Showing posts with label recycled. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recycled. Show all posts

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Trash to Treasures- Creative fun for kids

Kids are so creative and it is important to nurture that creativity so they don't lose it.  Save your "trash", things like bottle caps, laundry lids, empty water bottles, or pop bottles,  empty paper towel tubes, empty toilet paper tubes, packaging from boxes, boxes, cereal boxes, old markers, lonely socks, old t-shirts, pieces of cardboard, old fabric, ribbon,magazines,  scraps of paper, newspaper, newspaper inserts, egg cartons, styrofoam containers, and anything else that seems safe and fun.  Clean them thoroughly and put them all in a box for creative play; see what your child can do with them.  If your child has not ever been given the opportunity to think creatively, he/she may need help to get them started.  Here are a few ideas....I am sure you can think of many more.
  1. Small toy cars can be added to go through the tubes, stack items to make ramps or different angles, how can they make it go faster or slower.  Have races.  Try small balls instead, try various kinds of balls to see how each works.
  2. Add glue and let him/her create a sculpture with all the cardboard tubes, cereal boxes.  Give him/her tape instead of glue; how does that change the process? Cut up newspaper and glue onto the cardboard.
  3. Add paint and let him/her paint on cereal boxes ( the inside of the box works great).  Paint on old fabric.  Use a toothpick to scratch a design on the styrofoam trays and paint over it.  Press paper on to top and you will have a print of the design.
  4. You can cut the old cereal boxes into shapes to trace too.
  5. You can put a dried out marker into a bottle of glue and it will color the glue for you.  Glue pictures are great fun- just puddles of glue on foil or wax paper, allow to dry (for days if a lot of glue is used) and peel off. Otherwise use the glue for your collage creations.  Back to school sales have glue really cheap.
  6. Make collages with old fabric scraps, ribbons snips, words out of magazines or newspapers.
  7. Make one inch snips up the end of a toilet paper tube and fold the pieces back, makes a cool design when used with paint.
  8. Dip the bottom of plastic bottles in paint and press onto paper.
  9.  Dip the lids of various size bottles into paint and make a circle picture.
  10. Glue bottle caps onto cardboard in designs- either draw an outline and glue them inside or free from it.
  11. Make floating boats out of egg cartons or use the egg cartons to hold treasures- go on a walk and have your child collect something for each spot in the carton.
  12. Make a puppet out of an old sock.
  13. Laundry caps are great for scooping sand, dirt, playing in water, planting seeds.
  14. Put some beans in a plastic bin and add many of the above items for fun, creative play.
 That should get you started.  If you just put a big pile of the items out, your child will think of great ways to have fun with it all and they are using their brains to think, and plan out their actions.  This activity is great for brain development and best of all it doesn't cost you anything.  Take pictures of their creations so they can see what they made and know you value their creation.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Hot summer days + water = so much fun!

Children love water play and you don't need any fancy equipment to provide it for them. Especially on these hot days, find a shady spot and set out one of the clear storage tubs with a little water in it (always supervise children near water- drowning can happen in as little as an inch of water). Add some laundry caps, funnels, empty plastic bottles (you can poke holes in some to add another elem
ent too). If you are adventurous make some little boats. We made them at school with egg cartons, some clay to hold a straw with a fun foam sail. Bring out the bathtub toys, add some rocks and let them have fun. A watering can, the hose on to a trickle, can extend the play. Water can keep children occupied and engaged for a long time. Change it up and add sand to the tub with just a little water another day. Add dirt for mud play.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Preschool Dramatic Play Post Office


We have purchase some cute accessories for our dramatic play post office and we have made many. One of the teachers made cut postal worker vests the children can wear as well.

We expand on these as well, with sorting activities, putting ABC on bins and alphabet letters on envelopes. You can sometimes get old envelopes from a card store and we save junk mail too. Great way to recycle old mail. We also do some patterning activities, the children have to match the pattern on the envelope to the correct mailbox. We put out pencils, paper, and stampers too.


Sunday, January 22, 2012

ABC's on bottle caps- Home learning activity

A great way to recycle bottle caps for a learning activity!


You can use any kind of bottle cap, but if you choose all the same kind it will allow you to do more things with them.

These are made with Avery labels and printed alphabet letters- pick a font that looks the most like traditional letters children learn to write. You can just put a plain circle sticker on them and use a marker to draw each letter too.

I have upper case letters on the outside and the same lower case letter on the inside and I have multiple of each letter. You could also have a separate set of upper case and a set of lower case- all on the outside of the cap. You could also put the letters on the inside of the cap and put a magnet on the outside of the cap- use on a magnetic board.

Make a set with numbers too- you can do many of the same activities with numbers.

Some of the activities that can be done with these:
  1. Put them in alphabetical order with the upper case letter showing.
  2. Find the lower case letter and match it to the correct upper case letter.
  3. Spell words- start with your child's name
  4. Sort letters into a box with 26 compartments.
  5. Find all the letters that have straight lines
  6. Find all the letters with curves
  7. Pick a letter and say the sound it makes.
  8. Put all the letters in a bag and reach in, pull one out and say what letter it is....take turns with your child.
  9. Put 5 of the letters out on the table in order. Have your child close his/her eyes and remove one letter- see if they can figure out what letter is missing. If they can't guess the letter, make the sound and see if they can guess it. Now you take a turn.
  10. If you write letters on only one side, and make two sets, play memory with them. Only use a few letters for the game.
  11. Pick out a letter and on a dry erase board or paper, write that letter.


Sunday, October 23, 2011

Color mixing




In the Maple room they are exploring colors and making new colors by combining other colors. They have been using clear egg cartons, which work good because the children can see through easily. They used liquid watercolors and gave the children the three primary colors and allowed them to combine them with eye droppers to create new colors. On another day, they put a little white tempra paint in each spot, they then gave the children new colors to add to see what would happen.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Trinity Preschool Activities for Wednesday, May 11, 2011

We played outside again today in the playground.

Willow Room- MWF class:


We read "Baby Bird's First Nest" by Frank Asch
We asked the children if they ever saw a real bird's nest?

We made our own bird's nest using paper coffee filters, strawberry baskets, yarn, cotton, wood strips, and crinkly paper. We made a "mud" mixture using brown paint, glue and salt.

We did an alphabet rhyme (marching around the alphabet), and two little blackbirds today for music.

We cut the "hair" (grass) on our grass heads. Our luna moth is out, it is so pretty. We will let it go later this week.


Maple Room:

We did the story of the carrot seed, and we added a prop at the end where we pulled out a giant carrot. The kids loved it. Later we acted out the story of the Farmer and the carrot where, the farmer tries to pull the carrot out and he can't, so he gets his wife to pull with him, and they can't and they keep adding farm animals to help. The children had fun pretending and acting out pulling out the carrot.

We used the fun back rollers with primary colors on large paper to paint with today. We had tulip shapes with glitter paint at the easel.

We sang " The May song", we did a lady bug color game, we sang a song about the Insects in the garden. We did some letter Z activities and a beginning letter sounds game using the letters M-R.

We had water in the water table and the kids used foil, and styrofoam cups to make boats.

Oak Room:

We read "The tiny seed" by Eric Carle

We decorated house shapes and we planted grass in an empty 1/2 gallon juice container cut low. It will be the front lawn to our houses.

We had rainbow colors at the easel.

We did a fun action song, called "Sammy" by Hap Palmer and we did some bean bag balancing actions to music.

We did an alphabet sorting board- pictures that started with each letter were put into the corresponding letter pocket. A good followup to our finishing learning the letter sounds to the alphabet.

We had the estimating jar out today too, how many animals are in the jar?


We had a busy, busy day.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Trinity Preschool Activities for Tuesday, May 10, 2011 Luna Moth opened

WOW!, We went from cool, to HOT! But we sure enjoyed playing outside and having fun in the warmth today!

Willow Room: T/TH

Just when we thought our Luna Moth would never come out of it's cocoon.....it came out today and we got to see it happen. It was so cool, the moth breaks open a little hole in the end of the cocoon and then it pops out the end. Then it picked up the cocoon in it's legs and spun it around. When it comes out, it does not look like it is OK. It is all shriveled up and white looking. But after a few minutes, it dries out, turns a beautiful shade of green and moves to the top of the cage. We were very excited to see this happen.

We planted grass seed in cups last week and we already have tall grass "hair" on our grass heads. We used scissors to cut the grass today.

We did the story of the Giant carrot today using props. The children loved seeing the big big carrot appear.

We did a 5 little kites song too.

We used fun, finger stampers to make a picture today. We also had carrots at the easel to paint with today, we used red and yellow paint to make orange like the carrot.

We did "Herman the Worm", "Bubble Gum", "Counting Beehive" songs and finger plays for music today.


Oak Room: Pre-kindergarten room

We read a new book by Anna Dewdney called "Grumpy Gloria. She is the same author who wrote the Llama llama books the kids like so much.

We also read "Signs of spring" by Justine Korman

We painted flower pictures using the bottoms of empty plastic pop bottles. We fill them with water to give them a little weight and the children dip them in paint and press them down on the paper to make a print. A great way to use a found object or a way to reuse something that would be recycled.

We did the "Bean bag boogie" and "pass the bean bag" for music today.

We did some numbers puzzles about the numbers 7,8,9,10.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Cardboard Stove for Creative Play




Children love pretend play; and they like to do what mommy or daddy is doing. My grandson always wanted to cook and he loved playing with play dough, so my daughter made this pretend stove using a small box, some red paper, two jar tops, some string and a marker. He would make play dough food creations and cook them on the top or put them in the oven. She poked a hole through the jar top to push the string through so the knobs even turn. This didn't cost anything and gave him weeks of fun.

We make a similar thing at school by using a pizza box covered in foil and pretending it is a pizza oven. We attach a cardboard circle to a paint stir stick for the paddle they use to get the pizza in and out of the oven. You can add more props, by making pretend pizza out of felt, dough cheese, sausage, mushrooms, any toppings you like. I put the play dough recipe we use at school on an earlier post. This is a great way to reuse things that would end up being recycled or in the garbage.

Everyone knows kids love boxes, they make great pretend spaces; with just a little embellishment, they can even add more excitement to their play.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Trinity Preschool Activities for Thursday, April 28, 2011









Oak Room:

We read "No roses for Harry" by Gene Zion

We made flower pictures. We used a cardboard tube with slits cut in it dipped in paint, so it looks like flower petals. We added other things to embellish the picture. The children dipped Q-tips in green paint to make grass, and we glued on mini muffin papers, and pom poms to be the center of the flowers.

We had rubber band design boards out, bead stringing, and bristle blocks.

We did a color rhyme- each child holds a flower and "Two little blackbirds"

We played a small group game - rhyming words.


Willow Room: T/TH class

We read "Let's paint a rainbow" by Eric Carle

We used watercolors on doilies, we will make something special out of them.

We had chalk and stencils at the easel.

We are practicing our songs for Mother's Day at music.

Four of our butterflies just opened! We were all very excited. We are still waiting for our moth and the rest of our butterflies to open up. We put flowers and sugar water in with the butterflies for some food.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Water Play Fun for Children

Children love water, it is soothing, has fun properties and it is messy. All things kids like! Whether in the bath tub, a kitchen sink, or just a tub of water on the floor, kids love water and the mess it can make. So grab some towels in advance, and let them enjoy the mess.

SAFETY!
  • Always supervise water play- children can drown in water only inch deep! Also watch with young children that they don't drink the dirty, soapy water, little ones put everything in their mouths!
  • Never give kids glass items to play with in water or any sharp objects.
  • Make sure you have plenty of towels to keep area kind of dry. Prevents slipping on wet floors too. When they play in the sink, put towels behind the faucet too.
  • If they play at the sink, have them stand on a kitchen chair or a step stool. Being able to reach to the bottom of the sink is important.
  • NOW THE FUN BEGINS!
  • Soap bubbles always add a level of fun to water play, start out with plain water, later add bubbles to add more interest. If they are playing with water in a clear tub, add a few drops of food coloring to change it up too.
  • You don't need to buy expensive water toys, you can find or make your own.
  • Scoops from laundry detergent, drink mixes, etc are great toys. Also laundry soap bottle lids, empty dish soap bottles with the pull up pop tops, empty syrup bottles, ketchup bottles, any clear plastic empty clean bottle is great fun.
  • Kitchen utensils, like a whisk, colander, plastic measuring cups, plastic dishes, any kitchen utensil that won't get hurt in the water, and won't hurt your child is perfect. They love playing with "grown up utensils"
  • Dolls, any plastic kids toys that water cannot get inside of are all great. Children love to wash dishes, clean their toys, give their dolls a bath, etc. Give them a small washcloth and a clear space to put washed items.
  • Adult only part... Use use a drill with a small bit to make holes in the empty plastic bottles you have saved. When your child adds the water, it will come out of the holes too (try this too....put water in the bottle, put the cap back on and see what happens- then remove the top). Drill a hole in the lid of other bottles.
  • Cook up some noodles and add them to the water.
  • One toy that is fun and inexpensive to buy is a water wheel, children love watching the wheel spin as they pour water in the top. (Works well with sand, or rice later too.)
  • When it is warm outside, put a tub of water on the ground and continue the fun outdoors, they will add mud, leaves, grass and anything else they can find though, so don't let them bring your good kitchen utensils outside, this is the perfect place for recycled toys. I also like to give the kids old pie tins so they can make mud pies outside too.
  • If you are somewhere you can set the hose up on a light trickle, they will have fun rinsing things off, adding water, and seeing what happens then. A water can can be used instead of a hose.
  • Another fun thing with water outside is to let your child have an old rag and soapy water and they can wash off outside toys, trikes, climbers, etc.
Water can be fun, loud, or soothing. If your child has sensory issues, water can calm down a fussy or hyper child too. Try different temperatures of water, see what your child prefers, warm or cool. On a hot day, add some ice cubes and watch what happens. Freeze a big bowl of water into a block of ice and add it to the water- both in winter and in summer, see what happens. Hide a plastic toy in the water before you freeze it and it will appear as the ice melts.

I hope these ideas will get you started on the hours of fun water play can provide! You can also create some "teachable moments" about properties of water, all while having fun withe your child. Join in the water fun too.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Sensory ideas




We have sand tables inside our classrooms and outside in our playground, but we only have sand outside in the ones in our playground; the sand is too damaging to our floors, so inside we use other sensory materials in our sandbox.

A few pictures of some of the items we use are found here....

We use:
  • Packing peanuts- both the dis solvable and non- dis solvable kind.
  • Ground up plastic
  • Ground corn meal
  • Beans
  • Rice
  • Water
  • Snow
  • Cut up paper (also including scissors to cut it up)
  • Bows
  • Corn starch and water -
  • Water
  • nature items
  • any fun, safe items we can find
Add scoops, laundry caps, funnels, spoons, magnifying glasses, and other items to enhance the fun.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Recycled Art Ideas #1 - Don't throw it away!

Don't just throw things away without thinking about how your child might use it for a "creation". Here are just some materials that can be used again for art: A few ideas to get you thinking too!

Cereal boxes: Break them open and use the blank inside cardboard for many things, a more study surface for a clay creation, material for painting, an adult can cut it into shapes and children can use it for a stencil.

Egg cartons: Cut the carton apart and use the individual cups as flowers, poke a hole, add a pipe cleaner, and paint it. Make a whole garden. Take half of the carton, and make a caterpillar. Paint it and add google eyes and pipe cleaner antenna.
You can also cut the egg carton into 3 sections of four and add paint with small brushes. This makes clean up easier too, just toss when finished. You can make homemade paint too (or buy some). Cut up the egg carton and let your child glue the sections onto the cereal box for a sculpture. Use craft glue for extra holding power.

Toilet paper, paper towel tubes, or wrapping paper tubes:
Cut them into little sections and let children create a sculpture with them (again, use your cereal box as a base). Cut slits an inch up one end and bend that portion out. Dip in paint and it makes cool designs. Cut up and down zip zags into it and use it with sand as a tool to make designs.
Children also have fun playing with the tubs and small cars, they can angle them and see how far the car rolls.

Before you throw it away, think about how you can make something out of it first.


More ideas to come........