🐳 Under The Sea 🐬

We had a whale of a time in Room 2! The children explored under the sea through art, literacy and song. Through media, we saw the book “Rainbow Fish” come to life; then, through art, we created our own.

We also read and heard the CD story of “There’s a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea.” The book illustrates the food chain in the ocean and sequencing in a very catching way!

The children got very wet this week through our waterplay activities. On Tuesday, we had wading pools and a sprinkler. On Friday, Pump and Splash brought their fantastic pumps and water barrels. But I think their favorite game was “Get the Teachers Wet”!

Wednesday we learned about how God Calms. This week’s chapel was presented by Room 5 teachers. The children look forward to dancing and seeing “Snappy” the crab.
We had a fun field trip to the Monrovia library for a storytime and fun in the park. We got to also enjoy some yummy Yogurtland frozen yogurt. See previous post.

We ended the week with an under the sea pizza party. I can’t believe we only have one more week in our summer program. Time flies when you’re having fun! Can’t wait to see what adventures we will have next week before we sail away for vacation!

Story time at the Monrovia Library

Today Room 2 and Room 3 took a fun filled trip to the Monrovia Library for a special storytime. We got to sing lots of songs and read fun books like Bad Dog Max! and Stretch. We also got to dance and play with bubbles!

After all our great stories we went to the playground right next to the library and had a great time with all of the play structures.

Climbing is so much fun!

After we played for awhile we sat down and had a wonderful picnic lunch and when we were finished with our food we all got to have frozen yogurt from Yogurtland!

We finished up our delicious frozen treat and then played in the park a little more. We had foot races and played lots of little games in the park with Room 2 and Room 3 friends.

We had a great time and we want to thank all the wonderful parents for chaperoning our field trip! We couldn’t do it without you!

Moon Sand: A Fun Sensory Experience

During their early years, children engage in a variety of sensory activities. It is through these activities that children’s fine motor skills, among many other areas of development, are enhanced. One type of sensory activity that children often enjoy and have fun with is sand play. Through sand play, children explore their sense of touch and discover new textures. Because it is open-ended, sand play can also be very soothing to children. Children can simply enjoy the texture of sand as they run their fingers through it and also have the freedom to make whatever it is they desire. From pouring sand into buckets to building castles and running cars or plastic animals through it, children gain the opportunity to explore their imagination and creativity.

Teachers and parents can encourage children’s involvement in sand play both at school and at home. There are different types of sand that children can play with. One very cool and fun type is homemade Moon Sand (also known as cloud dough). Although there are a variety of ways to make it, moon sand can be made with two simple ingredients: flour and baby oil. By mixing these two ingredients, moon sand not only has a great scent but is also moldable, safe, and fun! Getting children involved in helping make the sand can also be enjoyable for them. Moon sand is an easy activity that parents can do with their children at home and most importantly, it is exciting and lots of fun!

Moon Sand Recipe:

8 cups of flour
1 cup of baby oil
If desired, add powder-based colors (i.e. powdered tempera paint or powdered drink mix)

How to make it:

Pour the flour into a large bowl.
Add any powder-based color into the flour and mix it.
Add the baby oil to the flour and mix all the ingredients together.
When the sand feels soft and moldable, it is ready to be used.
Store the moon sand in air-tight container and it should last up to a month (add more baby oil if it dries up.)

Children in Room 4 having fun while playing with homemade moon sand:

Author: Adriana Gonzalez, CSULA Child Development Intern

Helping Children Calm Down

All kids can have a hard time regulating their emotions and for some it can be tougher than others. As children get older, there could be numerous causes for their emotions and at times, it may seem like there’s no one cause at all. These five calming tools can help children (and parents!) in any situation.

Count to 5

This simple tool gives young children who are learning about impulse control a chance to stop and think before they act out their anger.

Take a deep breath

This relaxation technique can help children calm their bodies quickly.

Acknowledge feelings

Children need the validation that their feelings are important as well. Understanding and listening to the cause of their emotions can help address the situation.

Listen

Taking the time to listen to their feelings and perspectives not only helps the child feel

better but gives you, the parent, a better insight to the person they are becoming.

Ask for a hug

Most of the time, it’s something as simple as a hug that can make everything better.

Author: Joyce Olaer, CSULA Child Development Intern

Wild Weeks in Room 5!

Wow! We have been working hard at having fun this summer. Weeks 5 and 6 were a ton of fun. We learned about wild animals during our “Surfin’ Safari” week, complete with an exotic animal show! This week was called, “Surf’s Up” and we totally themed out for surfing! We learned surf lingo from our silly book, “Rhinos Who Surf” and painted paper surf boards to decorate our classroom. We’ve had a radical time getting totally tubular in every activity from the sensory bin to dramatic play. The ‘surfers’ in Room 5 are really having a blast!

Next week is our “Under the Sea” theme, and it is Room 5’s turn to lead Chapel! We are so excited for our final two weeks of summer camp!

Surfin’ Safari

Room 4 had a safari inspiration, starting with our new bulletin board, which was filled with your child’s art work! We then added vines that decorated our celling, along with animals that hung upside down and stared down at you. We read many books such as: Giraffes Can’t Dance, Who Is the Beast, and A Color of His Own. To top it all off, we had a visit from Reptacular, and exotic animal show that featured animals that the children were able to touch! They learned all about the animals and where they came from. It was a “wild” week of fun and adventure!

Family Fun: Homemade Flubber

Children enjoy playing with their buddies at school, but when children are at school, they often talk about their families. Children crave time with their parents and siblings and enjoy quality time with them. Playing together creates a bond that will last forever and will create a childhood that will be filled with a lifetime memories.

Family activities are great for the whole family. A fun family activity to do with your child is to make your own homemade Flubber. Children love to be part of the process of making Flubber. Flubber is similar to prefabricated “slime”, but the texture is a little different. Making your own flubber gives the child the opportunity to increase their sensory skills by feeling the texture: molding, squishing, and squeezing it between their fingers. Playing with Flubber also increases finger strength and dexterity, which helps with future writing strength. Children can play with flubber for hours! Not only will it be fun for your child, but you’ll probably find yourself playing right along with them! To make this awesome homemade flubber recipe you will need:
• 1/3 cup water
• 3 tablespoons of borax
• 2 cups of water
• 2 cups of white school glue
• Food Coloring

WHAT TO DO

• Add 1/3 cup water to bowl, then add the borax and stir until dissolved
• Next add the food coloring or Kool-Aid and set aside (be careful…food coloring stains)
• In another bowl, add 2 cups of water and 2 cups of school glue and stir until thoroughly mixed
• Add borax mix to the glue mix
• Next you will knead with your hands for approximately 5 minutes until the water is completely adsorbed. You will be able to tell when it is done.
• Make sure to ask your child open-ended questions while playing with the Flubber. For example, ask about the texture, the color, smell, how does it feel, compare it to different textures, etc.
• But most importantly, HAVE FUN!
• You are able to save the Flubber in a zip bag

Author: Cristina Gomez, CSULA Child Development Intern

Reptacular Friday!

Room 3 had an amazing time during safari week. Everything from the water play to the “Jungle Book” movie to the reptacular animal show was amazing. To add to all the excitement, the Room 3 teachers had the pleasure of leading Chapel this week. The topic was the Baptism of Jesus. To end the week, the children were able to look at and pet different exotic animals; in addition, they were able to enjoy pizza during lunch!

Rrrroaring Good Times in RM 2

This week the children in Room 2 had some wild adventures! Monday we started out with a fun cooking activity (see previous post). Tuesday, the children gathered to play around a watering hole (swimming pools).

Wednesday’s chapel was about Jesus’ baptism and Mr. Timmy taught the children how to jump up on a surf board. Throughout the week the children enjoyed different safari themed activities.