Coloured Salt

                
We had been playing with thistle seed in the sensory bin for a month when I felt it was time for a change.
                
I thought of salt because it’s inexpensive and it can be coloured.  It was very easy to dye.  In a large tub I placed the salt and several drops of food colouring then using my hands I rubbed the colour through the salt.  It worked great and surprisingly didn’t stain my hands.
                 
                    With 8 kg of salt I made 4 colours. 
            It looked very attractive for a very short time.

          
The coloured salt was a hit.  I love the size of this pool because a lot of children and adults can fit around it at the same time.
                  
             After one session the colours were all blended .
          
It’s still very attractive.  The light colour, after using the dark thistle seed, gave a fresh feeling.  The salt doesn’t spread around the floor as much as the seed did, a bonus.

Nature Backpacks

On my school staff I belong to a Professional Learning Community that has been working on improving the outdoor learning and play space around our school.
    
We live in a beautiful part of the world with lots of forest but unfortunately, around our school, it’s on the outside of the fence.

It has taken all this school year to have our school property boundaries defined but as we’ve been waiting for answers we were also putting together a class set of nature backpacks.
 
The intention of having a class set, plus 2 for leaders, is that they are ready to grab and go.  Each backpack contains a sit upon, clipboard with pencil attach, paper, magnifying glass, ruler, measuring tape, crayons, and a paper bag for collecting.  The teachers packs will also contain first aid kits.

      This week StrongStart grabbed and went out to look for sticks.
           
The children used only the ruler from their backpacks.  Their challenge was to find sticks the same length, not shorter and not longer, than he ruler.
                

             
They did a great job of finding lots of sticks and holding them against the ruler to see their length.  We will use these sticks for another time.

A Box and Tube Toy

One of my goals this year was to improve on the activities I have available for toddlers.  Another goal was to continue to create toys from inexpensive materials that families could replicate at home if they wished.
                             
With that in mind and noticing that the children are still very interested in the plastic Easter eggs that we have playing with for the past month I created this toy.
               
Using one more apple box, I flipped it upside down and inserted tubes from side to side.
                   
                                 They love it!
At first they were busy opening the eggs – so I hot glued them shut (because they won't roll through when they are open).

Then they noticed the tubes and started dropping the eggs in.

It didn’t take the older children long to realize the eggs were coming out the other end.  The younger children spent time looking into the tube to see the egg.  Was it inside?  Where did it go?
   
One time there was a large group of children around the table playing.  I noticed a younger child watching  them and then peek in the tube again, still not quite figuring it out.
                    
Other times we moved the box to the floor so the smallest children could access it easily.
              
We added baskets to catch the eggs, sometimes they would bounce out and send us scurrying after them.  That added another dimension to this play.

Even though my intention, when creating this toy, was for the toddlers I’m constantly reminded that children at any age are still exploring, experimenting and revisiting their environment. 

Button Flowers

We have a great selection of buttons in our art area.
Sorted by colour in separate containers.
       
Today I placed them on the table with green coloured pencils, crayons, markers
                                             and glue.
   
                   
            The materials were used to create button flower gardens.
            
        Each child had a vision of what their gardens would look like.
   
         The older children created flowers that were realistic.
  
The younger children showed more abstract flowers, not yet drawing stems
and leaves.  And I notice more movement with their flowers.
             
            I feel the wind blowing the flowers in this art piece.
           Just like dandelion fluff being blown off the main stem.

Another Egg Toy

                             
An interesting toy that has the children looking at it from many angles.
             
                   
I’ve had this toy for several years (another thrift store find that even my husband liked playing with).  I bring it out a couple of times a year and it challenges the children to move the eggs from one level to the next by turning dials, rotating and pulling levers.
      
       
The children are so intense when they are playing it reminds me of the facial expressions I see when someone is playing a video game.
                    
It’s a challenge that they want to achieve.  Learning how to move those eggs takes patience and dexterity.  For those that are first using the toy they spin or move the levers too quickly and it won’t move the eggs so they learn to slow their movements to be successful.