Ms. Amy's Blog @Child Central Station

I have been working on this cross stitch on and off since 1995. I finally finished it yesterday! A great end to the year, wishing you all a joyous and playful new year! (This is my first ever mobile post, I hope it works!!!)

We're in Denmark. Taking a break, eating, relaxing, visiting with family. Building with Legos!  (You almost have to do that in Denmark... Legos come from here!) I don't know how much posting I will be doing until we return home. Just in case I don't get back here until then.... Don't forget to hop on over to the PreK and K Sharing Blog on the 30th ,  I'll be sharing more about Legos! If you are celebrating this holiday season, enjoy.... and we will see you again in the new year!

We are having a great time in Denmark, although Dane has a bit of a cold. We have been relaxing and visiting! Of course, our time has been filled with eating, visiting, playing games... and a little bit of crafting! To help decorate our tree this year, we have been making some string ornaments. The process is quite simple. You need some string. (We used odds and ends of some yarn and embroidery floss). You will also need some balloons (we used small water balloons inflated with air) and some glue. (We diluted ours with some water). Cut the string into various lengths. We didn't measure ours, but you want them long enough to fit around your balloons a few times, but not so long that they will knot up on you when you wrap them. You will want to prepare all of your supplies before you get started, as your hands will get quite sticky in the process. So, cut a pile of string and blow up a bunch of balloons. Then, when you are ready to get started, dip your string into the glue. (We

It is hard to believe that this year is coming to a close! With all of the holiday celebrations starting soon, I thought I would share the top 11, as chosen by all of you for 2011!!! (Based upon site visits!). Most of these posts were from 2011, although a couple of them are from 2010 and still going strong with page views! Counting down.... #11 - Bev said- Do This On Monday! #10 - Our Family Daycare (page, not blog post) #9 - Water Beads/Gems #8 - What Would You Do With It Wednesday? Markers that Don't Work #7 - What Would You Do With It Wednesday? Clothespins (A guest post from Deborah Stewart of Teach Preschool ) #6- Outdoor Classroom Inspiration (page, not blog post) #5 - Fabulous Floam #4 - What Would You Do With It Wednesday? (page not blog post) #3 - The Markers Don't Work! #2 - Do It Yourself Light Tables AND (Insert Drumroll here......) The top post of 2011 #1 - Melted Crayon Art! And there they are.... the top 11 pages by view of 2011! Do you have a f

I'm pulling from the archives again today.... We made these wonderful luminaries last year. They are a great craft that gives the children an opportunity to work with "real tools" and to have the freedom to choose colors and patterns.  (We are in Denmark right now, the childcare is closed until the first week of January, so I will be randomly pulling from the archives AND updating on some of the fun we are having here!) We have been continuing our Holiday Craft Kick.... and today, we worked on some great recycled luminaries/candle holders. These are quite simple to make. First you need to collect a bunch of gems! (The ones that look like flat marbles) I would imagine that smooth sea glass would work as well.... and maybe marbles IF you used a lot of glue. Any gems will work, but the more translucent they are, the more they will sparkle when lit. Each person will also need a glass jar. Our jars are not all the same, as we are upcycling a variety of jars that some sort

We're going on vacation.... The daycare will be closed for two weeks... and for the rest of the time, Ms. Amber and Ms. Erica will be busy taking care of our little friends. I'm sure I will be posting about our adventures from Denmark. I can't wait to tell you all about them!

I have so many different recipes for home made art supplies. This is one of my favorite for an air drying clay. I like it better than salt dough, and we have used it to make all kinds of sculptures, beads, and ornaments in the past.  This year, we have been making ornaments for the 4C of the UP, Great Start Regional Child Care Resource Center's Christmas Tree. The clay is a lot of fun to play with. most of the children were more interested in playing with the clay rather than sculpting with it.... So we played..... we rolled it, and we squished it.... and then when the children didn't want to play any more... I molded the dough into round shapes. roll the clay into a ball squish the ball with a cup You will have an almost perfect circle.... to make it perfect, I used the other side of the cup like a cookie cutter. Then you will get a circle that has a small ridge I used a straw to make a round hole in each circle ornament This clay will air dry quite nicely. I wanted to spee

We have been crafting! The Great Start Regional Child Care Resource Center has requested some ornaments to help decorate their tree, so we have been busy creating ornaments for them. One of our favorites this year has been our milkweed pods! I am often asked how I manage to allow children the opportunity to participate in various activities when I work with so many mixed ages. This little painting tote set up works well when I have some infants and toddlers. We have a GREAT art and tinkering station set up in our kitchen, but when I have little ones in the main classroom , it is hard to help and monitor in two different rooms. I do bring the infants and toddlers into the kitchen, but often their explorations tend to be much shorter than the preschool and school aged children, so I came up with this great painting tote!  All I do is give the children a clear plastic tote (sweater box sized). I line it with paper towel, place a pallet of paint (I always let the children c

I joined another collaborative effort,  Caring Planet. This new adventure will feature posts from folks in the field of early childhood education from around the globe. Hop on over and check it out, and be patient with us as it starts to grow! http://www.caringplanetblog.com/2011/11/caring-moment.html

Painting seed pods to hang as ornaments on the Christmas tree- Craft. Anytime you have a preconceived idea of what you are making, it is no longer truly about the process.  Regardless of how "open ended" you think you are making the craft, if it has a purpose or an expected end product, in my mind... it is no longer child-centered art. One way or another because you have given it a name or a specific outcome you drive the product. I don't think that you can always separate art from craft or craft from art, because the two are so delicately intertwined. I think that rather than a definitive black and white separation, we are dealing with various shades of gray. I am by no means saying that craft has no merit, as you will soon read, sometimes... we craft, but most of the time, we strive for process art. Rolling paint on plexi-glass - art There are a lot of things I see other educators doing with children, that simply do not fit with my philosophy. For example, I don&