messy fun

i knew it was going to be a hot one today

so we headed out right after breakfast

around 8:30am

it was BEAUTIFUL!!

i really didn't want to take them back in for project time 

so...

i brought out the paint

a bucket of soapy water

paint brushes, tooth brushes 

and an old towel i cut up

and the kids were BUSY!

painting the house

(i added dish soap to the paint so i knew the paint would come off easily)

painted the big window

(it needs to be cleaned!!!!!)

the kids think this is the coolest thing that i let them paint the big window!

playing in a soapy bucket of water

oh, hello little friend!

today was not only childcare but puppycare 

we had a little visitor for a couple days and we will be so sad to see her go!

she was an excellent dog!!

these two boys were soaked!!  and loving every single minute of it!

i think as long as they have a car or a bucket of water they are content!

soapy bucket of water is a treat!

work in progress before the kids decided it was time to wash it all off!

more painting and brushing going on!

i would have never guessed that 

dish rags in soapy water+ toddlers = happy busy boys!

wringing out the rags was about the only thing this little man did for a good 30 minutes!

washing the house!

so friends get out some soapy paint, some soapy water and let the kids have fun making a mess and then cleaning that mess back up again!  i have a feeling this will become a weekly project at this daycare!

tools

the kids here LOVE to paint

they love to explore with different tools

they love just mixing, stamping, scraping, and

so much more!

I had picked up a few tools last week

and let the kiddos take them outside and test them out

we sprayed 

we sponged

 we dabbed

 we did a little of everything

we made a big mess

after the mess i grabbed a few photos of what each tool made

 picked up these soft scrub sponges at Hyvee (our local grocery store) for a dollar
they made a neat flower looking design

 at Walgreens I found these travel brushes 2 for a dollar
they were fun to just dot with or to scrap and brush along your paper

 sponges from the dollar bin
I pretty sure most people have painted with a type of sponge before
I love to buy the large sponges and then cut them up to different sizes or shapes
I feel like I get a lot for my money when I buy the bigger ones

and finally there is the spray bottle

I added a little paint and a little water to the bottle

this was the kids FAVORITE!

my kids LOVE LOVE LOVE spray bottles

this was my least favorite, it was a little windy and the spray kinda went everywhere

and it left the papers very wet (because there was water and because the kids kept spraying, and spraying and spraying!!)

overall the kids really did enjoy exploring the different painting tools

and I would say these are a new favorites for us

What are your favorite painting tool?

its raining...

i know you were all thinking men

common this is a daycare blog :)

But we did a little project on rain and water!

First we talked about clouds

if we could touch a could what would it feel like:

pillows, soft, fluffy, cotton candy

if we could taste it, what would it taste like:

gross, feathers, cotton candy, sticky

We then made a cloud with cotton balls

glue + cotton = fun!

hmmm where should this piece go...

look at that face of pure concentration!

even "babies" can join the fun!

We then made rain drops!

i took a couple toilet paper tubes and folded one side to make it look like a raindrop

busy busy boys!

Here are some of our finished products!

and then we did some water play!  

we talked about how after a rain storm we can always find lots of frogs and snakes and other pond animals.  and so we had a few "ponds" and animals inside!

there may have been some alligators and sharks that made their way to our pond as well!

oh I also had to put a stop to water play to lay down some towels (should have done that first!)

they were getting a little crazy and the water on the floors was making me a little crazy!

poured some water in the babies trays and WOW! 

that was a HUGE FUN MESS!!!

look at that face of pure happiness!!!  

These crazy boys played in their water tray with spoons and medicine cups 

for over 30mins!  

They then screamed at me as i took their trays away!

but don't worry the screaming stopped once they got outside...

only to begin again when they had to come back inside!

CRAZY BOYS!!!

Linking this post up with the wonderful linky

Show and Tell #92

what are you doing on this wonderful Tuesday day??

ROOOAAARRRR!!!!!!!!!

in like a lion and out like a lamb

i don't think this saying applies to 

south dakota

but we still made a lion today!

I got some of the idea from HERE! one of my most favorite teaching blogs!

even though my idea started from the blog above

we had to turn it into our own 

but doing a few things different!

Here is what you will need:

Brown Triangle

red, orange, yellow, brown paint

tooth brushes

spiral noodles

glue

we first glued the triangle to a white piece of paper

then we "brused" the lions hair on!

The tooth brush was a new tool for must of the kiddos

but they picked up on the brushing pretty quickly!!!

more brushing!

an annoyed child

-the story of his life lately!-

we also glued on the noodles and some eyes and made a mouth with the left over brown paint!

and then here you have our lions!!!

i love the way they turned out!

these kids are soooo talented!

I was reminded to do my lion craft from this new blogger!

Also linking this project up with Mingle with Us!

DOT, DOT, DOT

and I don't mean the ...

I really do mean DOT, DOT, DOT!

ink pads and pencil erasers

kids stamping away

this little lady dotted forever!!!

long after everyone else was done she contiuned to dot away!

It was new, different, and fun!!

Today I took the time to catch some cute pics of the kids

i love when kids line toys up!

I think it means they will be super smart :)

pushing cars through the barn door!

someone was NOT happy when the cars wouldn't fit!

I have been trying for days to catch her reading llama llama red pajama on video!

It is the cutest thing EVER!

but everytime I pull the camera out she gets shy!

one day I will catch her!!!

Happy Monday Tuesday

( while talking on the phone with a friend she reminded me it was Tuesday)

Linking up with ABC and 123

Blow Paint

This is awesome!

so cool!

can I do another?

I love this!!

--these are a few of the phrases that I heard during project time--

It was a hit!

What you need:

paper

straws

paint

and a few good lungs!

Its pretty simple:

squirt paint onto paper

give each child a straw

and use those good lungs to blow the paint around

DONE!!

After blow paint was done I took out a bunch of stickers for the kids to use up

Never did I think that between blow painting and stickers that an entire 2 hours would be used up!

This kids were crazy about both activities.

I didn't take pictures of the kiddos playing with stickers and I am kinda kicking myself for not!

They were so into it and made some of the neatest things with their stickers!

These kiddos NEVER stop to amaze.

Even the very little kids sat perfectly still as I handed them each a sticker one at a time since they were not able to peel the stickers themselves!

It was the PERFECT activity!!!

Here are a couple of the sticker projects that were created!

Lots of time and energy were used on these photos!

I am soooo in love with them!!