Merry Christmas!

We got a new addition at the daycare...Miss Kristy had her baby and the kids are all so excited about meeting the little one and getting to know her. They all helped paint this super cute sign as a surprise for when we arrived home. The rest of this month will be very slow as most everyone is taking time off for the holidays. I will try to post at least one more before the new year on some of the things we've done in the past few weeks.

So I just read about a fabulous idea we'll be sure to do for next year....Polar Express Day! Can you imagine the fun possibilities??? PJs all day, an adventure to the North Pole...hmmm....

Say Cheese!

A lot of the time when I take pictures the babies are sleeping...so here's a few cute pics of "Jasy". The kids LOVE this little one, especially her brother who always takes great care of her! :)

November in Review

November was the perfect month to talk about fall. We learned about how fall is kind of funny. Sometimes it warm, sometimes it's cold. We went on nature walks and looked for signs of fall, gathering leaves for counting and sorting. Did you realize even your preschoolers can start picking up on math concepts if presented correctly? One activity we did included putting small numbers on paper plates (1-5) and letting the kids put the correct number of leaves on the plates. We also talked about Thanksgiving and the things we are grateful for. The apple turkeys were a huge hit. We also made turkeys from handprints and indian headbands while talking about the first Thanksgiving Dinner. We even did our very own "parachute pow-wow" in honor of the first celebration. The kids love moving to different types of music and the indian drum beat was especially fun.

Indian Summer

Snow one week...70 degree weather the next! November weather was beautiful much of the month and we were able to spend a lot of time out in the backyard and at the school park. Outdoor play is SO valuable for kids and we try to go out at least once a day if possible. Another daycare provider I know says "There isn't inappropriate weather, only inappropriate clothing".

Also providing HOURS of fun this month was "the box". The kids had a great time for weeks in this. A great book, if you can find it, is "Christina Katerina and the Box". The story is so fun for kids, but also teaches a lot of good lessons. It reminds us of the creativity that is possible for each of us. There are also some good examples of how we should and shouldn't treat our friends in the book. It is currently out of print, but you can get it on Amazon.com for a reasonable price through a variety of sellers. This is an especially valuable book I think for the 4 or 5 year old and older set of kids.