Ms. Amy's Blog @Child Central Station

 The children in our care LOVE to play with the parachute! Welcome to the weekly "Just Playing?" Blog Hop hosted here at Child Central Station. This is our second week hopping and discussing our observations of the learning happening when children are at play.  For more information about this hop and how to join, visit the "Just Playing" landing page. Last week, I shared some photos of the children building a train out of chairs. I have updated the post to include some additional insights into the play- you can read that updated post here . Now- on to this week...... 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." Young children play. They develop through play. They learn through play. They experiment through ...

 These children are riding the train. One of the children decided to build a train. (I was not fast enough with the camera to capture the building of the train.)  The other children decided to join in on the adventure. 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." Young children play.  They develop through play. They learn through play. They experiment through play. They grow through play.  A child's work is play. Play is important! Please take a moment to reflect upon the photos and questions above. I would love for you to share your observations in a comment.  I'd also like to invite you to "hop" on over to all of the other bloggers who are sharing photos of children learning through play this week: If you a...

The word "just" drives me batty. Seriously, when you put the word "just" in front of any verb or noun, you belittle the very thing you are talking about.  There are few things that drive me as bonkers as "I'm JUST a home daycare provider" or "I'm JUST a mom," but ultimately what really gets me going is when people unknowingly say, "Well, they're JUST playing." YOUNG CHILDREN DO NOT  JUST  PLAY. YOUNG CHILDREN PLAY. They develop through play. They learn through play. They investigate through play. They experiment through play. They grow through play.  A child's work is PLAY! There has been a lot of research to support the importance of play, yet play seems to be looked down upon and opportunities for children to participate in good old-fashioned, child directed play seem to be vanishing. PLAY IS IMPORTANT! For this very reason, I have decided to start a new series here on the blog, called "Just Playing?" and I...

I'm always surprised at the look I get from folks when I mention that we have been playing with oobleck. You know the look, the what did you say, I have no idea what you are talking about look... The one that reminds me time and time again why I love my job and the field of early childhood so much! If you are giving me that look right now, let me fill you in on the wonderful that is...... OOBLECK! Oobleck is simple, soothing, and one of the BEST ways to play with science! It only has 2 ingredients, cornstarch and water. Now, don't ask me for an exact recipe.... because I don't have one. In the tub today, we added 3 boxes of cornstarch and we slowly added and mixed water in until it was... just right! The great thing about oobleck- is that it is seriously FUN to play with! It oozes and continually switches between the states of solid and liquid. This is what makes it a non-Newtonian fluid or a dilatant.  If you try to quickly grab or tap dow...

We're up to it again! We finally had enough snow to put in the luge run for this year :).  Our design this time around is different from last time , but I think it is just as fun. Our son, Dane has been busy learning a bit about making movies and using technology to document his learning, so today, he compiled a few of the videos and photos from our first day on the luge- ENJOY!

One of my very favorite songs that we listen to over and over again is sung by Bev Bos, Michael Leeman, and Tom Hunter.   It called Build It Up, and you can find it on the album "We've Been Waiting for You"   "Build it up, and knock it down, and build it up again...."  When our new pet turtle arrived, I needed to rearrange the classroom in order to find a place for our new friend, and rearranging often means that the children have a new found interest in materials simply because they are in a new location. That was definitely the case with our large hollow blocks. They have been building...  and building....  and building.... These large hollow blocks are perfect for the children to play with! I love to watch how creative they are in their structures and the interactions they have while working together to build it up! Sometimes as high as they can..... Sometimes as BIG as they can.... flat on the floor.......

When we were out of town last weekend, I found this great "Water Balloon Catapult." I remember my younger brother having one when we were younger. We used to launch water balloons off of the deck and send them flying out into the field. This one notes that it launches up to 300 feet. What I love about it, is that it requires teamwork. (There are ways to use it yourself, by hooking each end on your feet, laying back with your feet in the air and then using your arms to pull it back. However, for the children..... using it as a team works best!) While they are "just" playing, they are working on their social skills. Using this is no easy task, they also need to work together and are building large muscles! They are experimenting with physics, and geometry... I'm quite confident that they will soon figure out the exact angle and position in order to make a basket. I love to watch and support children as they take the time to really inve...

It's the weekend. There are a ton of things we could be doing.... like dishes,  laundry, cleaning, etc... BUT, it is winter, and we only have sunlight for so long.... and honestly, time flies way to fast.... So instead, we went to the park! We took about a "zillion" new family portraits in the snow. (A zillion according to Dane that is) We rocked the hill! The snow was well compact due to heavy use yesterday in the warm sunshine. With today's cooler temperatures, the hill was slick, and our afternoon was filled with giggles! Here is another video of the same run from another perspective: I even "got some BIG air!" We sure had a lot of fun! The hill takes less than 30 seconds on a good sled on the way down,  no guarantees on how long it will take to climb back up! We'll be at the park again tomorrow (Sunday) around 3!!! It's a public place, you're welcome to come and play too!...

We have a climber! I'm sure you know what I mean, a child who has determined that everything.... tables, shelves, you name it... is meant to be scaled......  So, what is a provider to do?  Well, some people might say "no climbing" but not here.....  Rather than saying no to a perfectly developmentally appropriate behavior, we rearranged the environment and added a slide for safe climbing. By giving children a safe way to explore their body development, we are encouraging them to grow, learn, and explore through their interests! And, if you are going to have an indoor slide... you might as well have an indoor ball pit too! A swimming pool makes a great ball pit ( and group sled too! ). But, sometimes you need something bigger than a plastic pool.... So, we used our giant waffle blocks:  The blocks made a great barrier to keep the balls from rolling all over our floor. Although, some of our friends had a lot of fun tossing the balls out over the sides..... Some of our ...