Candy Corn Person's

Our finished candy corn people... Sure brightens up our entry door.... :)

Halloween Magnet Sheets

Children playing with the Halloween magnet sheets. (Available from www.123learncurriculum.com).
Always a hit with the children.....

Halloween Mummies

Here is our Halloween mummies we made today... The children love their new mummies. Not scary at all, and oh so easy. :)

Fall Activities

A couple of our fall projects.... Life Cyrcle of a Pumpkin and a pumpkin. :)

Pumpkin Stand

We have turned our grocery store into a pumpkin stand.... Fall colors all around.

Our Pumpkin Patch!

Our pumpkin patch.... Children had fun making their easy pumpkins.

Scissor Skills

Children were busy this week with their scissors. It's always fun watching them learn a new skill.

Pumpkins theme this week. :)

This week is our pumpkin theme.... Our bulletin board is decorated in pumpkins. The children have been busy doing pumpkin activities.

Magnet Fun

The children are LOVING our new magnet sheets from 1 - 2 - 3 Learn Curriculum..... A nice way to spend a quiet afternoon. :)

I'm glad to be back from vacation.... :)

With October, comes fall and we are working on some fall crafts. Here we are making a crow and they are hanging from the ceiling in the kitchen. Turned out adorable....

This week our theme is Pumpkins. Letter p, number 7, color orange and shape triangle.

Words we came up with at circle time that start with the letter p were pumpkin, princess, pig, purple, pink and pirate...

Checking Out Our New Supply Boxes

I ended up going this week-end and buying new containers for the children to store their supplies in, so pencil boxes parents bought will be going back home. I'm going to have a custom cabinet made to store the containers. It will sit on top of the art center. Easy access for children to reach their supplies. :)

Here's one of the children using their own supply box. I'm going to love this.....

Back to Prechool :)

One of the children came this morning with their back pack full of their school supplies. He didn't want to take it off, but when I show him that his supplies were going into a box for himself, he was happy. :)

Preschool Starts Back Up Next Week

We are back to preschool the day after Labor Day. Our theme for the first 2 weeks is School Days. Our reasoning for doing this theme is, some children have older brothers or sisters that are starting school, or they might see all the school buses. So we let the children know that they are also starting back to school.

I am looking forward to getting back into the routine, but sad that we will be having 3 children leave as they go onto to kindergarten. The children here at Treasures of the Heart are like family, and it's always hard to see them know.... but it is with a happy heart we know they are more than ready. All 3 children tested higher than needed when they went to kindergarten testing. I am so proud of them, and I can't wait to hear how they do...

Reminder to parents that children will need their school supplies by Tuesday September 6.
Thanks Jean

I'm excited to share that Treasures of the Heart Preschool and Child Care received a certification of Accreditation through NAFCC.

Treasures of the Heart Preschool and Child Care will also receive a 4 star rating from Parent Aware in 4 - 6 weeks, and we are currently working on renewing our CDA.

I just had to share. :)
Thank you!

W is for Writing

Children enjoy the outside writing center. :)

Go Green

Treasures of the Heart Preschool and Child Care has been fortunate to participate in a pilot Go Green program through RCC. (Resources for Child Caring).

I received the Go Green Ratin Scale book for Early Childhood Settings, and the handbook.

I have already gone through the Go Green Rating Scale and I am waiting for the results of the rating scale.

Reduce, reuse, recycle. A great example is, reducing energy by replacing a standard lightbulb with an energy-efficient light bulb in every home in the United States can save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, save more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.

I know the score will be low, but this is something that I feel will benefit my child care program, the children who attend, and our world.

What an awesome program - start the children young and teach them a go green life. I'm hoping that parents will jump on board, and help in the education, as we all learn a more GREEN life style. :)

C is for Chalk

The children love decorating the cement area in the play yard with chalk drawings.....

Chalk Painting

• Give children a baggie with chalk - a small hammer and let them break the chalk into smaller pieces. (Supervise the children during the hammer phase).
• Pour the chalk into a bowl.
• Add water and let the children paint.

Takes longer for the rain to wash away these art pieces, but the children sure have fun.

B is for Bounce!

It was a nice, cool day today here in MN.... So we pulled out our small bouncer, and the kids bounced all morning. I use to have a regular bouncer, but with filling up the play yard with other toys we lost our space to set it up. I think next year, we'll get another one, and set it up outside the fence. The kids had a BLAST!

4th of July Center Piece

Children made a beautiful 4th of July center piece to bring home. Anything with hand prints is a winner...:)

Our 4th of July T-Shirts

6 out of the 12 children posed in their 4th of July shirts.... They did an awesome job!

A few Wind Socks

Hanging up outside on a windy day made for a pretty picture.....

Outside Craft Time

When the weather is nice, we like to do our crafts outside.... Here are a few of the children working on their 4th of July wind sock.... Great job so far girls!

4th of July Spin Art

The children did some 4th of July spin art. Hanging them up on the door and around the daycare entrance make for a patriotic room....

4th of July Wind Sock

Children had fun this past week working on 4th of July crafts.... One of their favorites was their 4th of July wind sock.... They couldn't wait to take it home and hang it up.... They did a wonderful job!

Internation Mud Day - June 29th

Today is International Mud Day! We didn't have the mud at Treasures of the Heart Preschool - but we had plenty of sand.... Kids had an awesome time getting down and dirty - running through the sprinkler and playing at the water table...

Outside Block Center

A couple of the children enjoying the outside block center. One of the children's favorte places to play. It includes cars, assorted blocks, dinosaurs, people and a block table. It's fun watching what the children create.

Under the Sea

Our theme at Treasures of the Heart Preschool and child Care for the month of June is "Under the Sea". We created this bulletin board in the entry using crafts the children have done so far. We have some fish, octopus, jellyfish and a crab. makes for a colorful bulletin board.
Jean

Father's Day Gift for this Year. :)

This year children are making a washing the car bucket for Father's Day. Buckets will include sponge, rags, air freshner, and a few other things, (still to be purchased).

We know dad's will enjoy washing the car with their new gift... :)

Jean

New Bins

We have added new bins and a welcome sign to the child care entrance..... I LOVE the new look. First picture is the old bins. second picture is the new bins. More colorful.... :)

I love new changes.....

Jelly Bean Fun

Counting jelly beans and tasting them... What can be better.... :)

Homemade Play Doh

We had fun making our own home made play dough.... The kids loved playing with it after it cooled....

St. Patrick's Day Lapbook

The older children worked on St. Patrick's Day lapbooks this week. Here is one the of children matching the picture with the beginning letter.

Mirror Image Painting

Making Mirror Images

(Creativity)

Skill activity supports: Fine Motor Skills, Creativity Goal: Intellectual, Physical, Emotional, Social

Creative Play is what children do when they are just being children, and there are plenty of things you can do to encourage creative play. Whether it is drawing, painting, cutting, pasting, playing with play doh, all children love being creative, and the act of being creative brings with it so many benefits.

Many preschool creative activities are done with paints because kids love the world of colors. It gives them an opportunity to express themselves as they work with paints. From the children's art work, teachers often can tell the emotions that the child is going through. Such preschool activities also provides opportunities for kids to venture into new ideas and creativity.

MATERIALS REQUIRED

• white card stock
  
• paints - at least 3 primary colors
• newspaper

OBJECTIVES

• to create a mirror image of paint patterns
• to enhance creativity
• to improve eye-hand coordination
• to work on fine motor skills
• to experience with colors
• to have fun

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

• Have children put on an apron or large t-shirt.
• Cover table with newspapers.
• Have sufficient paints – quantity and variety of colors.
• Fold the white card stock into half, then open it, making a dividing line.
• Squeeze / apply paints in blots onto one side of the card stock.
• Fold the paper over the paints and have children rub the paper gently with their hands.
• Slowly open the card stock and enjoy the mirror image picture.
• Talk to the children on how secondary colors are made when they happen to overlap the colors. Do the children see anything in their artwork. (Our children saw a bunny, butterfly, fish, etc).
  
• Hang up to dry.
  
  

Shaving Cream Painting

We did some finger painting with shaving cream. The older children practiced writing letters, and the younger children practiced circles and other shapes. A fun time!

New Books

We bought some new books to add to our library.... We LOVE reading!

Magnet Fun

Our theme this week is Down on the Farm. The children played with some Farm magnetic sheets. They had a blast.

Playing Outside int he Snow

We managed to get the children outside for some fresh air.... The children loved it, and we managed to get a snowman built. Children had a great time!

Inside snow play time.... Children enjoyed playing with the snow, animals and cars in the house.

Making Igloos

Making igloo's during Penguins and Arctic Animals week.... Turned out great!