Great Ideas That Were Not

[MomBoss]

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]

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.

[MarinaVanessa]

::::

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]

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]

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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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 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]

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 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]

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.