Marble Run

While I was wandering through pinterest one night, I came across this fantastic ball run from a site called Apartment Therapy. I happened to have the perfect box and some wrapping paper tubes that I was saving. I was inspired to create this one for my buddies.   I had some clear tubes that I used so that my buddies would be able to see the ball travel down, and the bottom two runs are tubes cut in half so they are open.  I used hot glue to attach the tubes to the inside of the box.  The box is fairly sturdy and should hold up to some heavy use without breaking too easily.  I realized after completing it that I was without marbles (having lost mine years ago) so we made do with round coloured beads.  I gave each buddy only one bead, so they had to take care of it or they wouldn't have anything to drop down the tubes.  It was a definite hit and it kept my buddies amused for a long time.  It was well worth the making.

Pillsbury Salami Rolls

I was looking for a fun lunch that my buddies could help me make.  I hadn't made any bread dough for a while and didn't want to wait  for bread dough.  I DID have a tube of pillsbury crescent rolls in the fridge.  And I had some salami in the fridge, too.  I remembered an idea I had seen, although I have not been able to find that same recipe again.  They simply rolled baked pepperoni up into the crescent dough.  Easy!  Perfect!

My buddies washed up and got ready to roll.  I mean cook.  They sat down at the table with their triangle of dough and little slices of pre-baked salami. 



We put their salami rolls on a baking tray.  I added a small dot of food colouring to help me identify the rolls after they were baked.





I just baked them the same as the original instructions.  They browned nicely, and the food colour dots worked perfectly.




And because my buddies had helped make them, even my pickiest eaters ate them all up!  I made sure to tell them what good cooks they were!

Food Fun!

Inspired by my own creativity when I crudely carved carrots into jack o' lanterns for Halloween Soup, I found myself wanting more. But there had to be an easier way to do it. So I went shopping and I bought this:


I cut some carrots and used them to frame a veggie appetizer plate for my buddies.

But what else could I cut? Lots of things! I cut whole wheat bread, cheese and salami. And I could match up the holes I cut in one thing, like the salami, with a flower cut from the bread!



I quickly toasted them in the toaster oven and my buddies gobbled them up! It was nice to come up with something they all enjoyed!

Magnetic Puzzle

I am always a little nervous about putting out boxed puzzles for free access with a group of my buddies. They never seemed to get used in the manner they should and pieces often go missing. In a busy room, it's sometimes hard to supervise the puzzle makers as well as I should. I found an easy way to make the puzzles more interesting and the pieces easier to keep track of. Magnetic tape to the rescue!







 I put some on each piece of puzzle. - Now, my buddies could use the puzzle on a cookie sheet, or I could put it on my fridge where it is easier to keep an eye on!

Versatile Blogger Award

I am very thankful to my friend at Taming the Goblin for passing the Versatile Blogger Award on to me!  I understand that there are rules involved.  They are (and I have copied and pasted from Taming the Goblin so I don't mess them up!), as follows:

The Rules

• Thank the person that nominated you with a link back to them.
• Tell everyone seven things about yourself.
• Pass this award on to 15 newly discovered blogs and let them know that they've received an award

I am very thankful to have been chosen for this award, my very first!  And I am also thankful to The Monko (at Taming the Goblin) for her ongoing comments and encouragement on my blog. 

And on to 7 things about me:

1) I grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan.

2) Though I couldn`t wait to leave the farm, I realize that I have brought a farm attitude with me that I am sure I will carry for the rest of my life!  With that, I have a love of animals, plants, nature and a do-it-myself attitude.

3) I have two beautiful daughters, two great son-in-laws, two gorgeous grandchildren, and one wonderful husband who can be coaxed or bribed into (eventually) helping me with so many of my little projects. 

4) I know very little about blogging.  (That`s why it has taken me so long to post this post, it`s complicated!!!!)

5) I am a recovering perfectionist.  If I waited till I had blogging down perfect, there wouldn`t be mybuddiesandi.  If you've seen this, you can see I am recovering!

6)  I have operated a family daycare for ...hmmm, 19 years!  And I'm still learning each and every day!

7) I am truly grateful to The Monko who really encouraged me from the beginning, by commenting and sharing my blog.  It was really nice to know that at least one person was intrested in what I was saying.  I hope she forgives me for the ridiculously l-o-n-g time it has taken me to complete this!


And the blogs that I would like to pass the award on to are:

http://totsandme.blogspot.com/

http://livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com/

http://www.thegoldengleam.com/

http://1978rebecca.blogspot.com/

http://teachinggoodeaters.blogspot.com/

http://his4homeschooling.blogspot.com/

http://watchmeplaynlearn.blogspot.com/

http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/

http://www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com/

http://www.mymamaandme.com/blog/

http://www.prekandksharing.blogspot.com/

http://www.mamapeapod.com/

http://beingcreativewithkids.blogspot.com/

http://littleilluminations.blogspot.com/

http://shellesplayschool.wordpress.com/




Happy Blogging to all! 

Sparkle Bottle

This little bottle was soooooo easy.  It was so easy, I wasn't going to make it.  But I did.  No sooner had I finished than one of my buddies laid claim to it, carrying it everywhere with her.  To make them, all I did was add water, a little dish soap, a generous amount of food colouring and sparkles!  When shaken, it fills with thick foamy bubbles, then when it is left, the bubbles begin to diminish but the sparkles seem to stay suspended where they were.









This bottle was such a favourite, it went home with a buddy today!  So easy to make I'm going to have to make another to surprise her on Monday!

Number Recognition

My buddies and I have been practising numbers. We've been counting and working on number recognition. To help them with this skill and add number practise to our everyday routine, I put numbers on our toy storage pails, and on the toys themselves. Now, they know where each pail or toy goes by matching it to the corresponding number above the shelf. I was very pleased to see that 3D fabric paint adheres so well to plastic! (It adheres even better to glass, but that's another post!)



I have shared this idea at The Imagination Tree!

Darling Donuts

I found these delightful donuts on The Frugal Family Fun blog. I had to make some for my buddies. I tried getting my buddies' parents to donate socks, but in the end, I had to go through my husband's sock drawer for supplies. (shhhhhh.... don't tell). So my socks weren't a nice donut colour. They were black. I made two black ones... and they were okay. But, not as realistic as I would like. So I dug out my acrylic paints. And I created some more donut like colours. It took a couple of coats of paint to cover the black, but they turned out not too bad. My buddies like them, anyway!




One of the things we like to do with the donuts is this song/chant:

The Bakery Shop

Down around the corner, at the bakery shop
There were (how many) little donuts,
With sugar on the top.
Along came (child's name) all alone,
And (he/she) took the biggest one home.

(continue, using each child's name, reducing the number of donuts each time)

Cold Hands

Pinterest is such a fantastic resource.  I find so much inspiration there.  When I came across these frozen ice hands, I absolutely HAD to make them for my buddies.  We had just had a snowfall and the temperatures were cool enough that they would stay frozen for a while if we took them outside. 

The idea came from a blog called Mama & Me, and you can find the link here:

Ideas for Halloween Fun


She floated her hands in a container of water, while I brought mine outside for my buddies to explore in the snow.  I like how she took hers in to put on the light table.  My gloves were not strong enough for that and my buddies were able to put holes in the gloves.  So once mine began to melt, they began to leak!

To make mine, I filled a glove with water and added a few drops of liquid food colouring.






I put them into the freezer overnight.  My food colouring separated a bit when the water froze.  I am not sure why.




We took them outside in the snow.  The temperature was above freezing, so they slowly began to melt and the colours blended better.







We called them our Cold Hands.

Oil and Water

Every buddy knows that oil and water don't mix.  At least, my buddies do!  But if you take oil and water and some food colouring, then add some silver glitter, you've got a pretty discovery bottle!  One of my buddies' parents gave me four round, clear, plastic bottles.  I think they used to hold bath products in a previous life.  I find that drink bottles are beginning to get too flimsy to make things for my buddies, so I love using a variety of bottles that are built a little stronger.  It was great getting four of the same kind of bottle, and  I wanted to make something fun that my buddies would enjoy.  I thought about waiting until I went shopping for some fantastic things to put inside the bottles, but I really wanted to surprise them right away.  I had to use things I had on hand.  I had oil, food colouring and sparkles (always have food colouring and sparkles!) So I put them all together and voila!






Some of my buddies are still learning colours, so when we play with these, we talk about the colours.  I love how the sparkles float on top of the water, but beneath the oil.  When shaken, the oil and water mixes and the sparkles swirl about.

A Snow (sort of) Man

I have been waiting to do this activity with my buddies for WEEKS!  I could hardly contain myself.  A neighbour had given me a big bag of those packing peanuts.  Not the styrofoam ones, the starch-based ones that dissolve if you get them wet. 

My buddies and I were going to make a SNOWMAN!!! We don't often get the real stuff, so this would be a good substitute for a real snowman. I took a large piece of cardboard and drew a snowman on it. Then I folded the sides of the cardboard back and taped them together. This would help the snowman stand. I took a cloth (actually, it was one of those sham wow things, cause they hold a lot of moisture) and wet it, and put it on a plastic tray. I had a bucket of packing peanuts. I showed my buddies how to touch the packing peanut to the cloth and stick it INSIDE the circle. (We definitely worked on the concept of "inside" versus "outside" the circles I had drawn.)



 Some of my smaller buddies were amazed with just letting the packing peanuts dissolve in their hands.  They could not figure out where their peanut had gone!

After the snowman was covered, I cut it out, leaving some extra cardboard on as a base, and also left some extra as arms for the snowman.






He was looking pretty good.  Finally, we added details. Eyes, a mouth, scarf and a hat borrowed from one of my buddies completed our snowman. 






Shared on The Sunday Showcase!

Make-up Playdough

If you're like me and you have too many eye shadows, blushes and powders in your make-up bag, THIS is the recipe for you!  I asked my buddies' moms if they would donate their outdated powdered make-up for me to use for arts and crafts.  I ended up with dozens of eye shadows, blushes and powders.


 

I sorted the colours into three main groups: purple, pink and brown/black. 


 

I scraped the powders onto a plate and crushed them.  Any lumps of powdered make-up tend to remain as lumps and don't mix well, so it's best to crush it up as finely as possible.  You can still see little clumps of purple shadow in my purple playdough. It was the first one I made.





Make-up Playdough

1 cup flour
half cup salt
1 cup water
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp - 1 tbsp of powdered make-up

Crush make-up as finely as possible.  Add the rest of the ingredients into a pot and cook over medium heat until the playdough clumps together.  Place onto a plate and knead into a ball.  I keep mine in a ziploc bag in the fridge.




In the end, I had three unique colours of playdough. I think they have a natural kind of look to them, almost like clay or earthy colours. They also have a really pretty shimmer.


EDITED TO ADD: If you have any health concerns about the powdered make-up, you can adapt your recipe.  Bring your cup of water to a boil in the microwave and add your powdered make-up. (I wouldn`t recommend putting the make-up in the microwave as it may contain metallic bits.) Put remaining ingredients into a cooking pot and carefully pour your hot water/make-up mixture into it.  Cook on medium heat as usual until the playdough clumps together.  Knead into a ball and let cool.  Store in a ziploc bag in the fridge. Shared on The Sunday Showcase!

More Clean Fun!

My buddies and I weren't done with our ivory soap experiments yet.  We had microwaved it, cut it up, built with it, crumbled it into bits, dissolved it in hot water and beat it with an electric mixer.  At the end of their play, I saved the whipped up soap in a plastic container.  After a couple of days, it lost it's fluffiness and wasn't quite as appealing.  But it still had potential!  I could have re-whipped it, but I wanted to try something else, so I added baking soda to the mix.  I know that baking soda is used along with bar soap to make laundry soap, so even if my mixture wasn't a hit with my buddies, it could be used as something else.  I added maybe half a cup of baking soda to my ivory snow/water mixture.  What I ended up with, after mixing it with my mixer, was a frosting-like mixture.  I took this mixture and spread it on a tray with some spoons and spatulas.  I think next time I will add a fork and butter knife to spread it around with, too. 









My buddies had a lot of fun with this!  From just spreading the mixture around, to some pre-printing practise,  I think they fully enjoyed the experience.