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

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.)

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!