Tuesday 7 May 2019

School Age - April update


The warmer weather has made afternoons at the schoolyard lots of fun! This is where school-aged children will be most days between 4pm and 5pm for the remainder of the school year. When we are at the school yard a notice will be posted on the front door of the daycare.

During our annual spring cleaning we found several boxes of Barbie dolls and action figures with all of their accessories in storage, and they have been a hit with the older children! They have dressed them up , acted out movies, and built homes and even towns for them!

We are beginning to make plans for summer in the school age room and look forward to many adventures!

Kinders - April update


Our kindergarten group has taken an interest in dramatic play that centers around a school theme. As they take turns being teachers, students, and principles we get an idea of how they interpret these roles! We provided backpacks, clipboards, and other school supplies to enhance their play.

We have noticed a change in their approach to art activities recently, too. They are choosing materials they are comfortable with (like markers and plain paper) less often, and beginning to ask for new and different materials on a regular bases ( various types of paint, recycled materials, and beads for example). They like to sit together but make independent projects, often each using completely different materials rather than all wanting to make the same “craft”. It has been wonderful to see their unique and creative ideas!

KinderStart/Butterfly group - April update


Two big things happening this month really seemed to capture this groups attention- NHL hockey play-offs and Earth day!

We have used both of these themes as starting points for many activities ranging from process art activities (like rolling marbles through paint to make Earth and designing our own hockey logos on paper pucks with pastels) to dramatic play, to basic math skills (like hockey logo matching games) to literature activities! When we find that the children are excited about something, it gives us opportunities to practice skills and explore concepts in fun new ways!

Tuesday 30 April 2019

Infant Room - April Update

What an exciting Month we have had!  The weather has been beautiful and we have played outside lots.  We found all our toys and loose parts after the snow melted!  We've explored outside using our gross motor, fine motor and sensory skills by; picking up leaves, grass, branches, pushed toys around the yard, slid down slides and ran up out little hill.  We made instruments with tubes, tin cans and branches - what beautiful music it made!

Toddlebots - April Update


Well!  We thought that March flew by with all the transitions and new routines, but now April is done too now and I can’t even believe it!  The days seem to go by so fast as we are always so busy on the Toddle Bot side!  Here are a few of the things we did this month!

We started the month off with some cool science and sensory activities; the Toddle Bots woke up from nap to find a poster on the wall with colored paper towel roles glued to it, under each roll was a bowl of the same color filled with pom poms.  The Toddle Bots quickly began dropping the pom poms through the rolls, some would match and sort colors other just like to drop and pick up!  We put shaving cream into a zip lock bag and added a drop of food coloring to it, the bags were taped shut and the Toddle Bots squished and poked the bags to mix the color, did you know a drop of red and a drop of blue will make purple! The Toddle Bots were VERY excited to figure this out!  We explored corn starch magic and loved as the goo dripped through our fingers!  We also drew a picture of a town complete with a house for everyone in it, we drove toy cars all around the town, we were full of laughs and smiles when it “snowed” white paint onto the roads, cars had to drive through the car wash bucket when they got to snowy!

To celebrate spring we did some sponge painting, and we made rainbows, and flowers.  We used food coloring and medicine droppers to decorate coffee filters and turn them into butterflies, and we made a co-operative caterpillar to brighten up our wall.

For Easter we decorated paper eggs using bingo dabbers, this is a great was to practice our color recognition as well as sharing and taking turns as we use one color at a time and then pass it to a friend and receive a new color.  We also used paint with sparkles and texture to make eggs and we glued pom poms onto Easter bunnies.   We decorated real hard boiled eggs using a swirl or shaving cream and food coloring.  The toddle bots enjoyed rolling the eggs through the mixture but by far their favorite part was wearing rubber gloves!

Happy Spring Everyone!  I can’t wait to see what May has in store for us!

Monday 1 April 2019

Caterpilars and Kinderstart - March Update

Our March was jam-packed and busy!!  We spent so much time outside enjoying the warmer weather.  We went on many walks around town and even made a few stops at the Rec Centre to climb and play games on the ``mountains``.  It won`t be too long before all the snow melts and we will be running in the grass!

During the last week of March, we enjoyed a fun Spring Break.  The boys were so excited to organize a game of ``street hockey``.  They all brought in their sticks from home and took turns playing the different positions!   We walked all the way to Ashland Park on one of the days and although the snow is melting, there was still a lot of snow we had to get trudge through to get to the swings and climbing structure - it was all worth the hard work!!  Another day, we went on a treasure hunt around town and enjoyed looking for a variety of things in nature.  One day, we even got to celebrate everyone`s birthday at once!!  We decorated the room with streamers and a balloons, made and decorated a cake, played birthday games and even had a dance party!

We`re looking forward to April and a beautiful Spring!      

Infants - March Blog

March has come and gone so fast!  It`s hard to believe it is over now.  This month we were able to enjoy lots of time outside in the beautiful spring weather.  The kids loved to go out and splash around in the puddles and there is so much more exploring to do now that all of the snow us melting!

The children are all such little monkeys - they absolutely love to climb on anything and everything!  We recently purchased a little climber and slide and we are so excited for it to arrive so the children can use it!

At the end of March, was Spring Break and it was such a fun week!  On Monday, we had a salon day where all children had their hair done and explored with velcro hair rollers.  We also pretended to paint our nails (using a paint brush and water!)  Tuesday was Doctor day and the children were invited to bring their favorite stuffed animal from home.  We pretended to be Doctors and help out little stuffed animals feel better!  On Wednesday, we had beach and camping day.  We set up a tent in our room and then got our bathing suits on and played in the water table - the children all loved splashing around and getting wet!  On Thursday, we all worked together to bake chocolate chip cookies (Mmmmmmm!!!), for our party on Friday.  During our party on Friday, we all got to try on some fun party hats and blowers.  We out on music and had a blast dancing!!

We are looking forward to April and all of the warm weather that will keep us outside exploring!  We will continue to work together to provide the children with fun learning opportunities, based on their interests.

Toddlebots - March Update


Well March has come and gone and it was a huge month for the Toddle Bots.

I joined the Toddle Bot group on March 4th and shadowed Brittany for a week learning the routines and getting to know your children.  After the fastest week in history we said a sad good bye to Brittany and the month went on.

The Toddle Bots are so welcoming and we have quickly fallen into a routine mostly familiar to them.

The weather has warmed up significantly allowing us to spend lots of time out in the yard; I really enjoy being outdoors and have seen firsthand the benefits that large blocks of outdoor play can have on young children.  It allows them time to get deep into dramatic and physical play as well as absorbing vitamin D and access to fresh air.  My hope is to incorporate a lot of outdoor time as the weather warms up and we welcome summer.

We have added an informal circle time (children are free to come and go) to the Toddle Bot group, I realized early this month that the Toddle Bots LOVE to sing!! They also love to learn and practice actions to songs they know and are curious and excited to learn new songs!  At circle time I have introduced some props to help choose song both new and familiar to the Toddle Bots these include:

-A song box, where each Toddler can reach in and choose a song card, as we sing their song they get to put it back into the box.

-A song wheel where children can take turn spinning the arrow around to a song of their choice.

-A dice of pictures of familiar songs that can be shaken and rolled to choose a song.

-I have also been using finger puppets to tell stories and sing songs.

The Toddle Bots have been very open and receptive to Circle Time and often are all willing to clean up and come running when I begin singing our circle time gathering song.

We have spent time painting, gluing, and coloring this month so I can get use to each child’s abilities and begin planning activities to meet their needs.

We ended the month with a few spirit weeks and enjoyed dressing up and being silly.

I am really excited to be a part of the Toddle Bot group and can’t wait to see what next month has in store for us!

Happy Spring!

-Shawna

Tuesday 5 March 2019

School-Age - February Update


The school age group has continued to prove to us just how resourceful and creative they are! We have seen them build and create amazing things with any materials we provide, from specialized art pencils to scraps of cardboard and fabric!
One thing we have observed this month is that a lot of the children are making things (pictures, cards, etc.) for others. Especially older children making things for their younger peers, which has helped build a sense of community throughout the program!

Kinders - February Update

Our kinders have been focusing a lot on kindness this month. We have read books about empathy and caring, talked about patience with younger children, and practiced pro-social skills like helping, listening, and taking turns through a variety of play experiences.
We have been doing lots of movement activities, freeze dance being the favorite! We have also done yoga and  dancing with scarves and ribbons! Any time they hear music, this group starts moving!

We look forward to visiting the forest throughout march and exploring the opportunities and new experiences that go with it! What and exciting time to be a Kinder!



Butterflies - February Update

February was a busy and exciting month for this group! They worked so hard at their weekly skating practices with Reba and Meagan and gained confidence each week. This really complimented their ongoing interest in hockey, too! Hockey has made it’s way into various types of play, from arena building to designing team logos and getting into character as their favorite players! We have used this interest to promote literacy skills by practicing writing names (and numbers) for their jerseys, and filling out “registration forms” to play.

Valentine’s Day was another highlight this month and the children were so excited to make cards with stamps and play with glittery valentine slime! We also read a few special Valentine’s books featuring Franklin, Dora, and other loveable cartoon characters!
Now that we are FINALLY coming out of the deep freeze, we have been enjoying more outdoor play again and the children have really been into using tools (plastic snow saws, snow molds, shovels) to work with the snow. Sometimes they work side by side just cutting or shaping the snow, and sometimes they work together to build walls and forts!

We have also tried doing yoga in the snow! Balancing was hard, but the children had so much fun trying and had big smiles the whole time!

Infant Room - Febraury Update

First of all, I would like to mention that we said goodbye to our little friend Nolan as he turned 2 and moved up to the Toddlebot Program - we will miss you Nolan!  And , we welcomed Brantley to the Infant Room and look forward to getting to know him and his family! 
February has been an extremely cold month and we have had very little time to play outside so we have kept busy with many different activities indoors.  One day we brought snow in and filled our water table, then gave the children construction vehicles and spoons and they had so much fun!  Another day we did an activity finding letters in Oatmeal, which was a great way to promote 'I Love to Read' month.  We also enjoyed reading stories, doing felt stories, and having puppets read our stories to us! 
Valentines day we had a little party and gave our friends their cards!  We made crafts for our wall! 
We are hoping March will bring us more outside time!

Thursday 7 February 2019

The Little's - January Update

Welcome to 2019!  The Little's were excited to welcome the new year with a short spirit week.  We had PJ and story day and then a science day.  We  were going to do a talent show with the School Age program but our interest in science took over.  We did a lot of experiments but our favorite were the skittle rainbow, elephant toothpaste and exploding bags.

We also spent a lot of time playing in the deep deep snow while we could as you never know when the temps are going to drop.  The children love it outside!!

The children on younger floor showed a lot of interest in planes, trains and cars.  We planned some really cool activities and learned how a plane uses big het engines to fly while a hot air balloon uses fire.  We also tried making parachutes for toys but they did not work to well with our paper airplanes. 

On one the coldest days, we joined the babies in their room so we could watch Reba outside as she threw hot water in the air and it turned into snow!  We then went to play with a bucket of snow that Kaity brought in from outside.

The last week of January was the longest as we could not go outside at all.  We were lucky enough to spend time in the school gym so we could run around and play games!! 

It was our turn to make snack for all our friends at the daycare.  We made WOW butter monster cookies and they were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone!

If you want to see pictures of all our fun, check out the documentation panels in our room or go to our Instagram page!

Infant Room - January Blog

This month we welcomed Walker and Ryan to our Program.. and said good-bye to Owen and Calix, who move over to the Toddlebot Program.  We talked lots about Northern Canada.   We brought in stuffed animal seals, made an igloo out of a cardboard box, made an ice fishing activity, used flash lights to resemble the northern lights, had a tea party with bannock and we even brought the snow inside to play with.  We also flipped through the pages of many different books that were related to the Northern Canada life.

Wednesday 30 January 2019

Toddlebots - January Update

January was gone in a flash! We started off the new year with a party! The children went to the gym with some glow sticks, they had a dance party and the had ICE CREAM!

This month we baked “Monster Cookie Oatmeal Bars” for the centre for centre baking week! Every month we will most likely be preparing some type of food (healthy and “treats”)! I value the importance of baking/ cooking with children and I remember baking as a child and I recall having so much fun! Next month we will be making chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting topped with a candy topper for our Valentine’s Day party! Stay tuned for a list of the fun activities we will have planned!

We have had a cold January (the ending at least) and we are looking forward to getting outside more in February!

Thank you so much to the Ogilvie’s for donating battery powered string lighting! We are just waiting for the next shopping day to get batteries J Also thank you for donating 2 oils for our diffuser! So far it’s going great and we really appreciate the donations. Thank you Kaity for bringing in some string lighting for us as well!!

Toddlebots - December Update

December was a busy month with plenty of Christmas crafts and activities. Santa generously asked if the Elf on the Shelf and The Moose on the loose could place many presents under our Christmas tree for him! The children were so excited to unwrap the presents and play with all of the new toys. We got new trucks, cars, books, babies, stacking cones, Magnetiles, plenty of special paints and much more!
 
There wasn’t a lot of days where we had to stay in which was awesome because we enjoy our play time outside. We made snow angels, slid down the snow hill, had pretend camp fires and we made snow balls to smear on the wall of the school! There was a lot of imaginative play where the “bears” would hide in their caves and the huntsmen had to catch them. We made our friendly birds some new bird feeders by spreading sun butter onto pine cones and rolled them into bird seed! I observed a lot of the children helping each other out when it comes time to undress/ dress to go outside and they are getting really good at handing their jackets and snow pnts onto their hooks by themselves (we’ve been working on that for a while!) They worked hard to pull each other on the sleds outside without the help from the staff as well! J

Monday 14 January 2019

Kinder/School Age - December Update

Our kindergarten group had a lot of fun with music throughout the holidays! They love having music time with De, especially when they get to try the Ukuleles, and often ask to play with instruments or listen to music and dance. They were very eager to take part in our talent show over the holidays and seemed to enjoy being in the spotlight!

We are also working on understanding and developing empathy through stories and play tutoring (when a staff joins in play to demonstrate kind or appropriate behaviour).  We are hopeful that the children will benefit from this and build even stronger friendships both here at the centre and everywhere they go!
It was a blast having the school agers over winter break! This is when we really get the time to find out what they like so we can provide the best activities and material possible for them before and after school!
We weren’t surprised to see a lot of art happening, and with the holiday season there was plenty of inspiration! The art area needed to be stocked daily, sometimes even more often! What is extra special at this time of year is that many children were creating things for friends and family! Their minds are so creative and their hearts are so kind.
We also had a few days with beautiful weather to go to the rec-centre and enjoy the snow!
While indoors, we had the chance to bake a cake, make hot chocolate (and chocolate slushies!), and have a talent show where several children performed songs, dances, and even beyblade tricks for the preschool children.
We also had a special visit from the Manitoba Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre and learned all about prairie raptors (hawks, falcons, owls, eagles). This was a very interactive presentation and we even got to meet a live barn owl and a falcon! The children were very interested in learning about these birds and asked very interesting questions about how they live. It was wonderful to see them so excited to learn about these birds and they spent a lot of time talking about them after the presentation was over.
As we get back into our regular routine we will be using our observations from the holidays to help provide and plan fun experiences in the program. Keep your eyes peeled for new documentation panels and photos around the room as we reflect on all the fun we had over the holidays!
 

Kinderstart/Butterfly Group - Decemeber Update

The kinderstarts/butterfly group has definitely been in the holiday spirit this month! It is so much fun hearing them sing their versions of the holiday classics (for example, “Up on the housetop reindeer CLAWS”)! They have also made many of the decorations around the schoolage room, decorated our little tree, and worked hard on some special gifts for their families!

We have continued to work on spelling and writing first names through songs, games, and activities! We will continue this over the next few months and branch out into more letters and words as the children feel ready. This group also loves being read to and we are always updating our library area to keep them interested. We are fortunate to have many winter and holiday themed books and they also really enjoy anything by Robert Munsch!
Some other interests we have observed over the past month are categorizing and matching, organized physical activity (like hockey or yoga), and dramatic play based around school (“reading” to each other, doing homework, etc.)

Tuesday 8 January 2019

Older Floor - December 2018 Update

December was a busy month filled with fun Christmas activities!  We made reindeer, candy canes, Christmas trees, snowmen, snowflakes and played fun Christmas games.  We also sung lots of Christmas songs and had a dance party! 

We took many trips to the "mountains" beside the Rec Center.  The kids played 'King of the Castle', had competitions to see who could jump furthest and, practised climbing and sliding.  The kids (and adults) had so much fun!!

We did many science experiments from the traditional baking soda and vinegar, where we watch it explode and fizz all over the place to a brand new science experiment that taught the kids about water pressure!  In this experiment, we pushed 15 pencils through a large ziplock bag that was filled with water.  The kids were amazed each time another pencil went through the bag and no water seeped out.  The children are always so excited and engaged when we bring out both new and old science experiments!!   

Infant Room - December 2018 Update

December came and went in the blink of an eye!  We said good-bye to tow of our little friends; Max and Calix, and welcomed two new faces, Roxul and Walker.

The children love to spend time outside so we try to get outside everyday, sometimes twice a day - as long as the weather is nice enough!  They all love to get pulled around our yard in the toboggan.  They always have smiles on their faces from ear to ear.  We have also noticed the children love to use their hands to smash things.  Outside, they sit at the picnic tables and we make snow castles using our pails then they all race to smash them!  So, because we noticed they like smashing things we started to think of other activities we could do with them to build on their interest.  One day we offered the children play tools to smash cheerios and another day, we made a volcano and the children enjoyed touching the fizz that came out and breaking the volcano after. 

Later in December we started to do all kinds of Christmas activities.  We played with a felt snowman, decorated a felt Christmas tree, bells and candy canes using stickers.  We also made a beautiful white snowman using glue and paint.  One day, we even used chocolate pudding to color paper plates and made them into reindeer.  Afterwards, we read stories about reindeer and we even brought in a a reindeer antler for the children to look at an feel!

We will continue the watch what the children enjoy doing and think of different ways we can incorporate their interests into daily activities. 

We hope everyone had an awesome Christmas and wish you all the best in 2019!