March Break 2017

Every March Break we have a week filled with fun activities and themed days for all of the children at Little Munchkins. This year we had Sports Team Day, Costume Day, Wacky Wednesday, Pajama Day and Aloha Friday! 

Sports Team Day the children wore their favorite team jerseys and played lots of indoor and outdoor games- the competition was tough! 

Glow stick fun in the toddler room! 

The entire center went full out for costume day! Most of the staff even participated! Super heroes, animals, princesses, witches, minions, and more! 

The after school group enjoyed a game of "musical markers"! 

How To Play:

Set up plain paper and a few markers in a circle. The players begin to draw when the music starts. When the music stops the player must stop drawing and move to the next seat. The game ends when every player has gone to each drawing. 

This game is very simple and is a fun one you can try at home! It's fun to see how different people added on to your original picture and even more fun to show off the finish product! 

On Wacky Wednesday the after school group made "Wacky Creations!" With a table full of random objects they had the ability to let their imaginations run wild. 

We also made "air clay"! 2 Parts corn starch with 1 Part school glue made the perfect mixture to play with. After making a gigantic mess the children eventually created their own pottery pieces and painted them once they were dry. 

Pajama day is always a must. The staff love pajama day as much as the children. What better way to enjoy a "lazy" day then building blanket forts! The toddlers had the perfect cozy hangout in their room!

The after school group made a homemade crock pot hot chocolate in the morning so that it would be ready to enjoy for their movie day! 

The children were surprised to see how long it took the chocolate chips to melt down! (I think they'll stick to the instant mix!) 

Aloha Friday! We had a giant pool filled with balls for the kids to "swim" in! 

We couldn't go to the beach but we tried to bring a little summer sunshine to us! 

Hula hooping and water play made for a fun morning! 

                         
                                                                    Coconut bowling!

Once the afterschoolers noticed a crack in one of the coconuts it became a mission to crack one completely open and see what was inside; coconut MILK or coconut WATER?! After quite some time and a lot of team work they succeeded and got them open. There is still a debate whether its milk or water inside. 

It was another successful March Break to put in the books! It's always fun to have a "special week" to step out of the normal routine and make the last few weeks of Winter a little more exciting!

  

A Visit From the Hospital

A lot of our Munchkins have had experiences with the Hospital. Stitches, broken bones, visiting new siblings are some of the reasons they've been while others are lucky enough to not have to go. We have a child in our classroom that was having a surgery that would leave them with a temporary bandage on their head. The teachers, hospital staff and parents of the child knew this would raise many questions from the other children and the hospital staff told us they would come in for a visit! 

We had three special guests come in; Crystal, Kayla and their blue puppet named Sam. Sam is a special puppet used when educating children when they do presentations or to show a child what to expect during a procedure. 

Sam had a bandage around his head just like the child in our class would. All the children were able to investigate Sam closely and asked lots of questions! 

While one group was getting a closer look with Sam, Crystal took another group over to do finger casts! She used special bandages and warm water to make the cast on the children's finger. After a few short minutes they hardened up into the finish product!

Some of the children didn't like the feeling of the cast as it was a little soggy at first, while others would have put one on every finger if they could! 

After their presentation was done all the children got to go home with a "goody bag" from the hospital that had bandages, gloves, gauze and some other medical supplies to play with (or keep for when needed!) We were all so appreciative that Crystal and Kayla could take time from their busy schedule to spend time with us! We got a lot of medical questions answered and we hope if any of our Munchkins ever have to have a hospital experience they feel a little better about going!

Also update on our Munchkin who had surgery...! The bandages are off and they're doing great! :) 

- Leslie MacNeil 

  

DIY Paper Plate Wreaths

It's the most wonderful time of the year and the Munchkins have been in to decorating our classrooms for the holiday season. One group made these paper plate wreaths and inspired other groups to do it as well. It's easy, simple materials, and open ended for the children to create a unique piece that's their own! 

You can use whatever decorations you would like to make your wreath but we made the actual wreath from paper plates we had lying around. From there, paint, glue, scissors, pieces of ever greens and any other decorations are all you need! 

First step we painted the plates and let them dry. Then we cut and glued pieces of evergreen to it. Some children didn't want any so they went straight to decorating! 

Once the children were satisfied with their decorations we set them to dry overnight.

The 4 year old group hung theirs on the tree branch from the cieling to display them and even used the center cut outs to make ornaments for their christmas tree! Not only does this allow children to be creative but they also get to practice using scissors and glue! 

The after school group has been extremely into anything "crafty" so I think we'll try to make some this afternoon! 

- Leslie MacNeil