Creating a Weather Station on It's Playtime

Did you know you can create your own weather station from a single item found in nature?  Last week on It's Playtime, Science Sparks showed us how.  

All you need to create your own Pine Cone Weather Station are....pine cones!  Go to Science Sparks and learn to read your pine cones, then get out in nature and start collecting.  You'll not only enjoy the outdoor activity with your kids but you'll be teaching them the science of prediction.

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>

These activities plus more can be found over on the It's Playtime Pinterest Board.  Happy Pinning! 

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.

It's Playtime: Exploding Art (Enough Said!)

I like things messy....art wise.  I can't always get my kids in on the action though.  My son attracts dirt like Pig Pen but heaven forbid he gets paint on his hands.  He won't even play with Obleck (or goo, or what ever you call cornstarch and water in your home).  My daughter is now a "trained" artist and is above making a mess (although leaving her mess after painting is a different story).  Well this week on It's Playtime I'm featuring the ultimate messy art.  This project rolls art, science, outdoor, and messy play into one package.  So without further ado I give you.....

Exploding Art

 I'm actually kind of jealous of this project in the "why didn't I think of that" way.  My son's preschool teacher made rockets using film canisters and Alka Seltzer and the kids loved it!  Why didn't I think to take it further? Well Kudos to Housing a Forest for taking it further and creating some fantastic fun.  Go and check them out...right now!  What are you waiting for? Go!!!!

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>

These activities plus more can be found over on the It's Playtime Pinterest Board.  Happy Pinning! 

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.

It's Playtime: Reading Fun

School is right around the corner.  Some of you may homeschool while others are preparing to send their kids to preschool or elementary school for the first time.  It's been proven that reading starts at home.  I myself have been reading to my kids since birth....and I mean birth.  As soon as I was able to balance my newborn and a book, I read to them.  With my daughter, it helped to develop her verbal skills early on; she began talking around 9 months (I'm sure it helped that I talk constantly, even to my newborns).  With my son, he has a dedicated love for reading...even if it's the same book over and over.  In my own life, some of my earliest memories of my dad are of him reading to me.  He loved Bill Peet, so we read books like The Wump World and The Whingdingdilly.  We didn't have a TV so that was our special time.  As I grew older, I would read to my step-mom as she brushed and styled my hair.  We read classics such as Little Women and The Secret Garden.  This was our special time.  Reading brings us together and teaches us to fly.  We can learn something new or get lost in our imagination.

This week on It's Playtime, let's read!

Books on CD are fun but also expensive.  Why not create your own?  Raising the Cameron Clan shares how you can create your own Books on CD.

Lego Duplo has been promoting their new Read and Build sets like crazy.  Head over to The Educators' Spin On It and check out their Tips and Printables for the Lego Duplo Busy Farm Set.

B-Inspired Mama.com shows us how to create a Simple Grocery Game turning shopping into a fun and educational activity.  Not only does it keep the kids entertained but matching labels promotes basic reading skills.

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>

These activities plus more can be found over on the It's Playtime Pinterest Board.  Happy Pinning! 

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.

It's Playtime: Olympic Gold Pt. 2

Everyone has Olympic Fever and It's Playtime is no exception!  Olympic Crafts, play ideas, and more were shared last week so it seems only natural to feature a few more creative ways to bring the Olympics alive in your house.

Jada Roo Can Do created an Olympic Pool Sensory Tub to inspire little Jada and her friends to "dive" into fun.

You and your kids can create some easy Recycled Medals via The Iowa Farmers Wife.  Afterwards, hold a ceremony and hand out awards for the best "picker upper" or laundry sorter.  If you are really creative you'll be able to keep up that kind of "play" for awhile ;)

 I love this little indoor Summer vs. Winter Olympics game put together by Reading Confetti!  It was inspired by the book G is for Gold Medal: An Olympics Alphabet.  Besides this fun activity, Reading Confetti shares how they created simple gold medals.

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>

These activities plus more can be found over on the It's Playtime Pinterest Board.  Happy Pinning! 

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.

Ice Painting with Kool-Aid

Recently I shared our Kool-Aid Ice Play using frozen Kool-aid and paper towels to create some messy art and play.  Soon after that, my son asked to play with Kool-aid ice again.  I didn't have any cubes prepped so I took what we had and changed it up a bit.        

I placed a sheet of construction paper onto a cookie sheet.  My son loves orange so he always chooses that color.  Then we carefully sprinkled several colors of Kool-aid over the paper.  I let Michael help me with this as it's a good way to teach control.  

Then I gave him an ice cube.  He moved it around the page leaving wet and colorful trails as he did.  

But Kool-aid painting isn't just about what's on the paper.  It's the whole sensory experience!  He had to check out what was on the ice...

then of course he had to taste it...

and stick his fingers into the powder to taste that too.   

Once everything was touched and tasted, he was done.  For my son, as it is with many kids, especially boys, art is about the experience rather then the product (process art).  Michael could care less about what he created; for him it was all about playing and tasting ice and Kool-aid.    

It's Playtime: Olympic Gold

This week's It's Playtime celebrates the Olympic spirit with games and activities for your whole family.
  

Inspire Imagination Through Creation shared how to get your toddlers outdoors for their own Olympic Games.  

Your kids will love these edible Olympic Rings from JDaniel4's Mom.  A healthy way to celebrate world sportsmanship.  What fruits would you use for the Olympic colors?  

Creative Family Fun shared how to hold a Family Olympics getting your family outdoors and away from the T.V.  

You and your children can join The Fairy and the Frog and create some Edible Olympic Torches.  

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>

These activities plus more can be found over on the It's Playtime Pinterest Board.  Happy Pinning! 

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.

Kool-Aid Ice Play

We know how much fun Kool-Aid can be when it comes to art.  Bloggers have shared everything from painting to tie dying with the stuff.  We've even used it to create Art in the Rain.  But in this summer heat why not freeze the Kool-Aid for some cool, ice painting?  Take it outdoors and enjoy the fun!    

 Set a bowl of frozen cubes out for the children to explore.  Instead of paper, I gave them paper towels for creating their works of art.  They absorb more then paper, plus construction paper tends to shred when it's wet.  You could also use coffee filters.

 "It's cold!"  

This is a great project for little ones on a warm day.  Not only is it good sensory art, but this "paint" is safe for them to put in their mouths.  If you're concerned about germs, give them each separate bowls and keep a close eye on them.

As the ice melts, it creates a unique blend of colors.  Leave the paper towels to dry and you have a colorful work of art. 


What You'll Need:

• Several flavors of Kool-Aid (desired colors).  You'll want to buy the cheap packets without sugar, not the canisters.  
• Water
• Sugar (optional)
• Ice cube tray or small dixi cups with popsicle sticks
• Absorbant paper towels  

To Create Kool-Aid Ice Paint:

• Mix packets of Kool-Aid with water.  You can add the amount suggested on the package but I went with less.  Less water gives a more vibrant color.  
• You can add sugar (knowing the kids will eat it) but it may cause stickiness.  I left the sugar out thinking they would taste the cubes and not want to eat them.  I was wrong.  Kids are not afraid of tart ice cubes!  
• Pour mixture into ice cube trays or small dixi cups.  You can add a popsicle stick, creating a handle for the paint.  My group of kids could have cared less.  
• Freeze
• Once frozen, pop those suckers out of the tray and enjoy the messy fun!