Happy Monday!
Here are a few pictures from our day at Wee Friends as well as the pre-k/k farm trip.
Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with cream cheese and PPC pears.
Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with chicken and butter, banana, and fresh carrots.
PM snack– A mixture of fresh fruit and string cheese.
Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots.
Have a lovely night!
-Mindy
The site that creates the picture link is down. I’ll post it as soon as it’s working again. Thanks!
Happy Sunshiny Monday! We hope you all had a fabulous weekend.
Today as we entered the classroom we were excited to see a brand new bright and very vibrant fish tank. The fish seem to love their new environment and we love watching them happily swim all around. Thank you, Tami. 
After the fish tank was explored for a while, friends decided the colorful puff balls were needing some attention, so we had fun being engaged with them. Throwing, rolling, placing them into the small bowls and putting them on one another’s head was all apart of the fun!
Then, we headed outside to soak up the abundance of sunshine! According to, magnificentmemagnificentyou.com, “Sunlight helps the body’s production of vitamin D, which is a very important compound for development of children. Vitamin D supports healthy bones and brain.”
Breakfast: Whole wheat/grain cinnamon raisin bagels with cream cheese and oranges.
Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with butter and shredded chicken, corn and fresh PPC kiwi slices.
Snack: Whole milk yogurt with graham crackers.
Wee Sprout: Corn.
Have an awesome evening!
Marty
LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljJVF-xPaOEjGLnV0Uw
Good Afternoon!
Imagination: the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the sense.
Imagination would be the best word to describe our day.
This morning, Maddie and a few of her peers used the pegs on the peg boards but they weren’t just pegs; they were popsicles! The popsicles had several different flavors that corresponded with the colors. For example, the green peg was avocado flavor on Maddie’s popsicle but on Maxwell’s popsicle, the green tasted with jalapenos! They made up popsicles for their peers and taste tested them before sharing them.
The rest of our morning was full of activities that grabbed our attention such as the art table and building with magnatiles.
We continued our bug journey as we searched mostly low for bugs ranging from rollie pollies to caterpillars to worms. After children find a bug or two, they’ve been making a habitat in their bug jar.
A group of our younger friends made up a game today. Here’s how you play:
Step 1: A friend pretends to be a cat that’s asleep. Chloe just happened to play the role perfectly!
Step 2: Friends walk up to her quietly and try to wake up her. But when she’s woken up, she’s becomes quite unhappy and roars at them.
Step 3: Run away screaming!
This game kept our attention for the last hour of our outside time and drew in more friends each round that the game was played!
“Almost all creativity involves purposeful play.”
-Abraham Maslow
Breakfast– Rice cakes with peanut butter and banana.
Lunch– Refried bean and shredded cheese on whole wheat flatbread, PPC pears, and PPC cauliflower/fresh carrots.
PM snack– Goldfish with string cheese.
Wee Sprout– PPC cherry tomatoes and cucumber.
Have a fantastic weekend!
-Mindy
Link to pictures: WF 5/4
Happy Friday! We hope you all had a wonderful week. 
Please Note: WF is CLOSED Monday, May 28th in observance of Memorial Day.
Enjoy the pictures from our day.
Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with sunflower butter and fresh PPC pears.
Lunch: Whole wheat/grain flat bread with refried beans and cheese, broccoli and fresh PPC banana.
Snack: Whole grain cheese crackers and mozzarella cheese sticks.
Wee Sprouts: Broccoli.
Have a wonderful weekend, we’ll see you Monday.
Marty.
LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljJRD03D5mX80VXaG4Q
Good Afternoon!
The welcome activity sparked interest this morning as children moved colored counters throughout the space provided on the wooden trays. Ruby picked out all of the blue counters and arranged them onto the tray before she started counting them. Franklin and a peer lined them around the perimeter of the tray and used their index finger to count. Chloe used the counters to form a square! There are no directions so children take the activity in the any appropriate direction they choose!
We got new sensory squares that we put down on the music rug. Children explored them with their hands and feet. When pressure is applied to the square, the colored water inside the square moves. We found it very mesmerizing!
We combined our science FAB for the week that focuses on how things move such as slow and fast AND the way we move our bodies!
This attracted quite a lot of friends so we turned it into a gross motor game. Everyone formed a line and completed the action that was given. For instance, I said, “March on the squares.”, or “Slither like a snack across the squares”. The space became a little tight so we switched up our game and started playing ‘follow the leader’!
Science: K.3.2 Investigate that things moves in different ways, such as fast, slow, etc.
We formed a line and different instructions were given. We moved our bodies quickly (march and jog for example) while our slower actions were crawling and tip toeing. We noticed that our faster actions made us a little tired! After playing this game for a while, we moved our bodies over to the music rug where we continued to get exercise by dancing to music. We played three different songs; If You’re Happy And You Know It, The Hokey Pokey, and Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.
After getting all of our wiggles out, children went to various quieter activities where they were really able to focus and interact with their peers.
The teachers have really been into infused water (cucumber and lemon specifically). Several friends have been inquiring about it so today, one of our pitchers were turned into a lemon/cucumber water pitcher!
“We call this vacation water because it tastes like vacation. YUM!”
NEW BUG CONTAINERS!
(the pictures explain what we did outside this morning)… 
Breakfast– Kashi Blueberry Clusters and PPC mango.
Lunch– Brown rice with shredded beef, PPC cantaloupe/pears, and PPC cauliflower.
PM snack– Wheat thins and sunflower seeds.
Wee Sprout– PPC cauliflower/fresh carrots.
Have a great night!
-Mindy
Link to pictures: WF 5/3
Good afternoon! We hope you are having a delightful Thursday.
Today we were happily engaged in the wonderful outdoor world and all of its wetness. Friends love being outside, but when it’s wet it is even better! There is a more intense sensorial experience that our friends LOVE! The sand, the grass, the bushes and pea gravel all have a different feel to them that gives a more exciting sensory experience. Plus we can’t forget… dumping all the water from the buckets and cars/trucks. Now THAT’S FUN!!!
In the Infant/Toddler classroom, we have the joy of watching our infants achieve many fun milestones. Zoe is a pre-walker and has now begun pulling herself up onto the round table and walking around it. We bet she will be a walking little lady soon.
Breakfast: Whole grain Kix and fresh PPC banana.
Lunch: Whole grain rice with shredded beef, corn and fresh PPC banana.
Snack: Pretzels with Block cheddar cheese.
Wee Sprouts: Corn.
Have a wonderful night!
Marty
LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljJNYYbUALQXzSjo_9A
Good morning!
Here are the picture links from this week.
Have a great day!
-Mindy
Good Afternoon!
Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard “I don’t know” to the question, “So what’d you do at school today?”
Children’s days are packed full of exploration, forming relationships with peers, and curiosity which can make it challenging for them to form specific thoughts as to what their day entailed. There are a couple ways for you to encourage them to share:
1. At night, look over the blog with your child. Even just one picture can elicit a specific thought or feeling that they had earlier in the day.
2. You can also refer to your child’s weekly ‘Electronic Portfolio’! This is another way to spark up conversation about an activity or play experience that your child was involved in.
We love hearing the feelings and thoughts of our friends each day and I know parents do too!
Children used two materials at the welcome activity: counting bears and dominos. We used our imaginations to expand what we ‘usually’ do with these two materials. Maxwell built a tower and on each top, he placed a colorful bear. Anna created homes for her bears using the dominos as walls.
Lucy switched it up by getting sorting all of the colorful bears and with Anna’s help, they created several different patterns to put around the perimeter of the lazy susan.
Outside was calling our name this morning. After we got on sunscreen, the sandbox was the area to be! Friends made meals for one another and took turns eating at the table.
Since the program that generates the pictures is still down, here’s a few extra pictures to hold you over!
Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with honey and PPC pears.
Lunch– Scrambled eggs with shredded cheese, whole wheat bread, PPC banana/fresh oranges, and fresh carrots.
PM snack– Blue corn chips with refried beans.
Wee Sprout– PPC cucumber/fresh carrots.
Have a great evening!
-Mindy
Good afternoon.
Sometimes friends just need a little quiet time and space of their own during our busy day. Our cube area is the perfect space to do just that! We can cuddle up on a pillow and read a story or just lie in the space and relax.
According to an article I read from Just Not Cute with Amanda Morgan, a relaxing area in childcare “gives the child a chance to refresh their mind and body, which is especially important if they no longer take a nap, it may help your child build skills in managing stress and other big feelings, as well as it can prevent over stimulation (which can lead to temper tantrums) from a busy household with other children, a new baby, or other noisy activities.” We all need quiet at times, and we are very fortunate that we have such a nice space for our little ones.
Cars and trucks were an engaging activity today both in and out of the classroom.
Breakfast: Whole grain cheerios with fresh PPC pears.
Lunch: Scrambled eggs with cheese, whole wheat/grain butter toast, peas and oranges.
Snack: Whole wheat crackers with hummus.
Wee Sprouts: Peas
Have a wonderful night!
Marty
LINK TO PICTURES: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIuljJFOK0jNf0pIp0__oA
Happy May!
**Please look in your child’s bathroom cubbie to make sure they have clothes that are appropriate for the season! We have a lot of long pants and sweatshirts that should go home to make room for spring/summer clothing.
**Also, if you have not brought in sunscreen (NO SPRAY PLEASE) yet this season, check with a teacher to make sure that your child has sunscreen here.
-If you want your child to just have their own sunscreen, please let the teachers know. Otherwise, we will start a collection of sunscreen to use on all children. Thanks!
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Seven of our friends started swim class at the Y today! We started out the class working with bubbles for friends who needed them along with noodles. Friends focused on kicking their feet and moving their arms as they swam. Eventually, we swam down to the deep end where children either chose to jump off the side of the pool, jump off of the diving block, or just gently falling into the pool from the sitting position. A few friends shared their favorite activity from our swimming session:
“My favorite was going to the deep end and free time at the end!”
“I liked driving in the weehicle and playing at the end.”
“When we were playing at the end, Miss Leslie and I were squirting each other with water!”
Our Y swim classes allow children to become comfortable in the water as well as gain confidence week by week! We’re excited for next weeks session.
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Back at Wee Friends:
A few children came up to the island to work with pegs. Lucy chose to have the pegs occupy the outside of the board with specific colors while Franklin chose to fill in his board with an array of colors! Most friends who explored this activity used their index finger to count to a certain number.
It was a gorgeous morning that we took full advantage of! The bikes (of course) were used all morning long. We go around the circle who knows how many times! Our hand eye coordination is improving as well as the muscles used for gross motor play.
Our outside time is priceless.
Breakfast- Kix and PPC blueberries.
Lunch– Hummus on whole wheat tortillas, PPC pears, and PPC cherry tomatoes/fresh carrots.
PM snack– Cinnamon raisin bagel with butter and block cheddar cheese.
Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/PPC cherry tomatoes.
Have a lovely night! Enjoy the weather!
-Mindy
**We are continuing to have trouble with the sever that generates pictures. When it’s back working again, I will post the picture links from the days that were missed. Thanks!