It’s been a bit since I’ve did a blog post about childcare. I’ve had a sick bunch of kiddos around here and most of my time has been spent in a pattern that goes from the box of tissues, to the child and then to the garbage can. That pattern has been on repeat. We just can’t seem to get over the hump. The kids who are here most of the day are all three and under. We’ve just learning to sneeze into our elbow..to wash our hands after touching our noses, not to put toys in our mouths and the like so…it’s a battle.
In between all of that we do manage a few fun moments…here are some.
We were learning about small, medium, and large so I helped them trace circles. It was my intention that they would be snowmen. I gave the kids watercolors to make scraves, hats and faces….oh my, they painted everything-everywhere. Hopefully the small, medium, and large concept at least sunk in.
My neighbor girl doesn’t go to the local school. Her school was cancelled so she came over to play. She adores Carver and is a wonderful help with the babies.
Check this out….this is how one of the little girls fell asleep one afternoon…foot in the air and blanket over her head.
I spend a lot of time feeding bottles to babies. It’s gotten so I wear funky leggings most of the days. They are the best for providing impromptu activities. Here one little girl is looking for the first letter of her name.
We have been making good use of the little table I refinished. Here they are playing play dough. I make homemade. This time is suppose to be imitating snow so I made white and added silver glitter to it. My girl who was obsessed with the Disney movie Frozen calls it Frozen Playdough. I’ve learned that they are less messy with it if they play while standing vs sitting.
Recently while at Wal-Mart I bought some buttons.
We strung a pipecleaner in the button and then strung pony beads. It was a great success. My little girls who love Disney princesses were so happy to have a princess bracelet. The little boy in my group made a lady bug bracelet instead. I’m going to buy more princess beads next time I go. I want to have more on hand so we can do this again….they loved it and it is great hand eye coordination for them.
Here’s what a finished bracelet looked like. If the kiddos are a little order when we do this again, I’ll introduce patterning so they can make a pattern with the beads…even a simple pattern like pink/purple. See how cute they are?
Of course no childcare chronicle would be complete without a picture that includes Ruby….here she’s sleeping with the kiddos. She sure loves them…I do too.
I am completely reorganzing all the childcare things. It’s a great time to do it. I have a little one potty training, one who out grew her bottle, and kids who are moving on to adult silverware. I need to change with the kiddos and move things out that we don’t need anymore. It’s so fun to see them hit milestones….If we could get to the “handle my own germs” milestone, I’d be elated! One can hope…right?
Stay tuned for the next childcare chronicle. They are some of my favorite to write.
Thanks for sharing the pics of the kids and Ruby sleeping! How cute but I could never sleep contorted like that!!!!! Love your fun lessons!!!!
Childcare blogs are my favorite to read. Just love them! The picture of your neighbor girl giving Carver a bottle was the best! Thanks for sharing.
They are so cute! Our youngest grand is just 4, and it’s such an adorable age. You are clearly the best day-care provider in the country!
How cute to see the kids and to know that the neighbor girl is still coming over and has found a friend in you Jo, loved seeing her feeding Carver. I must admit that the bracelets are clever project as is the play dough with sparkles. You are a wonderful care provider to these kids. Rocking those leggings also.
Thanks for making me smile while reading this.
It’s so funny how kids can sleep in any position!
Reminds me that a favorite activity at a birthday party was making crowns – poster board cut into crown shapes (like Burger King). The girls wanted to decorate every inch of theirs!
I retired this year to care for my 8-month-old granddaughter, and I’ve gotten so many good ideas from you about activities to do with her when she is a bit older. When I worked in the public schools we called sneezing into the elbow/shoulder “doing the vampire.” The kids loved that description, and it seemed to help them remember not to cough or sneeze into their hands. Hope everyone is over this crud soon.
If you have Facebook check out this page…Play to Learn Preschool https://www.facebook.com/PlayToLearnPS/?fref=ts I refer to it often. It has great early learning suggestions.