Homemade Ice Cream–2 Ways

Last Friday we made ice cream. 
             
I borrowed an ice cream making kit from our district’s resource centre.

We added milk, cream, sugar and frozen blueberries.  This is the first time I’ve used this machine and I made a mistake.  We measured all the ingredients right into the frozen cylinder instead of mixing them together first then pouring them in.

When we measured the sugar in, some of it stuck to the walls and our paddle wouldn’t turn in a full circle.
                      

We stirred it the best we could, it didn't completely freeze but still was delicious.

This morning we made ice cream again but using plastic ziploc bags.
               
We sat in a circle while I showed them the materials and ingredients we needed.  First was the bag of ice with kosher salt.  We all took a turn feeling it and decided it was really cold and felt hard.
               
Next was a smaller bag of milk (I already added some sugar and vanilla).  We took turns feeling it and it felt cold but soft.  I gave them the word liquid and told we were going to turn it into a solid.
   
The small bag of milk went into the big ziploc bag of ice, then we took turns shaking it.  The children wore mitts because the bag was very cold.
           
We went all around the circle then we stood up and passed it around the circle shaking it some more. 
                           
The water from the ice started to come out because the outer ziploc bag ripped.
           
It was time to check if we had ice cream.  Surprisingly it only took about five minutes of shaking for the ice cream to form.
            
            I had little spoons so everyone could have a taste.

Pom Pom Play

This activity is easy to set up – black, white and black and white pom poms, tubes taped together and two types of pinchers.
   
The fun part was to pick up the pom poms and transfer them into the tubes.

The tricky part was figuring out how to use the pinchers. 
                    
They had to learn to squeeze their hand in order to open the mouth part then release to close it after capturing their target.
      
I appreciated watching his focus and determination to work the pincher and successfully move the pom pom.  He completed one then another before moving on to another activity.

Fingerpainting on Cellophane

I was given a bunch of used cellophane – the kind that you wrap flowers in – and today put it on the art table with paint.  The children loved it.
 
I also had some leftover hair gel that I thought would make the paint move smoothly on the cellophane.  We added a bit of sparkle to the gel but once we added paint it couldn’t be seen any longer.
 
We’ve been focusing on black and white this week so those were the two colours available.  This little girl giggled as she smeared the paint on the cellophane.
    
      This child's hands looked like they were ballet dancing.
                
              Such a fun way to exercise our finger muscles.

She painted a rainbow on the white paint then added black paint before making a print.
            
I was initially concerned that the cellophane would be too slippery but I noticed that the parents were engaged with their child’s painting by holding the cellophane in place.
                  
                                 
                             Each print is beautifully unique.

A Rudolph Bus

                   

We started out the new year with a new box (well a recycled box freshly covered). 

         

We cut out windows and doors and made it into a bus.  

But what kind of bus will it be? 

               

As the children drove the bus we talked about what colour it should be painted and a few children kept saying “reindeer bus”, “Rudolph bus”. 

                           
At first I was confused till I remembered that over the Christmas season one of our city’s transit buses is decorated like a red-nosed reindeer.
   

So today we painted a red nose on the front, used old cds for the eyes and wrapping paper tubes for antlers.  We even added lights around the top.

                                 

Next week we’ll visit the transit bus maintenance yard to learn more about what is inside a bus.

Painting on Ice

              
Our play trays this week contains watercolour paints, brushes and blocks of ice.
              
I put the blocks of ice on the trays about 20 minutes before I opened the centre
so they were somewhat melted when the families arrived.
                  
Monday the school was fairly cold, after being closed for two weeks, so the
ice lasted quite awhile.
                     
That gave the children plenty of time to experiment with a good size block of ice.
            
As the morning progressed and the room warmed, there was more water on the
tray to really make a lot of colour.
          
The ice provides a slippery surface so the brush glides across it and the paint will
pool in any little holes or cracks.
It was a new experience for many and some children were fascinated with the
temperature of the ice and having the freedom to paint all over.