Creative Play

Creative play is like a spring that bubbles up from deep within a child.

Joan Almon

Contemporary American educator

I think at this point they were "making a birthday party at a park."

Stacking blocks on cardboard. 

On their way to a "camp out."  Apparently these are the needed supplies.  

Pretend sleeping in their pretend camp out.

Snack:  Peanut butter pumpkin muffins, Tillamook cheddar, Apples, Celery

Painting with nature tools and a brush made of pine needles.

Making a house.

Fort

Today the kids were really into their play.  I had to talk them into to pausing for food and an art project.  I added a few non-conventional toys (big cardboard sheets and unopened toilet paper and paper towel rolls) to the mix, which always seems to be a hit.

Paint & Dirt

Indoor Play Time!

Snack:  Grapes, String Cheese, Chopped Carrots, Brown Rice Crackers

Dirt!

The Reading Corner

Watercolor Painting:  Wet on Wet technique

Watercolor Painting: Wet on Dry technique.  We also did the salt technique....and the "flip your paint palette upside down on your paper and smear it all around" technique.  Guess which one I didn't come up with.

The kids wanted to have a picnic today.  :)

A Lovely Day

When the kids are getting a little too feisty during free play time, some drawing usually does the trick and calms them down a bit.  All of their energy, excitement, and frustrations get put on paper.  Today we just used some old fashioned lined paper, pencils, pencil sharpener, and ballpoint pens.  (fancy adult stuff)

Snack:  Roasted sweet potatoes, Green apples, Olives, & Cheddar cheese.  (and yes, I have too much fun with this fish plate)

Today we played with soft/chalk pastels on black, gray, and white papers.

Fall meets Winter

In the midst of our fall inspired art and our pumpkin bar snack, it starts to snow.  Winter is trying to break through.

Lately, the kids have been asking to draw, at some point, during free play time.  Today we went with markers.

Snack: Pears, Cheddar cheese, purple cabbage, and homemade [gluten free] pumpkin bars

It snowed during outside play time!

Making Fall leaves.  Printing with smashed toilet paper rolls

Trying out a scraping technique.

...and, or course, preschoolers keep me humble with my amazing art ideas, by reminding me that all they really want to do is go wild.  Their ideal art project would probably be rolling their entire body in paint and then trashing around on a room-sized canvas.  :)  Simplicity.  Freedom.  Play.  I think that is what is important with children making art at this age.

Adding in some oil pastels and markers for a mixed media experience.
They are in the zone.

Quite a prolific art session today for just 2 youngsters.

An Artful Day

The kids were really into creating today.  During free play time they asked if they could draw, so I brought out some oil pastels.  During outside time they did some chalk drawing.  Our pumpkin painting project went quicker than I thought, so we came up with an improptu "painting with cars" project.

Starting our day off with some play time.

Special request for drawing.  Oil pastels to the rescue!

Snack and story.  Cheese, Rice crackers, Apples, and Cucumbers.

They made and decorated a mountain together.

Someone said they drew a butterfly, and I wrote out the word.  Art collaboration. ;)

Painting tiny pumpkins with tiny brushes.

Paint + Hot Wheels cars

Sensory Project:  Gelatin, dye, shells, rocks, and tools.

Some relaxing Lego play to end our day.

Carrot Apple Spice Muffins - Gluten Free and Dairy Free

Since baked goods tend to be sugar/carbohydrate bombs, I try to make mine as balanced as possible by adding ingredients with lots of protein, fiber, and healthy fat.  Muffins can be a great way to get a lot of goodness into picky eaters.  Here's one of my muffin recipes, that I came up with, served at preschool snack time.

You can put the top 9 ingredients in a blender before adding them to the dry ingredients if you think the pieces of carrot will be a deal breaker for your little one.  My 3 year old does not like any sort of pieces in his food, (and I know some are on vegetable strikes) so that's why I blend mine.  If you're not battling any food preference issues, no blending needed.  I use a silicon muffin pan.  A lightly greased metal pan or muffin/cupcake liners would also work.

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup raisins

1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 Cup oats

1 1/2 Cup unsweetened apple sauce

1/4 Cup brown sugar 

2 Cups grated carrot (packed)

4 Eggs

1/3 Cup virgin coconut oil (melted)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 Cup whole buckwheat flour

3/4 Cup almond meal (packed)

2 Tablespoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1.  Mix the first 9 ingredients.  Blend in a blender if desired. (read above paragraph)

2.  Mix the remaining dry ingredients in separate bowl.

3.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir well until fully mixed.

4.  Spoon mixture into a muffin pan until the batter is level with the top of the pan.

5.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  (for standard sized muffins)

Makes about 12+ muffins depending on the size.

If they're not sweet enough for you, drizzle with honey!

Nature Sculptures and Play Noodles!

Here's is a bit of what we did today at Dandelion Playschool.  

I have space for a couple more little ones, so please get in touch if you're interested!

Snack:  English cucumbers, honeycrisp apples, Tillamook cheddar, and brown rice crackers.

Our materials

Using plaster to create a nature sculpture.

Play noodles!  Spaghetti noodles, dyed with food coloring, during the boiling process.  You know they're really loving it when the room is totally silent.  ...well with a little quiet jazz music in the background.

Winding down the day with some train track construction.