This summer has been full of exciting events! First, we hand-picked berries from our playground, and our toddler friends were so excited to help Amanda make muffins with the service berries. We each took turns mixing all the dry ingredients, and tasted some of the berries. Amanda then gave our muffin mix to Katey, our cook; once the muffins were ready we enjoyed a yummy summer treat.
Another one of our summer events has been Wednesday Water Play. Everyone has been excited to change and get wet every Wednesday! Lauren runs into the sprinklers and Luke enjoys filling buckets with water. Elliot found a bucket and said it was "a boat in the pond" so he went inside the bucket and smiled. Victoria got soaked in the sprinklers and giggled saying, “Caytlin, I’m so wet!” The toddlers engaged in sensory play during water play, and furthered their social skills as they expressed their joy. What a fun way to enjoy our summer days.
We even had ‘Little Yogies’ come to give the toddlers of RisingOaks Early Learning | St. Luke a visit! The children have been enjoying doing yoga in the classroom, so this was the perfect time for Little Yogies to teach yoga to the children. They started out doing stretching exercises to the song 'The Little Yoga Clock'. “Tick tock, little yoga clock!” the kids sang, as they stretched their arms and swayed side to side. Then, with the help of an expanding ball, the children practiced breathing slowly. They inhaled as the ball expanded and exhaled as the ball deflated. Each child was given the chance to hold the ball themselves as they inhaled and exhaled along with the yoga instructor. They went on their hands and knees and stretched, then they roared loud like a lion! Next, they stretched their backs by lying on the ground and holding their head up while hissing like a snake. They also stood up, held their arms up, and bent to the ground just like giraffes and elephants! Lastly, they were given colored cloths and the children pretended to be beautiful butterflies as they flapped their arms gracefully. Overall, this was an amazing opportunity for the children to practice calming their bodies through stretching and breathing exercises.
Finally, our main summer event has been our gardening experience. The toddler room planted potatoes and took such good care of them as we watered them daily. The toddler children learned to care and respect the gardening space giving us the opportunity to witness their growth as the stems grew taller. Once the potatoes were ready we pulled them out and washed them as a group. After being washed, we had them cooked with some butter and salt. This made a delicious treat for the end of our summer fun! Through these events we’ve built strong connections with each other as a group and elaborated on our social skills as we moved towards collaborative play. It has been an eventful summer, and a memorable one without a doubt.
