Giggle Box Kids

Well folks, I have done it now.  I have created another blog solely dedicated to my day care.  I am really excited and at the same time sad to say that I won't be sharing much of what goes on at the dc here.  I have so much kid stuff to share that I don't want it taking over peppysis and what my initial intentions for this hobby of mine are.  So, please add one more blog to your bloggy list of blogs to check on a daily basis.  I really hope I can pull this off... hosting two blogs.  But  I have plans for them both and faith in myself.

Visit www.giggleboxkids.blogspot.com and please bare with me until it's all set the way I like it.

Love ya with all my heart and one messy play room!

Little Journals

You are never too young or old to begin a journal, in my book anyway.  Whether it is something you write in everyday, an art journal with drawings or a style journal (which I am desperate to begin for myself) a journal is a great way of tracking... well... yourself.  In this case, we are at the day care.  I had the thought a couple of days ago that instead of throwing away old colorings or storing them in a box, wouldn't it be neater to let them begin a journal?  That way when the notebook is good and full of whatever we want to put in it we can see how far they've come with their drawings, colorings and even writing.

I am super excited about this idea.  These books will eventually go home with the kids so that their families can see how far they've come.  And the notebooks are cheap.  I actually bought these around back-to-school time for seventeen cents a piece. 

This morning, we broke out pictures, stickers and glue sticks and decorated the outside cover of the kid's journals.  I made sure to pick a color that each of them would like.  They do have their favorites.  For story time today we read a library book called "All Kinds of Families" by Mary Ann Hoberman.  We talked about what a family is and named people in each of our families.  Then we broke out our journals and filled up the first page with pictures of people in our families.  They did great. 

I am looking forward to filling up these books with the kids and seeing how far they've come by the end of the book. 

Planning a Garden with Kids

I consider myself lucky that I have two gardens to plan.  We have a rather large garden at home and a smaller one at the day care.  I have showed you plans for our garden at home, so here's what we are doing at the DC.

Several months ago, I purchased chalk board contact paper from Amazon.com.  For some reason I didn't think I would like it and didn't do anything with it right away.  I was lucky to have it when this project came to mind.  I found a spot of wall space in the kitchen, measured it and cut out the appropriate size of the contact paper.  I then stuck it right on the wall.  It is utterly fantastic!  It takes chalk writing really well and once more when I am finished I can peel it off and no harm done to my wall! 

So, after the back drop for our plans was in place, the kids and I got out the Burpee seed catalogue.  This is the one I get in the mail, mostly because it is where I have wound up ordering garlic seed for the last two years.  I have been asking the kids what they wanted to grow in our garden this year for weeks.  So it wasn't to tough to look through and find pictures to cut out.  We taped them on to the contact paper and I wrote what each of them were next to the picture. 

Next, all we have to do is the layout of our garden and then on to actual planting! 

 

 

 

 

Now this puts me in the market for kid sized tools for the garden!

Gone Fishing

Sometimes there's nothing better than a make-shift fishing pole.  I got it in me this morning to come up with some sort of fishing poles for the kids to play with today.  It's way too muddy to actually fish in the ponds.  So after I found up a coat hanger rod and wooden dowel for poles, yarn for fishing line and a jingle bell for bait, we headed outside to fish off the back porch.

After we caught all those fish we found a puddle at the end of the house.  When we caught all those fish and it was time to come inside, we got two indoor ponds (boxes) and made cut out fish with magnets on them.  You really have to have a steady hand when fishing for the indoor fish.  The magnets stick to the metal ball inside the jingle bell so it's a little tougher to do. 

These kids have had a blast and didn't want to put their poles away for nap time

 

 

 

 

Best Clay Ever

Seriously, this is the easiest and most kid friendly recipe I have found.  I by kid friendly I don't mean it is edible.  I would eat it and once it is finished I really don't think you could it is so hard. edit: seriously?! i need to start proof reading.  what i meant to say is... And by kid friendly I don't mean it is edible.  I wouldn't eat it and once it is finished I really don't think you could it is so hard.

This is a great recipe for making charms, Christmas tree ornaments, jewelry, gift tags, whatever!!  We made this at my day care yesterday but I have been itching to make it for a while.  I made the actual clay then the kids pounded it out and cut shapes.  Then I did the baking and they did the painting.  So in the morning hours they made them and after nap time they painted them.  It really worked out especially to give the clay time to harden.  Fantastic stuff I tell you!

Best Clay Ever

1 cup cornstarch, plus more for dusting
1 box 16 oz baking soda
1 1/2 cups water
wax paper

In 2 quart sauce pan, combine cornstarch and baking soda.  Stir in water.  Heat in medium low until thick and begins to form a ball.  This should take about 10-15 minutes depending on temperature of clay.  Turn dough ball out onto cornstarch dusted surface.  Knead until cooled and smooth.  Your clay is now ready to mold and shape or cut out or whatever.  You can store left over clay in the refrigerator wrapped in plastic wrap or a zipper bag for up to three weeks. 

Place shapes on to wax paper lined baking sheets.  Bake in preheated to 300 degrees oven for 30 minutes.  Turn oven off and leave baking trays in the oven for one hour.  Transfer to wire rack to cool.

We used regular acrylic craft paint on ours.  I tried to water down the paint as water color but it absorbed and would take the finishing spray.  I like everything to shine so I gave ours a quick spray of gloss once the paint was dry. 

These are super simple to make and semi-addictive.  One batch makes about two cups of clay and endless possibilities.  The finished product is really hard.  I threw one on the tile floor last night and it didn't break.  Have fun!

 The mashed potato phase.

 OK maybe a little more than two cups.  It does go a long way.

 I love the fingerprints!

These kids were so proud of their work!  Each child made two of which one we made in to a necklace and the other will be on our Christmas tree at the day care.  Fun Stuff!

What We're Reading

As you know I am a big fan of the library.  For the past few years I have used the Davidson County library system to transfer books in and rent DVDs like no body's business!  Lately I have found myself renting more and more books for the kids here at day care.  They really enjoy them and are very careful when handling them.  I have also found that books become scarce when a holiday is coming up.  All, and I mean all, of the kids books with Thanksgiving topics have been checked out for weeks.  I got smart to this real quick and have signed up for Christmas books early.  Most of them were not checked out and some of them were on waiting lists already which means that you probably will not get them in time.  Check out times for books are three weeks.  So what is the point in getting on a waiting list?  Especially when you can renew checked out books.  It all of a sudden seems like a vicious kid book cycle doesn't it?  Regardless... I'm in because it's all about them isn't it!?

These are our books for this week.  As you can see, two of them are still on the Fall-ish theme with pumpkin heads and scarecrows. 

 

The kids in my day care love story time.  And I love taking on character voices and interested faces.  Especially when they say "Again!"  We sometimes read books five and six times each in one sitting. 

Why didn't I thunk of that?

Well Happy Monday everybody! Last winter (should have done it then) I needed some magazine holders to hold the subscribed to magazine that I can't seem to throw away. "Thinking creatively" I went to the internet to find a pattern to make my own. I found several do-it-yourself versions and saved a few boxes and have finally done this space saver craft project. I thought I would share with my friends and maybe inspire someone else to organize using what you have. Of course you can go to Walmart and buy them but I like to save whenever I can and with a little time I have one more thing personalized in my home.
So here what you need:
A box... needs to be semi-rectangle and big enough to stand up magazines in... a suggestion is to use a priority mail box that you have received mail in.. they give them away for free but that's just wrong to use a free box!?!? I also used a vinegar box thet 2 gallons came in.
Next you need a marker, knife, scraps of paper, fabric, pictures, phone book pages.. whatever you have, a larger piece of felt or fabric for the bottom, a paint brush, and modpodge or Elmer's glue and a little water and 1 crafting friend cause it's more fun that way :)

Follow the pictures for your instructions. You can measure out the angles or just freehandedly draw your cutting lines on the box. Using a knife slice the box following your marks all the way around. Mail boxes will make 2 magazine boxes. Use scraps and fabric or whatever you have to cover the outside of the box using Modpodge or watered down glue. I like to glue a larger piece of felt or fabric on the bottom just so they'll scoot better on shelving.

Have fun!! We sure did and we have nice magazine storage boxes to show for it!

P.S. These girls are holding crafty magazine boxes that they seem very proud of!