We have been having lots of fun with bugs and mud in the toddler room! Check out what we have been doing:

We made lightning bugs using our fine motor skills to glue on the body and wings.

We mixed up mud pies (using our gross motor skills) and put them into cupcake holders (using our fine motor skills).

Footprint ladybugs!

To go along with our theme for the month (bugs) we made butterflies with contact paper and tissue paper, held together with a clothespin. The children used their fine motor skills to place the tissue paper onto the contact paper

One of our discovery centers was a tray with dirt, plastic bugs, and bug catcher tongs. The children loved this fine motor and sensory experience.

This month, our theme is BUGS! Throughout the week we have been doing different bug or mud related activities.

At morning tables this week the children had fun painting bugs with fly swatters! This activity not only gives them an art experience, it also develops their gross motor skills as they swat the bugs on the table.

In our sensory tub, we have a colorful bug themed sensory experience. –Definitely a popular place to learn and play this week.

We also painted with mud and brown paint. This was a very messy sensory experience…but the children had a great time squishing the cold paint in with the dirt to make mud.

Lastly, during our group time we have been reading “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” After we read the story, each of the children get to “feed” the caterpillar (which is taped to a brown paper bag). After each child feeds the caterpillar by placing the picture of food from the story in the bag, I flip the bag on its side where I have a picture of a cocoon taped. After we talk about the cocoon and what happens to the caterpillar, the children guess what the caterpillar has turned into. Then I flip the bag to the back where I have a picture of the butterfly!

Thank you for coming out to the Art Show!  It was an amazing night of celebrating all of the hard work your little ones have done throughout the school year.  We have some blooming Kandinsky’s this year!

Today we painted rainbow hands for art! We also played with rainbow rice as a fun sensory and fine motor activity! During group time, we talked about our color of the month: green. I had five different colored monkeys (for the “5 Little Monkey’s Jumping on the Bed” song), and I would pull one out and have him “bounce on the bed”. Then I would ask the children what color he was. Monkey #5 was the GREEN MONKEY! (we were very excited to finally find the one that was the color of the month). Check out the fun and colors from our day!

{Ms. Sarah}

We know it’s different in the summer.  It is time for vacation.  Visits to the lake house, the beach . . . home-improvement projects.  That’s why we offer our special summer programs for our students.   Activity themes that change weekly allow you to come and go as you please over the summer months.  Sign-up for one week or all of them as your child will have the opportunity to become a petite chef, paint like Van Gogh or sing and dance with recording artist Miss Joanie.  Whatever you choose, they are sure to have fun.  Who knows?  They may even learn something along the way.

Click Here for 2013 Registration and Description of Programs

Today the children worked on their fine motor skills by putting rainbow pasta into empty water bottles. The children had fun filling up their bottles then dumping out the pasta to start all over.

Today, we continued reading our nursery rhyme “Hey Diddle, Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle.” After we read, I brought out a fiddle/violin! 🙂 The children always love seeing/hearing a new instrument. We discussed the difference between a guitar (which they are very familiar with) and a violin. I played a little for the children to hear the difference in sound and how the sound is made in comparison with a guitar.

{Ms. Sarah}

“The dish ran away with the spoon”

…Using our fine motor skills to paint the dish from our nursery rhyme.

This week we are learning about the nursery rhyme “Hey Diddle, Diddle.” During group time, we read the nursery rhyme. We talked about the part with the cow jumping over the moon, then each child got to “jump over the moon” while saying “moo.” This was a fun little gross motor activity for the children. During art, the children glued a moon onto paper then glued a cow jumping over it. This activity not only corresponded with our theme, but it helped developed the children’s fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination.

{Ms. Sarah}

This week we have been focusing on the color pink. Today I read the story “Pink Takes a Bow” during our group time. We looked for pink items in the story, as well as the hidden pink crayon on each page. The activity to go along with our story was making pink play dough. I showed the children white play dough and red play dough. Then they each helped me pinch and squish the play dough until the red and white had mixed and made pink.

{Ms. Sarah}

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!