Simple yet fun activity

This week we have been working on learning about the 5 senses. Each day I try to implement one of the sense into our craft or activity. Today we talked about the sense of sight, and all the things we can see with our eyes; colours, shapes, people, places etc.
Then we took empty water bottles and put beads, sequences confetti etc inside. Then each child chose a water colour and we added water and some hair gel. the hair gel is supposed to make the items inside move more gracefully and slowly through the water. Then after seeing the toddlers are able to remove the caps, we glued them on. The kids had a blast shaking the bottles to form bubbles, and exploring with their eyes what they could see inside. We discovered that if we hold it up to the light, it looks different, that they roll, shake, squeeze and as one friend commented, they don't smell :) I wish I had put a tad more water in each bottle, but the kids could care less! Simple, cheap craft and we did some learning along the way. What could be better?!

GOTTA LOVE THE SPRING WEATHER!!

I know that winter seemed like it was never ending this year. The kids loved the snow, and constantly told me they didn't want the snow to melt, but now that it is, I don't think anyone is complaining! We have been going outside for the majority of the afternoon so far every day this week, and was even able to sneak out this morning as well. The kids love the fresh air, as do I. I know its supposed to get rainy towards the end of the week so we are making the most of it. Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying the weather. And yes even though its spring, they are playing in the piles of leaves I took all day raking up last Saturday!! I was trying to play photographer lol how did I do?

I AM BACK!

I have been absolutely horrible at keeping up on the blog thing. But I am going to try and get better. Now that its spring we are enjoying the outdoors as much as possible. A few weeks ago we took the kids glow in the dark mini golfing, which was great fun! I have attached some pictures of that.

Happy New Year

Well, the holidays have come and gone. All of us celebrating in our own way. The kids always come back from Christmas holidays a bit wound up and hyper. And this year was no exception. We had a fun but crazy day back. We welcomed S to the group and had a smooth transition back into our regular routines. Here are some pictures from our first day back.

Merry Christmas

The weeks leading up to the holidays were quite busy and full of lots to do. But it was also a week of few kids between illness and vacations so I didn't have many pictures to post. We did have fun last Thursday with a sled and a snowman light set I got. Its lights for the eyes, nose mouth and buttons, its pretty cool. I thought I would share that day with you.

FAMILY FUN NIGHT!!

Running your own home daycare definitely has its advantages, but one of the disadvantages is that you don't have a "staff" Christmas party. So for the second year in a row, I hosted a family fun night for both the kids and the parents. Although the weather was horrible outside with TONS of snow and terrible roads, three families were able to make it and we had a great time. Santa even stopped by!! He told us all that he ALWAYS eats his supper before eating any cookies! Good to know ;) anyhow, there were sooo many pictures so I made a slide show. So here is the link. Thanks to everyone that was able to make it. Sorry to those who couldn't make it, darn winter weather!!

ANNUAL PICTURE DAY!

Today was our annual Christmas picture day. A few years ago I painted this fireplace that we hang up beside the Christmas tree each year in the playroom. And then on one day the kids come and we do pictures for the families. Its a bit of a "present" for the parents so I am not about to really show you pictures, but I do have a few "teasers". I personally love pictures, and I hope the parents will enjoy comparing their child each year as they grow with the background that stays the same here at daycare. I will admit its kinda creepy with no heads lol.

Houses 'O' Plenty......kinda

This past Friday was a PA day so Amanda and I were trying to come up with an activity that would keep everyone busy with the extra kids. We decided to try this "craft" I saw in a magazine. Last year at our Family Fun Night, each family had a gingerbread house to put together and then take home. But it was a bit frustrating getting them to stay together. Well the recipe I found, was to make the gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. Which I thought is an awesome idea since the kids don't like eating gingerbread anyhow. Well let me tell you, graham crackers don't stay together any better than gingerbread. But we did our best and the kids had fun. In the end every ones house fell apart, so they had flat roofs. However, the kids had fun and they each had a project they did on their own, which is the main thing. No one did tell me how they tasted though! Here are some pictures. It was fun, but really really MESSY! Until we got the hang of putting them together.

Decorating the Tree

This year, with the daycare being separated from the actual living space of our home. We were able to get a real tree for us, and use our fake tree for the kids to decorate their own way. Amanda and I put it up and strung the lights and garland and then let the kids go nuts! I must admit as much as on my own tree I would hate to have three ornaments on one branch, or two ornaments touching, it looks really good. and much as Amanda wants to "fix" it, we will leave it just as the kids did it.

Here are some pictures of the kids decorating it.

Winter Wonderland

We had a great surprise (well not so much a surprise as loud HELLO) from old man winter this week. Dumping tons of snow on us. The kids of course were anxious to get out there and enjoy it. So we bundled up and made the most of it. I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to getting everyone all bundled up and ready to go out, but it went smoothly and it wasn't bitterly cold out which made it that much more enjoyable. Here are some pictures of the fun we had in our first snow fall!