Sprout Scouts Playcamp: Water, Water, Everywhere

Water, Water, Everywhere!

Every great Sprout Scout knows a good rain is great for the garden, but even so, a rainy day can be a real downer! This theme is a great way to explore and celebrate water, water life and rain. You can use these activities as a stand-alone theme or stash them away for the perfect rainy day! The very best thing about water play is that it can be done with a wide range of ages and developmental levels in mind--from infancy through adulthood. This theme has something for everyone--just add water!

Materials List:

• water!
• shaving cream
• food coloring
• sidewalk chalk
• paint brushes in a variety of sizes, especially sponge tip and paint rollers\
• plastic and/or rubber toy frogs 
• tempura paint
• washable markers
• watercolor paints, watercolor pencils
• white paper (watercolor, card stock or construction weight paper is suggested)
• nature's loose parts--pine cones, sticks, stones, leaves, twigs, drift wood, etc.
• fresh, aromatic herbs such as mint, lavender, rosemary--whatever you like and/or have on hand
• containers, colanders, sponges, buckets, etc. for exploring, pouring and playing with water and freezing water
• plastic pipettes (available on Amazon)
• sandwich size ziplock bag, sandwich size fold-top bag
• rubber bands
• permanent markers
• tape (masking tape, duct tape or even scotch tape are fine)
• balloons in a variety of sizes
• scissors
• glitter
• toy hammer and other toy tools
• party favor necklaces, jewels, wands 
• Kosher salt
• recycled brown paper shopping bags
• clear glass jar

Art:

• Rain Art: This is one of my favorite rainy day activities! You'll need some heavier weight paper and washable markers. Young artists will begin by doodling and drawing on their paper. You'll want to preface the activity by explaining that this will be Rain Art and perhaps even asking your young, artistic scientist what he/she thinks might happen to washable marker drawings left in the rain. Once you're ready, you'll set your artwork out for a bit of time in the rain--but not too long, or you'll come back in with white paper again! Observe the results, allow it to dry and you'll have a lovely work of art to display or use for collage or gift-wrap. You can also use this as an opportunity to experiment with the affects of rain on different art mediums. What happens with permanent marker? How about watercolor pencils? Crayons? 

As an indoor alternative in the event of drought, you can also conduct your rain art experiment using a spray bottle or pipettes to wet your artwork!

• Watercolor Painting and Drawing with Watercolor Pencils are wonderful art mediums for children of all ages to explore. With younger children, using a sponge to wet their paper first can help the color to more easily spread. I recommend a heavier weight paper such as watercolor paper, card stock or construction paper. You might experiment with the affects of kosher salt on watercolor. Perhaps you will experiment with other types of paper such as paper towels, white coffee filters or tissue paper. You might even bring along paper and watercolors to the sprinkler park or poolside for a shady spot activity when kids (or parents) need a break from the sunshine! 

• Ice Painting with Watercolors: One of our very favorite and most often repeated art activities at home is painting ice with watercolors! In advance, freeze water inside a plastic container or dish. When you're ready to paint, release your ice onto a tray or baking pan and simply provide watercolor paints and brushes. You may also add in additional water for washing brushes or kosher salt to create a unique texture as the ice melts Another fun way to explore watercolors and cool off at the same time is to provide ice cubes in lieu of water and brushes. You can even freeze some "ice brushes" by sticking a small wooden craft stick or Q-tip inside your ice cube tray. 
• Sidewalk chalk + Water = PAINT! Oh, this is a fun one! One you can do outdoors on a warm, rainy day or on a sunny day with added water--you might want to coordinate it, either way, with a good soak in the tub afterward! Grab your sidewalk chalk and maybe some brushes if you like (although hands and feet work just as well) and see what happens when you mix water and chalk...

• Frog Prints: Ponds can be found in almost any area and are such a wonder to explore. One of the most fascinating critters to learn about is frogs! Here's a bit of process art fun for those plastic or rubber frogs you can find at the dollar store. Set out some paper, a tray of green paint (or your color of choice), some toy frogs and paintbrushes if you wish. Once those frogs get a hoppin', there's just no stoppin'! This is particularly fun for the younger crowd...
  
  

Outdoor Activities:

• We're Going on a Frog Hunt! This requires a bit of preparation prior to beginning. Gather a selection of toy plastic and/or rubber frogs. I've found these year round at Dollar Tree stores. You can do this at home in your own yard or even at a park. You might want to count how many you have beforehand! Hide your frogs around the area, on the ground, under trees and bushes, on a leaf.... Next, you'll gather the troops. You might even provide a small container to collect their findings. You can talk about how some frogs and toads protect themselves by camouflaging into their natural surroundings, while others have brightly colored skin to ward off predators by letting them know they are poisonous. We love to do this activity outside, but it can also be done indoors on a rainy day...
  
• Rain Drums: This is one (of many) great ideas in the book A Little Bit of Dirt: 55+ Science and Art Activities to Reconnect Children with Nature by Asia Citro, MEd. You'll need a selection of different sized plastic containers (no lids necessary) and a variety of corresponding sized balloons. You'll also need a rainy day! And perhaps some rain gear or waterproof clothing... Cut the ends off your balloons and stretch one over the top of each container. Take your drums outdoors and listen, ever so quietly, to the musical interludes of raindrops falling. The harder the rain, the louder your drums will play! You might even experiment with other types of coverings and see how they sound... Or perhaps you'll test out some metal tins turned upside down that you have in your Mud Kitchen? There is something so inherently soothing about the sound of rain falling! It might even brighten up the next rainy day...
  

• Ice Castle Excavation: Ice is an oft forgotten form of water that is great for play--especially in the summer. You'll need to prepare in advance for activities like this one (and maybe explain to your spouse why you have to eat all of the leftovers tonight because you need the freezer space to make an ice castle...). Using a castle shaped bucket and/or containers in any variety of shapes and sizes (even muffin tins are great), freeze some water. You can add in glitter, food coloring of your choice, and jewels, necklaces and other trinkets from the party favor section of your dollar store (keep in mind that these may not survive the activity, so don't use your finest family heirlooms!). I find it best to prepare this the night before we want to do the activity. When you're ready, choose a space outdoors either on the ground or in a sensory bin/water table to set up your ice castle excavation. If you have a hard time getting the ice out of any container, just run a bit of warm water over the bottom. Ice excavators can use toy hammers and other tools to try to to retrieve the jewels frozen in the castle. They can also test out what happens when they add water and or kosher salt to the ice. You can use safety goggles if you wish and, as always, provide support and supervision with the use of hammers and tools with young children! 

• Painting With Water: I have great childhood memories of using a big foam tipped brush to paint fences and sidewalks with water in the summer and it's an activity I introduced early to my own kids. Big paint brushes and sponge brushes are still one of the most popular (and fought over) toys I bring to the sprinkler park each summer. It is so much fun to create designs and pictures with water and watch the sun make them disappear!

Indoor Activities & Active Play:

You can't always get outside for a good puddle jump in the rain, so here are a few activities to try inside, including some that will get you and your kids moving!

Indoor Puddle Jumping with Letters or Sight Words: Using recycled brown paper shopping bags, cut some large mud puddle shapes. On each puddle, you'll write a letter or (with older children) sight word. You can add in some music to get everyone moving and when the music stops, it's time to puddle jump. There are three ways to play (depending on your puddle jumpers' level of ability). You can call out and/or show a letter name (for letter recognition), a word (or picture) for beginning sound, or a sight word for word recognition. You can even make this into a rhyming word challenge and provide a word and/or picture on each puddle and call out rhyming word. Everyone will have a great time being active and jumping in mud puddles without any of the muddy mess afterward!

Frank the Frog: Rain Forest Yoga from Cosmic Kids Yoga:
Got a little yogi at home? We love the videos from Cosmic Kids Yoga for rainy days or afternoons that just beg for a bit more movement. Many are available on YouTube and this one is one of our favorites!

Science:

• How Do Clouds Make Rain? Water Cycle in a Bag Experiment: This science experiment is so simple to set up and a great one for teaching about the water cycle. You'll need a ziplock bag (sandwich size is fine), a permanent marker, some masking tape, duct tape or packing tape, and water. You can also use blue food coloring if you wish. Begin by drawing a body of water on the bottom of your bag and clouds at the top. Fill your bag about a quarter of the way full with water, adding food coloring if you wish. Tightly seal the bag and add some tape for reinforcement. Lastly you'll want to tape it to a window and observe throughout different times of the day how the change in sun exposure/temperature creates "fog" in the clouds that eventually drip into "rain" back to the body of water at the bottom of the bag!

• Rain Cloud in a Jar Experiment: This is another simple and fun way to demonstrate how clouds make rain! You'll need a clear jar or glass, some additional small recycled containers or cups, shaving cream, food coloring, pipettes and water. Begin by filling your glass about 3/4 of the way full with cool water. Meanwhile, fill your extra cups/containers with water and a color of your choice to set aside as your "rain." Squirt a fluffy shaving cream cloud atop your jar of water and have your junior scientists try their hands at sucking up and gently squirting drops of "rain" onto the rain cloud. As the cloud gets heavier and heavier with colored water, you'll observe colorful drops of rain coming through the cloud down into the water! It will be the most beautiful (or at least the most colorful) rain storm you've ever observed!

• Do Leaves Sweat? You betcha! In this simple science experiment, also featured in Asia Citro's A Little Bit of Dirt, you'll need a clear plastic bag, a rubber band and leaves on a tree. You can even set up more than one observation on different types of trees to compare and contrast. Bundle a few leaves in your plastic bag and gently fasten it with the rubber band so it won't slip off. Observe what the leaves look like now--maybe even draw or take a photo of it! Come back to the same spot the next day and you should see a fair amount of water in the bottom of your bag. Because the bag prevents water from evaporating back into the atmosphere, moisture that is sweated out by the leaves collects in the bottom--similar to how a rain cloud works!

• How Do Plants Drink Water? Have you ever wondered how the water we provide our gardens or from rain gets to the plants and helps them grow? In this great experiment from Buggy and Buddy, you'll observe how water travels through the stem to other parts of the leaf over a period of three days. You'll need a cup or jar, a leaf, water and food coloring. Read more about how to set up and observe your experiment at Science for Kids: Exploring Leaves.

• Sink or Float Science: Experimenting with materials that sink or float is another favorite science activity here. We do it several times a year and in a variety of ways. I especially love using items found in nature to test. Grab a basket and fill it with interesting leaves, seed pods, flowers, pine cones, acorns, twigs, rocks--whatever you can find. You'll need a basin of water and then the test is on! You might talk about what makes items sink to the bottom or float to the top. What materials tend to float? What are boats made out of? You might also try this inside with household items. Perhaps you'll talk about the difference between fresh water (like a pond) and salt water (like the ocean) and add a couple of salt water basins with a different amounts of salt. Does that affect the results of your test items? The best thing about sink or float science is that it can be done inside in a bin, in the bathtub, in your sink, outside, at the pool--wherever water is available! You can record your results if you wish or just enjoy the process. It's a great experiment to do on a family vacation or trip as it requires very little in the way of preparation or special materials.

Sensory Play:

Water is an amazing tool for sensory play. It's available just about everywhere all year round. It's usually free (or at least already included in your monthly expenses). It's allergy safe and fun for all ages and developmental levels. I have yet to meet a child who tires of a simple water table set up--just water and a container or two for filling, pouring, and transferring. You can add in toys, vegetables for washing, or even items found in nature. Water play is also a wonderful way to introduce sensory play to infants and young toddlers. Read more about that in Waterplay Wednesday: The Baby Edition. Here are a few more of my favorite water life and rain related sensory play activities:

• Frog Pond Sensory Bin: Pond life comes alive with this small world sensory bin! You'll need some toy frogs and from there, you can add in whatever natural and man-made materials you have on hand. We used rocks, a variety of wood pieces, glass gems, a plastic baby dish drainer made to look like grass that we never actually used for its intended purpose, and some artificial flowers. This captivated my older one for days! We changed out the water each evening, but when small world play and sensory play collide, the result is often hours and hours of fun!
  

• Scented Waterplay with Fresh Cut Herbs: If you happen to be growing herbs in your garden or have some leftover from a recipe, this is a heavenly way to add an additional sensory component into waterplay. The bonus is that it's totally taste safe for the still-mouthing and/or younger crowd. Choose some fresh herbs that you particularly like together (like a couple varieties of mint or lavender and rosemary...) and add them to a bowl or basin of water. You can also add in spoons for mixing or bowls/cups for pouring, but this is just as lovely on its own with two (or more) hands to splash in it! You can add as much or as little of your fresh herbs as you like, and if the thought of just tossing out fresh cut herbs when you're done simply tugs at your heartstrings too much, you can still give them another good rinse and use them for cooking or making tea!

• Shaving Cream Clouds Sensory Play: Shaving cream is such a fun sensory play material! You can squirt it right on your table top (it's a self-cleaning play activity!), on a tray or even in your tub. Little hands will love making designs in the shaving cream clouds. You can also add in a few drops of food coloring or tempura paint (one or more than one color for mixing). We love doing this as a story stretcher activity with Eric Carle's Little Cloud and trying to make different cloud shapes as seen in the book. For those who may be a bit sensory averse or hesitant to dig right in, a plastic fork or comb or wooden craft stick can be a great tool. Providing a wet rag alongside can also help children who are averse to messy play to feel more comfortable.

Family Field Trips & Extension Activities:

We are so fortunate to live near several sprinkler parks. These are so much fun in the summer! They entertain a variety of ages (yes, even the adults) and it can be active fun for the whole family. Some children are game to jump right in (and through and over and under and on top) of the sprinklers while others are a bit more hesitant. My own older one used to be the jump-right-in-type and aged into the give-it-a-wide-berth-type. For the more hesitant ones at the sprinkler park or pool, I like to offer some support tools and alternative activities. A plastic bucket or basin can be filled with water for poolside or park-side water play and combined with the add-ins of your choice. Taking along some of the art materials or activities listed above can also be a great option. Read Waterplay Wednesday: Spicing Up the Sprinkler Park for more ideas on great waterplay take-alongs.

Cloud Watching is another great (FREE) family activity! You'll need one of those perfectly blue sky and fluffy cloud kinds of days, maybe a big grassy hill, a cozy picnic blanket to lay on and maybe some sunglasses. Watch as the clouds go by and see what shapes and pictures you can find in the sky.

Talking about water conservation is something that most of us probably do without even thinking of it. How many times a day do you remind someone in your house to turn off a faucet or to hurry in the shower before the fish run out of water? Take it to the next (less nagging) level this summer by using leftover water in your water bottles to give your garden a drink or practicing using the sprinkler and hose at their most efficient hours (early morning or dusk). Additionally, you can model and talk about protecting water life by cleaning up rubbish in parks and pond areas, and avoiding the tempting activity of feeding ducks human food. If you do live near a pond, river, lake or other body of water, it's a great family field trip to take and observe the flora and fauna. You can check out a variety of interesting books, both fiction and non-fiction from your local library!

I'm throwing in a little backyard (or front yard) hack today as well to encourage and invite water play without always needing a hose and running water. I love using a large plastic spigot jug filled with water for my kids to use as a filling/pouring station. It's great for use in the Mud Kitchen, watering plants and even a quick rinse of the hands! When it's empty, simply refill it and you're good to go. Just make sure to provide separate water for drinking and in general, to avoid areas with stagnant water in your yard that can invite mosquitoes and other unwanted pests.

Well, Sprout Scouts, we will be back with our next playcamp theme soon. Until then...[don't] stay dry and happy playing!

Mad Science Monday: It's Raining, It's Pouring...

Got rain? We do! I just finished setting up our front yard and play garden (and you can check out tomorrow's post for more about that!) in time for four days of a rainy forecast and cooler temperatures. No problem! We can dress in a few extra layers and some waterproof gear for some mud pies, puddle jumping, worm hunting and, of course, science and art. Science and art, you ask? Why, yes! Rain Art is, in fact, one of my favorite science activities to demonstrate and perform with children and is a wonderfully easy-to-set-up-and-execute rainy day fix. So grab your rain gear, some paper and a selection of washable markers; it may be raining out, but it's still Mad Science Monday!

Rain Art Science Experiment

For the sake of this experiment, I will include instructions for both a basic set-up and an advanced version with extension activities. Materials for the advanced version will be in italics.

You Will Need:

• white paper (watercolor paper or construction paper are thicker and may be a better candidate for this soggy activity!) you can also use blank canvas or experiment with different types of paper
• washable markers
• Mr. Sketch markers or non-washable magic markers
• permanent markers
• rubbing alcohol, a spray bottle, pipettes
• rain!

Instructions:

Have your child(ren) color a picture on their paper. While they are working, explain that you will be seeing what happens when a piece of artwork colored in washable markers is left in the rain. Ask them to make predictions? What does washable mean? How do we clean marker off of our hands or work surface? If your artist is particularly attached to his/her work, you will want to prepare him/her for the fact that the picture will change in the rain! Your young artist may wish to make a second picture that will not be left in the rain. When you are done drawing and doodling, it's time to set your work out in the rain. You can rest it directly on pavement or set it on a plastic tray or mat. Perhaps this a good time to take a duck waddle around the block or a little puddle jump. You will not want to leave your artwork too long or you will return to very clean canvas/paper if there is a lot of rain! Observe the results together. What happened and why?

To extend this experiment into the advanced version, you may wish to test a variety of different types of markers. Remember--to conduct a proper science experiment, you will want to change only one element each time. Choose one type of paper and a few types of markers, coloring with one type on each paper. Perhaps you will try washable, Mr. Sketch/magic markers and permanent markers. (If you are concerned about young children with permanent marker you might want to eliminate this one or provide careful supervision). Place your test subjects in the rain and see which markers change in water and which do not. Why is this so? If you used permanent marker, you can talk about what the word "permanent" means. Alternatively you can test the same type of marker on different types of paper or background mediums. How does washable marker left in the rain differ between printer paper, construction paper, watercolor paper, fabric, canvas...?

As a further extension activity with permanent marker artwork, you can talk about what does get permanent marker off! (This is a good add-on activity if you used permanent marker and now have colorful hands upon you!) You will need rubbing alcohol and a spray bottle and/or pipettes for this part. Experiment with spraying and dropping rubbing alcohol onto your permanent marker artwork and observe what happens to the colors. What do you think might work to get permanent marker off other surfaces where it is unwanted?

Hope the rain hasn't got you down this Monday and that you'll join us next time for a peek OUTSIDE in our play garden. Until then...happy experimenting!

Washable markers...

Mr. Sketch markers...

You can journal about your scientific process as well if you'd like!

Think Outside the Box Thursday: Introducing "Playtime Posts"

In this edition of Think Outside the Box Thursday, I am introducing my first "playtime post." I post a lot of activities here that are focused on teaching a specific skill set or addressing a theme. Playtime posts may include some of this as well, but these are posts that will serve more as your one-stop-shop for rainy/snowy day fixes, family fun, or afternoon lull fillers. These activities aim to be simple to set up using items you'd already have in your playroom or on hand and either foster great independent and creative play and/or opportunities to play together as a family.

I've found the season change and time change have led to more late afternoons at home. Whereas we used to use this time a lot for outdoor walks and visits to the park, it is now dark so early and we're spending more of these hours indoors. While I am all for "un-planning and unwinding" a bit in the later parts of the evening or on the occasional weathered-in day, I found on a regular basis that our afternoons needed a balance of a bit more "structure" but a bit less "schedule." In other words, I felt we did need some element of planned activity but not quite the same pace and rigor as our morning homeschool routine. 

The afternoon/evening hours here are often a time when household chores and cooking also need to be tended to. I, thank G-d, have a son who takes an amazing afternoon nap most of the time and that allows me the opportunity to get work, planning and household tasks done. That said, I often dreaded wake-up time and felt unsure of how to fill and balance the hours that followed until dinner and bedtime. Adults' energy levels (OK, at least my own) tend to be on the decline at this point and family needs are still prevalent! My goal with this chunk of time was to balance my son's needs for interaction with me as well as his need for more independent/free play along with my own need to accomplish getting dinner on the table and other chores. It often felt like a juggling act where I either managed to have all the balls stay in the air or they all fell and I flipped on a trusty video instead. And it needn't be so black and white, all or nothing. Videos are great for some days and we still use them. Tweaking my overall approach to these hours has also made a great difference. Not only do I feel less anxious about how I will fill or get through these hours with my head still screwed on, but I've felt able to be more present with my son and family as a whole when we are all engaged in an activity and less guilty and frustrated when I must disengage or step out to finish dinner or wash the dishes. Here's a peek a few of our first favorite activities and overall approaches that have worked:

• The "Center Time" Approach: Center Times in preschools often refers to open/free play and learning times when children have the independence to choose their own activities and rotate through them, can often designate how much time to spend on each one and thereby take the lead in their own play and learning. Certain areas or "centers" may be open all of the time (like dramatic play spaces, reading areas, sensory tables, block building centers and art areas). A few additional centers or activities may be set out as well to relate to a theme, skill set or developmental goal. This may include art projects and activities, a game, a learning challenge, etc.  I wanted our afternoons to be more "child-led" than mommy-led and for my son to have more opportunity to engage in and remain with imaginative play or building or sensory play than we often have time for when we are busy going to story times, playgroups, doing learning activities or visiting friends. I also recognized his need for a little more structure in that. While at two he can sometimes engage in play and remain with it for quite a while and all on his own accord, sometimes he (like all of us) needs a little invitation so to speak! Now while he is napping I set out a couple of "centers" he can visit when he wakes up. These are not activities he must do or that he must accomplish in a certain order or time-frame. He can return to one multiple times throughout our afternoon or choose not to do it at all. (In general, I do not require that he participate in or "complete" any of our learning activities either, but I do put more intention into introducing them and encouraging him than I do with our afternoon setup.) 

I find I save a lot of ideas for process art activities that we never get to.
This seemed like a great opportunity to invite my little guy to try painting on tinfoil. He loved it!
He wanted to try it right way when he woke up, took a snack break and played in some other areas
and returned to it later again. We're saving the results to recycle into a Chanukah themed collage later on,
but this would also make fabulous and kid-friendly gift wrap to use this (or any) time of year!

• Even grown ups need some parallel play opportunities! Sometimes we want to be able to be near our little ones and engage with them while still accomplishing tasks around the house. For this, proximity is EVERYTHING. For afternoons I know I have things to do in the kitchen, I set up a play center in the kitchen that will (hopefully) engage my son and allow me to play with him as I can and parallel to him when I can't! We love our water table for this purpose and moving a sensory bin or small table into and out of the area with an activity also works well for us. I wish we had the space to permanently keep an activity area in our kitchen, but for now this works quite well!

Our oil and water exploration was super fun and a real attention-captivator! 

Although sometimes the activity is more based on what Mommy is trying to get done. Washing vegetables and washing dishes are two of his (nearly lifelong) favorites!

"Ice Cube Fishing" in water/water beads.

• And sometimes we all need to play together! I always say that playing WITH your children is an investment plan. For kids who are learning to or struggle with playing on their own, getting on their level and joining the fun can help them build the skills and confidence to carry it out independently in the future. Additionally, you can often begin by engaging with children in their play and gradually expand your proximity--start on the floor, then move to the couch or a chair, then maybe to another area of the room, then maybe to the kitchen... And beyond that important skill development, playing WITH our little ones is sometimes just the break that WE need! For these opportunities, I don't put a lot of planning or preparation in. I use what's already out and maybe we come up with some new and interesting ways to use it or previously untried combinations--like our recent introduction of jingle bells to Magnetiles!

He had the idea to build the box and put the bells inside...

 I introduced the game of "jingle fishing..."

• And sometimes you want some intentional family fun! Movie nights and family field trips are great, but we're always looking for some more out-of-the-box ways to spend time together or infuse our family fun nights. One activity we have especially enjoyed lately in cooking or baking together. Here's a super simple and quite delectable 3-ingredient peanut butter cookie recipe to fill your home (and belly) with some extra joy, warmth and playfulness! The bonus (as if you needed one when there are only 3 ingredients) is that they are also dairy, wheat and gluten free. They are definitely NOT peanut free, although I'd imagine you could substitute in another nut butter or soy butter.

Three Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies* with optional 4th ingredient 😊

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy are great)

1 cup sugar

1 egg

OPTIONAL chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a cookie sheet by lightly spraying with oil. Combine and mix your ingredients and scoop about 2 TBSP of dough onto your cookie sheet, about an inch apart. We sometimes use our hands to roll little balls (especially fun for smaller hands). You can press down the balls with a fork for a more traditional peanut butter cookie look or leave them as balls for a rounder version. Bake for about 12-15 minutes and let cool as long as you possibly can before tasting just a few....

Funday Friday: Tabletop Mural

 Ah, the last Friday before Labor Day. Most schools here begin after the long weekend and we will begin our own homeschool activities as well after squeezing in a quick weekend family trip to celebrate the end of summer. Some days just call for a little low key child-led fun. Fridays tend to be days like that in this and many Jewish homes as we get ready for Shabbat, and when you add packing and preparing for a family trip to that mix, turning on a great children's show or video can seem like the only option to keeping your sanity. It may very well be on our agenda today as well, but first I'm turning to one of my very favorite rainy-day or busy-day fixes: tabletop murals. I first set out this activity early in the summer when an unexpected very rainy day soaked out our plans of visiting the park and pool. Using a roll of white craft paper I keep on hand (this is one of those items on my mommy must-have list), I completely covered our dining room table. I set a different art medium in front of each of the chairs, turned on some music, let my son choose his first seat, have at it and rotate as he felt ready. He had so much fun with this that at dinner time, we set out some placemats on top and kept it up and running for the remainder of the week for him to revisit and add to. I had some fun as well by the end of it and when Friday afternoon rolled around, my husband decided it looked nice enough to cover with a clear vinyl table protector and use as our Shabbos tablecloth! Our son felt so proud that his artwork was decorating the Shabbos table and as a mom who would love to save every little scribble but recognizes the impossibility and impracticality of this, displaying his work in this way for that time felt like a wonderful way to honor the time and effort he spent.
This week rather than setting out specific materials at each spot, I allowed my son to choose a material he wanted to use and bring it to the table to use. Open-ended art activities like this are some of my very favorite. Process art is hugely beneficial for children in developing creativity, confidence and mastery of a variety of skills. What I call "cookie cutter projects," those with a specific goal and purpose, also have their place in my home and classrooms. It is important to develop skills in following directions and there is something quite quaint about a child-created duck that resembles a duck. Still, I feel that the most important art opportunities you can give a young artist--particularly one who may feel reluctant to participate in art projects or insecure in performing them "correctly," is the gift of free art or process art. In these settings, the child is given a specific material or set of materials or even just access to materials he or she can choose. The young artist decides how to use the materials and self-directs the process entirely. I am careful in these settings both as a parent and teacher to limit value-laden observations--even ones of praise, and rather to focus comments on purely objective observation. For example, I might say "I notice you are using the creamy crayons to make long lines" or "I see you're making a lot of brown dots with the dot markers in this area," rather than "what a beautiful picture you're drawing," or "that looks like a flower!" My intention is to validate his experience and process by noticing it rather than applying my own external value to it.
For some alternative extensions to this activity, you might:

• turn on music and play a game of musical artistic chairs! When the music stops, the artist switches spots and begins with a new material or brings the previous material to a new area to continue working
• make your tabletop mural theme related for a holiday or special event by focusing on specific colors, using stickers or gluing on shapes or pictures related to the occasion
• make a special picture in each spot specifically for the family member or guest who will sit there in lieu of place cards
• save your child's finished art to reuse as wrapping paper, book covers, homemade greeting cards, or to cut/tear and reuse in collage

Happy Playing & Creating!

Some More End of the Summer Play Fun: Rainbow Rice Sensory Play

These are the last dog days of summer. Whether that leaves you feeling wistful or (im)patiently awaiting to hear the familiar rumble of school buses trudging up the street early in the morning--or even a bit of both--let's not reinvent the wheel right now. Whatever this pending change of seasons holds for your family--whether it's school, work, holidays, or just a change in temperature (please let it be SOON), there will be plenty of opportunity for novelty and fresh starts. These are the days, rather, that I choose to revisit old favorites. In our house, we are gearing up for our Mommy & Me Homeschool adventure--something that has plenty of novelty to both me and my son, as I've taught preschool out of the house for the better part of the last decade but not yet taught my own preschooler in the house! But as we excitedly count down the days until we embark on this journey, we're enjoying some low key favorite play activities. Ideally these are activities that require minimal prep or prep that my son can help with and enjoy. Ideally they are activities he can sustain with an age appropriate level of independence as I alternate between playing along, being a spectator and preparing materials for the weeks to come. One such activity we've enjoyed these days is this rainbow rice sensory bin:

 Dry rice makes for a fabulous sensory material. Although many moms and teachers (sometimes myself included) have mixed feelings about food items being used for sensory play as opposed to eating and whether this is wasteful, I feel like dry rice is a material that can be used repeatedly and in a variety of ways even if being served on the dinner table isn't one of them. You can use it as it and add cups and scoops for pouring and exploring. You can add cardboard tubes and other recyclables. You can create a small world using small toys and figurines related to a theme for fabulous story telling and dramatic play. You can turn it into a game of I-Spy using magnetic letters or other small objects. You can have plenty of fun (trust me on this one) even adding nothing at all and just enjoying the sensation of scooping and pouring with your hands (or feet if your little one decides to climb right in).

Dry rice is great fun on its own and requires no additives. However, dying it can be a fun activity in and of itself and make for a very colorful result! We dyed this batch of rice late last winter. You can choose one color or make a variety of colors. The best part--little ones can help and it's pretty mess free! Here's how:

You will need:

• dry white rice, you can decide how much
• ziplock bags
• food coloring
• hand sanitizer

What to do:

• Decide how many colors you will make and designate a portion of rice in one ziplock bag per color
• Add a generous amount of food color (I used about 15-20 drops in each bag--the more color, the brighter the shade, so you can experiment with this to reach your desired effect)
• Add a good squirt of hand sanitzer to the bag--this, believe it or not, helps the color to spread and permanently set in
• Tightly seal the bag and shake, shake, shake to spread the color and coat the rice--this is the part the little ones will especially enjoy. As an added educational bonus, if you are mixing primary colors to create a secondary color, it's a hands-on visual for teaching this process to little ones!
• Pour the dyed rice into a foil pan or shallow dish to dry completely before you play to avoid your hands taking on new colors

Fun extension activities:

• You can use a few drops of a favorite essential oil to add a pleasant aroma to your rice
• You can use this in a lot of ways for sensory play, but it also makes a great craft material for gluing and making collages
• We also used some rainbow rice inside an empty plastic bottle to make a great shaker/sensory bottle. I am partial to the small Gatorade bottles and I always duct tape or hot glue the lid on to prevent unwanted emptying of the contents inside
• You can also dye dried white beans, lentils, popping corn or pasta in the same manner. I've found that larger items require a bit more drying time before being ready for playing.

You can store unused rainbow rice in a ziplock bag or plastic container between play sessions. A drop mat or outdoor work space prevents massive cleanup efforts for the inevitable spills and splashes. Even very little ones can appreciate and help with the task of using a dust brush and pan to help with the sweep up when you're done. Have fun and happy playing!

Here's a peek at our first play sessions with our rainbow rice last spring. I added a variety of small world objects and even a sweet orange scent to relate it to the story of Purim since it was coming up at the time.

Tuesday Table Time: Invitation to Doodle & Draw

This week's Table Time is a great one for a rainy day. In fact, this is one we did on just such an occasion. We used white craft/butcher paper to cover the length of our dining room table, although you can also do this on a child's table or even the floor. I set up a different material at each of several of our seats and let my son doodle and draw at each of the stations at his own pace. We used crayons, markers, do-a-dots, chalk pastels and "creamy crayons." If you're feeling extra adventurous or have older children who need less support and could help support younger ones, you can also add watercolors and other paints. This would be fun as well with stamps and ink pads, stickers, collage materials... Something about a large work space and an open invitation to create is enough to add new life to old familiar art materials. Whether it's 100 degrees and sunny or pouring rain, this is a great way to captivate the attention and creativity of artists of all ages. My husband liked the finished product so much, he suggested we put a plastic table cover over it and use it as our Shabbos tablecloth that week!