Ms. Amy's Blog @Child Central Station

I've been on a recipe kick for paints this week. I've been finding so many cool new ones while following Deborah Stewart from Teach Preschool on Facebook . This recipe is noted in a blog she posted from Creative Jewish Mom . Dane and I whipped up quite a few batches in various colors. Of course, we altered the recipe using powdered Kool-Aid instead of food color for many of the colors. (Note the dark blue, brown, and black were made with Wilton food coloring). 3 tbsp baking soda 3 tbsp cornstarch  3 tbsp white vinegar 1 1/2 tsp light corn syrup food coloring  (OR like we did- Kool Aid powder) Initially we thought that making them in muffin tins would allow us to pop them out and have watercolor cakes. However, we soon realized that they would not easily come out. We then transferred the paint with spoons to some plastic containers we kept to recycle. We didn't want to waste any of the paint, so we painted using the paint that stuck in the muffin tins f...

I'm an artist. We all are, some of us have just forgotten what it was like to be three and making masterpieces we couldn't wait to show to mom and dad. I'm a strong advocate of the fact that we are all artists, and it drives me absolutely nuts at how product driven "art" can be in some structured settings. Ask a classroom full of very young children- how may of you are artists? (You'll see almost all of the hands in the air). Do the same of adults, and well, in most circles you are lucky to get a couple of hands. I'm doing what I can in that department as I work with teenagers and adults on finding their inner artists again. Fortunately, on a daily basis I have the wonderful opportunity to let the young children continue to create, and to love the process of art. There are a few things that I would like to share with you in regard to children's artwork. Please take what you like and leave the rest: 1) Names go on the back. As a parent or teacher, it i...

Today was an early night for us, we were done providing childcare at 4:30 p.m., which was considerably early for us considering our night time care can run until 11:30 p.m. So, for a "normal" human being, that might mean an early night??? Well perhaps in another household, but not ours :). It is nearly 1 a.m. and we are just now starting to wind down for bed. I am continuing to find some amazing ideas and network with a variety of folks through Deborah Stewart by following her on Facebook- Teach Preschool. She brings together many people in the field of early childhood education and she regularly posts ideas she finds on blogs and websites. I have been very interested in some of the recipes she has posted, and decided that I would try out one of them tonight. The recipe I tweaked came from a post by Allison at in a nutshell (you can follow the link for the recipe and directions.) When I made them, I doubled the batch and instead of using food coloring and flavori...

It is a serious understatement to note that we are experiencing unseasonably warm weather. I am refraining from complaint, as our long winters have often left us with inches of snow at this time of year. However, with the children, it has been necessary to find ways to cope with the heat and humidity! We've been running through the sprinkler, playing in sudsy cool water, and misting each other with spray bottles. It is hard to believe that we had snow and hail just a few weeks ago! What is that saying again in regard to the U.P. weather???? Oh, yeah, I remember now: "If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes, it will change!"

One of my favorite magazines and websites to visit for ideas is Family Fun Magazine. In a recent issue, I found this great idea for shaving cream prints. (If you click on the link, you will be directed to the online version of the article). We opted to use a Medium sized Plastic Tote rather than a large pan for our attempt. I found some shave cream at the dollar store that has a lovely fruity scent to it, and it is made for sensitive skin. We put a small layer of shaving cream in the tote and spread it as even as we could get it with a squeegee. Then came the fun part.... adding the food coloring. After the food coloring was added, the children were allowed to marblize the cream with their fingers, a plastic knife, or a small wooden dowel. They were creating their works of art in the shave cream. Dane made up his own little song for this part of the project, it went something like "cutting the cake, cutting the cake, cutting, cutting, cutting the c...

Welcome! For those of you who have been to www.childcentralstation.webs.com, I welcome you to the new venue for our blog. I hope that this venue will be easier to use and navigate and encourage more frequent posts!