Hot Colors in the Desert

It is nice and hot outside right now, here in the desert.

This is the perfect weather to melt crayons in.

I am not referring to accidentally melting crayons, like those stray ones that you find on the floor of the car, or on your car seat (usually after you have sat in the waxy puddle...just me?).

When it gets hot I like to take all my old and broken crayons that I have saved (again...just me?) and melt them together to make new crayons.

Simply peel off the paper (have the kiddos peel off the paper...practice those fine motor skills), and put all the little pieces of crayon into cup cake liners. Set the crayon filled liners on a cookie sheet and place the cookie sheet outside in direct sunlight. Depending on the day, the crayons will melt into a multi-colored liquid fairly quickly. (This liquid is hot and messy - be careful!). Put the cookie sheet in the freezer for 20-30 minutes, and - wah-la! - new crayons.

There are many variations on this...using mini cupcake liners, silicone baking trays, etc...let your kiddo come up with what shapes they want their new crayons to be.

Have fun and stay cool!

Don't Throw Away Those Markers!

One of my favorite mediums to paint with is liquid watercolor. Purchasing liquid watercolor is pricey, but thanks to Pinterest, I discovered a cheap way to always have liquid water color on hand. If you soak dried up washable markers in water...waa-laa! Liquid water color. It takes about 24 hours to get a nice, brilliant color; the longer the markers soak, the more brilliant the color.

In my classroom, we always have cups with dried out markers soaking, so we always have a ready supply of liquid watercolor.

Yay for recycling!

I Spy!

Making an I Spy bottle is easy and inexpensive, and lends itself to so many activities.

All you need is...

• clean, dry plastic bottle
• rice
• lima beans

With a Sharpie, write letters on the beans. Put beans and rice inside the bottle and seal the bottle (I use glue to insure I don't have beans and rice in places I don't want it).

Use your new I Spy bottle for the following literacy fun with your kiddo!

• For every letter found, say the associated sound
• Write each letter as it is found
• Cut a picture out of a magazine that has the same beginning sound as the letter that is found
• Cut a letter out of a magazine for each letter that is found
• Find the letters in your name, Check them off as they are found
• Find something in the room that starts with the letter that is found
• Say the ABC's up to the letter that is found

Variations:

• Use plastic alphabet beads instead of writing letters on beans
• Write letters on pebbles instead of beans
• Use numbers
• Use numbers and letters
• Use both upper and lowercase letters
• Let the kiddos make their own, have them write their own letters on the beans. Giant lima beans work well for this, Provide spoons and funnels so they can scope in their own rice.
• Add other items (sparkles, rocks, jewels, etc)

Spy on!

It's Raining!

It is raining!!

In June!

In Phoenix!

In my little part of the world, rain in June is unheard of. So why not break out some fun rainy day activities?

One of my all time favorite rainy day things to do is watercolor rain painting. Use watercolors and create a design. Put your painting outside in a light drizzle for a little bit. Watch the amazing effects and designs that occur.

Catch a rain drop! I love doing this, and then painting the raindrops once they are baked.

Make a rain gauge. It is so interesting to see how much rain actually falls; sometimes it feels like a foot of rain has fallen from the sky when actually only 1/4" came down, Using a recycled 2 liter bottle with measurements marked in Sharpie is an easy, free way to create a rain gauge. Place rain gauges in different parts of your yard. Do all the gauges have the same amount of rain?

The absolute best, all time favorite rainy day activity is to simply play in the rain. Forget all that other stuff. Just go play in the rain.

Have fun!!

You Spin Me 'Round

One of the most popular activities in my classroom this year was spinning tops. I originally introduced tops as a way to help a few of my students hone their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, but, as things often do in an early childhood classroom, the tops ended up offering so much more. We explored physics ( what types of surfaces do the tops spin on the longest?), art (what designs look cool when spinning), math (what top spins the longest?), more physics (on how steep of an incline will tops continue to spin before they simply slide down?). And so much more. And while I labeled the explorations with the core subjects being addressed, the students explored all these things on their own, with no guidance from me. (Let kids play!!)

And I made these tops with stuff I had laying around in my classroom....

1 CD
1 marble
1 bottle cap
Some glue (I used hot glue, and was frequently repairing broken tops, a stronger glue might increase durability)

• On one side of the CD, glue the marble in the hole (the marble should sit about a third of the way into the hole, just blob the glue around the marble, making sure the bottom of the marble remains free of glue.

• Glue the bottle cap on the other side of the CD, over the marble. 

• Let glue dry.

• Spin!!!