Ms. Amy's Blog @Child Central Station

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