Welcome Spring!

**Closed April 7th for Good Friday**

**Please take home your child’s art from both cubbies.**

It’s always a good day for mixing water colors. Daniel asked to get the water colors out to explore. He asked for bright orange and yellow to mix today. He quickly discovered that it made a slightly more yellow solution. Things got really fun when we added soap to make bubbles.

Today we transformed our house keeping area into a loose parts kitchen so that we could all use even more of our imaginations as we played.  Instead to food items, we introduced a variety of loose parts to use in our pretend play.  We introduced a variety of containers with lids, real pots, pans, metal bowls, wood bowls, spoons and a range of real kitchen utensils.  Today we used acorns, glass beads and sticks for our loose parts.  Some of us filled many jars with items to “sell at the market”.  Others cooked large bowls of acorn soup.  The sticks were used both as ingredients and utensils.  We all found something new we could enjoy in our kitchen today!

Enjoying this cold Spring day!

Breakfast: Whole wheat English Muffins w/ butter & apples

Lunch: Whole wheat macaroni w/ spaghetti sauce & cheese, cucumbers/carrots, & cantaloupe

PM Snack: Whole milk yogurt & graham crackers

Wee Sprouts: Baby carrots & cucumbers

Link to pictures:  2023-03-20

Have a wonderful spring day!

Ms. Linsey & Ms. Kim

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Today we painted with 3 different shades of green paint.  Miss Bekah had one bowl with the regular green, another bowl had white tempera paint mixed into it and another bowl had black mixed with it.  We were able to see how white paint made the green shade lighter and black paint made the green shade darker.  We painted on a shamrock shape piece of white paper and then could continue on white pieces of paper if we chose.

We found a new blanket for Eleanor with a mirror on it.  During tummy time, she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

Breakfast:  Whole grain brown rice cakes with cream cheese and fresh pear slices.

Lunch:  Chicken lunch meat on whole grain wheat bread, bananas, fresh green pepper slices.

Afternoon Snack:  Pretzels and Colby Jack block cheese slices.

Have a great weekend!

Rebekah

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIullq9hJz6gywPwwQTfqg

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Everyone enjoyed our green hues St Patrick’s Day mixing experiment!  We used eye droppers to collect yellow, blue and green and combine it in ice cube trays, test tubes and jars to create a wide variety of green hues.  Each tray was different so we came back many times to get a chance to try them all.  This activity was out right after breakfast and engaged our imaginations, bodies and experimental curiosity until lunch time!  Many of us created potions.  One friend was struggling to pour liquid into bottles and asked if she could use a funnel to make it easier.  We were happy to oblige and many other friends began using this tool to help with their pouring as well. 

We also created green sparkling paintings using different shades and tints of green.  We learned that when we add black to a color it is a shade and when we add white it’s called a tint.  We created paintings or mixed media artwork using the shades and tints in combination with drawings

We made a special St. Patrick’s Day snack. We made green muffins! We used spinach to get it to be a bright green and yes, they did gobble them up in no time. We also had a special green lunch. We had green tortillas and green chicken salad. There was some extra spinach from the muffins. We put them into the Wee Sprout bowl. A few of our friends came by and tried it.

Breakfast: PB brown rice cakes & bananas

Lunch: Avocado chicken salad, spinach tortillas,  & bananas/pears

PM Snack: Spinach/banana muffins & cheese sticks

Wee Sprouts: Spinach & green beans

Link to pictures: 2023-03-17

Have a nice weekend!

Ms. Kim & Ms. Linsey

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