Creative art- using kitchen utensils to create art

This is one of my favorite art projects because the children get to use common household objects to create art. We use potato mashers, plungers, egg beaters, and whisks dipped in paint and pressed onto paper to make wonderful, fun pictures.

Last day of summer camp 2011

Camp 2011 was fun! Our last day also brought bad weather so we finished up inside, but that didn't let the fun end. The picture above is our end of camp mural the children painted yesterday. It will hand in the hall all summer.

Today the children painted with odd items, egg beaters, potato mashers, and plungers. I will post some pictures of that project too.

We played in the gym, brought some new toys in the room and we had ice cream cones as our end of camp treat!

Thanks everyone for being part of our camp this summer.

Camp, July 26 and July 27

We have had a summer of weather extremes, some days we were out in jackets and the next in blazing heat. The start of camp in June was cool and wet, then we got really hot and dry in July. Now, we had a record rainfall that broke the dry spell and unfortunately the rain came hard and fast and in the middle of the night. We got flooded in our school! Luckily, it was a few inches and all clean ground water. Thanks to the church for getting in there and pulling out the rugs, moving equipment and getting the cleaning crew into dry things off quickly. The teachers came in on Monday and we put all the rooms back together and except for a few things that had to dry out, no one would have known it even happened when camp started Tuesday! We lost a few things to the storm, mostly some paper and some books that were stored low, but at least it was minimal!

On Tuesday, we were able to get outside the whole morning and the weather was beautiful. We sprayed colored paint at the fence easels. We also painted a "large paint bucket shape" with water colors that will become an end of camp memory with a picture of your child and laminated. We hope the children and the parents will keep them for a long time as a great keepsake. We played with water and all of the other fun things that made camp special this summer.

Wednesday, We had rain come through again so we spent the day indoors. We put a large white bed sheet on the wall and the children used big easel paint brushes and thick paint to paint a big mural. We titled it "summer camp 2011" and it will decorate our hallway this summer. The children also used their fingers dipped in black paint and dabbed it onto red watermelon shapes with a bite cut out to look like the seeds. We brought in some different classroom toys and also took time to take the children to the gym for some large motor time.

Tomorrow is the last day of camp for summer 2011, we are hoping for nice weather, but the children enjoy their time at camp indoors or out.

Camp July 21- Another hot one

First off, thanks to the teachers who have done such a great job keeping the children from getting overheated and providing fun activities; they had the hottest job. We were so thankful for our trees and shade, plus the slight breeze we had today.

The children today played it the sprinkler, which is a fun one that they can squirt like a fire hose. They let it spray on the slide so it made it slippery and fast!

We had big blocks of ice we made by putting water in plastic bowls in the freezer. We put them on large trays with foam shaving cream and the children smushed and mushed it all around. It was a fun, slippery way to keep cool. we did the same thing yesterday with ice cubes and shaving cream.

At the table today we had small punch outs in various shapes and plastic string. The children strung the pieces to make necklaces.

We also had powder paint and water out for the children to paint pictures with by dipping the brush in the water, then in the paint. They also used a spoon to put some powder paint on the paper, then used a wet brush to turn it into paint.

Let's hope for cooler weather next week!

Camp- July 20 More Hot Weather

We had another super hot day, but at lest we only have morning camp- afternoon would be much hotter. We had a nice breeze and the children love the hot weather for playing in the sprinkler. They had so much fun spraying it all around and even getting the teachers wet at times. We had the water tubs, sand tables and blanket activities again today. We also had fishing in water for the magnetic fish.

One new fun thing we did today was to put out a large tray of ice cubes and cover them with shaving cream. It is a cool and refreshing sensory experience.

For art today we made sun visors with their names on them and stamped with stampers to decorate.

We also had paint and foam brushes out. the children painted their own palms and made palm prints on big sheets of paper. We have them in the hallways.

We had story time and music time also.

Although it was hot, the children stay wet and hydrated!

Camp July 19 - Day 1 of the Heat Wave at camp!

We have a great shady playground so that helps in this heat. We also had a breeze today and we are glad we only have camp in the morning before it gets too too hot!

We make sure the children drink plenty of water, and try to direct the play in the shade. We had a new sprinkler today and one of the teachers also kept spraying a hose in the air over the kids to cool them off.

For art today we had dab a dot painters at the fence easel and we had fun brushes taped to popscicle holders to paint with at the tables.

We had a car ramp on the blankets for quiet play, along with bristle blocks, and books.

We had tubs with water and water toys and the sand tables in the shade too.

We enjoyed music sitting on the blankets and singing and moving to the songs.

Camp the week of July 18- Will be HOT!!!!!!

They are predicting very hot temperatures this week and we have had camp before when it has been this hot. We make sure the children have plenty of water to drink, we have a very shady playground too, so that helps too. We keep the sprinkler running, and this week we will have two different sprinklers. We also use the hose with the spray nozzle and let the children run under and through it while a teacher holds it. We bring out extra water tables and plenty of water toys. We have quiet toys and books on the blankets so the children can also relax. We try to encourage the children to choose a quiet activity for some of the time so they are not just running around the whole morning. The hot weather is actually harder on the teachers as they are not running through the sprinklers! Usually! Please remember to send your child in their swim suit all week long!

Camp Day 12- July 14, 2011

We had a pretty day today, not too hot, but warm enough the children asked for the sprinkler to be set up. We played with the water tables and the sand tables. One thing we did today that we have never tried before was to put colored water into sprayer bottles. We then put some tubs of sand out with some toy shovels and rakes and let the children spray the sand with the colored water. They could rake it around and shovel it too. The sand became full of color and we even had colorful puddles form in the pans. It was a new twist that the children loved. We had the dinosaurs and small rocks out in some damp sand too. We also added some sea shells to the sand tables for the children to explore.

For art today we had the plastic back rollers in bright colors of paint for rolling on the paper that was up and down on the fence. We also had blocks sealed in zip lock bags and the children used them to smash the paint that was on the paper underneath a piece of waxed paper. The colors blended and they could see the design happening through the waxed paper. We then pulled off the waxed paper and admired the patterns the smashing blocks made.

We had sponges out for washing things, and we put on music to dance to during our choice time. We ended our day with some special music and songs and we said goodbye to another week camp.

New Link added for CDC (Center for Disease Control)

I have added a link to our BLOG for this very informative web site. I always thought of it as a site for information on illness (as in the flu); but they have great information on child development as well. You can find out about important milestones your child should be attaining - and you can also find out what to do if your child is not meeting those milestones. They have an alphabetical listing of all sorts of topics from ADHD and autism to hearing loss in children. I think it is worthwhile to check it out! www.cdc.gov.

If you have any concerns about your child's development, socially, emotionally, academically, or physically- ACT NOW, the sooner you get help, the better for your child.

Camp- Day 11- a cool sunny day

Wow, our weather has been up and down so much; one day Hot and then next cool. We didn't do any water play today, since it was cool outside, but at least it was sunny. We brought out several new activities for the children to enjoy.

We brought out a tunnel to climb through, and the soccer nets with some balls. Later in the morning we also brought out the parachute which we used for several activities like running under it, sitting on top of it while we waved it up and down. We also bounced balls high in the air from the parachute.

We did a painting activity with pringles cans and little bumpy balls. You put the paper in the can, add a ball dipped in paint and shake shake shake! We painted glue onto paper and sprinkled colored sand to make pretty designs.

We had windy weather so we also used a bubble machine to make bubbles for the children to chase around the playground.

I love to hear the excited squeals of laughter and joyous screaming when the children are having fun outside!

We had a great day today.

Camp - Day 10- July 12

We had another round of storms pass through the area yesterday causing major power outages. Fortunately, we have power at school and a delightful day today. The weather is sunny and warm, so we are having fun in the sun with the water tables, and sprinklers.

We had big boxes set on an angle and the children rolled toy cars dipped in paint down the boxes. We also had old necklaces that we clipped to clothespins and dipped in paint and brushed back and forth across the paper to make designs.

Some of the children enjoyed sitting on the blankets and looking at books with a teacher or playing with the small toys on the blankets. We did sidewalk chalk today too. We ended our day with music time.

Camp Day 8 and Day 9

The final two days of camp were a busy flurry of activity. We played in the sprinklers and brought out buckets with water and sponges which the children used to wash everything! The metal horses, the climbers, the art drying racks, and probably each other. One of the fun things of camp is that we have fun getting wet, then grabbing a towel and sitting on a blanket to dry off.

We made sand stencil pictures and threw balls filled with paint at the fences. We brought out homemade bubble mixtures and all kinds of things to dip into the mixture to make bubbles. Some of the items we used were plastic strawberry containers, shaped pipe cleaners into a circle, and cut holes in plastic lids. No matter what shape the hold is the bubble will come out round.

The children are having fun catching bugs in our bug catchers. We are having fun with music at the end of each day. On our last day of camp we had mini popscicles to celebrate the fun we have had.

We said goodbye to some of our friends who won't be back for the July session and wished everyone a Happy 4th of July Holiday.

Second session of camp starts on Tuesday, July 12.