Showing posts with label kindergarten. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kindergarten. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Natural Food Dyes

Gosh, for so long, I have used synthetic food colouring for cooking, craft and activities with children....

Shocking that I haven't contemplated this until now..

NATURAL FOOD DYES...We should all be using them...they are SOooooo easy to make and we have access to pretty much all the ingredients and, better yet, we have governance over the exact colours should we choose to mix them. BUT, the best and top reason to be using natural food dyes is...the children!!!





We can get our hands even messier now but it's OK...it all washes off and it is all yummy in the process!!



A blender works just as well as a juicer.
Keep the pulp..it will come in handy for something.







Delicious juices...almost there
yum!

  



A lot of the time in cooking recipes, colouring needs to be added in a non liquid form. To get this you will need to boil down the fruits so the water evaporates.
This worked well for the raspberries and the mangoes.
As for the veggies, we used the pulp itself to dye the flour.
It kind of worked.
Finished, evaporated dye. Smells good!
 


It's so refreshing to be able to do things with the children that they can create, enjoy and remember!

Yes, this is time consuming, but it is sooooo worth it when you take into account the damage continued use of chemical food colourings can do.


***Inspiration for this activity came from Dule Delight Link


Friday, February 14, 2014

Castle! (My Reggio Lifestyle...)

One of the first challenges I faced at the new job, was when my boss suggested building a castle!! My vision had been plain and more 2D....I should have realised that the bigger the better and I have set a precedent for future projects now too...(Looking forward to them..!)

We decided to build a castle for the England theme, although now we have overlapped into the next theme of Spain...not a problem!

We have five towers, add some small domes and it becomes MontJuic in Barcelona! Phew.. Ihave even made some tickets, to remind them and to use wisely!

One of the concepts of the Reggio approoach is getting the students to work together on big projects. It creates an instant sense of teamwork, involvement and any ideas contributed get put into the final concept.

From this...
For example, I am hedging my bets on this not being a regular brown or even grey castle...we have had requests for rainbow towers and the like...! And, why not! After all, this is their work, not mine...I am just making sure there is paint in the pots for them to use!
To this.....
...with lots of this......

...and many times this!!
tickets!

Finishing up!
 And there is the rainbow...!

Proving that the Reggio concept is colourful, rewarding and FUN!!!