June is a great month to get out and enjoy the beautiful sunny days, and we did so as often and as long as possible. The children enjoyed many outdoor activities, and their favorite was playing in the water. Whether the children were running under the sprinkler, splashing at the water table, or filling and pouring water from pails and watering cans, it was all wonderful for the children's gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and social skills. It's also a great opportunit

We had so much fun in February that the month zoomed right by! We finished up a hibernation theme that we had started in January with a fun activity. I cut entrance holes in several large boxes (which were kindly supplied by one of the daycare families). We reviewed some books about hibernating animals, then the children decided which kind of hibernating animal they wanted to be. We had a bears, woodchucks, and chipmunks! The children had a wonderful time picking out their

The weather outside was frightful, but we dressed up to make sure we stayed warm and dry all through January. The rainy weather wasn't as much fun as being able to build snowmen, make snow angels, and throw snowballs, but we made the best of it. We looked for signs of animal activity and wondered what animals could be hiding under soggy leaves and rocks. On the days that were too cold to go outside, we had plenty of activities to keep everyone busy inside. One of the childr

The Blue Sky Daycare children enjoy tons of fun indoors and out, visit a pumpkin patch, learn about autumn, and celebrate Halloween.

This month, the children and I focused on the delights of spring, specifically on the life cycle of plants and rainy weather. We engaged in projects that reflected the changes we were seeing outside. The green flush of new grass and leaves and the emergence of lovely spring flowers were the subjects of our artwork, and we played matching and sequencing games that used flowers and plants to teach colors and the plant life cycle. Our April circle time revolved around the chang

March arrived in grand style with lovely warm breezes and a promise of spring. We made it outside as much as possible, especially celebrating the opening of the sandbox and mud kitchen. All the children learned about using the sand respectfully so everyone has a good time, and before long, the children were making cupcakes, pies, soup, and all sorts of other goodies in the kitchen and making mountains, ditches, hills, and roads in the sandbox. Outdoor time also focused on pl

Today we celebrated Blue Sky Daycare's 5th annual Halloween party! The children and I had so much fun engaging in a range of fun and spooky activities! Once our usual morning routine was finished, we began our party with classic sensory game- the children took turns feeling some Halloween-themed items in a covered bowl. They felt "bat ears" (fresh sage leaves), "jellyfish pieces" (well-oiled noodles), "dragon eyeballs" (peeled grapes), and "monster slime" (pistachio pudding

This past week has been lots of fun! We've continued to work on our circle time fingerplays and the children are nearing mastery on their favorites. The children have also enjoyed creating some very simple games as their imaginations grow. The games range from pretending they are puppies to pretending a friend has fallen or is stuck in the mud. The pictures below show the children using teamwork to help a friend up from the "mud." I introduced the children to a story calle

Our circle time has shifted from apples to the sights and sounds of Halloween and of animals getting ready for the winter. One of our circle time activities involves moving like animals- "flying" like geese, gathering and hiding like squirrels, raiding corn stalks like raccoons, and bounding like deer. Another is borrowed from a fun and spooky collection of poems in It's Halloween by Jack Prelutsky and goes like this as we count down on our fingers: There are ten ghosts in

As the gorgeous misty sunrise I saw this morning can attest, autumn is here, and along with it is a new face at Blue Sky Daycare! This gorgeous face joined us yesterday, and the children and I are just thrilled to have an infant in our midst. The older children asked all kinds of questions about the baby, and we spent most of yesterday discussing how to keep the baby safe while the big kids still had lots of fun. During our calendar and weather routine, we changed our calend

September is well underway, and we are focusing on apples right now. We have a lovely variety of circle time movement rhymes and fingerplays that have to do with apples and apple trees. Here is the one that we begin with: Way up high in the apple tree Two little apples smiled at me. I shook that tree as hard as I could, Down fell the apples. Mmmm- they were good! After our morning routine the children and I talked about how tall apple trees were and named all the colors of

There was a slight chill in the air this morning, so we focused on some big-body movement games to warm us up today. After our morning routine, the children and I had lots of fun setting up a pretend grocery store. There was so much wonderful cooperation from the children involved in this- the children worked together to clean up all the toys and put them in the proper baskets, then to move the baskets to an area away from where we'd be playing grocery store, and most impor

The older children have been deep in the throes of pretend play, and as soon as we finish our morning routine, they have been inventing all sorts of familiar scenes to recreate. Children play through familiar scenes to deepen their understanding of the world they see around them. They practice being part of positive social interactions and discover more about how they fit into the world through this kind of imaginitive, constructive play. Today's play scene revolved around a

The children seemed to be in a quiet and meditative mood this morning, so I decided that a good chunk of time spent making and playing with blocks was just what was needed. At first, the children and I focused on just square blocks... ... but after a bit we decided to mix and match the Lego-style blocks, railroad tracks, and natural wooden blocks. Soon there was a whole town with a railroad and a zoo! While the big kids focused on blocks, the little in residence had a very

August has been a perfect month for sunflowers- our two mammoth sunflowers outdoors are just beginning to bud (at about 7-8 feet tall!), and so our morning pretend session included cooking up and serving some sunflower seed bread with sunflower seed butter. We've also been enjoying two sweet sunflower-themed fingerplays. One of them goes like this: Here is my garden (make one palm flat toward ceiling) I rake with care (make raking motions with three fingers of opposite han

What a great day it was to celebrate a birthday! We began our day with calendar, weather, and our sunflower and bubble circle time rhymes, then launched right into making birthday cake/cookie bars. This time we decided that a pumpkin recipe sounded super yummy. After we examined the ingredients, the birthday boy got to add sugar to the flour... ... and stir it well. Next came the baking soda, baking powder, and salt... After that the children added cinnamon, nutmeg, and c

It's amazing how much change can occurr over a weekend. Today we welcomed another new face to our daycare family, a little boy of almost one year. The older children had many questions about their new friend and were very eager to show him all about what we do. After our morning routine, the children and I checked in our our tiny caterpillars. Though they are still very small, their growth and change in appearance was obvious, especially when the children and I took a supe

Today was a fun day! During our calendar and weather routine we noted that it was going to be a hot, hot, HOT day and we all agreed it would be lots of fun to do some water play. After circle time we set up a pretend play area with a lake/ocean, a river, and a meadow. It was fun to pretend with sharks and whales in the water and to use our imaginations to reenact scenes from Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe. Before the sun was too intense, we slathered on sunblock, put

This morning we had a wonderful time after our morning routine. The children and I worked together to make clothing matches as we played dress-up with a set of magnetic dolls. We made up stories all about where the dolls were going to go and why they were dressed the way they were. Our favorite story was about a doll that liked to go out in the rain and stomp in puddles. She also liked to feed the ducks bread and talk to her friend the frog. Once the dolls were all dresse

Today was another chilly day and the children and I decided it was a perfect day to make our favorite vegetable soup and bread meal (usually reserved for fall and winter). After our circle time, we quickly paid our garden a visit and came back with two zucchini to add to the soup. The children helped chop and add carrots, celery, onion, and the zucchini to the pot... ... then they added vegetable boullion cubes, water, and tomatoes. I put in on the stove to simmer while we