Back at school……

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Corn Chex and bananas. Lunch: Peanut butter sandwiches on whole wheat bread, peas and bananas. Snack: Cottage cheese and pineapple.

Have a great day!

*Wee Friends will be closed for Winter Break Monday, Dec. 24-Friday Jan. 4. We will re-open Monday, January 7th.

Today began with peanut butter on whole wheat toast, bananas and a good game of Candy Land. Afterwards, friends decided to create their own versions of the game.

Lisa worked with a rotating group of friends on a flower petal counting game.

We read Jan Brett’s The Night Before Christmas and The Wild Christmas Reindeer. We learned a song about reindeer, “Clip, Clip, Clop, Clop” and headed to the music rug to create our own sleigh and great music.

We realized that Santa’s sleigh had no gifts so we got busy wrapping more presents.

Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with cheese and marinara, pear slices and corn. Snack: Cheddar cheese and apple slices.

Have a great day!

Remember way back to September 21st when WNIT came out to film the Sesame Street Grow Up Great segments (funded by PNC Bank)?  Well, I finally can share them! Enjoy!

2 Eggs Segment 2 Eggs -MPEG-4 features Macy, Ada, and Miss Laurie.

The Energize segment Energize -MPEG-4 has  Finn and Nate in the spotlight and background support from Ellie, Elizabeth and Jada.

The Build It segment Build It -MPEG-4 starts with Jane and Ada, but moves to the back yard and shows some group shots with many kids.

The Garden segment Garden -MPEG-4 is Nate, Finn, and Miss Tami.  Tami sounds weird (what did they do to my voice????) and Finn performs the line of the year!  And it was total improv on his part.  Ha!

Loan It Loan it_LQ has Arleigh and Macy as the main characters with Sophia and Marta in the background.  However, they also use many group shots and parts of the other clips to pull this one together.

 

Today we celebrated a big milestone! Ada completed the entire Bob Book cycle, Books 1-5! She is a fantastic reader and is excited about moving on to chapter books! Congratulations, Ada!

Another celebration was created at the art table, but it’s a surprise..for you!

We have puzzles for every developmental stage. We have daily celebrations for friends who have either mastered challenging ones or just plain finished one!

Have you noticed our rocker? Perfect for friends who want to snuggle, or a good book.

The habitrail….pure Gross Motor celebration.

Outside today’s fort, Beach Boys Max, Nate and Finn were surfing.

Then it morphed into a train. We added music “The Cheesehead Special” and other friends jumped on board.

The boys disappeared and I heard Marta announce: “I am the chef, do you want pizza?” Arleigh put on a backpack ( 2×4 boards) and said “We’re going on a trip, remember?” To that Marta replied “Ok, I’ll make sandwiches for the trip.” They also turned the choo-choo into a living room. Ada experimented with the pole and how to make it vibrate. Jada read to the whole gang.

After some time had passed the surf boards became guitars and Marta and Finn belted out “Jack and the Beanstalk.”

Sophie inspired rhythm stick work starting with The Nutcracker. We counted 1,2,3,4 and explored different tempos with several different songs. It turned into an exploration on how many different ways to use our rhythm sticks. Holiday Celebration is in the air as Wee Friends created reindeer antlers.

Macy, Jane, Arleigh and Ada sorted like colored stones. They decorated their tree and then counted the number of stones they used.

Wee Celebrate Good Times.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Scrambled egg sandwiches on whole wheat toast and bananas. Lunch: Melted turkey and cheddar on whole grain flatbread, fresh pineapple and mixed veggies. Snack: Pretzels and orange slices.

Enjoy your day.

This morning a small group of friends asked to hear The Polar Express read aloud. After we finished, we moved to the sensory table to find bells, like the one in the story. Friends found and sorted red and green bells. Then they filled three different containers with bells: a tin box, a cardboard box and a mitten. We explored how the bells sounded different in each container.

Several friends spent time at the art table wrapping presents. We used more empty containers to practice wrapping paper and using tape. Some friends chose to create art with their container before wrapping it up.

Lisa set out felt Christmas trees and jewels. Friends adorned their tree with jewels, counting and patterning as they went. They charted how many jewels they used.

A fort was erected under the habitrail. The cast was 4 babies, a big brother and Mr. Fix It. I am told that Finn was Mr. Fix It.

Arleigh and Ada gift created and wrapped for 1/ 1/2.

Jane used one of the cardboard wrapping containers to create a person. On the back of the wrapping paper she drew a house for her 3-D character.

On the oval rug, Lisa guided a small group of friends in Musical Puppy.

Tami created an obstacle course in the habitrail. She strategically placed Little People and friends climbed up and down, encountering the Little People as they crawled through.

Wee Sprouts: Carrots. Breakfast: Kashi and pear slices. Lunch: Whole grain rice with red beans, banana fruit salad and peas. Snack: Graham crackers and peanut butter.

Have a great day.

Good Afternoon!

**This will be the last blog of the week. I will be out the rest of the week including next Monday. See you back here next Tuesday!

A few of our friends completed their art projects this morning since they didn’t get to yesterday for one reason or another.

Emma loved using the sparkles in her paint. She pointed to the sparkles as she saw them.

Daniel was specific about his painting experience today. When he wanted a new color, he pushed the old one away and said, “all done”.

For Zoey’s art experience, a piece of colored construction paper was placed in a zip lock bag. Paint was squeezed into the bag along with glitter. Zoey took her hands and smashed the paint in the bag to make beautiful artwork! It was all her own and she loved being able to physically make the art .

Emma swayed back and forth as Miss Marty read our friends ‘Baby Beluga’. Most of our friends know the tune of the book so they hum along with us!

Smiles, smiles, smiles on this Tuesday!

For breakfast, friends had cheerios and pears. Lunch consisted of tortillas with melted cheese and refried beans, banana, and zucchini. PM snack was vanilla yogurt and animal crackers.

Have a terrific week!

-Mindy

Thank you so very much to all the parents who joined us for caroling yesterday! Your Wee Friends and Wee Staff were so happy to share that time with you!

Today, Tami reported that the swimmers are making great progress! Several friends have mastered putting their heads under water. Others, who wear flotation devices, have had layers of the bubble inserts removed, offering less support. They are slowly moving out of flotation help altogether!

While the swimmers were away, a small group of friends talked about the Grinch. We cut out large and small hearts and remembered how the Grinch’s heart started small (grouchy/mean or hitting friends) and by the end of the story, his heart grew and opened up (he liked to share and speak kindly to his friends). We taped hearts of all sizes to our tree collage. 

Elliott, Sloane and Lea had a discussion about dinner. Lea and Sloane imagined that the puzzles in the basket were their dinner. “Puzzles are not dinner.” replied Elliott. “Yes, they are.” responded Lea. “Uh-huh.” nodded Sloaners. “No. Only food is dinner.” insisted Elliot. This debate led to a discussion about how we use our imagination and how people see things in different ways.  It was a smooth conversation and gradually ended with each friend satisfied and ready to move on.

Wee Sprouts: Cucumber slices. Breakfast: Kix and pears slices. Lunch: Whole wheat tortillas with refried beans and cheese, romaine salad and bananas. Snack: Yogurt and apple slices.

Have a great day.

Good Afternoon!

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

We headed outside where we saw small snow flakes flying through the air. We bundled up because it was so cold! We stayed outside for a little while because our fingers and face started getting cold! If parents could make sure that their child comes with hats AND gloves everyday, that would be fabulous! Thanks!

Clara danced around using props such as circular rings!

We watched out the window as we saw big snow flakes come down! We loved looking at the snow as it stuck to the ground.

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Since the weather was cold and the flakes were flying ‘round, we took turns in the kitchen where friends painted using tempera paint as well as water colors.  The sensorial aspect of the paint was just what our friends needed this afternoon .

Friends P.K. and Eve lay down on the floor while reading books.

Our Wee Friends went around caroling to our neighbors. They sang special songs for us. We loved listening to their voices and getting some holiday cheer!

For breakfast, we had whole wheat toast with soy butter and pears. AM snack was green peas. Lunch consisted of whole grain pasta with tuna, mixed veggies, and oranges. PM snack was crackers and string cheese.

Have a great night.

-Mindy

• Wee Friends is closed for Winter Break Monday, December 24th – Friday, January 4th. We will re-open Monday, January 7th.
• Please remember our parking policy when you arrive today to carol. The church parking lot on the corner of 29th Street and Wall is available for you to park in for the extended period of time. Thank you!

Several of our friends have been studying author Jan Brett. A small group gathered this morning to read her Gingerbread Friends. Afterwards, we moved to the art table to create our own gingerbread friends.

 

Then onto salt dough. Friends measured 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt and 7 Tbls water, mixed it together, rolled it out and created sugar cookie ornaments!

Wee Sprouts: Cucumber slices. Breakfast: Whole wheat toast with cinnamon and pear slices. Lunch: Whole wheat pasta with tuna, mixed veggies and orange slices. Snack: Ritz crackers and string cheese.

See you all at 3:45 this afternoon for caroling, cookies and cocoa!

 

On the Southern Wee Dock, pirates have docked. On the Northern side, the Grinch. Both of these Bad Guys are finding lots of good work to keep Wee Friends busy.

Pirate Research. How many books do we have in our library with ships?

We found a mitten tree in the book The Missing Mitten Mystery by Steven Kellogg and decided to create our own mitten tree.

Friends created bookmarks with throat compressors and googly eyes!

Several pirate artists gathered to create pirate paper. We dipped white paper into coffee water and gave it a hearty bath. We watched the paper turn brown and smelled the yummy smell!

We listened to the soundtrack of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas as we turned the pages of the book. When the songs played, we stood up and created our own Grinch choreography.

Wee Sprouts: Cucumber slices. Breakfast: scrambled eggs and fresh fruit. Lunch: Rigatoni with marinara, whole grain bread and applesauce. Snack: Cheddar cheese and apple slices.

Hope to see you Monday at 3:45-4:15 for caroling and yummy treats to follow!

Have a good weekend.