Ms. Amy's Blog @Child Central Station

We are always looking for ways to repurpose, reuse and "upcycle."  After one of our family dinner excursions, I was inspired to make these DIY  Upcycled Translucent Blocks to use on our light table.  Please note that this post contains affiliate links.  When we go out to dinner, my family often entertains each other by building structures with the various things on the table at the restaurant while we wait for our food. We have made some very interesting towers and creations with the coffee creamers and the single serving jam containers. After one of our recent ventures, I was thinking about different things we could use to build at home... and voila..... the inspiration: Empty plastic baby food containers! However, I didn't just want to use them as is. I know they are fun to build with without doing anything with them, but I wanted to add some color and make a nice set for our light table. So, I gathered my supplies. (If you remember we have used the lids from these cont...

With the extreme weather this week, we have not been able to spend time outside. (When I say extreme, I mean that the windchill has been so cold that the local public schools have closed). With the extra indoor time, our easels have been busier than normal! Today, one of the "paintbrushes" of choice was a hand drill.  The set up for this is quite simple, instead of using a drill bit-- screw a paintbrush into the drill, set out for exploration and... sit back and watch! It usually takes a bit of concentration and tinkering to figure out how to make the drill work. Sometimes the paint never makes it onto the paper as it is quite engaging to spin the brush in the paint. The drills are always available for us, and having them at the easel is a very different experience from painting with them on the table or floor. A different muscle set is required to hold the drill up to paint on the easel. I cannot remember for sure where I first saw this idea, but I'm pretty sure it was i...

Life has been wonderful, amazing, and super busy! One of my goals for the new year is to get myself back into a regular blogging schedule where I can share a bit of our world with you on a more regular basis! For now, please enjoy a look at 14 seconds, 14 photos from our play journey over the past year. (If you are looking for more photos, hop on over to our Facebook Page ) Thanks for sharing in our journey, and hopefully I'll be back soon to share more of our adventures in as we learn through play!