Author: PCSPreschool

Traveling With Kids

Traveling with Kids

We all know that traveling with kids can be a nightmare! Let’s face it…traveling is stressful, even without kids. Add restless, impatient, and messy little ones to the mix and it is a completely new ball game. Much of our fear is probably due to the potential angry glares which other travelers tend to throw at parents traveling with their children (maybe you have thrown those invisible daggers yourself before). Part of it is also because we just don’t know what will happen when we are trapped 10,000 feet above ground…and so we imagine the worst: from diaper blowouts to 6-hour screaming sessions.

As travel dates creep closer, we begin to dread and worry about how our kids will do on the journey. Besides dealing with car seats, strollers, diaper bags, and other necessary child contraptions, we are afraid of being that parent whose children are a terror to the rest of the people on the plane.

The good news is, with a little preparation, you can minimize many of the biggest concerns about flying with kids and you do not have to be the most hated parent on the plane. In fact, you may be the envy of them! AND, you might actually enjoy it in the process. So how can you make this trip less of a disaster? Well, listen up traveling families.

These tips will help make traveling less stressful:

  • Strategically Plan Your Flight- if your child still takes naps or tends to get tired at a certain time of the day, try scheduling your flight for that drowsy time (if possible)
  • Ease the Discomfort of Flying- Pack ear plugs to relieve air pressure discomfort. Lollipops, pacifiers, sippy cups and bottles are also great for minimizing plugged ears.
  • Pack for Success – Pack an additional diaper bag with milk bottles and juice boxes, spare outfits,  a special blankie, favorite stuffed animals, and several immersive kid distractions .

  • Pull Out All the Distractions to Make the Time Fly By- Mark your belongings with your contact info just in case they get lost.

    • Pack a few books about traveling to keep them engaged about their trip. A few titles to enjoy are: My Plane Trip, by Cathy Beylon, My First Trip on an Airplane, by Katie Kawa, and My First Plane Ride, by Elizabeth Benjamin, Erin Gathrid

    • Children should be able to pack and carry his/her own entertainment in a small backpack which can include: sticker books, toys that don’t have too many pieces, an iPad (with new offline games), and a portable DVD player (with 2+ hours of videos). Don’t forget the headphones and remember to make sure everything is charged!

    • Children can also carry along a new pack of triangular crayons and a pad of paper.

  • Pack Helpful Accessories to Save Your Sanity- In addition to toys, don’t forget these essentials

    • Extra clothes for you and your child

    • Lots of wet wipes and large zip lock bags (use as garbage bags and other uses)

    • Snacks (crackers, string cheese, carrots, dried fruit)

    • Medication and first aid supplies (hand sanitizer, children’s Tylenol, antidiarrheal option, kids’ vitamins, and band aids)

  • Teach Your Kids What to Expect and How to Behave- Attend to your children

    • Watch out for signs of over-stimulation or boredom, have fun with them on the flight, and spend quality time with your children.

Author: Jenny Thieu, CSULA intern

A Pizza Parlor and a Party! 

Room 5 is saying goodbye to its dramatic play pizzeria this week. As we wrap up this month and its themes we are also having a great time looking back at what we did and how much we learned! 


We counted out the pieces of our pizza and used our math skills to set the table. We practiced letter recognition reading our menus as we ordered food at the “restaurant” and learned many new names of different Italian foods like tortellini, bruschetta, and fettuccine! Everyone took turns baking in our “pizza oven” and serving it up hot to their friends. Our enthusiasm took us one step further into a real life cooking lesson when we got to make real personal pizzas in class! The parents of Room 5 quickly donated our long list of supplies to make sure we had a complete pizza party! The class had a lot of fun counting their toppings, spreading the sauce, and even watching an old Reading Rainbow episode on how to make pizza! 


We read many different pizza and Italian themed books like Strega Nona, Barney Bear’s Pizza Shop, and Pete’s a Pizza. It was a delicious theme and we really appreciate all the parent support in making it such a memorable experience! 

February, We Love You! 

Room 5 has had a very full February! We began our spiritual and social/emotional focus on the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and memorized them with a very fun song by Steve Green, aptly titled; “The Fruit of the Spirit”. Here is a link to the video on YouTube: The Fruit of the Spirit by Steve Green 😊 

We dove right in to the seasonal festivities surrounding Valentine’s Day, flooding the classroom with hearts and Valentine card-making stations. We set up a romantic Italian Trattoria in our dramatic play center, and filled our class library with books about the meaning of love and how to share it. 


For Valentine’s Day we made a “Friendship Fruit Salad” with fresh fruit and a dollop of cool-whip. Each child brought a piece of fruit from home to share with their classmates. We took turns chopping them up and adding them to our fruit salad bowl. At the end, Mrs. Erin topped it off with a bit of whipped cream for flair, and everyone enjoyed their healthy Valentine’s Day snack! 


It’s been marvelous to witness our little ones growing up and growing together this year. We’ve been able to make some amazing collaborative works of art, have extended morning meetings together for learning units of time, and some good old fashioned friendship forming on the playground. We deeply love each and every child in our care here at PCPS. Watching them learn to love and play together fills our hearts with joy every day. The beauty of God’s love shines so brightly through their diligent and faithful hearts… it is a daily reminder of how blessed we all are to be here. ❤ 


“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”  – 1 John 4:8 (NIV) 

Family Fun!

Family Fun Ideas

Family bonding is essential for the developmental growth of children. It does not only encourage stronger relationships, but it helps develop language. Research has indicated that positive parent-child interactions benefits children’s social, cognitive and language development. According to Mary Ainsworth, children who are engaged in a secure parent-child relationship are more likely to be independent, emotionally stable, and have trust. Some activities that foster family bonding include going on vacation, museum weekends, and going to the zoo. Family bonding can also include simple family activities that can be done at home. Playing ball, baking, making crafts, and playing board games are all easy ways to enjoy time together. The main goal/idea is to bond and interact with your children.

    

Some ideas that can increase family bonding time include making slime or going on a scavenger hunt.

Making Slime

   

 

Making slime is a fun and interactive way to talk to your children. You can ask open-ended questions that can develop their critical thinking skills. As questions such as: How does it feel? What do you think will happen next?

Making slime can be done with stuff at home…

Slime Recipe:

½ cup of glue (clear or regular)

1 teaspoon of Borax or liquid starch

2 measuring cups

water

2 medium bowls

Add food coloring or glitter if desired. Tip: Add food coloring directly to the water.

Procedure:

  1. First, start by pouring 1 cup of water and 1 teaspoon of Borax into a bowl. Mix together until dissolved.
  2. Next, mix ½ cup of glue and ½ cup of water into the other bowl.
  3. Add the water and borax mixture little by little into the bowl with the glue.
  4. The mixture should start thickening.
  5. Knead it together until you get a slimy texture. It should ooze freely without sticking to your hands too much.

 

Scavenger Hunt Game at the Zoo

   

List your favorite animals onto a list before going to the zoo. This offers a great opportunity to ask children about their favorite animals. Such questions may arise such as what sound does that animal make? What do they eat?

Whatever activity you choose, enjoy and cherish this time with your children. Stay relaxed, smile lots, and truly get to know them.

By: Marbel Torres, CSULA Intern

Delicious Lessons in Early Mathematics! 

Last week Room 5 had a rockin’ hot cocoa bar with our morning snack and got a yummy lesson in applied math and graphing at the same time! One by one everyone came up to customize their own hot cocoa cup, and afterwards we voted on our favorite topping. We learned new vocabulary, made scientific observations about which items melted and at what speed (marshmallows take longer to melt than whipped cream!), and each friend cast their vote for favorite topping on our bar graph! Whipped cream and chocolate syrup tied for first place with marshmallows just one vote behind. This might be one of our favorite ways to introduce graphing to preschoolers. What do you think? 

Chilly but Silly- Room 5 is Back! 

We had a long and restful break for Christmas but now we’re back at school with brand new friends and brand new stories to share! 

Our two-year-olds jumped right back in to the cozy routine of their classroom and warmly welcomed all our new friends to the Room 5 family! They have been eagerly awaiting their return to the big playground and we all know that two-year-olds are nothing if not tenacious negotiators… these toddlers were NOT going to let a little rain keep them from a good time! So, we layered and buttoned up and headed outside! 

The teachers of Room 5 enjoyed their break but we sure missed these little guys!! Everyone is looking forward to a fantastic rest of the year in 2017…. Happy New Year and God Bless.