Messy Summer Fun Week 2... 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:

We had an ocean life sensory bin.... with water...

 blue stones from the dollar store... a couple of ice cube trays...

 some fish and dolphins.... some containers....and a sponge for diversity...

Our messy craft this week was ice cube painting- I mixed a little bit of water with some washable paint and froze it in an Hawaiin ice cube tray. This is always a big hit.... and so messy....

 The little ones...showing their messy hands...

 After the paint ice cube melted... the paint remains...

I made ice sculptures with numbers frozen inside..in layers.... 
the kids tried to see who could get to the numbers first....

 Melting the ice sculptures....

 Our relay race this week included hippity hops, water balloons, and the sprinkler...

 The kids had to transfer the water balloons from one bucket through the sprinkler to the other....some made it...and some just threw them... either way... good times...

 Sprinkler....

 For this week's snack we had home made snowcones...

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

Messy Summer Fun .... Week 1

This summer I thought it would be fun to offer a "Messy Summer Fun" class/camp for 5 weeks... I have limited it to 20 kids... and am hoping for the best... This morning we had our first session... I have narrowed it down to my favorite 20 pictures....

SENSORY BIN

I made up this summertime sensory bin which included rice, beans, ice cream dishes with little spoons, Hawaiian mask ice cube trays of different colors, ice cream scoops and disposable shot glasses... huge hit with the kids... I have already come up with a theme for next week's bin... I put the bin by our swing set in the shade...so the kids could play with it through out the morning...Braeden... taking a turn on the slide before the messiness began...

Up in the clubhouse....

SHAVING CREAM PAINTING

For our first Messy Activity we did Shaving cream finger painting... we had 15 kids today...and it was nowhere near as messy as I anticipated...which is good I think....

Braeden was pretty unamused by this project... although... he might have been a bit testy from being up since 5 am.... who's to judge really?...

I had two tables set up... next time I will probably use two adjustable tables...

Loving the messy.... besides a great art project (we used primary colors to mix)... this was a great sensory project...

Ryleigh really liked this project...and has requested we do it again...

Braeden...still not really loving this idea...

FROZEN ICE EXCAVATION

I had so much fun making this activity... I froze different shapes and colors of ice...as well as some summertime objects and beads...into one big block of ice... the objective was to get the kids to melt the ice to get to the objects.

Most of the kids headed over after finishing their art projects...

WATER BUCKET RELAY

We split the kids up into two teams (more or less) and had them attempt to fill the other teams bucket until it overflowed... things stayed pretty even for awhile...then they got crafty....

Braeden....enjoyed watching but not participating in this one...most likely because the sprinkler was on by the other bucket...

The game started off civil enough...one bucket per team...

Ryleigh carrying her bucket....

The game got a little dice-ee when one team...or both got creative with other water carrying devices... I believe this ended in one big massive water fight...that pretty much went on for the rest of the morning...

SNACK TIME

The kids enjoyed some mini- slow melt Popsicles for snack... the yard was quiet and semi still for about 5 minutes... :-)

MORE WATER FUN

Having fun in the sprinkler....

Braeden... busy emptying the pool...one bucket-full at a time...

Stay tuned for next weeks messy summer fun....

To see what others did this week check out Tot School at 1+1+1=1; Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations; Mom 2 lil Posh Divas and the Weekly Wrap-up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

TOT SCHOOL - WEEK SEVENTEEN - 34 MONTHS

We started our week with Musical Monday...had the girls over Tuesday and Wednesday for school...did a stART project with sea salt...did two letters of the week...lots of baking...many projects...had Art group...and finished it with Dance. I also introduced the felt board to Ryleigh...huge hit... :)

For Valentine's Day...From the Target Dollar Spot I bought two little plants (with the pots included)... one is strawberries and one is forget me knots.... Ryleigh had lots of fun planting the seeds...hopefully they grow and we can watch their progress....

Ryleigh dumping the dry soil into water (like magic...it expands...)

Scooping the soil into the pots...

Braeden...the gnome.... no relevance to school...

Ryleigh working on her water color and sea salt stART project...

On Tuesday I had three "pupils" ... plus the 3 babies...who should be doing tot school by the fall...anyway...our first project was baking ...what I like to call...and I kid you not... "Yummy Yums..." Seriously..that is what I named it.... they are kind of like flaky cinnamon rolls...

The girls spreading a cinnamon and sugar mixture on the dough...

Juliette and Braeden...watching the girls bake...

Next the girls worked on the Letter L...I had them make L is for Lion...First they used scissors and cut up green construction paper for "grass"...then we used orange and brown felt for the mane and head... and added a pom pom for the tail... I was really pleased with the way the project turned out... I can't always be sure how they will actually look when I come up with them:)

Working on the grass...

The finished project...

As we were setting up for the next project..I glanced into the living room and this is what I saw... Juliette is UNDER the jumperoo...Anna in on the gym...and Braeden in the bouncer...crying...I think because Juliette left him and went exploring...

Next, we had the girls use dot painters and paint L is for Ladybug...which I printed from Confessions of a Homeschooler...The girls used Markers to trace the Upper and Lower case Ll's.

Also from Confessions of a Homeschooler- I printed off these great alphabet activity sheets. I had laminated them for repeat use. The girls took colored glass stones from Michaels and placed them in the missing spots on each sheet.

For Wednesday's class I had 4 girls...plus the 3 babies...and we started with baking some corn muffins...

We also did the Letter M is for Mountain...which I got from No Time For Flashcards. To add some texture into the project, I had the girls use white felt for the snowcaps and the clouds.

We did some pattern work (also printed from Confessions of a Homeschooler)

Next, we did some patterns with M&M's....
I think the favorite part was the eating of the candies...

We finished off Wednesday's class with water transfers...I had them use a pipet to transfer water from a plastic cup to the suction cup part of those suction bath grip things....

Recently I made a felt board for Ryleigh to use...this was the first time she saw it...and liked it right away...I think she played with it for a good 45 minutes....

Ryleigh using the board and doing some sequencing...

We also did a lot of pattern work....

At this point Ryleigh knows all her letters and the sounds they make (Thank you Letter Factory!)...So to help reinforce them...and because I thought they would be handy in so many activities...I got scrapbooking letter stickers from the Target Dollar Spot. I got two packs of the same stickers..then I put backs on them to create disks....

Here Ryleigh is playing Match the Alphabet...
and saying which sound the letter makes as she goes....

Braeden watching Big Sister do her Alphabet Tray...

Both kids playing side by side...my favorite picture of the week!

To see what others are doing in their Tot Schools go to 1+1+1=1.