Great Ideas That Were Not

[BumbleBee]

Ever have a great idea for a project, activity, outing with the kids?

Ever do that great idea with the kids and find out it was NOT a great idea after all???

My great idea this week was to make applesauce with the kids. I have no Apple peeler, no Apple corer, nothing. Just a knife and some apples. I had to go to the store last night to get sugar and cinnamon.

The kids are all under the age of 4. There's 8 of them. We managed but not doing that again!!! We'll make Apple muffins or something next year!

So, anybody else have a great idea that ended up being not so great????

[Baby Beluga]

Aww, I'm sorry your applesauce didn't work out! We make it every year. I peel the apples the morning of (or the night before and let soak in a water/lemon juice mixture to prevent browning) then I cut the apple into quarters, and give each kid a with a piece along with a butter knife. They cut the apples into small junks using the butter knives then we dump apples, cinnamon, water and a splash of vanilla in the crock pot. By PM snack we have homemade applesauce. It's a hit every year.

I think my fails are PJ and movie days. For some reason my kids cannot sit for a movie. Or even a short show. Every single time one person ends up in tears because it's scary (even though its G rated) and ends up playing in the classroom and the others just roll around on the floor until it is finished.

[BumbleBee]

Oh we still made the applesauce. It was just rough!

[MarinaVanessa]

Toad tadpoles. My own kids and I trapped them from the creek and a neighbor told me they were toads. The plan was to let them grow limbs so the daycare kids can see them and release them back into the creek. We caught 30 of them.

They ended up being tree frogs and there was a small opening on the cover on the tank where the aquarium pump goes. We were gone one weekend and when I got back several had escaped and were all over the house in the ceiling corners, in closets, behind furniture. I had to count the leftover tadpoles and frogs we caught in the house and got all but 4. I left trays of water out and caught another 2 the next day. Months later I cleaned out a closet and found a shriveled up frog. I never did find the last one.

I don't do tadpoles anymore. I stick to butterflies and chicken eggs.

[Blackcat31]

Originally Posted by MarinaVanessa

Toad tadpoles. My own kids and I trapped them from the creek and a neighbor told me they were toads. The plan was to let them grow limbs so the daycare kids can see them and release them back into the creek. We caught 30 of them.

They ended up being tree frogs and there was a small opening on the cover on the tank where the aquarium pump goes. We were gone one weekend and when I got back several had escaped and were all over the house in the ceiling corners, in closets, behind furniture. I had to count the leftover tadpoles and frogs we caught in the house and got all but 4. I left trays of water out and caught another 2 the next day. Months later I cleaned out a closet and found a shriveled up frog. I never did find the last one.

I don't do tadpoles anymore. I stick to butterflies and chicken eggs.

[sahm1225]

Originally Posted by Baby Beluga

Aww, I'm sorry your applesauce didn't work out! We make it every year. I peel the apples the morning of (or the night before and let soak in a water/lemon juice mixture to prevent browning) then I cut the apple into quarters, and give each kid a with a piece along with a butter knife. They cut the apples into small junks using the butter knives then we dump apples, cinnamon, water and a splash of vanilla in the crock pot. By PM snack we have homemade applesauce. It's a hit every year.

I think my fails are PJ and movie days. For some reason my kids cannot sit for a movie. Or even a short show. Every single time one person ends up in tears because it's scary (even though its G rated) and ends up playing in the classroom and the others just roll around on the floor until it is finished.

Is applesauce really that easy to make??? What applescdo you use,?

[Baby Beluga]

Originally Posted by BumbleBee

Oh we still made the applesauce. It was just rough!

I bet it will be yummy!

[Baby Beluga]

Originally Posted by sahm1225

Is applesauce really that easy to make??? What applescdo you use,?

Yes, absolutly! Honestly, I use whatever. Usually gala apples with one or two golden delicious apples thrown in. I love it
The kids love it. Since it is homemade the color will be a darker brown (no absorbic acid added like the store bought stuff) but I believe you can add lemon juice to help with that. The color doesn't affect the taste though. My favorite is warm homemade applesauce with vanilla ice cream.

[hwichlaz]

Originally Posted by sahm1225

Is applesauce really that easy to make??? What applescdo you use,?

I have everyone bring 2 apples from home. Applesauce is best when it’s a mixture of apples. Then I fill in with a bag of Gala, Fuji, or Granny Smith.

[Cat Herder]

I posted my state park river outing fieldtrip here before. I don't have the time to post it again but it was harrowing. Never. I mean, never again.

Any project that includes mod-podge, balloons and yarn, I am out.

I am sure there are a hundred others.

[CalCare]

Praying Mantis egg sacks. I had to keep the two egg sacks inside the cup they were mailed in because I had one butterfly that was still using the habitat. I waited for the egg sacks to hatch, inside the cup as I waited for the injured butterfly, Betty, to be done with the habitat. I guess I thought when the babies emerged, I would put them in some other habitat if my butterfly was still alive. The painted lady butterfly that was supposed to be released weeks before needed long term care, couldn't fly, and lived an absurdly long life. She became my pet. I hand fed Betty for over a month.. I watched and waited for the mantids throughout the day, every day.. until I became busy some days. Then I checked it one day and I saw they were coming out of the sack. I thought, 'omg who knows how long they've been out!?' I knew I had to release them immediately or else they would begin to eat each other if they hadn't been already. So I released them in my rose bushes; which I thought they would probably enjoy as they could find bugs there. The release was on a Friday evening. I went to look at them on Saturday and Sunday and they were dispersing more and more. There were none left by Monday. The childcare kids never saw the egg sack, never saw the mantids, nothing. My own kids did. So there was some purpose at least! Eventually Betty died. Her favorite food was honeydew.

[Aussiedaycare]

Originally Posted by MarinaVanessa

Toad tadpoles. My own kids and I trapped them from the creek and a neighbor told me they were toads. The plan was to let them grow limbs so the daycare kids can see them and release them back into the creek. We caught 30 of them.

They ended up being tree frogs and there was a small opening on the cover on the tank where the aquarium pump goes. We were gone one weekend and when I got back several had escaped and were all over the house in the ceiling corners, in closets, behind furniture. I had to count the leftover tadpoles and frogs we caught in the house and got all but 4. I left trays of water out and caught another 2 the next day. Months later I cleaned out a closet and found a shriveled up frog. I never did find the last one.

I don't do tadpoles anymore. I stick to butterflies and chicken eggs.

This literally made me laugh so hard I had coffee come out my nose

Made applesauce once. All the kids helped with the peeling and putting the apples in the still cold crock pot. The last kid then proceeded to sneeze right into the crock pot. Never again.

[DaveA]

Painting with Nerf balls. It was all fun and games till my director looked out the window and saw us.

[BumbleBee]

Originally Posted by DaveA

Painting with Nerf balls. It was all fun and games till my director looked out the window and saw us.

Saving this idea for next summer and my gaggle of boys!!!

[MomBoss]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Made applesauce once. All the kids helped with the peeling and putting the apples in the still cold crock pot. The last kid then proceeded to sneeze right into the crock pot. Never again.

This happened to me when making a cake with the kids. Sneezed right into it. Makes me so mad when kids dont cover or look away when sneezing. And it never fails that when im sitting on the floor with the kids, someone will walk up to me and sneeze in my face. Why why whyyyy

[ColorfulSunburst]

Originally Posted by CalCare

Praying Mantis egg sacks. I had to keep the two egg sacks inside the cup they were mailed in because I had one butterfly that was still using the habitat. I waited for the egg sacks to hatch, inside the cup as I waited for the injured butterfly, Betty, to be done with the habitat. I guess I thought when the babies emerged, I would put them in some other habitat if my butterfly was still alive. The painted lady butterfly that was supposed to be released weeks before needed long term care, couldn't fly, and lived an absurdly long life. She became my pet. I hand fed Betty for over a month.. I watched and waited for the mantids throughout the day, every day.. until I became busy some days. Then I checked it one day and I saw they were coming out of the sack. I thought, 'omg who knows how long they've been out!?' I knew I had to release them immediately or else they would begin to eat each other if they hadn't been already. So I released them in my rose bushes; which I thought they would probably enjoy as they could find bugs there. The release was on a Friday evening. I went to look at them on Saturday and Sunday and they were dispersing more and more. There were none left by Monday. The childcare kids never saw the egg sack, never saw the mantids, nothing. My own kids did. So there was some purpose at least! Eventually, Betty died. Her favorite food was honeydew.

do not tell me about praying mantis. I still have one. His name is Potap. I will not tell you how much I already spent on Amazon for his food and how my assistants and I hunting flys if Amazon delivers his food later then expected. and yes, kids show zero interest.
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[MarinaVanessa]

Originally Posted by Blackcat31

Originally Posted by Aussiedaycare

This literally made me laugh so hard I had coffee come out my nose

I STILL don't find it funny. Whenever I deep clean or go through a closet I still think "OK today is the day I find the last frog"

[LK5kids]

Originally Posted by sahm1225

Is applesauce really that easy to make??? What applescdo you use,?

I make applesauce any time I have it on the menu. I just cut up the apples into small chunks, add a little water and simmer. My kids like chunky applesauce but you can mash it quite fine ( but it will still have texture).

[CalCare]

Originally Posted by ColorfulSunburst

do not tell me about praying mantis. I still have one. His name is Potap. I will not tell you how much I already spent on Amazon for his food and how my assistants and I hunting flys if Amazon delivers his food later then expected. and yes, kids show zero interest.
Attachment 4853

That's awesome! How long has it lived so far? I can't believe you have to catch flies for it. That's just too much. I thought handfeeding Betty was over the top lol at least it was just fruit.

[Bluemoon5]

Spaghetti sensory play. Most of the kids had fun, but it was a lot messier than expected. I was anticipating maybe a 3 on the mess scale, which translates to the area gets blocked off so it doesn't get all over the room, but everyone stays fully dressed. It got All. Over. I was still digging mushed spaghetti out of kids shoes at nap time.

I'd still do it again, but with the floor covered and everyone stripped down to diapers and shirts.

[ColorfulSunburst]

Originally Posted by CalCare

That's awesome! How long has it lived so far? I can't believe you have to catch flies for it. That's just too much. I thought handfeeding Betty was over the top lol at least it was just fruit.

Today I let him go to my front yard. He is around 4mo. There is a lot of insects for him over there.

[Jdy2222]

Colored rice on the lanai. I think it started with bowls of rice and measuring spoons/cups. Somewhere along the way it turned into rice down the slides and being thrown up in the air. Rice was everywhere. Clean up seemed simple ... swept what I could and then got out the hose. Wet sticky rice was definitely NOT easier to clean up. It took months to get it out of every nook and corner.

[flying_babyb]

Originally Posted by DaveA

Painting with Nerf balls. It was all fun and games till my director looked out the window and saw us.

I can top this. I was teaching my school age and preschoolers about chemical reactions (they loved science). We had already made a volcano, unplugged a sink and grown a ton of random flowers. So we decided to try mentos and soda. I went out and bought a drop tube to make a better reaction. So Im thinking smart, had my coworker and the kids stand at the fence and went out into the alley to do the experiment, less cleanup). Well, I got the mentos in, and it made a mess. So we decided to do it again... Well a single mento got stuck, causing the ones that fell in to create a pressure.... The building owner(and director) walked out togehter, right as the bottle EXPLODED. It showers me, the bosses car, the building behind us and owner.... thank god he laughed. I smelled like moutain dew for a week!

[CeriBear]

We were learning about colors one week so I decided to have the kids practice mixing colors by using shaving cream and food coloring in plastic bags. I would let them pick 2 colors and we would see what colors they would make. Not wanting to spend a lot of money I bough the cheapest brand of plastic bags and it was a disaster. The bags broke and the shaving cream and food coloring got everywhere. I may try this experiment again but will make it a point to buy sturdy bags. Four year olds can be rough on things.