Hello Parents,

Today we worked on a collaborative spring flower project made from egg cartons to create hanging strings of color for our classroom.  Creating art work from recycled materials is a great way to remember to think outside the box and find new uses for things.  It helps us be mindful of our materials and the health of our planet.  This project is also meant to help us remember that we all must  work together to create a beautiful shared space!  We will continue to point this project out in the classroom and talk about it.  The hope is that it will become a visual reminder of the importance of everyone’s contribution in our classroom as our friends look at it every day!

Ms. Tami brought in some new mindfulness tools. One of them is a finger labyrinth. This tool looks like a maze, but it has a start and allows the user to move their finger along the path to the center without obstructions. As your child “walks” through the labyrinth, it gives them the opportunity to practice their breathing skills while bringing their mind to the task of working through the channels. This is a great tool for calming the mind and body.

Breakfast: Kix & strawberries

Lunch: Brown rice w/ turkey, carrots/peppers/cucumbers, watermelon/strawberries/pears

PM Snack: Popcorn & apples

Wee Sprouts: Carrots

 

Link to pictures: 2023-03-16

 

Don’t forget the green tomorrow!

Ms. Linsey & Ms. Kim

 

 

 

Good afternoon!

We started our morning by pretending that the wooden blocks were ‘phones’. Paige said “Hello!” into her ‘phone’ and Emily walked around the front area with her ‘phone’, deep in conversation. Hannah and Arthur both used their wooden blocks to create buildings and ‘beds’ for their Duplo people.

We then made our way to the kitchen for some sensory play that involved shaving cream and bugs. Everyone enjoyed the feel of the shaving cream in their hands as they clapped or squished it. Arthur covered his hands in shaving cream and said, “I’m a bug” as our bugs were covered in shaving cream.

We went outside to enjoy the cloudy, but warmer temperatures and engaged in variety of activities.   We sat on the bikes, dug in the sandbox, talked to a friend from the pre-school class, climbed up to sit on the climbing house window and slid down the slide.

Breakfast: Kix cereal and bananas.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with red beans, broccoli, and fresh pear slices.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole grain Ritz crackers with peanut butter.

Wee Sprout: Cucumbers.

Have a great evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-03-16

Happy Wednesday.  It was great seeing the sunshine today.

This morning we danced to a freeze dance song by Hap Palmer called Wiggy, Wiggy Wiggles.  We all enjoyed wiggling our bodies to the song.  Some of us even held a friends hand while we danced.

After enjoying our Wee Sprout, we got down the drums.  We listened to a drum song and hit the drum to the music.  A friend then asked for the rhythm sticks.  We marched around the front circle tapping our sticks while listening to the song, Ants Go Marching.

We found a new star toy for Eleanor with a mirror on it.  She loves looking at herself and holding onto the star.

Breakfast:  Overnight Oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and watermelon.

Lunch:  Farm fresh scrambled eggs with shredded cheddar cheese, fresh oranges, peas and toasted whole grain wheat bread with butter.

Afternoon Snack:  White corn chips and refried beans.

Wee Sprouts:  Green/Red bell pepper slices.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  2023-03-15

Happy 4th Birthday Hannah!

Today we had somewhat of a space themed day due to some of our friend’s interest in space.  One of our friends had made the planet Saturn out of her playdough last week which got us talking about space.  We brought in some books on space which further grew the interest as a couple other friends were drawn into the beauty of galaxies and nebulas.  Today we expanded on that with a constellation painting activity, books on stars and outer space plus a space floor  puzzle.  We made our paintings after leafing through some books with pictures of constellations.  We used a Q tip, dark paper and sparkly white paint to create our own constellations that we might want to see in the sky.  At small group we also read the story “Mae Among the Stars”.  It tells the true story of Dr. Mae Jemison who grew up to become the first African American female astronaut. 

A friend wanted to explore the shaving cream. When he was done, the other friends wanted a turn as well. We put in toy animals, bugs, and kitchen utensils for added fun.

The sun was an open invitation for a long walk around the neighborhood. We saw a robin, delivery trucks, and the railroad tracks. Our friends were very tired when we were through.

Breakfast: Oatmeal & watermelon

Lunch: Farm eggs, bread slice, fruit kabob (Hannah’s b-day treat), green beans/cucumbers

PM Snack: Tortilla chips & hummus

Wee Sprouts: Green beans & cucumbers

Link to pictures:  2023-03-15

Enjoy your day!

Ms. Linsey & Ms. Kim

Good Afternoon!

Yesterday Miss Tami brought over the cab of a wooden semi truck for us to use in our classroom.   There is a peg on it to add more pieces to.  Miss Bekah went downstairs this morning and found our shape train pieces.  We enjoyed adding train cars to it or building our own train cars with the train pieces and adding shape blocks to them to haul.

Arthur laid out the liquid stepping mats to walk across.  Several of us joined him in the activity.

Breakfast:  Whole grain Cheerios and fresh apple slices.

Lunch:  Peanut butter on whole grain wheat tortillas, green bell pepper slices and fresh strawberries.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole grain wheat bagels with cream cheese and watermelon.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a terrific evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullqwvzPB1PoUGjSRnZg

Happy 5th Birthday Maggie!

Today, we worked on an ant tunnel and mound building project.  Last week, when we used the sand dough, a few friends were interested in the ant that was one of the animals out on the table.  Someone buried the ant in the dough and it spurred a conversation about how ants build enormous complex systems of tunnels and rooms where they live under the ground. Today we made that idea come to life building tunnels and rooms in our sand for our any colony.  We read books about ants at the table while we worked.  We learned that different ants in the colony have different jobs.  Some are guards, others gather food and others care for the young ants.  We also talked about how ants look like worms when they are born and go through a pupa stage just like butterflies.  As we worked the project began to evolve.  One friend was very interested in the fact that some ants can lift 20 times their own body weight and made his ant carry large balls of sand.  Several of us expressed a need for ant eggs in our ant nests so we found some glass beads to serve that purpose.  Another friend wanted to build an extra long tunnel and his finger was not long enough so we solved the problem finding a stick to use as a tunnel building tool.  One friend added spiders to his ant nest and we got to learn that wolf spiders carry their babies on their backs.  After talking about the elaborate systems of tunnels and rooms plus the fact that there is a queen ant, two friends decided that ants live in castles and decided to build a castle for their colony!

Since our friends were working with ant mounds, we also brought out an ant game to incorporate math into this theme. Our friends had a mat with picnic food on it. It was numbered 1 through 10. They were to place the same amount of ants on each number.

Never a dull moment at WF! So much to do and so little time!

Breakfast: Kix & oranges

Lunch: Cheese quesadillas on flatbread, green beans/cucumbers, & watermelon

PM Snack: Homemade banana bread & pineapple/oranges

Wee Sprouts: Green beans & cucumbers

Link to pictures: 2023-03-14

Have a good afternoon,

Ms. Kim & Ms. Linsey

Happy Monday!

We began our morning engaged in a variety of activities.  Emily used the baby basket as a bed for her babies, Ben engaged with a cup, Dax and Paige created their own unique dress up outfits with accessories and Arthur engaged with an object permanence box.

We then headed into the kitchen with Miss Bekah to paint at the easel.  One side had red and purple tempera paint, while the other side had blue and yellow tempera paint.  Each side had a wide bristle and a skinny bristle brush.  We loved mixing the colors to create new ones.  Emily was painting with blue and yellow and said, “ I am doing Mouse Paint”, as she is recalling what she has learned about mixing colors in the book.  Ben enjoyed finger painting to spread his colors together as well.

Eleanor engaged in toys during tummy time on her playmat.  She reached and grabbed a different spinning toy to explore.  She then sat up a little with support from the boppy pillow to play and gave some smiles.

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat bread toasted with butter and cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh pear slices.

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat pasta with butter and red beans, cucumber slices and fresh pineapple slices.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Have a marvelous evening!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullqtRLfXaO0WnXsMqFg

Brrr!

Everyone has been very into the “Candy Shop” imaginative play theme lately. Ttoday we expanded the play into the housekeeping area so we could become artisan candy makers seeing the imaginary process of candy making through from start to finish.  First we pretended to make our candy in the kitchen, heating it over the stove, stirring it and putting it into molds (muffin tins) to cool.  Then we took our candies to market.  We had two shops complete with cash registers where we could put our candy in jars to sell to costumers.  Of course, we now needed wallets and bags to carry our money so we added that.  At the round table we had a restaurant where we could serve tea with our candies.  Later, as the game evolved the doctor tools came out. The candy shop was transformed into a pharmacy.  The candy turned to vitamins and medicines that we were selling!  What a fascinating and interesting progression all on their own. 

We got out new colors at the art easel. We just selected the primary colors. We have encouraged the WF to mix them together and see what results they can create. Imogen chose to just use the three colors, and the results are AMAZING!

The rice table came out with the tubes again. Our friends always enjoy the cause-and-effects of this activity.

A group of our older friends got out books to “read” to one another. They had some interesting conversations in between as well. We enjoy seeing their love of reading unfold.

Breakfast: PB bread & pears

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta w/ beans, green beans, and pineapple/banana

PM Snack: Whole milk yogurt & granola

Wee Sprouts: Green beans

Link to pictures:  2023-03-13

Stay warm,

Ms. Linsey & Ms. Kim

Happy Friday!

**Happy 3rd birthday Katherine!!!**

Daniel and Bo wrapped up their last day of studying snakes. We investigated a map that contained all the areas snakes reside including the oceans. They took that information and applied it to the map in their journal. They discovered that snakes don’t live towards the northern and southern poles because the climate is too cold.

Since there has been a lot of interest in animals and habitats lately we enjoyed an play based activity creating and learning about animal tracks.  We got to study animal track matching cards and attempt to find the animal they belonged to.  We had books and charts to look at as well.  There was special interest in what frog, turtle, cow, horse and alligator tracks looked like.  Next we used our animals to make tracks in our home made sand dough.  Several of our friends helped make it this morning.  Expanding on the project questions came up like how to build a bird nest for the eagle that we were using to make eagle tracks.  Another friend berried an ant in  his sand which lead to a discussion about ant hills and how ants live in large colonies under the ground… so next week we will use our dough to create some of these ideas and learn more. 

In small journal group today, two of our friends had a wonderful idea to make a list of all of the names in our journal group.  Several of us have been using name index card to help with learning to write names.  Maggie and Imogen lined up the name cards and and worked together to catalog all of the names.

Closeups from our snow play!

Breakfast: Brown rice cakes & banana

Lunch: Hummus wraps on whole wheat tortillas, carrots/peppers, & banana/apples

PM Snack: Katherine’s birthday treat (pumpkin bread & blueberry muffins) & hard boiled eggs

Wee Sprouts: Carrot chips & peppers

Link to pictures:  2023-03-10

Have a fantastic weekend!

Ms. Kim & Ms. Linsey

**Reminder:  Wee Friends will be closed on Friday, April 7th for Good Friday.  Thank you.

Good Afternoon!

Enjoy the pictures from our snowy Friday.

Breakfast:  Whole grain brown rice cakes with peanut butter and bananas.

Lunch:  Hummus on whole grain wheat bread, fresh pear slices/bananas and broccoli.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole grain Goldfish crackers and mozzarella cheese stick.

Wee Sprouts:  Yellow bell peppers.

Have a great weekend!

Rebekah

Link to pictures: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullqoZ5XhnO8mAfAmRKg