The month of February has been one of celebration for our toddler program. During the month we have had many significant events and holidays to recognize and engage in activities around. To start off the month we celebrated Black History Month- for our toddlers we wanted to focus on freedom and inclusion. The children were read many books featuring a diverse set of characters and listened to songs about Black History Month. The children also did an activity to foster inclusion and wellbeing where each of the children's hands were traced. They were given skin tone pastels to colour in their hands and the children loved seeing how the pastels matched their own, and their friends, skin.
The next event that the toddlers celebrated in February was Lunar New Year. The children made paper lanterns by drawing on red paper and having their educators cut them into a lantern shape. The lanterns were hung in the classroom. The children absolutely loved watching the lanterns blow in the breeze as they were hung near an open window. Since it was the year of the dragon this Lunar New Year, the children also created their own dragon to display on our program room door. They painted on red paper with their hands and then all of the circles were attached to a dragon's head. One other way that the Lunar New Year was celebrated was by a couple of the children wearing traditional clothing. The day before the Lunar New Year two of our toddlers wore their beautiful red clothing and got to show it off to their peers.
Shrove was celebrated by our cook preparing pancakes for lunch. When the children sat down to eat they enjoyed chowing down on some pancakes and sausage patties with their friends. And then we celebrated Valentines Day. The children took some time to listen to the Pete the Cat: Valentines Day is Cool story. They then extend their ideas around the story by making their own Valentines. They were given large red hearts and a variety of art materials to decorate them with. The toddlers used their fine motor skills to add their own personal touch to their Valentines.
All in all, it has been an exciting month of celebration and we still have much more to celebrate going forward.
