Our Mud Pie/Snow Cake Kitchen

If you have been following this blog for a length of time, you know that we LOVE outdoor play, and one of our favorite outdoor activities is to cook in our mud pie kitchen!

However, our wonderful mud pie kitchen as shown above, looks nothing like that photo today.....

Mud pies aren't really an option when the ground is frozen and most of the kitchen is covered in snow! That doesn't stop us from playing in our outdoor kitchen, you see.... Now we don't have a "mud" pie kitchen, but instead, we have a "snow cake" kitchen!

Many of our tools for our kitchen are burried in the snow, but these lovely molds are PERFECT for snow cakes!

The sun and warmer weather (almost 40 degrees Fahrenheit today!) have made our snow quite pliable and thus we have the perfect ingredients for snow cakes!

The perfect snow cakes are packed with lots of snow!

The change in season and natural materials lend themselves nicely to expanding upon children's play. Winter weather and snow provide a fantastic opportunity to learn and explore!

Comments

Kierna C said…

Love it Amy, what lovely fluffy snow you have. It is so good to see childrne out enjoying the snow instead of just looking out the window at it. thanks for linking up this week, Kierna

February 4, 2012 at 5:43 AM

Meagan said…

The cooper molds are awfully pretty... Do you have trouble with corrosion, or are they treated against it?

February 4, 2012 at 7:42 PM

Amy A @ Child Central Station said…

Kierna- I'm always more than happy to link up our fun outdoor play! We're outside all the time!

Meagan- I haven't had any trouble with corrosion yet. These molds are cooking molds. I don't know how long they will hold up outside, but we will keep cooking with them and watch for wear and tear! In the summer we use them for mud pies.

February 7, 2012 at 5:43 PM

A Few Ideas With Marker Caps (As Promised)

Yesterday, I hope I convinced you not to throw away your markers that "don't work." Today, I will share with you a few ideas for what to do with all of the caps. The possibilities are nearly endless, but here are a few of our recent creations: 1) A Leprechaun/Fairy Ladder/Rope Ladder: 2) #1 if not permanently secured can also double as a rope bridge: 3) #1/#2 can also be made into a train track for your homemade trains :). (No photo available) 4) You can use them as beads for a necklace: 5) You could make them into a wind chime. (No photo available). 6. You can use them as small manipulatives to count, sort, and make patterns with. (No photo available). 7) You could use them as playing pieces in your own homemade board game. (No photo available). 8) You could put them on a wire and glue them in place to make a twirling whirly-gig. 9) You could top them with a lid from a milk jug to make tiny tables or toadstools. 10) You could make them...

Easter Egg Caterpillars!

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Xylophones and Outdoor Music (Originally posted May 2010)

These posts were originally published in May of 2010. Our music area has been updated quite a bit since then, but it will give you some basic instructions for creating the xylophone. I've wanted to make an outdoor area for music for quite some time. We had a new fence installed around the play area, and my thought was to put a HUGE xylophone on the fence, like the one we saw mounted on the wall at the U.P. Children's Museum. However, after being inspired with additional ideas for an outdoor area through following Teach Preschool on Facebook, we have opted to create an entire section of our outdoor play space to making music! The first project for our Music area was a Giant Xylophone. Here are a few photos as we worked to put it together. This photo is of our temporary installation. Due to the size of the xylophone, we need to reinforce it with wood, as the string is not strong enough to account for gravity. The xylophone is made out of scrap 2x4 pieces...

Ms. Amy's Blog @Child Central Station

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