Toilet Paper Fun!!

Many people feel that toilet paper is used only for in the bathroom. Well, I beg to differ. Toilet paper is a wonderful source of fun. There are so many things you can use toilet paper for. I tend to do a few activities with the same toilet paper so i am not as wasteful with our resources. For the first activity, I gave each child a roll of toilet paper and told them to have fun. This way they are not told exactly what to do and they have the freedom to do with it whatever they wish. Many threw it, some rolled it on the floor, and some started to make mummies out of their friends and teachers.

Above is Miss Cheryl being wrapped in toilet paper for the second time. They first did so in the room and as we went to find Miss Meg, Miss Cheryl sat down and they got her again.

Miss Meg Trying to take a picture on her cell phone to show how much fun the kids were having.

A younger child laughing at an older one because he was wrapped in toilet paper.

Unrolling some toilet paper.

Ready, set, THROW!!!

Miss Cheryl after the kids got ahold of her.

Miss Paulina sharing a moment with those who TP-ed her.

A MUMMY HUG, Miss Paulina shares a hug with a child!!

This is one simple activity done with toilet paper. After this i make clean mud once or twice depending on the amount of toilet paper used. Clean mud is a mixture of ripped toilet paper(about 4-6 rolls), a bar of Ivory soap, shaved, and warm water. This is a lot of fun and has an interesting texture.

The first activity incorporates more that just throwing toilet paper around. There is social interaction and language skills, through the children talking to one another planning what to do. They are also  working together to wrap the teachers and other children.  This is both a large and fine motor activity, because they are moving their full body(large motor) by running, jumping, crawling etc. with the toilet paper and are throwing, ripping, pulling, etc. with their hands(fine motor).  This also covers sensory because  the children are pulling the TP apart and they feel the texture of the TP. The children also are learning science and problem solving skills every time they roll, throw, or try to cover someone with the TP. The children have to learn how hard they can throw it before it tears, how far it rolls before it tears, or even how tong they can wrap it before it tears. All of these skills are necessary in the growth and development of the children.

The second activity, the clean mud, is a wonderful sensory activity. It  is a blast and the children love it.

POP Tubes!!

 We recently purchased these pop tubes and from the minute I brought them out, the kids consistently found new ways to play with them.

They made Jewelry...

They tried to see who could make the biggest circle.

They were even singing a song... "Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate 'cause it's your birthday!"

Then they found that if one child was at one end and another at the other end, they could hear what the other person was saying when they talked into the tubes. It is very interesting to watch the new activities in which they came up with. These activities cover many different areas of learning. Such as, Social(the children talk to each other in coordinating their activities, talking to each other through the tubes, etc.), science ( the sound travels through the tube through vibrations inside the tubes and that is why you hear the sound on the other end. Also, the sound changes by the length of the tubes and the volume in which the children are speaking or singing.  Although they are 3 and do not understand the complexity of this, the beginning steps to understanding science are learned through activities such as these! They feel the vibration after talking into them and hear the difference in the tones, and can link these concepts together, therefore grounding them for future scientific understanding. They also use 3 of the five senses. They can see and feel the tubes expand and contract and they can hear them pop and can also, hear each others voices when spoken into them. This is a fine motor activity because they are using their hands to pull, push, and connect the tubes. These tubes cost about $30 and are honestly one of the best toys we have purchased.

Shaving Cream is NOT just for shaving!!!!!

            Shaving cream makes for a wonderful sensory experience. I usually let the kids play on the table with it, adding different toys or blocks. However, sometimes when i feel like getting messy, I put a tarp down and we take our shoes off and get messy from head to  toe. The kids love it and that is all that matters. Children need good sensory experiences to make connections in their brain. I figure the more fun the better.
           I figured that I would try to find a study that proved this to be true and in doing so i found one by Baby TALK. I found this to be very interesting and thought i would share...

http://www.babytalk.org/materials/topics/Development-of-human-brain.htm
 

No toys purchased could ever be this fun!!!

Try a new game...Musical Hoola Hoops!

So at a training I recently attended it was said that Musical Chairs is NOT developmentally appropriate (DAP).  We were given a new idea to try and that is Musical Hoola Hoops. You put the number of hoola hoops down that matches the number of children playing. However, you do not take any hoops away as you do chairs in musical chairs and instead of sitting in a chair, you sit down or stand in a hoop. So...we started out walking as normal but i decided to have the children decide what to do. As they stopped and i changed the songs, i had a different child choose what to do each time. Such as, marching, hopping, skipping, etc. The children had a BLAST!!!

Not only was this activity DAP, it covered many skill areas.  Social skills, decision making, sharing, gross motor, listening, etc.

Puddle Jumping 101!!

People always tell kids not to jump in the puddles because they will get wet. WHO CARES...we have spare clothes for a reason!!...My dad taught me one very important lesson at a young age...when jumping in puddles put your feet together because if there is a gap you will get soaked and have a smaller splash, if not you will splash everyone else with a much bigger one. Little did i know that he was not only teaching me how to have fun but he even added science into the equation.  A bigger surface area splashes more velocity than a smaller one .  I tried this with my kids on the way out to the playground that we were informed was flooded and therefore a great source of fun. The kids had a ball...

So, you may be thinking oh my goodness what a mess...however think about this...
These children are learning the math and science(physics) (velocity, surface area,the different temps of water in big vs. small puddles), language skills and sensory(talking to friends and teachers about what they see, hear, smell, feel, etc.) large/gross motor (jumping, running, etc.)...yet again these are just a few of the lessons these children are learning and they dont even know it.