January 29th - February 6th, 2018
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Hello!
Here is info for you about some of our activities this past week.
Thanks for reading, and have a great evening!
Anine : )
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“Chefs & Bakers” Activities…
Thursday, Friday and Monday we had some fun with “Dramatic Play: Chefs and Bakers”. We brought the great big toy kitchen upstairs for a few days, and almost all of our pretend food. The kids had a lot of fun with just those items, but we did some “real” food prep projects, too.
Thursday, the kids made homemade M&M cookies. We started with a Toll House cookie recipe, reduced the flour, added oatmeal, and added lots of M&Ms. The kids loved measuring the M&Ms – and tasting the cookies!
Friday, we tried out making homemade noodles, and they turned out well! The kids loved cracking the eggs, using a rolling pin (some of the kids) and helping use a pizza cutter to slice long, thin, noodles. The noodles ended up being fun to make, and they tasted good.
Two friends had been absent on Friday, and we wanted them to have a chance to be in on that novel activity, so Monday we made time to prepare one more batch of our noodle recipe. The kids had some of their noodles with lunch each day – and liked them! And, either Friday or Monday, each friend got to take a little sample home. Our recipe is called Grandma’s Noodles II (at allrecipes.com) if you’d like to take a look at it.
“Build a Snowman” Activity Tray…
Each of the kids had a chance to create with our “Build a Snowman” Activity Tray this week. The tray has little pieces on it made of paper, felt & ribbon to use for the snowman bodies, hats, noses, eyes, buttons and scarves; little colorful sticks to use as the snowman’s arms, and little “jewels” and tiny buttons to use to decorate the snowmen. When the kids were done playing with the tray, they put all of the pieces back again for the next friends to use.
Link: https://happyhooligans.ca/build-snowman-activity-tray/
Homemade Book: “Where is Little Seal?” …
The kids each got to make a simple homemade book this past week called “Where is Little Seal?” The kids colored the pages with an assortment of art supplies and then using a ribbon, attached a little paper seal “puppet” to their book. As the book is read, the child moves their puppet from page to page and shows where the seal belongs on each page, based on the words (Words like “Under”, “Over”, “On”, “Beside” “Between”, etc.) The kids’ favorite part of that project was definitely the puppets!
Read About Emperor Penguins, “Pass the Egg” game…
We read our book “National Geographic: Penguins” this week. We specifically read about Emperor Penguins. Afterwards the kids teamed up two at a time to play a game called “Pass the Egg”. The kids used a small, soft ball as their “penguin egg”, and the challenge was to pass the egg from the top of one friend’s feet to the top of the other friend’s feet, without letting the egg touch the ground, or as we called it, the “ice!”
Link: http://theteacherschatterbox.blogspot.com/2011/09/penguin-chick.html
“Fish” in “Antarctic” Waters…
We used a Melissa & Doug “Catch and Count” wooden/magnetic fishing game several times this week. We used a big blue piece of paper that we cut out as our “Antarctic Waters” and the kids got to fish for little wooden fish with colors/numbers on them.
Polar Animals…
We learned a little bit more about the Musk Ox this past week, and talked again about Artic Fox, Artic Wolf, Arctic Hare, and about penguins.
Songs…
This past week the kids had fun with our Polar Bear Paws song/game, had fun playing/singing London Bridge, and did a lot of laughing while doing some made up actions to the song “Row, Row, Row Your Boat. We also tried two new songs. The first one we tried is called “I’m a Little Snowman.”
I’m a little snowman,
Short and fat,
Here is my broom,
and here is my hat,
When it’s cold and icy,
I will stay.
But when it gets all hot,
I melt away!
Link: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/44050902592720961/
A second new song we tried this week was:
Up in the Arctic where it is cold
There are creatures to behold
Foxes, Wolves, and Polar Bears,
Caribou and Arctic Hares
Oh! Oh! Oh! White as snow,
Oh! Oh! Oh! Where did they go?
Camouflaged in fur so light,
They disappear from our sight.
Link: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/197384396144488949/
Books We Read…
* Knuffle Bunny * Ten on the Sled * The Pigeon Needs a Bath! * The Gruffalo * Baby Beluga * Tacky the Penguin * The Duckling Gets a Cookie?! * In Arctic Waters * Sadie and the Snowman * Arctic Animals * Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! * The Hat * Snowmen at Night * Polar Bear Night * Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? * Pete the Cat: Valentine’s Day is Cool! * The Story of Valentine’s Day * The Mixed-Up Chameleon
Classroom Space…
We’ve spent time in the classroom space most days this past week. The kids each told me some of their favorite activities, and I wrote them down for you. Some favorite classroom areas this week were Dramatic Play, Science, Literacy, and Blocks.
Homework, Scissors…
Our oldest friends each worked on homework from their individual books this week, as well as on some “fun” pages I printed for them to use if they would like.
Our youngest three friends each did some “homework” this week, too, when they asked if they could, and it was cute seeing how excited they were about that!
The kids have also practiced using scissors this week and enjoyed that.
Games…
Some of the kids’ games this week included * Math Cubes * Connect Four * Ladybugs Number Match * London Bridge * Polar Bear Paws * Row Your Boat
Outdoor Time, Dancing…
We were able to spend time on the deck a couple of different afternoons, lately, for at least a little while. All of our kick balls were out there for the kids to use, and we brought a little tiny slide out there for them to use, too.
As a way to get some additional large motor activity in on some of these colder days, we played some of the kids’ favorite music, turned up the volume, and let them do some dancing.
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Meals…
Monday, January 29, 2018
Breakfast was original Cheerios, Pepperidge Farm whole wheat raisin-cinnamon toast/butter, fresh raspberries, and Horizon organic skim milk.
Lunch was hamburger pizza, steamed corn, fresh blueberries, Horizon skim milk, and; if anyone was still hungry afterwards, the kids had Orowheat Country White bread/butter.
Snack was Cheez Its and apple juice.
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Breakfast was homestyle waffles, bananas and milk. The kids each had a bite of cinnamon roll with frosting, too.
Lunch was slow cooker teriyaki pork tenderloin, steamed peas, fresh blackberries, steamed Basmati rice, Pepperidge Farm whole grain oatmeal bread/butter, and milk.
Snack was cheese pizza, steamed peas, animal crackers and apple juice.
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Wednesday Meals…
Breakfast – we tried a new kind of breakfast burritos today (from Costco - flour tortillas, scrambled egg, sausage, cheddar, refried beans), I gave the kids original Cheerios on the side, too, just in case they didn’t care for the burrito. They also had fresh strawberries, and milk.
Lunch was homemade chili, with most of the broth removed to make the chili heartier and easier for them to eat with a spoon. (seasoned ground beef, onion, pinto beans, kidney beans, tomato sauce). The kids liked that pretty well. They also had mild cheddar cheese, fresh strawberries and blueberries, Pepperidge Farm 100% whole wheat bread/butter, and skim milk. I also took some white corn chips and broke them into small pieces. I let the kids have a few to eat next to their chili, or to sprinkle on top of their chili. Everyone liked that.
Snack was Goldfish whole grain pretzel crackers, milk and apple juice. The kids each had half of a cookie, too.
Thursday, February 1, 2018
Breakfast was Homestyle waffles, fresh blueberries, and milk.
Lunch was cheese pizza, steamed edamame, green beans, mandarin oranges, and milk.
Snack was whole grain Goldfish cheddar crackers, and apple juice.
Friday, February 2, 2018
Breakfast was blueberry waffles, fresh raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, and milk.
Lunch was grilled cheese sandwiches, PBJ sandwiches (Country White bread, Mild Cheddar cheese, Skippy Creamy peanut butter, apple jelly), steamed corn, mandarin oranges, homemade egg noodles; prepared (in chicken broth), and milk.
Snack was Triscuit crackers and apple juice.
Monday, February 5, 2018
Breakfast was “cinnamon toast” and “chocolate chip” flavored waffles, mango, pineapple, honeydew melon, strawberries, and skim milk.
Lunch was hamburger pizza, steamed edamame, fresh blackberries, and skim milk. The kids also had homemade egg noodles that had been cooked in chicken broth. We made that recipe on Friday, and again on Monday, so each of the kids could have a turn to help make homemade noodles and then try them.
Snack was original Cheerios, animal crackers and apple juice.
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Breakfast was homemade French toast (100% whole wheat bread, eggs, milk, butter), with a teaspoon of maple syrup and a teaspoon of strawberry jam on the side for dipping. The kids had assorted fruit on the side – honeydew melon, fresh pineapple, fresh mango and fresh strawberries. They had skim milk to drink.
Lunch was homemade chicken and noodles, (shredded chicken breast, lots of carrots & celery, Alberto’s Fettuccini noodles), Mild Cheddar cheese slices, mandarin oranges, toasted garlic French bread/butter, and milk.
Snack was Cheez Its crackers and apple juice.
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Links to Books we Read:
Knuffle Bunny:
Ten on the Sled:
The Pigeon Needs a Bath!
The Gruffalo:
Baby Beluga:
Tacky the Penguin:
The Duckling Gets a Cookie:
In Arctic Waters:
Sadie and the Snowman:
Arctic Animals:
https://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Animals-Fun-Facts-Kids/dp/1588658376
Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!
The Hat:
Snowmen at Night:
Polar Bear Night:
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?
Pete the Cat: Valentine’s Day is Cool!
The Story of Valentine’s Day:
The Mixed-Up Chameleon:
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Links to Games:
Math Cubes: https://www.lakeshorelearning.com/products/math/math-manipulatives/linking-cubes/p/RA529
Ladybug Number Match: https://www.lakeshorelearning.com/products/math/numbers-counting/ladybug-number-match/p/LL278