::Zoomer - Book Review::

I recently discovered the "Zoomer" books by Ned Young. I am in love. They're wonderfully crafted stories with imagination and creativity. Currently Young has only two "Zoomer" books published but they are MUST reads. The illustrations are packed with little secrets and every page is magical. You're sure to find something new every time you read it. The illustrations are the sort of surrealism of the 50's I love. They completely transform the stories words into a stimulating visual exploration.

It was a joy for me to read the stories and point out the little details to my kindergarten class (trust me, there are many to choose from!). I love the  fact that even though Zoomer's two older brothers don't share his enormous imagination, it never stops Zoomer from building fantastic creations. I hope my class caught on to that and are willing to dream up stories as big as Zoomer's. His imagination is perhaps my favorite part of the book.

The books humorous story line will keep children captivated and willing to read these stories over and over again. Ned Young is a self-taught illustrator and painter. He began his career in illustrating calendars and things of that nature. I'm so glad he took the leap into children's literature, I'm looking forward to more installments for the collection. Pin It

::Eye-Spy DIY::

This next project I wish I would have thought of on my own, but pintrest to the rescue once again! I made an "eye spy" bottle for down time when there's not a lot of kids there to play with. The funny part is that the other staff got in on the game to see if they could find everything on the list. I think this would also be a good restaurant or car game to keeps idyll minds occupied!

Here's what ya need: some kind of clear bottle or jar (I used a VOSS water bottle because I like the way they look). Make sure the the bottle is completely dry before you start filling it with your goods; I also took the label off so that you could use all sides of the bottle on your quest to find all the items on the list. 

Next you'll need rice or salt to be a filler and a bunch of mini items for the kids to search for. I used buttons, felt cut outs, and other miscellaneous items. I typed out my list and laminated it so that it could withstand lots of use.

Start by adding some of your filler and then add a couple of your "eye spy" items. Then add more filler and more items, repeat these steps until you've filled the almost the whole bottle. I left a little room at the top so that the filler could shift around. Finally seal the lip of your bottle with some hot glue or E6000 and close up the cap so that it doesn't pop open and make a mess!

I tied my list to the lip of the bottle so that it's always attached (you should probably do that before you seal the cap so that it's nice and tight on the bottle). Simple and easy project. This could easily be a fun project to do with kids, which makes it all the more enjoyable after its finished. 

Here's the list of items I put in my bottle:

Red Star Button

Orange Button

Red Cherry

Pink Flower

Wooden Apple

Green House

Wooden Gingerbread Man

Snowman Button

Brown Flower

Green Star

Rubber Band

Paperclip

Toothpick

Pink Feather

Red Jumping Bean

Chain

Ring

Blue Star

Pink Ribbon

Stick

Penny

Straw

Yellow Heart

Leaf
(a fake one is best because real leaves will dry out and crumble in your bottle)

Bow Tie Pasta

Rock

Wagon Wheel Pasta

Peace out guys!

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::Pin Art::

Remember when I told you about bead art? Well guess what...Here's another lifesaver. Pin. Art. We use this every year during December. It's one of our kids favorite activity. I got to thinking though, why do we only do it during Christmas time? Why can't we have pin art during different seasons? So I made some fun prints for Halloween.

If you don't know what pin art is, I'm going to tell you. It's very simple. All you have to do is take a "dotted" picture and attach it to a piece of construction paper (I usually staple it once or twice in the upper corners). Then you take a push pin and poke the holes. When the whole picture has been poked you detach the "dotted" picture and you have your picture. We usually hang ours in our window so that the light can shine through and so everyone can admire our work. ;)

Here's the pin art pictures I made for October. If you want to use these, just click on the image and then right click and then save.

Laters guys!

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::The Marvelous World of Bead Art::

Have you heard of bead art? Fuse beads? They are a child care teacher's bread and butter. They keep kids busy for hours...

This is the patterns we have at school from S&S Worldwide. We order a lot of supplies from them. That bucket of beads lasts us for most the year, and that's with some where between 15 and 20 kids doing bead art everyday. Among these shapes we also have squares, hearts, octagons, and circles. I've seen Christmas and sea animal shapes also.  

We use this during down time to keep the kids quiet and busy. One thing I've discovered, is that if kids aren't kept busy, they'll find trouble! So we do all we can to keep them occupied. 

You can do more with these than just make the shapes. I recently bought some beads from Michael's Craft Store for a project at my house and in it came an idea book. You can make all sorts of things from any regular shape. I've seen sheep, balloons, acorns, spiders, owls; the list could go on for ages. I took the book to work and donated it to our bead artist's and ever since then, literally everyday, I have a table or two full of kids busy. These projects are great for all ages, kinder - 5th. 

Every child care needs these. Every parent needs these. If you've got restless children...this is your way to focus their energy and keep those little hands busy. Encourage them to make patterns or different kinds of things with their peg boards (that's what you put the beads on to make the shapes). Some of our boys have come up with some fun robots and aliens- YES even our boys enjoy this! There are even some patterns that show you how to make 3-D objects like ships, castles, or even couches! We've added google eyes to some of they're creatures for an extra element and even turned some into magnets by just gluing magnets to the back.

I'll be sure to take some pictures of some of the things my kids have done. They are quite creative!

Peace Out!

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