It may have only been a three day week, but we filled it with activities! The first two days were relatively quiet, but Wednesday was a "Thanksgiving party" (what the kids called it). The house was FULL of kiddos, we baked pies, cooked a feast, played games, read books, played with new toys, and did sensory activities....all in an 8 hour day!
Here's a look at a few things we did:
At the end of last week, we made pumpkin play dough (salt dough). When the kids were done playing with it, we broke out turkey cookie cutters and made turkey figurines (bake in the oven at 150 degrees for three hours to harden). On Monday, the kids painted them.
Turkey cookie cutter painting
The newest pet that the kids love watching: Casey the crayfish. The oldest mini's class did a semester long research project on crayfish. Last week we received a note that said they had sixteen crayfish to send home with whomever would like one. Of course, we just had to have one, so now it sits in a container on top of the book shelf covered with a dishtowel because it can't have a lid on it, but it likes the dark. More. Than. I. Bargained. For....but a great learning opportunity for all of the kiddos.
The pumpkin "sand" in the water table was played with all week long.
Little photographer taking pictures of the little kids. None of them turned out (no surprise there).
On Wednesday, all of the kids got to help feed the crayfish (in the bin under the towel).
The kids requested over the summer to make Thanksgiving pies, so we made individual mini cherry pies. My daycare helper Silvia and I put the dough in the bottom of each pie pin, then the kids used letter cookie cutters to cut out the first letter of their name (so we could keep track of who's pie was who's). The kids ate all of the cherries out of their pies, but not one of them ate the crust!
The kids got to play with the leftover pie crust dough.
The big kids played with the pumpkin "snow" all afternoon. The littles weren't extremely interested in it (they like the pumpkin "sand" more).
For Christmas each year, I buy daycare new toys (instead of getting each child an individual present to take home, I get new toys that they can play with every day at my house). Starting the day before Thanksgiving, the new presents start rolling in (and one new present is given each week until New Year's). The first round of gifts were a Magformers in Motion set, a Magformer's car, and a dragonzord from Power Rangers. Unbeknownst to me, the Dragonzord moves AND makes noise. A lot of noise. That is definitely a toy that when the batteries run out they won't be getting replaced!
The kids colored turkeys (drawn by yours truly).
The kids got to play one of their favorites: the Find It game. This round of Find It, the kids found our stuffed animal turkey that Silvia hid somewhere in the living room. The played several rounds of Find It before lunch. The toughest part of everyone was counting and hiding their eyes. The hiding place that got the kiddos laughing and screaming was the ceiling fan.
Our yummy, yummy feast included turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn casserole, rolls, and pie. The kids "helped" with the mashed potatoes again this year (see how they did it last year here).
One last reading of the Thanksgiving books before they're put away until next year. Their favorites this year include 10 Fat Turkeys and There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Turkey.
This upcoming week we'll start in on our Christmas activities! We'll also be concentrating on our theme of giving for the month of December.