Dyeing Eggs with Toddlers

How do you safely dye eggs with toddlers?

I've done this method before when there was a parent for each child

so how do you I make it safe for my three?

 The main change was to replace shaving cream with cool whip.

And I diluted the food colouring so their hands wouldn't be totally dyed.

 For the twins this was all about discovery.

 The texture and the taste

and trying to make the egg move.

 Of course putting them in the same chairs that they eat, with their bibs on may have sent a message that it was time to eat.  I couldn't think of any other way to do this without having it all over the house.  And unfortunately it was a rainy day so we couldn't do it outside.

 Here are the eggs before the cool whip was washed off.

The colour isn't as bright since the food colouring had been diluted with water.  But it doesn't matter as the process was so much fun.

Watercolour Painting

Here we are painting for the first time using a little water colour palette that you can find at Dollarama, in their birthday loot bag section.

They come with a little brush, the perfect size for little hands 

(I used these often at StrongStart)

All you need to add is water.

Part of the fun is adding the water to the palette to make the paints come to life.

She did this for awhile before putting any marks on the paper.

I think it may have confused her by sitting at the table where, till now, she has only eaten.

She finally got the hang of it.

Dip in water, dip in paint, dab on paper and repeat.

Or try dipping your finger in the paint. 

Instead of wasting it by wiping it off, I showed her how to make

her finger print.

When it was done we gave it to her mom as a birthday card.

Homemade Fun

What can I make with an empty box and plastic lids?

A new toy for my 13 month old grand daughter.

The toy is made from an empty Kleenex box and the lids from these puree packs.

At first she stood and shook the box.

Then she heard something inside so she sat down and looked inside.

It's natural, when you see something inside, to reach in and try to grab it.

But she had wrapped her hand in a fist around one of the caps

and it would no longer fit through the opening.

She tried to shake it off but that didn't work.

She took her hand out and I stretched the plastic a bit.

That let her grab the caps and pull them out with little difficulty.

She kept at it until she couldn't hear or see anymore inside.

Together we put them back in.

And she started pulling them out again.

SaveSave

A New Year with our Grandfriends

We have started a new school year and will once again visit 

our grandfriends each week.

This year our visits will be shorter.

I open the centre first for just over an hour then whoever wishes

follows me to the seniors home.

I love watching the connections that are being made between all the generations.

We play together for about a half an hour then we have music.

Julia is a music therapist that works at the Lodge.

She joins us every week for about a half an hour and leads us in song

with her guitar.

We are so lucky.

I've learned new songs from her that we sing 

back at our centre.

I look forward to the year to come and introducing

more families to this experience.

Saying Hello to Our Chicks

Day two and we arrived to find six more chicks, two of them freshly hatched. 
 
Once they were dry we moved them from the incubator to the brooding bin.
 
I wanted the children to have the opportunity to hold the chicks but I was nervous of how careful they would be so we established a few rules.
   
Only a parent or myself could take a chick out
and the children had to be sitting down.
 
It was a highlight of my day to introduce a chick to a child.  Then handing the responsibility over to them to gently care for it.
  
They were so careful as they checked it all over.  Gently pulling on it’s little wing,  counting it’s toes and snuggling it close.
    
      
It has been a wonderful time for grown up and child to share this special moment.
   
And for our youngest to reach and stretch and try to get their hands on them.
     
                  
Many parents used the opportunity to use our resources to reinforce how the chicks were made.  They also took the time to read a few stories about chicks as they sat together.
   
The children were shocked to see the chicks poop, and we saw a lot of it on day 2.  Does that mean they are eating?  Another Mother Hen worry.
 
We’ve named some of the chicks and will continue to think of some for the
others as we continue to watch them.