Valentine’s Week
The children had fun this week with hearts, hearts and more hearts. Even though our ‘monster’ snowstorm went out to sea and we had a snow day from school, a lot of Valentine fun was had by all. I hope the children enjoyed opening their Valentine bag at home. I know that all of the teachers enjoyed opening theirs. Here are some of the choices your children had this week:
Valentine Bear was our special Circle Time visitor all week. Do you see that he is covered in kisses? That is your hint about how we sang our Hello song to him. Your child should be able to demonstrate.
On Wednesday, we celebrated Valentine’s Day by baking a special snack. We baked a square cake and a circle cake. We told the children that we are going to have a heart cake for snack and they kept asking why we are making a square and circle. After the cakes had cooled, the children stood around the table and watched Mrs. Dotivala magically turn the 2 shapes into a heart cake. This is what they saw:
After the transformation, they loved eating this special snack, though for some, licking off the frosting was the goal.
On Thursday, we had a different kind of special snack. Playdough is one of the most wonderful creations to spur creativity, conversation, and small muscle growth. Along with the play dough, the children had rolling pins and heart-shaped cutters. The children started making hearts and one child was excited to make a ‘heart’ sandwich. It didn’t take long for a tray of ‘heart’ sandwiches to be made to serve for snack. I admit there was a little bit of worry when the teachers kept talking about having the ‘heart’ sandwiches for snack. “But we can’t eat them…they’re just play dough….are you going to give us real food.” After everyone was given a sandwich the teachers ‘realized’ the problem, collected the sandwiches, and everyone received a cup with strawberries and a few chocolate chip.
Our small Friday group has a different vibe than on Monday through Thursday. It has a slower pace and is much quieter than the other days. It seems that the children spend more time at each play choice because the hustle and bustle of many children is not present. This week, along with the regular activities, the Friday children used bean bags along with special songs and played the game “Match a Balloon.”
