Ms. Amy's Blog @Child Central Station

2013 is quickly coming to an end. Many folks are gearing up to spend more time offline and to celebrate with family.  I'll be logging off myself soon-- but wanted to take a moment to say some thanks to a few bloggers that have been going above and beyond to keep this page afloat- even with my crazy inconsistencies in posting! The blogging world is ever evolving, and I'm always learning as I go.  I know that our little childcare blog continues to grow, and I am making some changes to keep it moving forward.  Thankfully, there is an amazing support network of bloggers out there who keep this page from being a stagnant place! It seems like whenever real life gets too hectic to keep new posts coming- someone jumps in and shares some of our archives to keep our blog traffic afloat! I cannot adequately express in words how grateful I am for your continued support! And to our faithful readers- thank you so much for continuing to come back and to get a glimpse into our busy days! Now-

We have A LOT of plastic lids. We have been collecting them for all kinds of projects. (One of the biggest ones is the gigantic murals project we have under construction for our outdoor fence!)   Unlike our murals, this project utilizes clear lids.  We used 2 types this time around, the ones from baby food containers (rectangular)  and some from Crystal Light containers (oval) , but any plastic lid will do! The whole purpose in this activity is to work on strengthening the muscles in the hand. - So in preparation I filled our glue bottles up and added some liquid watercolor to them.  The children helped to decide what colors to make.  (After you add a bit of the liquid watercolor to the bottle, shake it up good! You can add a marble to the bottle to help if you need.) This project is very much process based. Our ornaments are made by filling the lid with glue and then adding gems and sequins. You don't need to add the gems and sequins- the dried colored glue is sufficient-but the c

Some of the children have been super excited about decorating for Christmas. I have been hearing all about the time they have been spending with their families, especially about their Christmas trees! Earlier this week, I introduced the children to the idea that they can make their very own Christmas Ornaments -- and that has been the top response I have received from the children when asking them to help plan our day.  The first ornaments we made this year used our special "Christmas Clay Dough" - and are a great keepsake for the parents as the children created Fingerprint Ornaments . Today, our focus switched to working on our fine motor skills while creating for the tree with our spiral beaded ornaments.  We used an assortment of beads (most of them are pony beads and have a larger hole than regular beads) and pipe cleaners/chenille stems. If you are looking to purchase the supplies for this project- you can purchase them through our affiliate links: Amazon.com Widgets I

If you have been a long time reader of our blog, you know that we spend a lot of time with process based art activities. This project allowed the children to assist in making clay dough, and in addition to creating our ornaments the children spent quite a bit of time playing with the clay. I don't do a lot of product orientated projects with the children, but sometimes I like to help them create a keepsake or a product for their parents. As much as I value the process, I also know that there is also significant value in giving children the opportunity to witness and participate in creating a product. You can read more about our philosophy of art by clicking here , and you can read about why Sometimes We Craft by clicking here. Our ornaments started out with a simple clay recipe.  When the children knew that our clay was going to be made into Christmas ornaments, the clay was officially named "Christmas Clay Dough". (You can find the recipe for this dough in yesterday'

  Did you notice that the blog looks a bit different? I've been busy, working to move our blog and website. Revamping and getting ready to celebrate the changes coming in the new year! This is my first post from the new platform, a test post of sorts as I learn to navigate and use Wordpress. I hope that our new site will be fully up and running in January, until then, bear with me as I work through the changes and glitches. Now, on to today's post.  This morning- we made Christmas Clay Dough! This is one of my favorite recipes for clay, a very different texture from traditional play dough. You may remember that I have posted about this before. (We made Clay Dough ornaments last year). To make our dough for crafting this year I adapted the recipe just a bit: 2 c. baking soda 1 c. corn starch 1 1/2 c. water peppermint extract (optional) food coloring (optional) Put all of the ingredients in a saucepan, stir constantly on medium heat until the dough becomes the consistency of mash

Playing outdoors can become challenging when the weather is less than perfect. Sometimes it is more difficult to get motivated to bring your little ones outside. No matter where you live, you deal with various challenges based upon the weather, but they can be overcome! Remember:  "There is no such thing as bad weather, just improper clothing!" (unknown).  Please join in with my co-hosts: Child Central Station       Something 2 Offer Early-Play        P is for Preschooler I'm a teacher, get me OUTSIDE here! My Nearest and Dearest        Fireflies and Mudpies Teach Preschool             Racheous - Loveable Learning by participating in the GO OUTside and PLAY Bloghop and Linky! Now, a little bit about our climate and outdoor fun! We live in Northern Michigan, right near the shores of Lake Superior. We have quite a varied climate, as we experience all four seasons -- sometimes to an extreme. It is not unusual for us to measure our snow

This post is inspired by Everyartist Live!, a national, collaborative art event with the goal of engaging a million elementary school children on November 21, 2013 – the largest art event in history. Want to get involved? Join us in our efforts to show that #creativitymatters. Sign up at  http://everyartist.me . These "pinky" puppets are made by upcycling caps from old, dried up markers! We recycle, reuse, repurpose... UPCYCLE around here all of the time! One of the best things about finding a new use or looking at an item with a new perspective is how creative you can be. You don't have to see things for what they are, you can see them for what they could be.... "If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." - Wayne Dyer I know a lot of programs struggle with budgets. There never seems to be enough money or resources to go around. Please, don't ever let that be an excuse to stop doing art! There are so many way

  Thank you for joining us for a brief photo walk down memory lane from the past week. 

Sometimes, I think we forget that we don't need to have an elaborate set of tools, or a thousand different options for young children. Sometimes simple is best- like paper, paint, and a paintbrush at the easel.  We still give the children full artistic control. They choose the colors and the tools they will use. I often find it interesting at times though- for many children the choice of paper color or paint color isn't of major importance. They just want to paint- It is that constant reminder of process, process, process that continues to show through. They want to experience the process involved with moving the paint brush up and down- or covering their hands in paint.....   It is interesting to observe the decision making process and the choices the children make. For instance on this occasion the first child to the easel decided to paint with dark blue paint- and all of the following children opted to take his lead - even though they all had the option to