We set up a pouring station today and had so much fun with it. Great practice for an important life skill and a fun way to exercise critical thinking skills, eye-hand coordination, self-regulation, and spacial awareness too!
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We are having a blast building with egg cartons this morning. And knocking them down is even more fun! It has been such a great opportunity for teamwork, negotiating, problem solving, structure/engineering experience, vocabulary building, and more!   The kids spent a lot of time this past week creating an obstacle course in the yard! The planning, trial & error, teamwork, and of course, large motor work were amazing to watch! #looseparts    One of my favorite hand-eye coordination/visual tracking exercises: BUBBLES!!! Also great for relational mathematics vocabulary like smallest & biggest, and of course the science of surface tension! Plus, isn't there just something so magical about bubbles?! :)
The toddlers loved the new homemade tube toy today! Lots of directional and positional vocabulary words, crawling under, spinning & sliding the tubes, and laughing! See how to make one here: http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/50709/baby-games-baby-play-station
Now a full week into 2015, I have so enjoyed looking back on what an amazing year 2014 was! I was blessed enough to spend MANY special moments with some super special kids, and thankful that some of those moments were even preserved on camera. I have chosen my very favorite photos from the past year, and I hope you all will enjoy getting a glimpse of the joy, learning, friendships, and excitement that we have experienced together. As with all photos, what makes them great is the story behind them, so I've added descriptions to some that explain why they are my favorites. Just click the post link to see all the photos!
There was a fun sensory walk of tape balance lines, sticky contact paper, and bubble wrap waiting to greet the kids as they came in the door this morning! They enjoyed the sensations that the bubble wrap and sticky paper had to offer and had fun following the tape lines on foot, and later, with cars too. And of course, any time we are reminded of tape, we have to use up at least one roll of it all over the floor. :)  Learning how to effectively rip a piece of tape off a roll is a very hard thing for little hands to do. Another of our kiddos has today joined the prestigious ranks of our “tape-rippers” and she is very proud! Learning to rip tape is such a badge of honor around here not only because it is such a useful skill (we LOVE making tape shapes and designs on the floor!), but also because of how hard it is to do! Have you ever noticed how the pride you feel in an accomplishment is directly related to how hard you had to work to achieve it?
The more times kids get to experience trying, practicing, and finally succeeding at those “hard things,” the more confidence they will have that they will be able to accomplish more “hard things” in the future. Learning to tie shoes can be a hard thing. Learning to solve math problems can be a hard thing. Learning to read can be a hard thing. Each time kids are allowed to completely own the process of mastering a new skill, they gain confidence that they will be able to do it again and again. And it’s okay for kids to struggle a little in the process. That just makes the end result so much sweeter! We went out to finish picking a few more of our mini pumpkins this morning, until little hands got too cold (it can't really be time for gloves ALREADY, can it?!?) and then we came in and made a fresh batch of slime! Ours today is equal parts glue and liquid starch, but there are LOTS of fun slime recipes here: http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2013/04/slime-recipes_26.html  I am pretty sad that summer is coming to an end, but we are not going to let that stop us from enjoying every last bit of nice weather in our new mud pie kitchen! (Though I think it will make a fun snow pie kitchen, too!) I still hope to add a real kitchen sink on the left side, but it's definitely usable! The kids were so excited to see it ready for play this morning, and they have already spent hours scooping, digging, squeezing (great pre-writing work!), counting, measuring (math concepts), role-playing, planning, communicating, problem solving (VERY important social skills), just rolling in the new dirt patch, and having SO MUCH FUN! 
We were also in the mood for some painting today, so some jumped right into that as well!
A little later than we'd hoped, and our rows may not be perfectly straight, but we got our daycare vegetable garden planted today! We had a fantastic time getting it planted and are excited to see our seeds start to grow!  This year we put it spinach, lettuce, green beans, two rows of (our favorite!) snap peas, carrots, and sunflowers. We also have mini pumpkins planted in our wire tunnel and are looking forward to having a beautiful green living tunnel to play in this summer!  I love gardening with the kids so much because it is such a fun lesson that covers so many areas of learning. Each year that they participate in the growing process, they are learning science, math concepts (counting out the seeds and rows, and spacing), health and nutrition (as we harvest what we've planted), and so much more!  |
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Welcome!Welcome to Hilary's Home Daycare & Preschool! Take a look through these pages to get a glimpse of what our days are like! If your child is currently enrolled in Hilary's Home Daycare, be sure to check out the "Look what we did today!" section often to join in our fun! Childcare Openings:Currently, Hilary's Home Daycare has no childcare positions available. If you would like to be added to our waiting list, please submit a message under the "Contact Me" tab. Be sure to include the words "waiting list," your child(ren)'s age(s), and the best way to contact you for an interview, should a spot become available. Thank you! Archives
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