Treasure Hunt

In the morning the children went on a treasure hunt!  They seperated into two groups, received their clues and they were off!

Once the children found the pieces there was a bit of a power struggle over who was going to do what.  

Kalem pointed out, "We all need to work together, that's the only way we'll find the treasure."

They ended up finding the box full of different toys from the prize bucket so they were pretty excited.

Robots

Sylvan Learning joined us today in the afternoon to teach the children about robotics.  The children had been talking about robots for a while so Ms. Shuang arranged for the children to enhance their play and learn about the construction and technology that goes into making robots move.  

Harmonicas

One of the children brought in an antique Harmonica that is grandfather had given him to show and play for the rest of the children.  The children were so interested in the instument that Ms. Shila researched an idea that would allow all of the children to have their own harmonica.  

Using popsicle sticks and elastic bands the children got to work creating simple yet effective versions of the real thing.  

Music has many developmental benefits for children and creating instruments using materials that you can find around the house is a fun and cost effective way to allow children to express themselves through music and movement.  

Emoji's

This past week the children have taken a real interest in melting beads.  Melting beads are a great fine motor activity that helps to foster patience and focus in children.  Some of the children began creating beautiful patterns and designs from their imagination while others used the Ipad for inspiration.  

One child using the circle shape had a very unique idea when he began to create melting bead emoji characters.  In case you can't tell this is the one he chose. 😜

Knowing that the yellow melting beads would soon be in huge demand, Ms. Shuang decided that yellow Playdoh would work just as well.  The children worked all morning creating different emoji faces.  

It looked like so much fun even I decided to join in. 😘

Risky Play

While we were out on our walk today looking for bugs, we came across some interesting looking trees.  These trees were very appealing to the children because of their unique shapes and the irresistable urge to climb them.

So we did!

 Some of the children stayed closer to the ground while others tested their limits and climbed a bit higher.  The children recognized their own boundaries and everyone had a great time. 

The only down side to our tree climbing adventure today was trying to convince the children to come out of the trees because they were having too much fun. 

WORMS!

The snow has melted, the trees are blooming and that means that it's every child's favorite time of year...the return of the bugs.  Bugs are a staple in our program every Spring with this year being no exception.

 The children went digging in the playground earlier this week and unearthed a few worms.  

With their interest still focus on bugs, worms in particular, we decided to go for a walk today to see if we could find some more. 

 We didn't find any worms today, but we did come back with some centipedes, ants and a beetle.  

Easter Monday

Our first day back after the long weekend started out as a quiet one with only 10 boys showing up to daycare, but despite the small group we had lots of big fun planned.  

Ms. Shuang arranged an Easter themed scavenger hunt hiding plastic eggs containing clues all around the inside and outside of the school.  The children worked in teams of two to search the school and figure out the clues.  

            

 They were rewarded for their good team work with a chocolate treat.  

Ms. Shuang and Ms. Shila overheard the children talking about having another organized wrestling match in the gym, similar to the one that we had done earlier this year.  They thought it could be fun to instead plan a pillow fight.  Needless to say, the boys were on board.  

When they were all finished, I'm sure a few of those children wanted to use those pillows to take a nap.