It's Playtime: Make Your Own Fun

It's DIY time again at It's Playtime proving that making your own fun can be just as good, if not better, then the real thing!

Kinder Days created this cute Play Treehouse from an old plant stand and some natural wood elements.  The perfect home for little critters, fairies, or gnomes! 

 How about these great DIY Bean Bags from My Little Princess World?  No sewing involved!  Plus the beans and rice inside are reused from an old sensory project.  Add some foam stickers and buttons and these bean bags double as sensory bags!  

Are your daughter's dolls looking for some new, high fashion clothing?  Check out the latest Foil Fashion trend from Let Kids Create.  Bring out your child's inner fashion designer and allow her to decorate the foil herself.  And don't worry, her doll won't need a bigger closet; this clothing folds and fits nicely inside a recycled egg carton.    

Have a great DIY idea?  Don't forget to link it up!   

If you were featured this week, don't forget to grab your special "featured button."  

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEYKQj4S7oHoLKfsA3PoeXgaNMJ5dxkdUxIphbmwXOlbFg78Gwl73-rT8AdMTgmqYmIJZrkJRYOqOEItkCbR_exui4YhZqLlwZaBHXhC5slGyqPScnxvq-zrQezw9-MdIUiecgW3fxKg/s1600/featured-messykids.jpg" width="150/" /></a>

Now, on to this weeks play date! 

It's Playtime is a community and Thursday link-up hosted by:

* Rachele : Messy Kids (That's me!)
* Anna : The Imagination Tree
* Rachel : Quirky Momma
* Jamie : hands on : as we grow
* Jenny : Let the Children Play

How to Play :

* Link up a post about a playful learning experience enjoyed by kids.

* Give us love and pop a button into your post/blog. Invite your readers to the weekly play date!

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VWLA7lm_Fqc/TaNHGpGSuVI/AAAAAAAAEX0/DGSvqIT7fyU/s320/RED-itplaytime.jpg" width="150" /></a>

* Stop by one of our blogs every Thursday and add your link about play. Your link will show up on each of the blogs in the It's Playtime community.

* Each week the playtime hosts will choose favorite posts to feature. (By linking you are giving us permission to use an image and link to you, if featured.)

* Be sure to visit some of the links that catch your eye. Commenting on posts that you find interesting or inspiring is a wonderful way to develop your own playful community.

Art in the Rain

On Labor Day, San Diego was given a special treat.  A rare, summer storm passed through our city bringing us thunder and rain.  Growing up, my parents and I spent many summer vacations in southern Texas where summer storms were common.  My great aunt and uncle have a house on the Guadeloupe River and my cousins and I would stare out the window over the river and watch the lighting.  When the lighting ceased, we would play in the warm rain, smelling the earthy smell that only rain can bring.  Here in San Diego, summer storms pass quickly bringing a couple rumbles of thunder, simply to announce it's arrival, and about 10 minuets of rain.  Our storm this past week lasted a little longer, mostly clouds and humidity, but a little rain on and off for about 24 hours.

The moment it started to rain, I checked for lighting, then grabbed my son and told him we were going to play outside; I knew we didn't have long.  Then the idea hit.  We would create art with the rain!  I'd seen rain painting on another blog months ago (I'm sorry, I don't remember whose it was) and had been waiting to try it.  I grabbed some white paper, dry Kool-Aid, and a popsicle holder, and ran outside to play.

We used the popsicle holder to house the various colors of Kool-Aid.  My son was able to grab pinches of the powder and sprinkle it onto his paper. 

Then he set the paper out in the rain.  The rain drops wet the powder creating a vibrant splatter pattern.  

Michel made a 2nd picture, this time he tried dumping the powder.  He was surprisingly careful.  

For the 3rd picture, we wet the paper first, then Michael finger painted with the Kool-Aid.  

 He dumped the remainder of the powder onto the paper which created little mounds for him to spread around.  

Now it's messy!

Of course he had to eat some of it!

Our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd paintings.

Michael became bored of painting and found some mud to enjoy.  So we turned that into art too!

I figured I might as well join him.

We made prints on the driveway as well.

As quickly as it appeared, the rain was gone.  But, we enjoyed a good 20 minuets outside together in the fresh, clean air.  Playing in the rain is good for the soul.

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It's Playtime: Let's Get Silly!

This week on It's Playtime, I celebrate silliness!  Parents and teachers, admit it, some days we just want to scream!  It's those days you need to pull out fun ideas that will give you and your child (or classroom) a good laugh.  Sometimes only laughter can turn those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days around in an instant.      

What could possibly be more fun then googly eyes?  How about Magazine Googly Eye Faces?  Play Create Explore took a bag of assorted googly eyes and simply laid them on the faces in a magazine.  The picture above is what inspired my post today; you can't get much sillier!    

Beyond a hat, did you ever think newspaper could be silly?  Having Fun at Home found several ways to have Fun With Newspaper Inserts, including a newspaper shower!

Over at Mess for Less, little ones created their own silly version of Monsters vs. Aliens with some straws, feathers, and of course, googly eyes.  Creative, fun, and silly; my favorite combination!  

Need an instant giggle?  Check out Tiny Reader's Our Little Musicians.    

If you were featured this week, don't forget to grab your special "featured button."

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEYKQj4S7oHoLKfsA3PoeXgaNMJ5dxkdUxIphbmwXOlbFg78Gwl73-rT8AdMTgmqYmIJZrkJRYOqOEItkCbR_exui4YhZqLlwZaBHXhC5slGyqPScnxvq-zrQezw9-MdIUiecgW3fxKg/s1600/featured-messykids.jpg" width="150/" /></a>

Now, on to this weeks play date! 

It's Playtime is a community and Thursday link-up hosted by:

* Rachele : Messy Kids (That's me!)
* Anna : The Imagination Tree
* Rachel : Quirky Momma
* Jamie : hands on : as we grow
* Jenny : Let the Children Play

How to Play :

* Link up a post about a playful learning experience enjoyed by kids.
* Give us love and pop a button into your post/blog. Invite your readers to the weekly play date!

<a href="http://messypreschoolers.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VWLA7lm_Fqc/TaNHGpGSuVI/AAAAAAAAEX0/DGSvqIT7fyU/s320/RED-itplaytime.jpg" width="150" /></a>

* Stop by one of our blogs every Thursday and add your link about play. Your link will show up on each of the blogs in the It's Playtime community.

* Each week the playtime hosts will choose favorite posts to feature. (By linking you are giving us permission to use an image and link to you, if featured.)

* Be sure to visit some of the links that catch your eye. Commenting on posts that you find interesting or inspiring is a wonderful way to develop your own playful community.

F is for Fishing-A Teach Preschool Celebration

Today's post is in celebration of Deborah Stewart and the 20,000 likes her wonderful Teach Preschool Facebook page reached the other day.  Deborah is a talented teacher and blogger and her 20,000 likes have inspired all of us other early childhood bloggers to reach for the stars.  I am proud to be a part of her network and her celebration of The ABC's of Teaching Preschool. 

F is for Fishing

My friends daughter celebrated her 5th birthday with a fishing party at Crystal Pier in San Diego.  The kids fished, chased birds (and each other), ate snacks, and enjoyed front row seats to the capture of some interesting sea creatures (although none by us!)

We could hear and feel the waves crashing below the pier.  Michael decided to take a better look.  

The owner of the bait and tackle shop on the pier helped us place the proper weights and hooks onto our poles.  He also gave us some tips for pier fishing.  The chosen bait was shrimp.  The price for hooks, bait, and weights was only $6 for 4 poles!  No charge for the 3 min. pier fishing lesson. 

Ariel had fished before with my mom but this was Michael's first time.  He liked trying it out but didn't have the patience to stay with it for long.  

 Finally Ariel caught something!  The seaweed quickly became a plaything. 

 Then one of the other kids found some loooooonnnngggg seaweed, which was a lot more fun!

The guy next to us caught a lobster!  The youngest of our group said, "look mom, a spider!"  We loved watching it crawl backwards after it was set down.  Then the fisherman returned it to the ocean.  My daughter asked him why and he said, "it was too small".  Didn't look small to me! 

  Then he caught a crab!  This he kept.

After successfully loosing all 4 hooks, it was time to venture under the pier.  Lucky for us the tide was low revealing sea creatures like sand fleas (or sand crabs)....

mussels...

 sea stars... 

and this squishy thing attached to seaweed (limpet?).  If you know what it is, please tell me!

What a wonderful adventure!  

 

Don't forget to check out the other letters of the alphabet celebrating Teach Preschool!  Just go to her site and scroll down to the link party!   

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