Ms. Amy's Blog @Child Central Station

The weather around here is finally starting to look like spring might be around the corner! Snow is melting!!!!!!! The beautiful part of this time of year is that the ground is still quite frozen, so our yard turns into wonderful spring mud puddles! There is nothing quite like playing in the spring mud! Welcome to the weekly "Just Playing?" Blog Hop hosted here at Child Central Station. If this is your first week joining us- you may wish to learn more by visiting the  "Just Playing?" landing page.  Last week- we looked at some more mud play on the swing! I have updated the post to include additional insights into the learning that took place during the play. You can see the revised post  here. Now on to this week's photos:  We may be "just playing", but.... What are the children doing here? What do you see? What learning is taking place? What skills are being practiced/developed? This post is part of the "Just Playing?" Blog Hop! Thank you f...

There is nothing quite like spring mud and puddles-- the first true signs of spring! (Although the forecast calls for more snow around here). We love the slushy, muddy, spring puddles! This puddle was conveniently located right under the swing! Welcome to the weekly "Just Playing?" Blog Hop hosted here at Child Central Station. If this is your first week joining us- you may wish to learn more by visiting the  "Just Playing?" landing page.  Last week- we looked at children playing with balloons! I have updated the post to include additional insights into the learning that took place during the play. You can see the revised post  here. Now on to this week's photos:  We may be "just playing", but.... What are the children doing here? What do you see? What learning is taking place? What skills are being practiced/developed? This post is part of the "Just Playing?" Blog Hop! Thank you for remembering that young children do not "just play....

When the weather is hot and humid, nothing cools you down like some nice cold mud! The real stuff, made with real dark soil, not the kind made with sand that dries up in a jiffy... but nice ooey, gooey, sticky, wet, sloppy, mud! You know what I'm talking about.... the cold oozing kind that squishes between your toes! The kind of mud you just can't wait to tell your friends about.... so that they can come and join in on the fun! When the patch is just right, you sink a little as you play....  Standing in the muddy mess is fun, but you know that you just can't resist jumping! Because jumping and splashing in the puddles is just way too much fun! Especially when the mud splatters EVERYWHERE! Have you been playing in the mud lately?

Children are always intrigued by mud, but there is something about "spring" mud that holds their attention for even longer. Maybe it is because it has been hidden for so long underneath the snow, perhaps it is continual trickle of running water from the melting snow..... Maybe it is the cooler temperature or the hard base found just a few inches below where the ground is still frozen. It is hard to say why, but whatever the reason they simply cannot get enough of it! We've been having a GREAT time enjoying the sunshine and the mud this week! We watched in anticipation of our annual "St Patty's Day" storm today. Fortunately, so far, we've only seen rain!  Maybe spring really is on the way!

Signs of spring are all around us. In between all of the mounds of snow we are finding lovely puddles of slush... and more and more mud!  The yard is very wet, and the sun feels fantastic!  We are in the time of year where the weather can change with the drop of a hat! Right now, it is a great reminder of living in the moment and appreciating what we have right here, right now.  With some of the recent posts on pendulum painting ( Teacher Tom , Tinker Lab's Funnel Painting ) , I thought it would be great to try out painting the snow with a pendulum. Rather than trying to rig up a pvc pipe system, we opted to use our play structure and hang our pendulum from where the swings will return when the fall zone is no longer full of ice and snow. The children had a great time adding some more color to our patches of white! We used a mixture of Kool-Aid powder and water to make our "paint."  The rainbow colors and fruity smells were delightful! We...

I've been inspired yet again through the online community of early childhood educators and bloggers. The collection of Mud Pie Kitchens provided by Jenny at Let the Children Play was AMAZING, and my brain immediately went to work.... what could our Mud Pie Kitchen look like? I knew I could get a jump start on it over the weekend, and I specifically went to look for Mud Pie Kitchen items at the yardsales and second hand stores. I also knew that I had some things that we could use already. This is the kitchen we have used outdoors in the past. It has not been visited all that frequently: Here is the start of our new outdoor- "MUD PIE KITCHEN": Not much, but enough for a start. I found some wooden bowls and heavy duty wooden spoons and utensils at the yard sales. I had some pine cones and some wooden cookies lying around that I added to the mix. For now, a plastic utility shelf serves as our stove with wooden cookies for the hot plates. A couple of flower boxes are holding ...