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...

I know this is the post that some of you have been waiting for! Thank you for your patience! I don't mean to keep you waiting longer- but due to the length of the videos and the steps involved, I have split this post into two! Today, we are going to learn how to make the rockets! Tomorrow- we will walk through how to create the launchers! Mr. Allan aka "Astronaut Al" stars in the wonderful silent movie walking you through all of the steps. If you aren't much for videos- I thought I would describe the steps for you too: Step 1: Gather your supplies .  You will need: Translucent File Folders Electrical Tape Scissors and/or exacto knife Ruler 12" long piece of 1/2" PVC pipe Step 2: Cut Your Pieces If you trim the folder to cut off the edges that bind the folder together, you will be able to open the folder up, cut it in half along the crease line. This will give you 2 pieces that are approximately 8" x...

 (Forward facing book shelf made with a scrap of trim attached to the back of an existing book shelf.) Over the past week and a half or so, I have been rearranging and updating our indoor space. We run a year round program, so I don't have the option to spend a week "before" school starts getting our classroom together. So, every so often..... I tackle making major changes to our space. I wouldn't recommend doing this too often, as children need consistency, but changing things up once and awhile is fun and exciting for the children. Sometimes they "forget" about certain things until you move them to a new place. It helps them add more variety to their play, and when you do add new elements it helps you to stay organized!  (Magnetic "Magic Walls" added to the side of the bookshelf) Lately, I have been working to utilize our shelving units to their maximum potential. If you remember, awhile back, I made a flannel story board on one of our large ...

There has been a lot of buzz about light tables over at Teach Preschool on Facebook . Deborah has collected some great ideas for light table play and has been experimenting with making her own table over on the Teach Preschool blog.   I thought I would share with you our two light tables and how we made them. This first table is one that we put together with some scrap wood pieces, an old plexi-glass door from an entertainment center, and a couple of aquarium lights. Total Cost = $0. (We had everything on hand.)  The table needs a little bit of tweaking. (It is on my to do list).  Basically, we made a frame of wood around the plexi-glass and placed the lights under it. Our DIY skills in putting this together were far from expert, so the frame has a couple of gaps (and the reused wood is warped). We plan to try a new frame and use some caulk to seal any gaps.  We also plan to attach the lights to the side of the frame instead of just placing them on the f...