Adding to the Balls and Tubes

The children began getting inventive with the tubes.

Making them longer and taller.

So we introduced our extendable tube.

And it has been stretched here and there throughout the room.

So much experimenting.

What happens to the ball?

Will it come out the other end?

How can we make it come out?

Lots of running back and forth too.

Balls and Tubes

A challenge for me this year is to provide more activities that will

appeal to toddlers.

Balls are a favourite toy so I pulled out a wading pool

and added balls and tubes.

An instant attraction.

Mermaid Fabric

Have you seen this fabric?

I don't know what the real name of it is but I've seen it referred to as 

mermaid fabric.

It is black fabric with small sequins sewn to it.

It also comes in other colours too.

When you brush against it, it changes from light to dark

or dark to light depending on how it hangs.

I have draped it over our easel so it is different on both sides.

After the children rubbed it over and over they began to refine

their drawing and making letters.

It really drew parents in to explore it with their child.

I bought it at our local Fabricland and it's on for 50% off at the moment.

I think it would be great to make a weighted lap book with this covering it.

Very soothing and calming.

Hickory Dickory Dock

This month we are touching on nursery rhymes.

This week we played with Hickory Dickory Dock.

At the art table families found materials with a question,

"Can you make a mouse?"

So what do we do with our mice once they are made?

We made a big paper clock to hang on the wall.

The children attached their mouse and played with the clock hands.

They were encouraged them to think of a rhyming word to go with the number

they chose.

Building a Volcano

I find it difficult to plan for after a two week break.

What will the children be interested in especially after a holiday like Christmas?

But this year several children were showing an interest in dinosaurs 

so I decided to do a little prep with the children before

our holiday started.

We made a volcano with papier mache.

If you've ever used papier mache you know that it is very sticky.

I was curious if the children would try it.

Would they be willing to stick their hands in a white, sticky mess?

Would they figure out how to dip the strip of paper to get it all wet

then move it over to the sculpture?

I remember with my own children that it took a few tries for them

to enjoy the texture and the process.

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I was thrilled to see that a fair number of children were happy to try

and we were successful in our creating.

We covered the the crumpled newspaper with strips of newspaper first.

Then a second layer of paper towel.

This will be a working volcano that has a glass bottle inside.

Finally we painted it with diluted glue

and added tissue paper for a finish.

We used a couple of shades of brown 

which I think turned out really well.

This took us two days then it had two weeks to dry completely.

This morning was our first day back from holidays.

 I added rocks, trees and dinosaurs for the children to discover.

I also moved one of the sensory tables beside it which holds sand.

I'm curious how the two will work together over time.