thanks again to the inspiration of teacher tom and thanks to the energy and imagination of a preschool family, we have our own art roller! i sent one of teacher tom’s photos out to our families and here it is! it’s also been called “paper drum” and “crayon spinner.”
but the preschool friend who helped her daddy build it thought we should call it the “art roller.”
i. can’t. wait. to. slather. paint. on. it.
thank you again, mr john and ronni. and thank you to all you families who offered to build it if i would have found the barrel!
newcreationpreschool.com 
I think it would be so fun to find a big barrel, large enough for kids to stand in, then build the same thing for them to run inside. We had something like it at our local city playground when I was a kid. We would get 5-6 of us in it at once and get going really fast! I assume they don’t make them anymore due to liability issues, but still . . . =)
LikeLike
oh, yes, our park used to have one like that too.
tom, i say you build it, then take a picture, then i’ll find someone to build one like it. : )
LikeLike
Yeah! It’s a beauty! I think I like your names for it better than “spinny barrel thingy.” I don’t know if I wrote about this, but one cool way for the kids to use it is to put pillows or a gym mat under it and see if they want to draw on their backs. You just have to be careful because they’ll want to try spinning it with their feet and unless an adult is nearby the whole barrel will go flying!
I love my parents as much as my kids. It sounds like you do too!
LikeLike
oh, tom, yes. we’ll bring out the mats soon. great idea.
when one dad saw it, he got a glimmer in his eye and said, “hey! is that for the kids to go in for rides?” i think that would be a blast too. : )
thanks again for your inspiration!
LikeLike