Bugs and Flowers

First of all, I'd like to again invite all of our families to our First Annual Art Show! It is this Wednesday, April 17th, from 6-8 pm. Please join us for a chance to see all of your children's hard work and beautiful art pieces! They are very proud of what they have down so far, and would love to show you their great art work!

This week we will continue our exploration through spring by taking a peak at bugs and flowers. There will be a combination of different art activities, including "worm painting" (cooked spaghetti and paint), and maybe even a little toddler flower planting.

Song for the week:

Insect Song  ("The Wheels on the Bus")

The firefly at night goes blink blink blink

Blink blink blink blink blink blink

The firefly at night goes blink blink blink

All around the town

The bees in the flowers go buzz buzz buzz....

The ants in the grass go march march march...

The crickets in the leaves go chirp chirp chirp...

The caterpillar in the field goes creep creep creep....

Shape of the week: square

Color of the week: green
Family Project: Art Show! April 17th (6-8 pm)

Week 1 *(subject to change)*

	Breakfast	Lunch	Afternoon Snack
Monday	Cereal Juice Milk	Mac & Cheese Peaches Peas Milk	Animal Crackers Juice
Tuesday	Waffles Fruit Salad Milk	Eggs Potato Puffs Pears Bread Milk	Oyster Crackers Juice
Wednesday	Oatmeal Bananas Milk	Chicken Sandwich Apple Sauce Corn Milk	Graham Crackers Juice
Thursday	Croissant Mandarin Oranges Milk	Rotini w/ Meat Sauce Salad Milk	Crackers Juice
Friday	Cereal Juice Milk	Ham & Cheese Sandwich Carrots Pineapple Milk	Cookies Milk

This past week...

This past week we had lots of fun as spring began to finally show up! We made kites, birds, experimented with colors, and even had a guest come and speak to us about fire safety!

This was one of our spring science experiments this week! 

Spread a thin layer of baking soda onto a flat surface (wide containers or flat plates work best) and put a drop of food coloring in a little vinegar. Supply the children with eyedroppers or small spoons and viola--instant sensory exploration! The children can mix colors, see the "fuzzy bubbles" and can hear the vinegar and baking soda fizz as it combines!

A definite hit for all of our twos! They loved it and we will be sure to revisit this experiment again.
Try it at home!

Just some cute tissue paper kites to display in the classroom. They love being able to get sticky and dirty with glue...

Firefighter Joe came to visit and while talking to us about fires and how to stay safe, shared some nifty stickers with the kids. The toddlers loved them, especially because they smelled like chocolate! Yes, they had nothing to do with fire safety, but the kids still loved Firefighter Joe and his stickers. 

Almost forgot about our little bug friends that the children found this week!
They had a chance to watch a caterpillar crawl across the picnic table. They were so excited and lived watching it wiggle!

The caterpillar then led to other great buggy explorations, like this roly poly. Not in the photos are the other worms and a beetle that the children also found over the week. They had a great time looking at them under magnifying glasses and gently placing them back in their habitats!

Kites and Birds

This week will will be talking a lot about more spring things, like flying kites and seeing birds. Our toddlers will have a chance to make their own kites and build bird nests.

We would love to see some of your spring butterflies come into the classroom. The children love to talk about their family projects, so keep up the great work! We can't wait to see all of the wonderful things you and your toddler love about spring time.

Lesson Plan for Week of 4/8-4/12

One of our songs for the week:

I’M A LITTLE KITE - “I’m a Little Teapot”

I’m a little kite up in the sky.

See me flying, oh, so high.

When the wind begins to blow and blow,

I twirl and swirl, just watch me go

Shape of the week: triangle
Color of the week: pink
Family Project: Spring Time Butterfly

Week 5 *(SUBJECT TO CHANGE)*

	Breakfast	Lunch	Afternoon Snack
Monday	Cereal Juice Milk	Fettuccine Alfredo Broccoli Pears Milk	Crackers Cheese Water
Tuesday	Pancakes Pineapple Milk	Fish Nuggets Potatoes Peaches Bread Milk	Fig Newtons Juice
Wednesday	Cinnamon Bread Bananas Milk	Chicken Dippers Baked Beans Applesauce Bread Milk	Teddy Grahams Juice
Thursday	Bagel Mandarin Oranges Milk	Ziti w/ Meatballs & Meat Sauce Peas Milk	White Cheddar Rice Cakes
Friday	Cereal Juice Milk	Turkey & Cheese Sandwhich Carrots Fruit Salad Milk	Cookies Milk

April Newsletter

Dear Families,

We gladly welcome spring as we move into the month of April! We will be focusing on a lot of spring themes, giving the children a chance to experience this season with all of their senses. We will also have a special shape and color that will be focused on each week. To add to the concepts, you can always send your children in wearing our color of the week, and practicing some extra activities at home.

Click the image below to access our April Newsletter.

I also wanted to give you some of the songs that we will be singing throughout the month of April. These are just a handful of songs and finger plays that will be introduced to your children. Our toddlers love singing, finger plays, dancing, and pretty much any movement that can be incorporated throughout the day!

These April songs can be seen by going to the image below.

Wishing you all a happy spring!

~Miss Lauren

April Showers...

I hope you are all having a fantastic Easter weekend! This coming week we will be learning a lot about rainy weather. We will learn about how it looks, what it feels like, how it sounds, and why it rains so much in the month of April. This week we are also implementing something new into our toddler curriculum, and that is focusing more on shapes and colors. We already apply these concepts to our everyday activities and conversations, but we will now be focusing a lot more through specific activities during the week.

Shape of the week: circle
Color of the week: blue
Family Project: Spring Time Butterfly

This weeks lesson plan can be accessed here.

Week 4 Menu  *(subject to change)*

	Breakfast	Lunch	Afternoon Snack
Monday	Cereal Juice Milk	Chicken Fingers Corn Peaches Bread Milk	Caramel Rice Cakes Juice
Tuesday	French Toast Mandarin Oranges Milk	English Muffin Pizza Cucumbers Applesauce Milk	Goldfish Juice
Wednesday	Hashbrowns Bread Milk	Turkey Pears Potatoes Bread Milk	Yogurt Bananas Juice
Thursday	Oatmeal Pineapple Milk	Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce Green Beans Milk	Nilla Wafers Juice
Friday	Cereal Juice Milk	Ham & Cheese Sandwich Peas Fruit Salad Milk	Cookies Milk

Easter Egg Hunt

Come join us for our Easter Egg Hunt! All parents and families are encouraged to come and be a part of the fun on Friday, March 29th. Our class is scheduled to go at 9:20 am. Click this link for a copy of the complete schedule  Easter Egg Hunt Schedule.docx.

Hope to see you there!

~Miss Lauren

Easter Week

Happy Easter Week!

This week we will be exploring Easter through various art activities which will be displayed throughout the room, along with other small and large group activities. You can view this weeks lesson plan using this link

**REMINDER: Easter party is Thursday, March 28th and the Easter Bunny visits Friday, March 29th.

Lunch Menu (3/25-3/29)   **(subject to change)**

	Breakfast	Lunch	Afternoon Snack
Monday	Cereal Juice Milk	Chicken Broccoli Casserole White Rice Peaches Milk	White Cheedar Rice Cakes Juice
Tuesday	Waffles Peaches Milk	Sheppards Pie Pears Bread Milk	Animal Crackers Juice
Wednesday	Bagel w/ Cream Cheese Juice Milk	Fish Sticks Apple Sauce Carrots Bread Milk	Oranges Graham Crackers Water
Thursday	Blueberry Muffin Bananas Milk	Baked Shells w/ Ricotta Cheese & Sauce Green Beans Milk	Teddy Grahams Juice
Friday	Cereal Juice Milk	Meatball Sandwich Cucumbers Fruit Salad Milk	Cookies Milk