All you’ll need is…

• a cardboard box
• shaving cream or paint or glue (or a mixture of all three if you’re feeling brave)!
• some buttons, glitter or other assorted decorations

Now…

1. Find a cardboard box (you can cover it in paper bags for easier cleanup or to reuse it).
2. Put out the “frosting” of choice.
3. Choose decorations! This could be buttons, glitter, paper, stickers, pompoms, or anything else that might be fun. Even some candles for the top!
4. Decorate the cake! The kids can use their hands, utensils, or paint brushes. This can be a fun, messy activity to do outside on a beautiful day like today! When they’re all done and have shaving cream up to their elbows, a little bit of water play will wash it right off!

When you are done…

1. Color on coffee filters with markers – darker colors show up better, but lighter ones will work too! Covering the whole coffee filter in colors creates the best effect.
2. Lay coffee filter on a towel (or cardstock/other thick paper to make another picture) and drip some water over the colored coffee filter. You can do this using a small cup of water, a damp sponge, or just your hands!
3. Lay out the coffee filters to dry. Once dry, stack the coffee filters together, and twist them so they look like a flower.
4. Poke a small hole in the middle of the stack and stick a pipe cleaner through. You may need a bit of tape to keep the “flowers” in place.

You can also give your child pipe cleaners, beads, google eyes, small straws, rubber bands, and any craft supplies to go with play dough… they don’t have to make bugs out of these things, see what they make!

My last example, I used stamp pads and my fingers to make my own kind of bug… look they’re saying hi to you!

When my grandchildren were “distance” visiting this weekend and in need of a quiet break in the action, (as were their parents!), they got a kick out of this activity. The only real requirement is lots of puffy white clouds in the sky.

Hint: My grandchildren were super excited when I told them the ice cream they had been clamoring for was going to be delivered after we played the game.

So, grab some beach towels or a beach blanket and some sunglasses and tell everyone to get comfortable, relax, and look up to the clouds. You can read the poem below for some creative inspiration or simply ask the children what they see and think. My grandson Jacob, age six, quickly declared that he was planning to build an elaborate “basketball world” up in his cloud. His three year old sister, Abby, readily offered up a plan for a “rainbow castle.”

Be sure to have paper and pencil ready to capture their ideas, and crayons for them to draw pictures if they like. Treat yourself to a mind/body break and snuggle up beside your kids and get your head in the clouds.

Cloud Fun

By Marlene

Lie down in the grass and gaze up at the sky,
What do the clouds look like floating by?
Could they be dinosaurs or a huge ice cream cone?
Maybe you can make some clouds of your own!

Now Imagine you are sitting on a cloud in the sky,
How would you feel on your perch up so high?
What would you see as you looked down below?
What would you want your friends to know?

Preschoolers love to paint! In the Purple Room, we are fortunate to have lots of various types and sizes of paint brushes. Most mornings when you arrive, you can see some sort of painting or gluing activity set up at the big wall easel. It’s exciting to explore this interest area of the classroom.

Albert Einstein maintained that creative imagination was “more important than knowledge,” and alternatively, that “creativity is intelligence having fun.” A child’s imagination is liberated with a brush and colors! It is safe to say painting liberates children.

Painting not only fosters creativity for young children through different mediums, it enhances the world around them. Various combinations of brushes, paper type and size all teach children their internal ideas. They can then bring these ideas to life. Painting increases motor and visual skills. Sometimes we use egg cartons or similar recycled containers to hold the paint at a table or easel activity. You could try this at home. Sometimes using white paint with just one other color but in different shades is fun for the children to explore and mix up on their own. Preschoolers also like to talk about RAINBOWS! It’s interesting when you can offer all the colors of the rainbow for children to choose from.

Picasso believed every child is born an artist. Have some fun and set your Purple Room Artists free!

We all know how much the children LOVE bandaids. Tell them this is a chance to design their own bandaids and get to use some real ones as well! Explain how hard all of the doctor “helpers” are working to help everyone stay healthy and strong. Suggest that they make a very special thank you picture to give to a “Helper” they know or put in the window to show their appreciation. Here’s all you need to get started:

MATERIALS

A piece of paper and white paper strips cut to look like different sized and shaped bandaids. If you happen to have white label stickers these work great too. Glue, glue stick or tape. Crayons, markers, craypas or any drawing implements you have on hand, A few real bandaids to start with. The children will clamor for more. You can always suggest that after they have filled their paper with colors and designed at least one of their own bandaids, you could find a few more real ones for them to use!

ACTIVITIES

Now let your child loose to create a unique thank you picture for a “Helper or Helpers” in their life. Encourage them to use all of the materials you provide and to fill their paper with colors and designs When their picture is finished, ask them what they would like to say to the doctor’s, nurses etc. and add their words of thanks to their picture.

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a good weekend and was able to get outside for some fresh air. Purple Room has many chefs in the making, so today’s activity includes some fun ideas for snack time that you and your child can make together! Baking is a great opportunity to teach your child about kitchen safety, as well as allow them to feel excited about the food they eat. The children love to mix, dump, and stir, so it also provides a fun sensory experience. Below are a couple of recipes that are easy and can be individualized so that your child can make the recipe their own.

No-Bake Oatmeal Energy Balls

• 1 cup dry oats
• ¼ cup peanut or sunflower seed butter
• ¼ cup honey
• Whatever mix-ins you want! (ie craisins, chocolate chips, crushed pretzels, dried fruit)

1. In a medium bowl, mix together all the ingredients and stir well to combine. The mixture will be a bit sticky. Put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Scoop out about a tablespoon or so of the mixture and roll it into a ball using your hands. Repeat until all the mixture is gone.
3. Store in the fridge to have snack for the week or freezer for longer!

Apple Donuts

• Apples
• Sunflower Seed or peanut butter (can also mix with cocoa powder to make chocolatey)
• Rainbow sprinkles
• Granola
• Chocolate chips
• Any other toppings your child likes!

1. Slice one or two apples horizontally, about ½” thick (will need to cut the middle out after slicing to look like a donut).
2. Have your child spread peanut or sunflower seed butter onto the “apple donut.” They can do this with a popsicle stick.
3. Place toppings in small bowls and your child can pick out toppings they want to “decorate” their donut!

After all this baking, there may be a bit of a mess to clean up, so for a bonus activity, hand your child a sponge and put some dishes in a small bin with soapy water. They’ll have a blast helping clean!

Purple Room Team; Patty, Marlene, Lizzie, Lauren and Dan