Our 4 day daycare week was filled with theme days, activities, and numerous time outs (the kids had a couple of off days). Here are some highlights from the week:
Cupcake Shop day was messy fun. Read details here: http://ashlen-kidspert.blogspot.com/2014/06/cupcake-shop-day.html
The construction sandbox was one of their favorite sensory sandboxes so far this summer. The kids asked for it to be kept around for this next week as well.
Such style: bermuda shorts, tank top, socks, and slippers on a 90+ degree day.
The kids had more messy fun with the slime. They wrapped the slime around their arms and pretended they had broken their arms.
Max got these for his birthday and happily shared them with daycare friends so they could make dinosaur pictures.
The princess puzzle couldn't wait for Puzzle Day and had to be put together numerous times throughout the week.
We have a ton of baggies of chips leftover from the kid's birthday party, so they got to enjoy an evening snack of chips out on the patio. I didn't realize they had dropped half of a bag of Cheetos on the patio until the next day when I found soggy (from the night's rain) Cheetos on the patio.
A trike/big wheel/scooter race in the backyard.
Sprinkler Day was a disappointing failure. Read more about Sprinkler Day here: http://ashlen-kidspert.blogspot.com/2014/06/sprinkler-day.html
Fighting with the light saber.
Quite a storm rolled through that sent us to the basement at 1 a.m. The storm knocked the power out and managed to throw off everything the next morning.
The kids were quite happy to watch "The Lego Movie"
Field Day races. The kids LOVED field day. To read details, see post: http://ashlen-kidspert.blogspot.com/2014/06/field-day.html
A special breakfast of homemade waffles and bacon in the living room--it's the little things that the kids absolutely love!
Watching "a huge delivery truck and two guys" deliver the new swingset!
Reading time. The two 6 year olds spend a lot of time reading and enjoy reading to the younger kids as well. After lunch I've been trying a new reading time instead of t.v. time. I have each child choose a book and sit and look at it. They can also have a reading buddy and "read" the book together....which makes for some pretty creative stories from the 3 and 4 year olds.
Building with the Zoobs. Max built a mind reader and Harrison built a fishing pole.
Waffle blocks. The kids had a difficult time not fighting while playing with these, so I had to make it a "one kid only toy" on this particular day. This means I set a timer for 6 minutes and each kid had 6 minutes to play with it however they chose. When the time went off, they had to take apart whatever they had built, put it away, and the next child could begin playing with it. This tends to work really well with getting the children to willingly share the toy with other children and on this day, stopped the fighting as well.
I drew carrots and had the kids (a 4 year old and two 6 year olds) cut them out, then all of the kids got to color them.
The kids colored the last of the wooden flowers with crayons. I found these at Dollar Tree in a 20 pack, so they've last quite a while.
Elizabeth demanded to eat Skittles and wear her princess dress right before nap.....sometimes one must give in for fear of losing their mind at a screaming 2 year old!
This week was definitely a patience tester. I swear the kid's main goal was to hurt each other or themselves most days. There was fighting on the cube climber and two kids almost fell from the top, which resulted in a new rule: "the cube climber is only for climber. Once you're at the top, you must slide down. No playing at the top." By the time Thursday rolled around, I felt like Hitler with all of the new rules I had to make just so there were no serious injuries (or killings....those toddler/preschooler brawls can get brutal). I'm definitely taking a deep breath for the week ahead and hoping for a slightly less dramatic week!
Next week we'll be having another Field Day since it was such an exhausting hit and Bubble Day.
