashing and watching it completely dissolve in the nearby water table, turning the water a rusty brown, then going off to do something else and coming back again later. To keep things interesting, I added plates and plastic knifes, then later spoons and a bowl of sand. All morning long, my buddies kept going back to the table, trying it out for a while, and washing up at the water table.

In the afternoon, my buddies were surprised to see that some of the clay bits were now as hard as rocks! Amazing! I asked them what had happened and some knew that it had dried out, but didn't know how to make it soft again. They were quite interested in observing how even the hard bits would slowly dissolve in the water and become soft again.
Left out overnight, thhe clay supply dwindled and more of it got hard. Some of the smallest bits crumbled into dust when touched.

The clay was still holding the interest of some of my buddies. Over a two day period, they had seen it firm and hard to squish, then they saw it get softer as they worked with it. They saw it dissolve in water and saw it get rock hard and then soft again. They even saw it crumble to dust. So many fantastic discoveries. They got pretty dirty in thhe process, but I really think it was well worth it. Smocks or no smocks!

Loose Parts and Lawn Mowers

There is a battle going on in my backyard. I'm not sure who is winning. I think it all started with those wonderful, fabulous "loose parts" that the child experts encouraged me to provide to my children because of their great educational value. They sure do love those parts. But those loose parts and my lawn mower are sworn enemies. So, to keep the peace in my backyard, before the lawn gets mowed, I get to go on a little treasure hunt; one made all the more challenging when the grass is a little long. If I'm lucky, and the timng is just right, I can get the kids involved. I mean, what's more fun than a treasure hunt????
Now, I admit I have a lot of loose parts in my yard. A lot! So, part of my solution is that my parts are not completely loose, they're sorta loose. Loose enough that I know now and then one or two go home with a child, but they come back too, so that's all okay.
What I have tried to do in my yard is to create "centres" similar to how you might divide a classroom. The idea is that the loose parts within a centre, should, theoretically and preferrably, STAY within that centre. With one and two year olds, this is mostly theory and a whole bunch of practice!
One of the centres I have is a kitchen centre. This centre contains a little tikes kitchen, a large sand table, a shelf with bins of sand and kitchen toys, and a table which is sometimes accompanied by a big loose part that we would identify as a chair. Sometimes I add a water table to this area. The sand, and sometimes water is carried from sand table, to kitchen, to table, with generous amounts of spilling. It's a mess but the play value outweighs the effort to keep it clean. Plus, I've added brooms and dust pans and I'm brainwashing the kids to think that sweeping is about as much fun as you can possibly have.

Another centre in my yard is under a covered patio. This area has a washable foam square floor, an art table for four kids, and two big shelves. The shelves hold a lot of loose parts and supplies. Colouring books, markers mostly unaccompanied by their "loose part" caps, crayons, bubbles, chalk, nature materials like drift wood, homemade branch blocks, pine cones, along with balls, bike helmets, and more pairs of rubber boots than I have children! A bird feeder hangs on one side of the patio, and a pulley has been installed along the edge. In the centre, I have a hook which has been used in a variety of ways.

I was inspired by the saying "it takes a village to raise a child" and have been building a village for my children. Currently I have 5 houses, lined up in an open "town square" formation. Two picnic tables sit in the middle of the town square. Ride on toys and wagons are parked in the driveways between the houses. And the houses themselves are used to contain - you guessed it - more loose parts! One house contains a cash register, shopping cart, little wagon and a bucket of plastic fruit and vegetables. Another house contains a variety of musical instruments, and another has just a bin of mixed toys like the ones you are given at fast food restaurants, about 28 years worth of toys from fast food restaurants. I think you get the picture!

I also have a three sided art easel, next to the fence which is equipped with a clothesline and clothes pins for displaying art work.


The middle of the yard is your typical plasticville playground.

Ironically, I think these big peices, slides, teeter totters and such are the most fun for the kids to re-arrange. Nothing makes a kid feel more powerful than moving things that are bigger than he is! I don't mind, it gives the grass a break, which helps it grow better, which means I get to cut it more often, which means I get to go on another treasure hunt! Such is the life of the home child care provider!