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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! 

The Firefighters are Here! :-)

We had a super terrific fun visit from the Pasadena Fire Department today! They backed up their truck and ambulance into the driveway and brought us all over to take a picture by the fire truck. Then, Firefighter Mark showed us how they dress up in all their special gear! He explained to the kiddos that even though they look scary in their fire clothes they should not be scared because they are there to help  them. Then we got to meet each firefighter! There were five men and one woman firefighter! One of our girls has already decided that firefighting is the career for her! 😉 Then we were invited to see the engine and the ambulance! Boy, do they have a lot of goodies in there! Sadly, we had to say goodbye. I’m not sure who was more upset the students or the single teachers! 😂 Here’s a look see…..

Thank you Ms. Cindy for arranging this amazing event. Dressing up, singing and  reading all about  firefighters eased the children into this event.

 

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) 

Taking a Trip on our Train…

We have been having a fantastic time in Room 3 and are so excited to once again be studying trains. Trains and three-year-olds go together like macaroni and cheese. This year’s class was so excited to take our traditional Gold Line trip. We would like to give a special thanks to all the parents who participated and made this trip possible. It’s full steam ahead and we can’t wait to see where trains will take us this next!

On our way to the Gold Line train at Sierra Madre Station…

On the train…All aboard!

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At Union Station in Los Angeles.

On our way to Olvera St. and stopping to admire the “Blessing of the Animals” mural.

At Olvera St. in the oldest house in LA, Avila Adobe.

Lunch time!

On our way back through Union Station.

What a fantastic adventure we had!

Water Color Rain Painting

We have been blessed with so much rain these past few weeks; God has been pouring His love upon us. I believe He has answered all our prayers in regards to the drought. In this project the children used a stick of wax to draw their rain lines, which they couldn’t see, until they were revealed with the water colors of blues and purples. I loved seeing their eyes widen when they revealed the marks. -Mrs. Monica

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

❤️Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️ from Room 3 ❤️

We have been having a fantastic time celebrating the month of love here in Room 3. On Valentine’s Day and the Wednesday after, we made scrumptious heart shaped French Toast with Strawberry Jam, Yum! We would like to give a special thank you to Amelie’s Mom and Dad for coming in to cook with us on Wednesday. In addition to our cooking project, we also decorated Valentine treat bags to collect our Valentine’s Day loot. Thank you to everyone who gave so generously, the kids loved all their special Valentines. We still have two weeks left in our month long celebration of love and we look forward to seeing what comes next.

Creatives

If we had to use one word to describe the children of Room 1 it would be: CREATIVES! We have grown and continue to grow in our ability to create things. In September, when we first put markers in these little hands we saw LOTS of the early stages of emergent writing (random marks and scribbles, sometimes not even on paper… YIKES!). It is an incredible process we get to help children through! And as Early Childhood Educators, we always remember how important every stage is to the process of becoming a proficient writer.   Now it’s February and we see each child making leaps and strides toward becoming great writers through representational drawing, drawing distinct from writing, symbols, and partial phonetics. It is so exciting!

Our Writing Center features a variety of materials such as: markers, crayons, letter stamps, number stamps, letter punches, word cards, white boards, glue, scissors, and our favorite this year…TAPE!

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In January, we said goodbye to plain white paper at small groups and now we journal on lined kindergarten paper!

Cards, lists, and books are just a few of our favorite things to create.

We enjoy white boards for a different tactile writing experience, especially on those days we don’t fall asleep at nap time!

Imagination, here in Room 1, is never in short supply. Check out some of our more elaborate pieces…

“And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded…” Exodus 31:1-4

Just as God called the artisans to create a place for His presence, we pray our little ones use their time and gifts to fellowship with the most spectacular creator, Father God! The One who deposits all of these gifts and skills into us for His glory, and as a reflection of Himself.