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Building with recyclables

Who needs blocks?  

A staff member at school, who's husband hates to throw anything out, brought in boxes of extra large empty peanut butter jars, as well as coffee cans, for us to build with at preschool. We replaced our standard wooden blocks with this alternative for a month and a half. The possibility of what to do with multiple sized containers that stack, roll, open and close are absolutely endless. These are a MUST HAVE resource if you teach preschoolers OR have a toddler at home! 

Eventually, we switched back to our standard blocks. We don't have any room at school to store these, so I decided to store them at home in my storage room. But first, I let Micah at them, who is now 21 months. He's been having a blast stacking them, and knocking them over. 

The same affect can be accomplished with empty ice cream containers or large mayonnaise jars. 

Yay for recycling! 
Now all you need to do is find your local hoarder/environmentalist who can't throw anything out, and you'll be set!

Homemade Mop

So mopping can be a challenge when you have an 18 month old (he's actually 19 months, but I don't like to say that). He just gets in the way, and tries to take the mop from you. 

So thankfully Daddy had a pile of old white t-shirts that I could tear into strips, then tie together with an elastic. I tied the bundle onto the stick with elastics too. 

He stayed occupied until I was done mopping. Then his sister mopped after him. SO, my floors were the cleanest they've ever been!

What to do on a snow day

We had a snow day here in New Brunswick (well actually, more like a rain day - freezing rain and messy roads). So what to do with a whole day ahead of you, where you can spend time together instead of being at preschool? Well, you can . . .

 *Play Restaurant. Take an order. 'Write' it down. Pay your money. Eat a delicious lunch!

* Skate on Cake Pans. 'Nuf said.

*Make puppets out of toilet paper rolls. Then destroy them an hour later (if you're Rachel)

*Play catch with a cold pack (and laugh hysterically for unknown reasons while doing it)

*Make a double batch of granola bars, and lick the spoons when you're done. These are a staple in our house. I always freeze a batch for later (or my husband will inhale them). We add ground flax, pumpkin seeds, and a variety of nuts to ours. And don't drizzle chocolate on top, because chocolate's not allowed at preschool.

*Practice your Picasa skills for work (Mommy)

Now we're going to make rhubarb crisp to go with homemade hamburgers for supper, just to stick our tongue out at the winter weather. And I might read a few chapters from my current book (Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman). And throw a load of laundry into the mix, just to make my day complete :o)

Playdough Art

 Instead of sitting at an easel and paint, why not sit at an easel and sculpt? That's what Rachel decided to do today while she was playing playdough.

This is a person (with no body, just legs, mind you). The circles around the head are actually hair. And two of those circles are earrings. And the nose wouldn't stay on. So she's a non-smelling, body-less person. Who is completely orange. And so darn cute!

Once again, playdough entertains!

Bottle Caps

So, I'm a bit of a hoarding weirdo when it comes to keeping random things I see a lot of crafting potential in. It probably stems from my obsession of being frugal and using materials around me instead of spending money. Or perhaps it's just a burden that all early educators bear (I'd love to hear your support if you're like me)! Like that big plastic pipe from my last post that we put balls, cars and water down. The instant I saw it, I declared: We can use that for something! And I wouldn't let my co-teacher throw it out and we came up with the fabulous idea that we did, and it was HUGE success! (We've since brought it outside and propped it up on the play structure and run rocks down it as well as spent a good deal of time screaming inside of it. Now THAT'S true pleasure!!!


My latest hoarding obsession has been plastic bottle caps. I read a post over at Silly Eagle Books quite some time ago and always thought I'd like to do that, so I've taken my time collecting different colours and sizes. For a long time, my tea cups on my window ledge were full of them, as I didn't bother to put them all in a baggie (like a normal person would do). One day when Rachel declared she wanted to make a craft, I dug them out.


It really turned out similar to our rock people, but this time, Rachel was able to do a lot more herself, as the surface was flat and she's doing a lot more on her own. I was also brave, inspired by Teacher Tom, and dug out the hot glue gun for the first time and let Rachel squeeze on the glue while I put the eyes in the glue. She got to experience a burn at one point (so did I), and miraculously, she survived. She didn't even cry actually (Teacher Tom is a great one for demonstrating that kids can survive taking risks)!

Monster Cap

It's hard to see past the "Fresh Cap" label on this one, but do you see the little frown paired with the sad eyes and the downturned eyebrows?

All of Rachel's cutie's. She spent a lot of time creating these, then glued that all (with white glue) to the back of a cereal box.

 

 

And lastly, what's the point in craft time if I don't get to have a little fun?

Toddlers + playdough

I have been a slacker blogger. To all of my followers, I am sorry. I haven't posted since August, but I do have a good excuse!

At the end of August, I began working part-time at Touchstone Community School , ignoring the blog world to put all of my energy into this elementary school's new Preschool classroom. This has been a vessel for all of my creative energy. And the best part is that my daughter  joins me every morning for preschool, so we still get to participate together in fun activities!

Such as . . . (Note how easy it is to do these simple activities at home too )

Propping a pipe found in the back of a storage room on a stool and 'racing' balls, cars, playdough and water

Practicing our fine motor skills with poker chips and a baby formula can with a hole cut in the top

More fine motor with chop sticks and pom poms

Making shadows with an 'old-fashioned' overhead that none of the teachers use because the other classes have smart boards!

Then in the afternoon, I get to be at home with both Rachel and my son Micah.

Micah has recently discovered the joys of playdough. Some would be reluctant to let their 17 month old play with playdough, but, you know me (plus, it helps that he's not the type of kid that's very interested in putting much in his mouth). What he's been enjoying the most, since he's obsessed with balls, is rolling playdough balls of random sizes that I've made, off the table.

Recently, he discovered the simple joy of sticking pencils in the playdough, taking them out, putting them back in, etc. etc. ! Who needs fancy playdough toys??????

This is an activity that required intense concentration (as can be seen by the tongue at the tip of his lips)

and created happy results!