Friday, August 16, 2013

Week In Review August 12 - August 16

It's been such a busy week that I'm not certain I'm going to remember everything we've done. We had a new child join our daycare team this week. It is always heart warming to see all of the kids befriending the new kid and showing him the ropes. I am so proud when I see them helping, telling him the rules, showing him where the toys go, and giving hugs like they've known him

forever. We will also be saying goodbye to two of our friends on Friday. I just can't believe how quickly these kids are growing up. We celebrated the end of summer/a new start by decorating cupcakes with bright pink frosting and of course, eating them throughout the day. I thought that was a happy send off for everyone.
Monday the kids did marshmallow pudding painting (see previous post). It's the end of the week and the kids are still talking about it so I guess it was a bigger hit than I first thought! The weather was gorgeous this week so there was lots of outside time. The kids started a new pretending game with our Little Tikes grill, entitled Famous Dave's. I do believe my boys are hinting at something here when they created this game....and talked every one of the kids into playing it with them. The kids would take turns "smokin' the meat on the grill," another kid would be the waiter, while all of the other kids were "the eaters." They spent most of their outside time recreating this game every day!
We've got quite a few of our little friends going off to preschool and kindergarten this year, so we've spent this week refreshing their skills with flash cards, writing the alphabet, practicing letter sounds, and counting. They've gotten the chance to watch the LeapFrog dvd 'Lets Go to School' to help prepare them and we've read several books on going to school. The kids have also painted a lot this week, painting pictures and doing bubble paintings.

Here are a few other activities the kids did this week:

Sponge Painting: the kids always LOVE sponge painting! These I picked up several weeks ago in the baby section at Dollar Tree.
Painted sun catchers. Just a note (as I've learned the hard way): sun catcher paint does NOT come out of anything easily. We use Crayola washable paint for the safety of clothes, skin, and my floor. It doesn't stick as well as the sun catcher paint would, but I've been told if you spray hair spray on it once it's dry that keeps it from crumbling off. I have yet to try this one though.
Dot markers. The top are from Do A Dot and the bottom are found at Dollar Tree.

Coloring paper cut outs. I got these stars at Michael's for $1.99 for a 12 pack. I also the kids color paper cut outs from Dollar Tree's school section (see last week's week in review).
This is what happens when a one year old uses markers!
Playing "cooking and baking." The kids were little chefs this week. They thought they were pretty special when I got out the big pots and pans and let them play. All I can say is this is a very creative group of kids! Some kids were baking a cake, one was making sushi, a couple of them were making chicken ravioli. They did a fairly good job sharing all of the pans, spoons, measuring cups, and cooking together.
 

Kool Aid scented play dough. I'm still perfecting my recipe and trying new ways to make no bake play dough. This smells so wonderful that a few little mouths did a taste test, but it was quickly spit out! This round of Kool Aid play dough was slightly more clay like than Play Doh. The kids don't seem to mind either way.


I'm sure I have forgotten something with all of the activities the kids have enjoyed! Next week on the agenda includes a water day, making slime, Max's first day of school (warning parents: expect tears from me this day. All. Day. Long. When your child tells you "Ashley was crying all day" you'll know why), a pizza party day complete with making crowns to wear, another round of Kool Aid painting, and breaking out the dress up costumes to see what these creative minds can come up with!