I have had a lot of things on my "to do" list lately. Not my home list, but my work list. I get ideas. And then I have to figure out how to turn them into reality. I'm not the best at asking others for help, but I'm really good at asking my hubby D for help. Unfortunately he hasn't had much free time lately so the "to do" list swims around and around in my brain and gets longer.
Until this week-end! He got some extra time off work and generously offered to help me with some of my projects.
Here are some of the things that are going on in the toddler room these days.
1. Repair the yellow sand box.
I am not sure how old this sand box is but my guess is that it's been around for a while. Recently the liner disintegrated and the bottom popped out. I am planning to put in some Kinetic Sand and since we have usual daycare budget issues I am planning to use this RECIPE. I thought the Kinetic Sand might stay in the box a little better, however, I work in a toddler room and toddlers like to TRANSPORT things, so I won't hold my breath. The Kinetic Sand is nice for it's ability to hold its form.
2. Sand the tree cookies.
I got these from Home Depot. They are the bits off the bottom of Christmas trees. The guy was happy for me to haul them away and they are perfect for the toddlers to play with. I actually sanded these myself, I didn't need the hubby to do it. I was just waiting for a bit warmer weather. I just sanded them and haven't applied a finish at this point. I made some other tree blocks with a finish. You can read about it HERE.
3. Bird feeder or Bird bath.
I found these items at the thrift store. A wreath, clay dish, hemp string, and a little greenery. I got the idea HERE. I think for now we will put seeds in ours.
Maybe ours will look a little like this when its done!
4. Hanging frames.
A co-worker of mine used to clean houses for seniors. One of them gave her some old pictures in really large frames. She brought them to the daycare thinking we might be able to use them in some way. I am embarrassed to say they hid behind the couch for about 3 years. I really want to hang them up! I thought they would be awesome on the patio so that when you look through the frame you see nature! Alas, we did not get these hung, but holes were drilled so they can be, shortly. One of my co-workers thought it might be good to have a communication board right next to the door parents enter. I wonder if we could use one of the frames for this in some way?
5. Hanging frames for art display.
We want to create a gallery. The Artful Parent inspired me. We had some nice frames with really old art in it. It was nice art but it needed to be freshened up.
Toddler art looks so spectacular when it is framed.
I recommend THIS blog for ideas of ways to use embroidery hoops as frames!
I think these will look lovely with some art in. We can either hang them from one of our tree branches or add them to the gallery.
6. A platform made with plywood and a pallet.
We were recently donated some really sturdy pallets and I wanted a platform for the toddlers to play on, to go up and down off of, or to use the platform to define a space. Do you have pallets? Here are some more GREAT IDEAS from Let the Children Play.
I think simple platforms like this are essential in infant and toddler rooms and could be used in many ways.
For now I just put a carpet on it to display a felted winter scene.
7. Fastening the magnetic white board to the wall.
I think the toddlers will have on-going fun with this. I thought we could put magnets behind old puzzle pieces, laminated pics, or cut out felt pieces. We also could attach magnets to loose part items such as milk lids, large gems, story stones etc. They could also use the white board for drawing of course. I am excited about this addition to our room.
My list actually has more on it, but these are the things we got accomplished this week-end.
My head feels better now.
My head feels better now.
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