Had a sick little one that wanted to do nothing but nurse and be held all day. Which gave me a chance to digi. :) I'm trying various methods to stretch myself, get out of my normal design style.
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credits
Papers, frame, brads, buttons, ribbon: Mini-Kit Love, PinkuPixie Digital Designs
Sparkles: A Little Magic, Vera Lim Designs
Fonts: Decker, VNI-Thufap3
I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to teach in early childhood programs, because I amassed a good stash of ideas for my own children. :)
One such idea is this sensory table Ron and I made:
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What is it?
It's a water/sand/multi-media table. It's extremely versatile, promoting science and math skills, as well as supporting hand-eye coordination. How, you ask? Let me give you some ideas of activities:
1. Freeze colored water in milk cartons or ice cube trays and put them in water. Children experience the mixing of colors, as well as ice melting. (pictured above)
2. Put measuring cups, funnels, floating toys, sea animal figurines to add complexity to their water play.
3. During the fall, add leaves to the dish pans.
4. Add sand into the dish pans and bury dinosaurs in them for children to dig out.
5. Don't like to clean up sand? Add rice or bird seed to the table.
6. You can put soapy water in the dish pans and put baby dolls in them so kids can bathe their babies.
7. Add paper and scissors for a cutting station (requires very close supervision)
You see? The possibilities are infinite. It's extra portable (read: light) so you can have it indoors during colder months.
What materials do you need to make the table?
PVC pipe, fittings, dish pans, PVC glue. I purchased the pans at Wal-Mart for under $2 apiece, and the other materials at the Home Depot. Total cost: under $60. And this depends on how many dish pans you want to add - the pictured table has four pans and allows up to eight children to play at once. You can make it two pans long, or ten pans long if you wish.
Once you cut the pipes to size, it's like putting a puzzle together.
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If you'd like directions, let me know.
I have such beautiful nieces and nephews on both sides of the family. Brandon, Becky and Andrew on my husband Ron's side, and Davina, Evelyn and Elias on my side. I wish we saw them more often, as I would spoil them rotten.
Davina and her mom Naomi (my sis) came to live with my parents, my sister Gina and me when she was 3 months old until she was one year old. Needless to say Davina and I forged a tie that is strong to this day. I think I have a million photos of her during the early times. Davina is now almost 9 years old, but she will always remind of that doe-eyed sweetie that would park herself on my lap to read book after book. Come to think of it, she's still a bookworm. :)
So, dedicated to Davina is this layout:
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credits
All elements from the Carnival Kit, Sweet Shoppe Designs
fonts - century gothic, VNI-HLThuphap
Do the photos on this layout look familiar? ;)
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credits
Fonts: BlackadderITC, Asman, Decker
Papers: Yellow-kimi kreations; Black-Color Matters Collaboration of LDD, Misty Mareda, Graph Note Paper- Katie Pertiet
Graphic Sun Print Overlay and Stick Pinz Round Tag: Katie Pertiet
Grunge frame and 4 square circle: Jessica Sprague
