1.  20 Playdough Recipes.  You can really never have too many playdough recipes.

2.   10 Sensory Play Recipes.  Gloop, mud, glunk, glack or flubber.  Must have recipes for making paper mache to colored rice and noodles.

3. Germs, Germs, Germs… Actives for Toddlers and Preschool.  This article had it’s debut on Squidoo.  I crossed it over added a few items, and now a very nice place to keep all the germ ideas for kids.

4.  Teddy Bear Picnic.  I love Teddy Bears and so do my kids.  I have not had one of these in a while, I think I will plan it for our first snowy week indoors.

5.  Sensory Play! It’s okay…We can Wash our Hands.

6.  A List of Skills Children Learn in a Family Child Care.  Have you been looking for a list to add to your interviews with parents.  Here it is a great list of skills, that children learn right in your home.

7.  First Aid Book, For Your First Aid Kit.  Want some quick references, make your own first aid book for yourself or parents.

8.  Developing Great Curriculum Part I.  You see lots of activities and things to do with the kiddo’s but how do you really put it into a working curriculum.  Start with a great schedule.

9.  Speaking of curriculum.  A must place to stop by and visit.  1-2-3 Learn Curriculum.  A family child care veteran that has developed some awesome curriculum, that will fit in your day and your kids will love it.

10.  Business of Family Child Care… Yes, you need a Website. Part I.  I want to see real family child care business, pop-up on search engines.  Online marketing starts with a good website.

11.  Child Care is NOT a Low Cost Start-Up Home Based Business.  This was a bit of a vent article.  I often think that there are many articles out there that mislead and do not give an exact account of what is really needed to run a successful family child care business.

Have a wonderful and blessed New Year!  I will talking with you soon about two new projects, Green Fish 365 and Kelsey’s Project…

Oh…Additional Reading…My Top Favorite Three!

Twenty-Five Things I have Learned From Family Child Care.

You can’t Take “Your Children” Out of Family Child Care. 

Meet the Hermits! Adding Science to a Small Space.  R.I.P. Plato, you are missed.

Last year I struggled up until a week before Christmas…

My own children got a big kick out saying “Bah Hum Bug, Mom!”

My annual holiday dilemma, is decorating for the holidays. Honestly, it starts a week before Thanksgiving; I mentally go over all the children I care for, their age, activity levels, personality, defiance and overall jubilance for the opening of gifts. Then I make a mental checklist of all my seasonal decorations and…

Well, and that is as far as I have gotten. Why the dragging of the feet, you might ask?

• Christmas decorations as a whole are not safe. They have sticky, prickly, blinky, sparkly, sharp things that children cannot help but want to explore.
• Oh and how can you not see pretty, shiny gifts and not understand that you cannot open them. I mean really, that takes years of practice, I know adults that cannot master that challenge.
• Plus, I wear myself out saying “No!” It really cannot be worded any other way.

I have tried, “Sorry, honey…if you pull on that, it is going to land on your head.” by then it is usually too late.

Or “I know that it is round and looks like a ball, but they are called ornaments, so they stay where they are.”

This does not work on a two-year old ever, “I know you just had your birthday, but these gifts are for other people.”

I could lock up my decorations, but it does not seem right to me. Or maybe, I could decorate with just stuff, we make for the holidays, but that just makes everything look messy and defeats the purpose of home for the holidays. I have a home that I would like to enjoy with my own sparkly, blinky things.

I am considering just putting the gifts under my new Christmas Disco Ball.  It hangs from the ceiling and is sparkly and blinky.  Oh, and the Christmas Disco Ball, is a story I plan to share very soon.  I am just trying to figure out how best to hang it from the ceiling and find the really cool disco music to go with it.  I am thinking some Disco Duck would be awesome.

I love blocks, and all building material that can be used in whatever way my children can imagine. This is why this week we are going to talk about a Pvc Pipe Construction set. I was first introduced to this idea awhile back at a center where I taught preschool, I fell in love with it immediately, but no one knew where it came from or who put it together. When I moved back to family child care, I still had this pvc construction set in my brain, I thought it would be perfect for my outside play area. I did not know at the time, when I went out got a bunch of pvc pipe, connectors, fittings and everything cool looking in the pvc world. That I would stumble upon a wonderful book where I could find great instructions on how to build a set where it can be used in a learning and exploring way, instead of Jedi Knight training. However, I will say that my children loved my put it together, here you go enjoy, pace pipe construction set. anyway,

Now, I have found myself in need of another set. Over the last couple of years, the set that I made has lost pieces, has pieces I can no longer get apart, and all we can make now seems to be really big beating sticks. I am going to share the book and the instructions and some cool pictures of me putting together my new Pvc Pipe Construction Set.

The book is Do-It-Yourself Early Learning: Easy and Fun Activities and Toys from Everyday Home Center Materials’ Do-It-Yourself Early Learning by Jeff a. Johnson and Tasha A. Johnson, I love this book and it has many great ideas to explore and bring out the do-it-your selfer, I know that you have it in you.

The materials needed: all the pipe, elbows, connectors, end caps and fittings 1/2 inch Schedule 40 PVC pipe.

• Four, 10 foot pieces
• Ten,  90 degree elbows
• Ten,  45 degree elbows
• Ten connectors or couplings
• Ten end caps
• Ten tee-fittings
• Ten four-way fittings

Tools needed:

• Tape Measure
• Marker
• Pvc pipe cutter or hacksaw
• Sandpaper

Do it yourself:

• Start by measuring and cutting the four pieces of 10 foot pvc pipe into these measurements.
  • Thirty 4-inch pieces
  • Twenty 6-inch pieces
  • Twelve 10-inch pieces
  • Eight 15-inch pieces
• Now use the sand paper to smooth the ends where you cut
• Mix the straight sections of pipe with the assorted fittings and connectors.  Viola! instant exploration and learning fun.

Helpful Hints:

• I found out that you can get five foot lengths, these fit into my van very nicely.
• If you decide to use the pipe cutter, you can work quite nicely in front of the T.V. cutting.  The hack saw is a bit messier and you will want to do that outside.
• The pipe cutter does a nice clean cut, but the ends will still need some sanding. Then ends leave a little rim, that makes it more difficult to put the fittings and connectors on.

This PVC Pipe Construction set is tough and durable and pretty cost effective (it cost me around $45 dollars). I have tried to find something that is comparable. The pipe builders that you can order from one of the school supply places are similar, just not very durable.  My kids would step on them and they would crack and break, they have lasted me less than a year. My own attempt at an earlier set that had not to much rhyme or reason was a great hit with my kids.  This one is far better and the perfect size to complement a block area.