Glue Guns

We've been wanting to use glue guns for a while but didn't have the perfect project to use them with until a child care family donated a big bag of silk fall leaves.  Each child found a branch and picked out some leaves and started glueing. 

First time pulling the trigger of a glue gun.

Our finished project, hanging from the light in our child care room.

Another photo of our leaf project.  We will definitely be using hot glue guns again.  The children really enjoyed it. 

Loose Parts ~ Part 2

We haven't added any more parts to our loose parts but we are changing how we play with them each day.  Most of our items are too heavy for the children to move on their own so they design what they want built and I put the "parts" in place.  When we started, the children were able to move the straw bales without help but now the bales are heavy from rain. 

Rolling a tire into position.

We made a multi-level balance beam with a couple of places to jump from one bale to another.

Running back to do it again.

The children added our yellow and red flags so they could direct "traffic."

BIG jumps!

We used this board to create a narrow balance beam. 

Farmer's Market

We put together a farmer's market in our outdoor classroom.  It started with a couple of baskets and some fall colored silk flowers.  I thought the children might enjoy  making fall flower arrangements.  Well, our original plan has expanded with  a few trips to the goodwill and several awesome donations from child care families.  The flower arranging station is probably the least favorite part of the farmer's market.  The children really enjoy just moving the gourds and pumpkins around and of course shopping. 

This is our florist station where children have access to pots, vases, florist foam, silk flowers, gardening gloves, and watering cans.  I thought the children would really enjoy sticking the flowers into the florist foam but I don't think one child has ever even tried it yet. 

This is the lower shelf of our florist station.  There are wreaths that can be decorated with fall items.  At the goodwill, I found a bag of fall fruits with wires attached to them that can be used to decorate the wreathes.  We also have silk fall leaves that can be used. 

Shop for gourds, pumpkins, fall corn, cornucopias, and fall cook books, at our farmer's market. 

We cut recipe cards from magazines and then laminated them to make these cook books to sell in our farmer's market. 

Shop for fruit at our farmer's market.  This shelf and all three baskets were a great find at the goodwill.  Most of the fruits and gourds were purchased at the dollar store and donated by a child care parent. 

This is our scarecrow that we made at child care. 

Our straw bales that started out as part of our farmer's market but have turned into some of our favorite parts of our loose parts.

Our check-out, complete with laminated play money for all of your farmer's market purchases. 

Our laminated shopping list.  Children shop for the items on the list.

Loose Parts

Recently, I have discovered the idea of using loose parts in the outdoor classroom.  Our loose parts collection has just begun but I hope to be adding more inspiring pieces as we go. 

We called this our obstacle course.

Climbing into a small space.

Our obstacle course evolved into a tunnel and ramp for cars.

The tunnel was fun to crawl through as well.  

WELCOME TO TODAY'S PLAY

Thank you for taking a moment to visit my blog.  I am a child care provider who believes that children learn best through play.  I am excited to have this platform to share some of our favorite activities with you.  I have been so fortunate to find unbelievable creativity and inspiration from fellow child care providers and I am enjoying this opportunity to let others peek at the fun we have as we play and learn.