January 2016 Newsletter

Welcome to our newest member of the group- Jonathan!  It has been good to see how the other kids have welcomed him and watch how they are learning to play together. 

With the mild weather we’ve had a lot of outdoor time.  The kids enjoy gathering in the sand box where we pretend to be at a campfire.  We hand out sticks and marshmallows and roast them.  We then pretend to hand out hot chocolate and tell stories around the fire.  They add to and expand on this activity every time. 

Another favourite imaginative activity this month was baking in a cardboard box oven.  The kids had been playing with playdough and muffin tins and decided they needed to bake their treats.  So we created an oven out of a cardboard box and made some shelves.  They would close the doors and count until their treats were done.

This month we also set up a baby washing activity with wash cloths, bottles to squirt water, warm water droppers and plenty of warm, soapy water.  They spent a lot of time washing and feeding the baby.  

Here are some of the other things we’ve done this month:

Outdoor:

·      Roads - I painting a number of wood boards using black chalkboard paint with white lines down the centre like roads.  The kids have been using them flat on the ground, connecting the different pieces and also as ramps.  They have also drawn on them with chalk to look like railway tracks (who could have inspired that idea?!)

·      Drums – using metal buckets and sticks (what are the different sounds we can make)

Sensory Stations:

·      Rice sensory play – white rice with arctic animals and natural blocks

·      Coloured rice mixed with white rice.  

·      Playdough

·      Shaving cream

·      Bubbly water

Creative:

·      Painting with marbles

·      Dinosaur foot print painting…which became painting dinosaurs. 

·      We painted a branch with white paint and glitter to look like snow.  The kids were excited to hang it up in the kitchen.  We also created handprint ‘snowflakes’ and talked about how each snow flake is unique and how each of us is unique and special too.  The snowflakes now hang from the branch above the table in the kitchen and the kids love to look up at it and find which handprint is theirs.

Baking:

Mini banana muffins

Independence and relationships:

 With winter clothing we are taking more time to get dressed and undressed.  They started out wanting more help – but are getting really good at coming in and getting everything off and even some of it hung up! 

I’ve been observing the kids helping each other out more when conflicts arise – either by trying to negotiate or by helping the child who is upset.  It’s been good to step back and allow them to work things out as a group.

Books we love:

 Hello Snow, By Hope Vestergaard

The Mitten, Retold by Jim Aylesworth

Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What do you See? By Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle

Songs and rhymes:

The North Wind Doth Blow

When you’re happy and you know it

Five Little Snowmen