Good Afternoon!

It was a six legged kind of day at Wee friends as we found ourselves studying the insects of South Bend all led by the curiosity and questions provided by our kids!  Outside, Asher noticed that there were many insects on a tall milkweed plant.  We discovered that there are many different kinds that all called the plant home.  Many of our friends became very interested in a bright gold colored beetle we found under one of the leaves.

Next, as Asher continued to investigate the small details of Wee Friend’s outdoor space, he discovered a small hole in the sand box.  I pushed a bit of dirt into the hole to see if it would draw the inhabitant out…which it did.  It turned out to be a small solitary insect which quickly dug out all of the sand I had pushed in.  The insect, quite dramatically, kicked the dirt out with its back legs.  The kids were captivated and we repeated the experiment several more times as nearly the entire class gathered to watch!

Inside we continued with insects as some of the class worked on their butterfly metamorphosis journal.  They drew what they saw inside the cage and tried to pay close attention to the details they observed.  They saw two chrysalises inside the cage and noticed that they both had a gold line across them.  We learned that all monarch chrysalises look this way.  Afterward we used kid spelling or teacher help to describe what we saw with words. 

During group time today PREK2 read the book “The Life of a Monarch Butterfly”.  At the end of the story we talked about our Monarch caterpillar.  We looked at what we saw in the cage and picked which stage in the life cycle the caterpillar was in right now.

Breakfast: Kix cereal with fresh pineapple.

Lunch: Peanut butter on whole wheat bread, fresh cantaloupe/pineapple, and fresh cucumber/carrot.

PM Snack: Whole wheat bagel with peanut butter.

Wee Sprouts: Fresh carrots.

Have a great day!

~Wee Friend’s Teachers

Link to pictures:2024-06-18

Good afternoon!

We went outside early again this morning to enjoy the cooler weather. We helped our friends grab tools to play with in the sandbox, rode the teeter totter, and sat or walked around the log area.

We then made our way back inside to explore drums. Our friends used their hands to make loud drumming noises and then used one finger to make quieter tapping noises with the drum.

Miss Bekah got out the tunnels for our friends to use. They took turns crawling through the tunnel and later connected the two tunnels to make a long one.

Breakfast: Whole grain Cheerios with fresh cantaloupe slices.

Lunch: Whole grain wheat flatbread with refried beans and shredded mild cheddar cheese, fresh pear, and corn/peas mixture.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain wheat cinnamon raisin bagels with cream cheese.

Wee Sprout: Cucumber.

Have a wonderful evening!

Tina and Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2024-06-18

Good Afternoon!

*Wee Friends will be closed starting Monday, June 24 through Friday, July 5th. We’ll reopen on Monday, July 8th. Thanks!

What a hot day!  We got outside early and it was already very warm…so we got some water stations going to keep cool while we played!  Some of our friends took it upon themselves to bring some extra water to the plants in the play area and in the garden since they “had to be out in the hot weather all the time!”. It’s wonderful to see that blossoming empathy for other living things!

As the temperature rose we went inside to explore some cooler activities like building with colored playdough.  There were many ideas about what to make including a tri-colored unicorn and a magic wand!  Imaginative play is great…but it takes a whole other level of creative thought and ingenuity to first plan, create and then play!

Breakfast– Whole wheat bagel with butter and banana.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with black beans, fresh oranges/pineapple/banana, and fresh cucumber.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with granola.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber.

Have a lovely night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-06-17

Good Afternoon!

This morning we altered our routine a bit and went outside earlier than normal to beat the heat.  While outside, we rode on teeter totters,   Eden engaged in the rocks at the balance beam, Ben and Eliza engaged in driving the trucks and all of us engaged in water play with the sea animals or in the play kitchen.

After coming inside, Eden peeked at Charlotte through the fish tank. Charlotte engaged in spinning the letters on the Zany Zoo Activity box and friends enjoyed having Miss Bekah read books to them.  Miss Tina also pulled down the sheer curtain for us to run through around the circle.

Miss Tina also helped Ben build a zoo out of wooden blocks. Ben had pointed out that a lot of the plastic animals could be found at the zoo. His friends helped place the animals in their ‘rooms.’ They then placed Duplo people near the ‘rooms’ and said they were “watching the animals.”

We then engaged with the object permanence boxes.  We worked our fine motor skills to place the coins and the balls into their slots and open the drawers.

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat bread toasted with peanut butter and fresh pear slices.

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat penne pasta with black beans, fresh cantaloupe and broccoli.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Wee Sprouts:  Orange bell peppers.

Have a great evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2024-06-17

Happy Friday!

Enjoy a few pictures from our day!

Breakfast– Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and banana.

Lunch– Turkey and cheese sandwiches on whole wheat bread, fresh banana/pineapple, and fresh cucumber/pepper.

PM snack– Goldfish crackers with fresh pineapple and Colby jack block cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/pepper.

Have a wonderful weekend and a Happy Father’s Day to all of our Wee dads!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-06-14

Happy Friday!

This morning we were dancing to music while shaking our dancing scarves.

We then engaged in building with Magna-Tiles.  We enjoyed building towers and Eliza and Milo worked together to build a very tall tower, but unfortunately it was too tall and heavy and fell over before we could get a picture.

We then engaged with books on  the reading step.  We looked at books independently or Miss Tina read them to us.

We then headed outside.  We engaged in digging in the wet sand, pushed our construction trucks in the rocks, dug with the excavator bucket and peeked out the window of the little house.

Breakfast:  Whole grain brown rice cakes with cream cheese and bananas.

Lunch:  Ham lunch meat on whole grain wheat tortillas, fresh pear slices and sweet potatoes.

Afternoon Snack:  Goldfish crackers, bananas and mozzarella cheese stick.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a great weekend and Happy Father’s Day to all of our wonderful daddies!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2024-06-14

Good afternoon!

We started our morning by dancing and following along to the “Bear Hunt” song. This then led to friends asking to listen to the “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” book. We all sat down on the reading steps to listen to Miss Bekah read.

There was no better way to cool off this morning than with water play. Our friends had so much fun engaging with water in a variety of ways. They used loose part pipes to build and to pour water into a tub, sat down next to or in the pool with measuring cups and dragons, and they also chose to be sprayed with the hose.

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal with fresh pear.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with shredded turkey, watermelon slices, and steamed carrots.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain Wheat Thins crackers with peanut butter.

Wee Sprout: Green bell pepper.

Have a great evening!

Tina and Rebekah

Link to pictures: 2024-06-13

Good Afternoon!

The welcome activity this morning was a combination of loose parts that Hannah and Paige used to build their own school!

Paige used her wooden blocks to build desks for the student bears while a group of four parent bears looked on as they left their children at school (very realistic, right?!).

Hannah chose to make wooden desks for her big “Wee Friends” while she also had a group of smaller bears, which she called the Wee Wee’s, learning how to do handstands.

Both used their imaginations in their school setup but it inevitably looked different.

Are you a, “Jump right into the pool” type of person or a “I’m going to dip my toe into the water to see how cold the water is..” type of person?

We had water stations set up for BOTH types of people (or kids in this instance!).

A hose was used to spray water into the air as several kids just ran head first into the stream of water. This occupied them for a LONG time!

We had two different water stations set up where children could explore.

On the deck, a big bin of water was put out with various piping that flowed the water into a lower bin on the sidewalk. Children loved watching the water move from the top bin to the lower bin simply by adding water into the piping!

Saucers full of water were made available in the sandbox where children used dragons in their play. The water sensory experience quickly turned to a water + sand sensory experience!

Needless to say, there was something for everyone and as Hannah shared just before lunchtime, they were “exhaaaaausted” by the end of our morning.

Breakfast– Puffins cereal with fresh watermelon.

Lunch– Brown rice with shredded turkey, fresh watermelon/kiwi, and fresh cucumber/pepper.

PM snack– Wheat thin crackers with pepita/sunflower seeds.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/pepper.

Have a lovely evening.

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-06-13

Happy Wednesday!

This morning we engaged in a variety of activities.  We were busy cooking in the play kitchen and at the round table, looking at books, rocking in the rocking chair, climbing on the tiny turf stairs/slide and walking on the liquid squares.

A few friends then went over to look at each other through the side of the fish tank.  Eleanor observed her reflection in the mirrors.

We then headed into the kitchen to engage with pegs.  We chose a variety of colors to place in each of the holes of our pegboard or to make towers with them.  Ben and Eliza made tall birthday candles with theirs and sang the Happy Birthday song.

We then headed outside to enjoy some fresh air and sunshine.  Even though it was a little hotter than yesterday, it didn’t stop us from engaging in our favorite activities.

Breakfast:  Overnight oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and fresh pear slices.

Lunch:  Farm fresh hard boiled eggs, fresh watermelon, broccoli and whole grain wheat English muffin with buttery spread.

Afternoon Snack:  White corn tortilla chips and refried beans.

Wee Sprouts:  Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2024-06-12

Good Afternoon!

The log area in the backyard is one of our favorite spots. Not only because it is shaded and offers somewhat of an “alone” space for friends but they get to challenge themselves not only physically but mentally.

William, Adrian, and Ryan started out by moving these large, heavy logs into the corner of the space, which may be referred to as “risky play”. Their goal was to make a fort. There was no clear cut plan and working with large logs can be challenging!

They worked together to stabilize the logs against the fence and had to make sure there was enough space in their fort for all three of them which proved to be challenging!

But, they were able to accomplish this goal by use of their trial and error skills as well as their perseverance.

Risky play in an early childhood classroom can be challenging but its necessary! Children learn boundaries. They learn how to regulate their bodies. They move by engaging their fine motor skills but more so their gross motor skills!

Below I’ve attached an article about how crucial risky play is in the early childhood years. In the article, it states, “While well-intentioned, imposing rigid rules on how children engage in the outdoors can lead to missed opportunities for development in multiple domains. As they climb up slides, jump over equipment, and chase each other, children learn to assess risk, devise a plan, and take action. They make decisions and problem solve when they face a challenging moment. They also learn to process and navigate their feelings and emotions.”

https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/spring2023/risk-taking-outdoor-play

And TA-DA! Their very own fort.

Enjoy a few more pictures from the rest of our day!

Breakfast– Overnight oatmeal with cinnamon and fresh pears.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled egg whole wheat tortilla rollups with shredded cheese, fresh watermelon, and fresh snap peas.

PM snack– Corn chips with hummus.

Wee Sprout– Fresh cucumber/snap peas/pepper.

Have a great night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2024-06-12