Kelly Daycare

The Kelly Daycare is open for business!!!! Well, not really, but yesterday it certainly felt like it. I had Daniel, Megan and Lily for the day and it was quite the zoo. They actually are such good little friends that they play nicely (for the most part) together and the fighting and whining was kept to a minimum.

This is one of my greatest inventions...ok, I didn't invent it, but who knew a piece of chalk could keep 5 kids - 6 if you add neighbor Abhi to the mix - intertained for at least an hour?! The kids rode their bikes on the "race track" on and off all day long. They also did running races, and Maggie did her version of a triathlon, minus the swimming of course...she just pretended. : )

Snack time. The kids have learned that to aviod Bella during snacktime, the best place to snack is on the other side of the street on the curb. We call this "the snacking area".

Maya and Lily having fun with the jump rope.

Next we had a coloring contest. I drew each of the kids a circle on the driveway and told them we were going to have a contest to see who could do the most colorful coloring of their circles. Megan here I actually thought was the most creative...she created herself of course!

Maggie actually did use the most colors...all segmented and nicely colored.

Daniel isn't so much into the coloring, but did his best with Bella supervising.

When they were all done, each one got a prize for their coloring being the "best" at whatever I came up with and they all got to choose a pencil! (leftovers from Maggie's 4th B-day party...)

In the afternoon it got a little stormy and rainy, so we opted for an indoor activity. I found a recipe for scented play-doh and we gave it a whirl. We made 1 batch flavored with Lemonade Kool-Aid, and another with a Berry Kool-Aid. They really did smell good and when they cooled off enough to handle the kids got right to work on their masterpieces. Here's the recipe for anyone who's interested. I found it on the internet somewhere:

2 c. flour

1 c. salt

4 T. cream of tartar

2 c. boiling water

2 T. oil

Mix dry ingredients in saucepan. Add boiling water and oil. Stir over medium heat until it forms a ball. Take it out and put on wax paper until it cools enough to handle. If it is really sticky, add sprinkles of flour until it feels like play-doh.

Suprisingly enough, the little girls, Lily and Maya lasted the longest at play-doh. The others were more than ready to get outside (the rain had stopped by then) to have a popcicle.

We had a fun day, but in no way, shape, of form would I EVER consider doing daycare full time. My own kids drive me nuts enough without adding other peoples' children to the mix!