Our Outdoor Play Area in Winter

We have made a lot of changes to our outdoor play area, but when winter comes.... it is hard to tell in the snow! This is what "lake effect" snow looks like:

Our music area. (I had considered moving it in for the winter, but thought we would try it out in the snow.... The drum and stumps are now covered.)

There won't be any mud pies for a couple of months, although some snow pies may be in the works......

All of this snow came within the last 24 hours. We've been out shoveling.

We love living on a hill.....

When the snow from the parking pad is shoveled, We have a great "butt" slide.

We call it a "butt" slide because we have to go down on our bottoms. We save the sleds for the park where we don't have to worry about the fence :).

Although, sometimes it is just as fun to go down on our bellies! It was a great day to test out the new snow, I'm sure all of our daycare friends will be itching to get out there tomorrow too! I'm sure we'll be hauling out the sleds and headed for the park!

According to the weather forecast, we'll be looking at snow all week!

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What Would You Do With It? Wednesday #4, Cardboard Tubes (Toilet Paper, Paper Towel, etc)

Welcome to this week's edition of What Would You Do With It? Wednesday. This week's item(s) are paper tubes. You most often find them at the end of a roll of toilet paper or paper toweling. I'm having trouble hunting up the photos I was going to post for this, so when I find them, I will add them. We have made: rain sticks kaleidoscopes marble runs and we have also cut the tubes and made them into flowers or snowflakes like these. If you would like to visit and link to some of our previous What Would You Do With It Wednesdays, please click here.

Yes, WE CLIMB UP THE SLIDE!

Yes, we do climb up the slide. We climb up the slide here at Child Central Station in the backyard... We climb up the slides when we are at the park..... and here are a few reasons why we think you could reconsider climbing up and allowing the children in your care to climb up the slide too! 1. Climbing up the Slide uses MUSCLE! Young children need to be active and climbing up the slide requires a lot of muscle and coordination. It is not an easy feat- and requires strength, concentration, determination, and will power. 2. Climbing up the Slide is RISKY! Yes- climbing up the slide is potentially risky, but so is sliding down! Your job as a caregiver is to carefully observe and monitor the situation, to be close by- but not to interfere unless necessary. Part of a child's learning process must include managing risks- climbing up the slide is a perfect way to practice this skill. 3. Climbing up the Slide involves potential CONFLICT! It is al

Making Moon Mud!

We usually make our moon sand with cornstarch , sand, and baby oil. However a blog reader commented that when they make their moon sand- they use water instead of oil. So, of course, my first thought was- why make moon sand when you could make MOON MUD? And so you have it- our homemade moon mud! Basically, it ends up being a sandy- runny oobleck! It acts kind of like a solid- and kind of like a liquid..... Now, I'm sure I will get all kinds of questions on the exact recipe and proportions to make this stuff..... The truth is, we rarely measure. We just mix it up until it looks and feels about right! Today, we made ours with too much water. (It was an experiment.) So, we removed some off the top. After we were done playing in the mud- we let it sit. A little bit more of the water evaporated while we napped.... Then, this afternoon- It was perfect! Hard as a rock on the bottom, until you dig into grab it... Then....

Ms. Amy's Blog @Child Central Station

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