Recipes for home made art products

Each photo below will take you to a great craft recipe that you will want to hang onto!

Mama Jenn: Colored Rice

Delicious Ambiguity: Sensory Bottle

Crunchy and Green: Salt Art

Preschool-What Fun We Have: Flour Finger Paint"

Centers and Circle Time: Pastel Colored Rice

The Artful Parent: Salt Paint

Pink and Green Mama: Cornstarch Sidewalk Paint

Quirky Mamma: Bubble Art

Delicious Ambiguity: Rainbow Science

A Handmade Childhood: Egg Tempera Paint

Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds: Rainbow Milk Painting

Not Just Cute: Shave Cream Paint

Excellence in Early Childhood Education: Sweet Glue

Too Busy for TV: Home Made Fingerpaint

Frugal Family Fun Blog: Bubbles

Playdough in the preschool classroom

Playdough can be found in almost any preschool classroom. It can be homemade or store bought, and it comes in just about any color or can be made into just about any color you like.

What is the benefit?
Playdough can and probably will make a mess on the table and floor but you can set a ball of playdough in front of just about any preschooler and he or she will find it enjoyable. Add a few cookie cutters, a rolling pin, or other toys and a new dimension of fun is created.

The benefit of playdough is the word "play". When teachers introduce playdough, they usually do not have an ultimate agenda or ending outcome - the children are simply given opportunity to play. Play produces some of the best learning in young children.

Playdough increases fine motor strength and skills

In the photo above, the child has spent time pulling the playdough a part, putting it back together, and rolling the dough into a ball, and is now trying to pat the ball flat. All of these actions are a workout on small hands with out the frustration of having to cut on a line and with the ability to be creative or have fun.

Playdough offers opportunities to increase vocabulary as well
The teacher in this class set out only the color orange because it happen to be the week of Halloween. The teacher hoped to reinforce the color orange simply by setting out the playdough. This gives opportunity for conversations about the color word - orange.  What other words can be emphasized through casual conversations with the child? How about words like soft, hard, small, big, slice, cut, mold, cold, warm.

Playdough naturally leads into scientific discovery
Does cold play dough feel different than warm play dough? What happens to the playdough if it is left out all night? What happens if the playdough gets wet? How does it taste? What ingredients are in the playdough? Letting children help make their own playdough also presents greater opportunities to learn.

Take time to observe the learning taking place at the playdough table

Preschoolers love to show you what they are creating. Some preschoolers will naturally work and socialize with one another while playing with the dough. Other preschoolers may rather work in silence. The beauty of playdough is that there really is no right or wrong - it is simply all about discovery, exploration, sensory, creativity, and play.

For recipes on how to make your own playdough - follow the links below!

10 Homemade playdough Recipes
Family Education Recipes for Playdough
Create-Kids-Crafts.com playdough recipes
Gluten Free Playdough recipe

Be sure to Follow my Blog!

Science in the preschool classroom

Preschoolers are naturally curious about the world around them which can lead to exciting and fun opportunities for learning in the preschool classroom.

Science is more than just bubbles and magnifying glasses
Often times, preschool teachers shy away from planning for science in the preschool classroom because they are under the impression that science is all about formal experiments and chemical reactions.

In the preschool classroom, think about science in terms of exploring, discovering, and nurturing your preschool students' curiosity about the world around them.

Start with a question
When planning for science in your preschool classroom start by asking questions that bring meaningful information to your preschool students. Questions can lead to activities that encourage children to explore, discover, and draw conclusions.

What is inside a pumpkin?

Why are there lines on the pumpkin?

Are all pumpkins orange and round?

Increase vocabulary
Science activities can help increase descriptive vocabulary. Words such as crunchy, soft, sink, float, juicy, dry, fast, slow, heavy, light, rough, smooth, hot, and cold are just a few examples of words that can be reinforced and help preschoolers gain a better understanding of their world.



Go outdoors

Take students outdoors so they can have real experiences in their world. Go to parks, take nature walks, plant seeds, dig in the dirt, climb on rocks, and feel the air. Go outdoors in all types of weather - each experience will bring new opportunties for learning.

 

Bring the outdoors inside

Bring in items your students can explore such as rocks, shells, seeds, leaves, plants, flowers, fruit, vegetables, dirt, sand, and more. Include a variety of containers filled with objects students can manipulate, count, weigh, and sort
 

 
 
 
Use graphs and charts
Share simple graphs and charts with your students. Design charts that your students can complete independantly and as a group. After completing a chart or graph, invite students to discuss what the information on the chart or graph means. Display the information for students to look at later and to share with their parents.  
 

To read more on science in the classroom, read this NAEYC article: "Science in the Early Years."
Read more on why children should go outdoors - click here!
Has this information helped you? Be sure to Follow my Blog and learn more!