Bike "Parking" Solution!

I was visiting a preschool the other day and I absolutely LOVED their creative idea for 'parking' their 2-wheel bikes. Currently, we battle the parking solution every day. Our creative Outdoor Curriculum Specialist marked off 'parking spaces' in red duct tape for the 3-wheelers. But the 2-wheelers tend to get dropped, flopped, and abandoned without much thought from our pint-sized riders.

I must say, we will be creating this parking solution at our next site work day. The racks are simply a large round of PVC, painted red, and held down with curved PVC joints that were cemented to the concrete. Large slits were cut into the PVC to accomodate several front tires from the bikes.

Marvelous!!

Our Very Own Easter Bunny

Okay, so there isn't much 'depth' to this post, but isn't it cute??? Our Outdoor Curriculum Specialist snapped this photo of "Mopsy" 'reading' (well, nibbling) a book about the Easter Bunny!

Sensory IS Science

Sensory IS Science is a recipe book of sensory and science activities designed for preschool and early elementary students. Most of the photos are taken directly at our center, but some are borrowed from the blogosphere. If any of these are your photos, please let me know so I can give credit! This book was part of a seminar I offered with a coworker at the ACSI convention in Anaheim entitled "En-Gross-ing Sensory and Science." I hope you enjoy it! PS - it is still a work in progress, so any comments or suggestions are welcome!
If you would like to print it, or if you can't see the book, please click on the link and it will redirect you to scribd where you will be able to download it. Recipes for Learning - Sensory Book

Long Time No See!

It is hard to believe that I haven't posted since summer! My excuse? Hmmmm. Well, life I guess! During the summer, my family and I went on vacation for a few weeks and moved into a house. If that wasn't busy enough, I accepted the position as director of the preschool where I work. This was a VERY exciting time, but of course, very hectic. And so, my blog fell behind. It is my hope to get it back up and running. But, now that I am the director, I don't have quite the hands on development of the outdoor curriculum that I did last year. Thankfully, one of our fabulous teachers filled that role and she has taken our Outdoor Classroom to an entirely new level. That said, I now feel compelled to treat everyone as equals, so I will be posting ideas from across the center and from everyone's classrooms. I may even take a few INDOOR photos, LOL.

So, I hope you will come to see me here and there! I am speaking at the ACSI convention in Anaheim, CA next week, so my next post will be resources that I created form my seminar: "En-GROSS-in Sensory and Science Activities for Young Children."

-Kristin

Ice, Ice, Baby!

 A while back, we set up a "science lab" in the outdoor classroom. Various shades of colored water filled bins upon bins in our dramatic play area. The children donned goggles and lab coats and set to work mixing the brilliant colors in beakers, funnels, measures, cups, basters, and more. 

To change it up a bit, we decided to add several bins of ice each morning. We squirted a few drops of liquid water color (purchased from Discount School Supply) and the children went to work. 

We were only planning to set out this activity for a week or so because of the sheer quantity of ice we needed to bring in, but the children enjoyed it so much that we wound up hauling ice for nearly a month! 

Science Lab!

As the weather heats up, we LOVE to add water play to the Outdoor Classroom. This week, we created a science lab in the dramatic play center. In one area we had crushed ice with spoons and applesauce cups. On the back table we added blocks of ice with small hammers and golf tees for pounding. In the front bins, we used three different colors of water. Just add goggles, lab coats, beakers, funnels, test tubes and basters for serious scientific discovery!

Colored water, frozen in latex gloves. 

Barrel Pumps in the Outdoor Classroom

We recently added this beautiful barrel pump to our Outdoor Classroom. It was a simple addition, yet it has added a wealth of engagement in our OC. Our garden has been an integral part of our yard, however, we have always needed a staff member present to fill our little ones' watering cans with the hose. This old-fashioned barrel pump was the perfect solution. Not only do the children flock to the pump to fill their canisters for watering their class gardens, but the pump offers unique lessons on water flow, cause and effect, and the new gross motor movement of pumping the handle up and down. In fact, our three year olds were so intrigued with the pumping action, they didn't even venture into filling containers until after a few days!

The pump was built by one of our handy parents. We simply purchased a large wine barrel and an "old fashioned pitcher pump" at our local hardware store. Click HERE to find the model we used. The entire system cost approximately $70! Our handy parent then caulked the barrel, installed the metal platform, and then bolted on the pump.

Simple and SIMPLY WONDERFUL!