Messy Summer Fun Week 1 2012

It's the return of Messy Summer Fun!!! .... I run a 5 week program during the summer which includes fine motor, gross motor and lots of sensory activities... all of which are MESSY!!! This year I have 23 kids ranging from 9 months to 7 years.... here's what we did this week:

Jello Sensory Bin...I made two kinds of jello (with some expired jello)... added in some ice cubes to keep it from melting instantaneously..... some beads, ice cube trays and some dishes to play with...

 The kids loved the sticky icky mess!!!

 For our messy craft we made "Elephant Toothpaste"... I got the recipe from here .... In a liter bottle mix a drop of dish soap, a drop of food coloring and 1/2 cup Hydrogen Peroxide (I used the normal 3% and it worked great!)... in a separate cup mix 2 Tablespoons of warm water and 1 Teaspoon of Yeast... then pour the yeast mixture into the bottle....

 The toothpaste slowly climbing out of the bottles...

 Out of the bottle... a big foamy mess...

 This was also a hit... especially as the kids could touch it...

 For our frozen ice sculpture, I themed it with little plastic fish from the dollar store and some pretty beads (and food coloring)... froze it in layers in a big tub... and let the kids try and melt them in the kiddie pools...

 The older kids figured out the process right away....

 Braeden liked playing with the bucket...

 A close up of a half frozen sculpture...

Our gross motor activity was a race/obstacle course/free for all with sponge transfer, shaving cream balloons, lots of water, and the sprinkler...

 Sponge Transfer...

 To make the shaving cream balloons, I used the foam shaving cream in a can (gel is not going to work)... put the balloon up to the nozzle... and they fill really easy....

 Mid Race...

 The shaving cream makes a delightful mess....

 Some of the kids for Messy Summer Fun...

 We finished up the morning with a Pink Lemonade Cupcake snack.... 

For more fun projects check out ABC and 123... . and Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations;

TOT SCHOOL WEEK SIX- 30 MONTHS

We started our week with Music Class...usually labeled Musical Mondays... participated in stART... did "D" for our letter of the week...and ended it with Dance.

Recently I won a giveaway from The Adventures of Bear...a Boca Beth CD (My first songs in Spanish)...which I used during our Music Class this week. The kids had a great time listening to the music and dancing. Thank You The Adventures of Bear and Boca Beth :)

Some scenes from our music class this week (pounding on the drum and dancing to the Boca Beth CD while playing the egg shakers):

Ryleigh working on a winnie the pooh puzzle (from the $1 store)

Back by popular demand, we made pumpkin muffins again :) This time I had three "students"...it ran pretty smoothly and I would totally do it again...the girls got to practice their stirring, spooning, transferring, & pouring techniques...

Enjoying the muffins.....

Here Ryleigh, Emily and E are doing Cheerio Towers (which I first saw on The Adventures of Bear). When they got the cheerios all the way to the top, they ate them off... this activity is great because it is so simple, yet there are so many variations that you can do. I used a ball of play-dough, stuck it on a plate, put a piece of linguine in the middle and cheerios surrounding the entire "structure" on the plate.

Here Ryleigh and T are working on their stART project....

The Letter of the week this week was "D" (is for Dog). I had the girls glue googly eyes and construction paper cutouts for the nose and tongue. For the ears we used their hand-prints.

Here the girls are practicing their shapes and colors. I printed out and laminated some of the activities from the Ratatouille Tot Book from 1+1+1=1.

One of Ryleigh's favorites is the straw in the cheese container activity.... :)

Braeden doing some tummy time- watching his reflection in the mirror and waiting for Ryleigh to be done with school to come play...which she promptly did...and got under there with him...

To see what others are doing this week, click on the buttons below!

Motor Skills: Fine and Auto

We were fortunate enough to receive a package in the mail the other day- that was delivered in a big cardboard box...a.k.a. Ryleigh's Car, Ryleigh's House, or just plain RYLEIGH'S!!!!!

Ryleigh showing the baby how to drive a car.... (he was in the swing watching her)

While I was prepping for one of our baking projects I had Ryleigh sort M&M's into different colors....She loved this project...but then, what girl doesn't love chocolate?

She did really well sorting each into a different cup of the cake tin....her favorite color she did was purple. I was surprised at how few she actually tasted. Since doing this activity, she has asked quite a few times to "sort [the] MM's"

Ryleigh sorting










Finished project