This morning, friends pulled out their passports and we headed for “A Green and Pleasant Land”………….

….England and Great Britain! Simon’s mom, Alexandra, took us on a journey east, across the ocean to visit her homeland of England.

She first discussed how far it was in relation to South Bend, and that the capital city of England is London.

We learned, that like the colors of Simon’s football jersey, the colors of both flags are red, white and blue (just like the US!).  Alexandra taught Wee Friends “London Bridges” and everyone had a chance to skip under the bridge…..and try to avoid getting caught!

We learned that English people love to garden and we even got to see a picture of Simon in his Granny’s garden!

Alexandra explained that great literature and wonderful stories had their beginnings in England. Of particular interest to our friends were the stories of Thomas the Train, Winnie the Pooh and Paddington Bear.

She spoke of castles, princesses, queens and moats. She showed us pictures of Big Ben, The Tower of London and Leeds Castle.

She showed us many pictures of things we THOUGHT we knew the name of…like soccer and candy, but as it turns out, in England, they call them something else! Soccer is football, a line is a queue, potato chips are crisps…and candy is a sweet…just to name a few!

We finished our time together with Alexandra reading “Lines and Squares” and “The King’s Breakfast” from A.A. Milne’s classic, When We Were Very Young. Afterwards, each friend was invited to sample a raspberry tart, made by Simon!

What a fantastic trip! THANK YOU ALEXANDRA for spending your time with us this morning and teaching us about England and Great Britain! We can’t wait ‘til you and Simon return from Paris for another WF European adventure!

Back in South Bend, Ada, Kai and Simon added a flashlight and measuring stick to their daily slug hunt.

Ada was so excited to capture the targeted slug that she danced a celebratory dance singing “I like to move it move it!!.

A rolly polly wouldn’t stay still long enough for Ada to measure it! But she was able to measure two slugs at 1” each. Simon explored the rulers further, adding and subtracting the two feet in different combinations.

The Little girls brought a little of their Myrtle Beach vacay back to Wee Friends by constructing an elaborate (first time ever at Wee Friends!) sand castle! Just in time for our trip to England to see other castles!

It was a happy morning.

Wee Sprouts are cucumber slices and green beans. Breakfast was whole wheat toast with peanut butter and pear slices. Lunch was whole wheat penne pasta with black beans and chicken, watermelon and peas.

Have a good day.

Happy Monday!

After a great weekend, our friends started their Monday off by gathering in the kitchen where they worked with cars and colorful letters. Children chose a car and made noises as they drove it along the table and on the ground. A car even said, “beep beep!” Chloe decided that she wanted to share her car with Elizabeth. She let Elizabeth know this by saying, “Here Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth showed an interest in coloring so she got out markers and paper. She was involved for quite some time and made various drawings. She used different colors and sat at different angles. She stood, sat, and even knelt down so that her face was parallel to the picture.

P.K. had a great time talking to Mommy and Daddy! He said, “Hi” and “Momma” while talking on the phone. He pressed the numbers and even let friends use the phone.

Marina enjoyed setting up the table with a variety of food and serving ware. She held a baby, pointed and said, “Baby Zoey.” Zoey didn’t join us today at Wee Wee Friends due to being under the weather so Marina thought she’d call the baby, Zoey!

It was a gorgeous morning! The sun was shining and our friends took advantage of the wonderful weather. P.K. couldn’t quite ride the big tricycle by himself so his friend Clara gave him a gentle push to get him going. Marina pushed around a basket that she collected pretend food with. She informed a few of her friends that she was going to the grocery.

The sand felt warm on our feet and hands! Marina worked on pouring sand from container to container. Clara and P.K. took shovels and scooped sand up to transfer to different places.

Chloe filled her bowl up with sand, took it over to Miss Mindy and said, “Yum!” Our friends are very creative when it comes to play. They take things and situations they see in real life and apply it to their play. Elizabeth took half of an Easter egg, filled it with sand and began sticking her finger in the middle. She said, “Look my finger made a hole!”

Chloe sat on the teeter totter with Jada. They sat together and then decided to sit side by side. While rocking together, they said, “Wee!”

Marina worked on bouncing a basketball. She found out it is much heavier than a bouncy ball. She was working on strengthening her arms as well as her coordination. Chloe and P.K. worked on their balance as they sat on bouncy balls. They used their hands to grasp the fence and used their feet to keep their balance on the ground.

Our Wee Friend Macy served up food to our friends! She asked what they’d like to eat and our friends responded with their favorite foods! Ellie and Marina joined Sloane in requesting pizza and noodles!  They sat very patiently as their food was cooking and told Macy, “Thank you” when their food was done. We’re working with our Wee Wee Friends on saying “please” and “thank you” in different situations.

For breakfast, our friends enjoyed Chex with pears. AM sprouts was corn. Lunch consisted of noodles with black beans and chicken, green peas, and fresh, juicy watermelon! Our friends kept saying, “More” which means they LOVED lunch! Children even gave the sign for ‘more’. PM snack was string cheese and apples.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

Happy Friday!

**Just as a reminder, we are only only next week Monday through Thursday. Our summer vacation starts Friday, June 29th and goes through July 6th. We will reopen on July 9th! Thanks!

Our day started off with puzzles. Children showed interest in their favorite puzzle by pointing to it or verbally asking for it. They helped one another if someone was having problems finishing it.

Ellie sat at the window opening reading, “Where Is My Mother?” After she was done reading, she asked Miss Mindy if she would read her the book.

Marina showed interest in coloring so P.K. decided to join her. They shared markers and talked to each other as well as themselves about what they were drawing.

 

Marina put away her markers and got the play-dough out. She used play-dough along with foam shapes to make different creations. She took a shape and covered it with play-dough. She let Miss Mindy know that the “heart was hiding” so we had to be quiet.

P.K. sat nears vines and trees and pointed to different things he saw. He pointed to a fly that he saw flying around.

Along the fence, there are purple flowers that are growing. Marina and P.K. used their nose to smell the flowers.

As we’re smelling the flowers, Clara points to the sky and started to laugh. Everyone else looked up in the sky and an airplane was flying by. She used her ears and eyes to notice that a plane was flying above us.

P.K worked with bouncy balls while outside. He tried picking two up at the same time and found that it was quite difficult! So, he played with them while sitting on the ground.

Marina and Ellie used their leg and arm muscles to help them as they bounced on a bouncy ball.

P.K saw his friends bouncing on a bouncy ball and decided he wanted to do this too! However, he tried it with a small ball. He tried twice to sit on it successfully but he kept falling off. He stayed determined and finally mastered it! He bounced on the little ball while using his balancing skills to the max.

The trampoline was taken out for our friends to play with. Marina enjoyed testing out the springs and the different tricks she could do.

Ellie chose to jump as high as she could! P.K. was hesitant about jumping with any force but after watching his friends a few times, he felt more comfortable about bouncing and jumping.

For breakfast, our friends enjoyed Chex and pears. AM snack was snap peas. Lunch consisted whole wheat tortillas with melted cheese, pears,banana, and green peas. PM snack was oranges and pretzels.

Have a terrific weekend!

-Mindy

Parent reminders:

• No more Blue Bus until after Labor Day.
• Wee Friends is closed for summer break Friday, June 29 (a week from today)-Sunday July 8, opening again on Monday, July 9.

 

Yesterday’s rain didn’t stop Wee Friends from having a great time!

We began our day outside with watercolors and a tape mural.

Lisa started by drawing different shape and images on the banner. Friends then filled in with different colored tape.

A few friends chose to come inside and watercolor at the table.

We ended our morning (and our trip to Italy!) by making pizza dough! We measured, poured, combined, stirred and kneaded several ingredients until we had our dough!

 

Then we stretched and pushed and pulled and rolled the dough out onto two cooking sheets.

After we toasted them in the oven, Lisa added more magic and BOY WERE THEY GOOD!!!

Wee Sprouts are carrots and Breakfast was scrambled eggs orange slices.

Enjoy your weekend.

Good Afternoon!

Zoey started her Thursday morning off by studying different hanging toys from her baby gym. She is reaching for toys with her hands and kicking the toys with her feet at well. Her gross motor skills are growing. This is shown by her kicking and moving her legs much more throughout the day.

Ellie sat with her new friend Zoey while they looked at the fish. Ellie pointed the fish out to Zoey. She was very helpful and Zoey appreciated it! Zoey sat for some time watching the fish and the activities that occurred in the fish tank. Her attention span is growing with each day.

Our friends took a pretend camera and told their friends to say, “Cheese!” They are observing their teachers taking pictures throughout the day and using that knowledge to pretend play.

While Zoey took an interest in the fish tank, Marina pointed and say, “Grrr..” Miss Mindy talked with Marina about what sounds fish make. Instead of making a true ‘sound’, we talked about what fish looked like and the faces that they made. Marina was shown a fishy face and she responded with her own fish face!

While outside, Elizabeth stirred her food mixture with a utensil. She informed her friends and teacher that she had to make sure it was all blended together.

Our Wee Friends used red nets to catch different insects. Marina used one and found out that she could see through it. She looked through the net and said, “I can see you!”

P.K. took an interest to Arleigh who goes to Wee Friends. He really enjoyed her company and interacting with a new face.

Zoey enjoyed floor time today. She rotated from her stomach to her back. While on her stomach, she continued to work on holding her head up for an extended period of time. She used her arms to prop her up and found an interesting toy that caught her attention. When she moved to her back, she found that she could grasp toys. She got a hold of a duck head and pulled down with force.

For breakfast, our friends enjoyed egg casserole and banana. Ellie took initiative and when she was asking what she’d like for snack, she replied, “Corn, please!” So we had corn for AM snack. Lunch consisted of whole wheat English muffins topped with cream cheese and melted mozzarella cheese, fresh green grapes, and snap peas. PM snack was raisins and whole wheat crackers.

Have a wonderful evening!

-Mindy

“Green, white, red, Green, white, red! That’s what Luciano Pavarotti said!”

Today, after spending the the early morning outside catching butterflies with big red nets, we came inside and studied the colors of the Italian flag. We studied the shape that makes up the flag. A small group of friends worked at one table gluing flag shapes to white paper. It morphed into scissor work and sketching.

At the other table, a group of friends used tape, in the colors of the Italian flag, to create a larger work of art.

Simon found the colors of the Italian flag in his transportation book.

We studied two songs within two different genres of music: the Italian aria and the American pop song. First, we listened to Luciano Pavarotti sing “Caro mio ben”. We listened closely to his voice and the instruments being played. Friends recognized the flute and violin! Friends described his voice as strong. Then we listened to Taio Cruz sing “Dynamite”. Friends said they heard the beat and the drums and it was very fast. Ada expressed that she liked Luciano better because his voice was softer. After our discussion,  we stood up and sang our own song “Green, white, red, Green, white, red! That’s what Luciano Pavarotti said!”. We explored how that long interesting name, Luciano Pavarotti, fit into our mouths and how it sounded in our voices. We rolled our r’s and we incorporated hand motions, just like Baboo taught us. Then we added a little choreography as we sang along.

After lunch, our smaller friends read Fancy Nancy with Lisa, and our older Wee Friends read Bob Books, aloud, to each other.

Wee Sprouts: pea pods and cucumbers, Breakfast: Cheerios and bananas, Lunch: whole wheat English muffins with cream cheese and melted mozzarella, pea pods and grapes.

Have a great day.

Good Afternoon!

When we headed outside this morning, P.K. and Clara headed straight to the sand box. They used shovels to scoop the sand and pour it into a container or pail. P.K. made sure to slowly pour the sand into the bowl so that it wouldn’t spill.

Friends headed to the house where they looked at an ant that was living there! Marina helped her friends by pointing to where the ant was. Clara stuck her head out and smiled.

There were many boxes in the wooden house. P.K went into the house to investigate. He looked at the multiple boxes and found that some of them had tap on them. He tried with all of his might to pull the tap off!

The water table was open and our friends scurried over. Marina dipped the watering can all the way into the water so it would become full of water. She poured the water back into the water table or onto the ground where it splashed her feet! Clara used a pot that had holes at the bottom so when she lifted the pot full of water, water came pouring out of the bottom.

Children used different tools while playing in the water table.

Clara opened her mouth WIDE to get the water in there. Marina poured the water from her watering can and it hit the ground. P.K. pointed and said, “Cold.”

Our friends smiled as they sat on the swing over looking the playground where friends were getting wet and experiencing water balloons!

Children got to experience water balloons: what they felt like and what they do when they break on the ground! We soon found out that it was hard to hold the water balloon because it was very slippery.

Even when we dropped the balloon on the ground, it didn’t always pop! But when it did, children found out that all of the water comes out and splashes us.

P.K. had a blast in a mud puddle! He splashed his hands and explored the dirt and mud. He decided to run a stick through the puddle and make lines. He sure did get dirty! After he was done exploring, we washed him off with a hose. He liked the cold water shooting out onto his legs.

Zoey continues to grow at Wee Wee Friends. She’s becoming aware of her surroundings and the different noises that occur throughout the day. She was so tired after playing with the baby jungle gym that she decided to take a little cat nap. Of course we were right there watching her as she experienced taking a nap on her belly.

For breakfast, children had toast with cinnamon and bananas. Lunch consisted of egg casserole with hash browns, mixed fruit (cantaloupe and watermelon), applesauce, and cucumbers. PM snack was fresh oranges and animal crackers.

Have a great evening!

-Mindy

“Walk as though your feet are kissing the ground.” – Thich Nhat Hahn

Or flying through the air!

 

Another happy and hot summer morning! Before we jumped into water play, we had the joy of working with Amy from Red Purl: A Wee Knit Shop (www.redpurlknits.com). Under the shade of the tree, she taught us how to create felt using strands of wool. Yesterday, Vivian gathered a bucket full of smooth rocks. First, they discussed how the rock felt: was it smooth or bumpy? Next, they explored the texture of the wool. She showed them how to wrap the strands of wool around their rock with the intention of creating a wee jacket, totally covering the rock.  Then, using an Ivory soap/water solution, she sprayed the wool and friends rubbed the wooly, sudsy rock between their hands. Before they knew it, they had created felt!

We hope Amy will return later this summer for a knitting class! THANK YOU, Amy!

Wee Sprouts: A basket full of farm fresh juicy strawberries gorged on outside dripping deliciously off chins, lips and fingers.  Breakfast: Raisin Bran and oranges, Lunch: Tami’s delicious egg casserole with ham, cucumber slices and applesauce.

Happy walking today.

Good Afternoon!

Today, Zoey enjoyed the baby jungle gym. She looked at the different attachments and reached for a few that caught her eye. She was stimulated by the circular contraption that holds round balls. Her eyes got very wide and her legs were kicking.

While the baby jungle gym was out this morning, a few of our friends decided to lay on it and look at the different toys that are available. P.K. and Clara pretended they were going to sleep and Marina kicked her feet in the air.

Friends read books independently and together.

Clara vacuumed the carpet and well as read a Clifford book. She loves being read to and her literacy skills are improving greatly.

P.K. enjoyed working with sand in the house as well as examine a cardboard box that had pictures and writing on it.

Children gathered in the house and manipulated the sand that was there. They put the sand on plates and in the faucet.

P.K. swayed back and forth on the teeter totter. This activity helps P.K. with his balance and body control.

Ellie sang ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ to herself as she sat on the swing. She did the hand motions as well!

Breakfast was cheerios and apples. AM snack was corn. Lunch consisted of hummus sandwiches on whole wheat bread, strawberries, and green peas. PM snack was pretzels and raisins.

Have a terrific evening!

-Mindy

 

Happy Birthday, Ada!

Ada turns five today!

“Oh my goodness snakes!”

                         –Finn upon seeing Aaron and Ryan’s reptile collection

This morning we had the best surprise: Lisa arranged for Ryan and Aaron to come in and show our Wee Friends their reptile collection. They brought two Ball Pythons, two water turtles, 2 Bearded Dragons, a baby Tortoise and two Savannah Monitors. They taught us all about the reptiles and then we got to touch them and study them close up! We learned about what they eat and that they have their very own room at Aaron’s house. The Reptile Room.

 

Before we jumped up to explore the reptiles more closely, Jane led Wee Friends in a thank you version of the WF favorite “Jack and the Beanstalk”.

Some different comments we heard:

“Look! I picked one up!” – “Will you take my picture?” – “Look! His poop is green!” – “My poop is pink and purple!” – “His poop is just like ours!” – “Can they come back on my birthday?”

Friends were thrilled. After thoroughly washing their hands, they ran outside and spent the rest of the morning on the playground.

Thanks again, Aaron and Ryan for sharing your “sweet, lovable” cuties with us!

Wee Sprouts: celery sticks, Breakfast: Raisin Bran and raisins, Lunch: Hummus sandwiches on whole wheat bread, strawberries and peas. Thank you, Matt, D. , for the pints and pints of strawberries you have shared with us! DELICIOUS!

Have a great day!