Hi Everyone,

Fall is definitly in the air, and with Thanks Giving just around the corner I thought I would share this Turkey Headband for your little gobblers!

We found this Huge Green Caterpillar In our Backyard today! The kids were all a buzz with excitement, I have never seen anything like this before.  It had beautiful bright spikes on its back of red, yellow and blue it was larger than my thumb. The picture really doesn’t give it justice. We had to finding out what it was. The kids had a great time making pom pom caterpillars, drawing pictures of their new friend and making butterfly/ moth crafts. the kids loved learning about this beautiful creature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some fantastic links

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://mothmaster.netfirms.com/OplCommandServlet.jpg&imgrefurl=http://mothmaster.netfirms.com/Silkmoths10.htm&usg=__Z6hXRWlTaFX_WvGP2LUG1i-MhUg=&h=335&w=448&sz=22&hl=en&start=54&tbnid=rAv8p-N5kfojLM:&tbnh=95&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhuge%2Bgreen%2Bcaterpillar%2BCecropia%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D40

http://www.geocities.com/mothman15/cecropia.htm

With all the talks of Full Time Kindergarten in Ontario, its hard to think of where fellow Childcare Providers will be? It feels as if the government is trying to weed us out. There will be no need for us in the future as they will be adding a TWO YEAR mat leave on top of the Full time Kindergarten.  Ontario schools are also adding before and after school care, so our little 3 to 5 year old kindergartners could be at school for over 10 hours.

As a Childcare Provider there will only be a 2 to 3 year window that parents will need care. Right Now I have a seven year turnover, as it is not worth my time to care for children before and after school only. with the full day kindergarten I will now have a 2 to 3 year turnover for new children entering and leaving my daycare.

I would love to know what other childcare providers feel about this program!

Please feel free to leave a comment

 

 

For more info Check out these links

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071127/kindergarten_plan_071127/20071127?hub=TopStories

http://news.therecord.com/News/CanadaWorld/article/275299

http://winterhill.ca/negativeimplications.pdf

Check out this cute Canada Day Flag Craft for you to try with your children.

Using a ruler, draw two vertical lines about five inches in from each end of a piece of finger painting paper. Let the child paint the two rectangles at each end of the paper with red paint, leaving the middle section white. To make the maple leaf in the middle of the flag, paint one of the child’s hands with red paint and make a hand print on the white section with the fingers pointing up.

Free Father’s Day Printables

I found some great Father’s Day Printables on the internet today. There are some great ideas for children of all ages. Great colouring pages, printable picture frames and even printable gift ideas.

Hope you enjoy!

Here are the links

http://www.hp.com/hho/hp_create/themes_holidays_fathers_day.html

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/fathers_day_printables.htm

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/dad/index.html

http://www.first-school.ws/THEME/h_father’s_day.htm

 

Father’s Day Hand Painted Coffee Mug for Dad 

Painting on a coffee cup is just as easy as painting on a piece of paper or wood. I did this craft last Father’s Day with my kids and it was a big hit!  We filled our mugs with Hershey’s Hugs and Kisses to make it extra special.

You will need

white coffee mug (Found at Dollar Stores or your local thrift shop)
enamel Paints (found in craft store like Michael’s)

 

In Various Colours
paint brush

Hershey’s Hugs and Kisses Candy

Tissue PaperWhat you do

Wash and dry mug completely. Paint design on coffee mug. I had the children paint their mug any way they wanted, I wrote in black paint #1 DAD after they were done and it had dried for half an hour.
 

Air dry for one hour. Place in cool, oven, heat to 350 F, and bake for 30 minutes. Turn oven off and let cool down completely. Remove from oven.

 

 

Have the children scrunch the tissue paper in a ball and stuff in the mug, place Hugs and Kisses on top of the tissue paper.TIP: Wash on top dishwasher rack or by hand.

 

Still looking for a Mother’s Day Craft?  A quick trip to the dollar store and your local nursery and you have a memorable Mother’s Day Craft every mother will love.  Another variation is just fill the pot with potting mix and add a  seed packet and the child can plant the seeds with their mother.

here is a quick and easy craft you can do with your children, it is great for any age…..

Supplies needed

1. ceramic pot ( I got mine at the dollar store )
2. acrylic paint in various colours                                              
3. Paint brushes
4. paint shirts/ cover up
5. annual flower
6. potting mix

I took my Daycare children to the local nursery to pick out their own flowers for their pots. it was a great opportunity to talk about colours, spring and planting….

My daycare children really enjoyed this craft, but paint shirts are a must as it can get a little messy, with the nice weather we were able to paint out pots outside, which means easier cleanup for me….

 

 

 Please feel free to leave a comment.

May is National Fitness Month. What a great time to incorporate a physical fitness program in your Daycare/Childcare. The weather is starting to warm up, the flowers are blooming and the kids are itching to get outside after a LONG canadian winter.

I offer a physical fitness program in my daycare all year long ( especially helpful in the winter ). I call it Kellie’s Kardio Kids ( LOL ) It keeps my kids active and burning that extra energy.

My childcare kids always look forward to their cardio time, and it gives me an extra workout too.

Great music is the key to get kids moving. We use traditional children’s music, but the music my kids like the best are the old school mixes. It really gets them moving.

We set a specific time each day for our cardio program, then the kids know exactly when it will happen. They get so excited!

I like to make my own music CD,s ( I use Lime Wire ), then I can change or mix up the Cd’s often. Try your local library for CD’s , they usually have a good selection.

Here is a list of some great music to keep your kids moving.

1. Here comes the sun
2. YMCA
3. Girls just want to have fun
4. I love rock and roll
5. Grease lightning
6. I like to move it
7. Itsy bitsy yellow polka dot bikini
8. U cant touch this
9. The power
10. Gonna make you sweat
11. Get ready for this
12. Getting jiggy wit it
13. This is how we do it
14. Cotton eye Joe
15. Super model
16. Bunny hop
17. Ants in your pants
18. I’m a Believer ( shrek )
19. Peanut butter jelly time
20. Hamster Dance
21. Funky Town
22. Macarena
23. Spounge bob square pants theme
24. Axel f
25. Spounge bob ripped pants
26. wonder pets theme
27. who let the dogs out
28. banana phone
29. zip a dee doo dah
30. Pocket full of sunshine
31. Hot hot hot
32. All star ( Shrek )
33. Twist and shout
34. Limbo rock
35. dora theme song
36. crazy ABC’s

I will add more songs as I remember them…..

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR KIDS TO PARTICIPATE IN SUPERVISED PHYSICAL PROGRAM?

• Establishes a life-long habit.
• Productive energy release.
• Improves motor abilities, balance, co-ordination,
• Improves fitness levels and cardiorespiratory function.
• Manages risk factors such as childhood obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

 

Do you have any songs that your kids LOVE? Please feel free to leave a comment.

 

Earth Day Treasure/Trinket Box Craft

We Made these cute Earth Day Trinket Boxes yesterday, and they turned out so cute. I had the children fill the boxes with either pictures or written words ( for the older children ) of ways they could help the earth.

To make these boxes we just recycled Laughing Cow Cheese Boxes.. 

 

                                         

Just click on images to enlarge

Thank you for reading my blog! Please feel free to leave a comment, I am very new to blogging and would love to know what you think.

HAPPY EARTH DAY 2009

Earth Day Chunk Crayons

I had the children sort through the old crayons to find blue and green crayons. Then they peeled the paper off and sorted them into small muffin tin. We all know kids LOVE peeling crayons.

They love the EARTH DAY Crayon.

 

Materials

OLD non-stick muffin pans

Old crayons

Procedure

Preheat your oven to 250

1. Peel the paper off the crayons

2.  Fill each muffin space with blue and green crayon pieces.

3.  Place the muffin tins in the oven until the crayons melt

4.  Let the new crayons cool overnight

5.  Remove the crayons the next day

 

                                

Just Click on pics to enlarge

Please feel free to leave a comment

I would love to here from you!