A surprise guest!

We had a surprise visit from Jamie and her new baby, Hunter! We were very happy to see them!

Building Blocks

During Work Time this week, a number of the children in the Lamb Room have been stacking and building with blocks in the classroom. Here are some of the things that they've built. They're pretty cool!

Lambs making Moon Sand

Jenny helped the Lambs make Moon Sand in the sensory table.

 One of our first Large Group activities of the summer was making Moon Sand in the sensory table. Moon Sand is a mixture of flour and baby oil. The children took turns using measuring cups to dump flour and baby oil in the sensory table.

 

Once the ingredients are mixed together, the Moon Sand can be shaped, crumbled, scooped, and played with in many different ways.  Moon Sand can be used as an art material, a sensory material, as well as a way to help children practice filling and dumping with containers.

Check out our garden!

Here are a few pictures of the Bunny Room Garden! Currently, we have radishes, kale, and cantaloupes growing there. The children often visit the garden to water the plants, explore with the dirt, and to help harvest the vegetables.

 

Toddler Bunnies Trying Radish Chips

The Toddler Bunnies used the radishes from our garden to make radish chips. They're healthy and fun to make.

Step 1: Begin with raw, trimmed radishes. 

  

Step 2: Wash the radishes to remove the dirt, then pat dry. (The children loved this part!)

Step 3: Slice the radishes thinly (grownups only) and lay them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (some recipes suggest steaming them in the microwave first)

Step 4: Season with salt, paprika and garlic powder or any seasoning of your choice and bake at 350 F for 20 minutes on each side.

   

Step 4:Allow the chips to cool, then enjoy!

The radish chips met mixed reviews in the Bunny Room. Some of the toddlers enjoyed the chips and asked for more, while others did not want to try them.

We have radishes!

 On Monday, while playing outside, we were pleased to discover that the radishes we planted in the garden were now ready to harvest! After several weeks of watering the garden and patiently watching the leaves grow, we picked about twenty-five radishes from the ground. Many of the children were excited to finally see and hold the radishes. Now that the radishes are washed and trimmed, we plan to try them for Tuesday's snack and possibly make radish chips later this week.

Toddler Bunnies Enjoying Homemade Play Dough

Isabella used cookie cutters and different textured rolling pins on her play dough.

 The Toddler Bunnies have loved squeezing, rolling, and cutting shapes with the blue play dough we made in the classroom. This play dough recipe is a simple mixture of flour, salt, water and food coloring (optional) that can be made at home. Children develop fine motor skills, basic math concepts (shapes, size, filling and emptying), art, pretend play, and cause-and-effect, through the use of play dough.

Eliza used her play dough to fill and empty a stacking cup.