Christmas Concert

Yesterday, the children, Susan and Whitney headed to the Anne Portnuff Theatre to watch the Yorkdale Central Christmas concert.  They got to see students K-5 sing Christmas songs and view what they will be participating in in just a few short years.  Everyone had a lot of fun and were very well behaved!

Turkey Claus

The children listened to a cute little story today - "Turkey Claus" by Wendi Silvano.  In this Christmas tale, Turkey doesn't want to be Christmas dinner.  So he enlists the help of Santa to help avoid being holiday dinner.  You'll have to check out the story to see if he's succesful or not. ;)

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Poor Rudolph! Has a big, old red nose that needs to light the way for the other reindeer.  That's quite a hefty responsibility he has.  The children at Susan's channelled Rudolph today with their adorable reindeer hats that also included a shiny, red nose.  They also practiced their prancing which was quite good and very reindeer-like.  Santa will have a few good subs from Susan's if he needs.

Mooseltoe

What happens when Moose forgets to get a Christmas tree?  He becomes it!  The children adored listening to this cute story "Mooseltoe" by Margie Palatini.  A cute moose with a terrific moostache.  They each then got to make their own Mooseltoe and adorn his mustache and antlers with various decorations.

The Littlest Elf

Santa couldn't get things done without his special helpers - elves.  The children got to read a couple of stories about little elves at the North Pole.   One of these was "The Littlest Elf" by Brandi Dougherty.

From Amazon.com: "Oliver may be the littlest elf in the North Pole, but he has a big desire to discover his very special job in Santa's workshop! But after getting lost in the toy shop, making a mess at the book shop, and falling in the mixing machine at the bakery, is the littlest elf just too little?

Perhaps he just needs the littlest reindeer to remind him what Christmas is all about!"

If You Take a Mouse to the Movies

A creative, curious little mouse celebrates Christmas with many different things such as stories, games, songs, treats in "If You Take a Mouse to the Movies" by Laura Numeroff.

The Penguin Who Wanted to be Different

"The Penguin Who Wanted to be Different" by Maria O'Neill.

This was a great little story about a penguin named Dorothy Penguin.  She realizes that all penguins look the same so she makes a Christmas wish to Santa to make her a little different.

Christmas Stories

The month of December brings about thoughts of Christmas.  To get into the spirit of the holiday, Susan reads many Christmas themed books to the children.  Throughout December the children will be making crafts related to these books each day.  The first book they read and crafted was "How Do Dinosaurs Say Merry Christmas" by Jane Yolen.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

On Sunday November 24th the Saskatchewan Roughriders played in the 101st Grey Cup in Regina against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.  The boys played hard and won making them the Grey Cup Champions of 2013.  Yay!!  This week the children at Susan's celebrated the Roughriders with various activities such as making football players, footballs and masks (allowing them to be the 13th man/woman).

(Songs courtesy Saskatchewan Roughriders Audio http://www.riderville.com/page/audio)

Remembrance Day

November 11th marks an important day in Canada.  A day to remember those who have fought and those who are fighting for the freedom and rights of our people.  The children made wreaths to commemorate our veterans and current peacekeepers.  May we never forget what they've done for us!  Lest we forget!




Remembrance Day videos:

Remembrance Day Canada

A Pittance of Time

Highway of Heroes Tribute

Highway of Heroes

Nutrition

At Susan's the children are always provided with healthy snacks such as fruits and vegetables.  The importance to eat these is displayed in the daycare on a daily basis.  This week children did tasks related to nutrition such as fruit/vegetable baskets.  Remember: fruits and veggies keep our bodies healthy! :)

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween from a superhero, a giraffe, a shark, a love bug, a princess and an M&M at Susan Cares 4 Kids!

Scary Masks

Can you tell who we are in our scary Halloween masks? (Cute may override scary on more than one occasion while viewing the following pictures) ;)

Pumpkin Fun

As our Halloween week came to a close the children participated in pumpkin fun activities.  These included peek-a-boo ghosts (from jack-o-lanterns) and pumpkin carving.  It's always fun watching the children delve their hands into pumpkins and feel the texture of the "guts" and seeds between their fingers.  Words like "disgusting" and "gross" were emitted between shrieks and smiles.

Ghostly Lights

What can you do with a milk jug, sharpies and lights??  Create ghostly lights to decorate your house with.  Or to use as a nightlight ;)  These wonderful creations by the children are sure to be festive decorations for their homes.

Pumpkin Magnets

The children had fun creating some crafts that they can place on magnetic objects around their homes - pumpkin magnets.  They definitely enjoyed finding different places where magnets stuck at Susan's.

Halloween Crafts

Our week has been filled with fun, Halloween themed crafts at Susan's.  Holidays are always special and wonderful memories are created around each one.  This week students took to creating puffy ghosts (made using cotton balls which were one of Whitney's favourite craft tools), black cats (more cute than scary), and haunted house signs.  The children worked very hard on their fine motor skills through cutting, colouring and sticker placement.  It's amazing how much is learned through craft activities!  Keep an eye on the blog for further Halloween fun to be had at Susan's :)

Spooky Spiders

With Halloween just a week and a bit away, the children have begun Halloween crafts.  Today it was "Spooky Spider" day.  The children transformed themselves into these eight legged creepy crawlers with their spooky spider hats.  However, some of us find them too cute to be scary. ;)

Playdough Extravaganza

Today we explored our creativity through the use of playdough.  Susan made some new playdough which is always fun as the new stuff is soft and easy to manipulate.  The children created everything from worms to balls to bowling pins and more!  It's great to have children utilize their creativity in unending ways!

Using Our Hands

Did you know that there are many different ways we can use our hands for art projects?  Well there are!  We traced our hands to make tree trunks and then finger painted colourful fall leaves on our trees.  We hope you have a  chance to enjoy the last little bit of fall before winter is upon us.

Fall Wreaths

Leaves are a falling on our heads......well, actually snow did a little today BUT we're hanging on to our season of fall.  To celebrate this colourful, crisp season the children at Susan's created beautiful fall wreaths.  Notice how each of our leaves have eyes and faces?!?!  We sure brought those inanimate objects to life in a cute way. :)

I Am Thankful For . . . . . You!!

Thanksgiving is this weekend and the children did their final Thanksgiving craft for the year.  In the spirit of the holiday, they showed that they are thankful for . . . . you - their parents!!  They appreciate every little thing you do for them every day and for your unending love, care and support.  :)  Happy Thanksgiving to all the families and friends of Susan Cares 4 Kids.  Please have a safe, happy long weekend.

Rain, Rain Here Today

Rain drops kept falling on my head, and on my shoulders.  That's what the weather was like today but it didn't stop us from getting outside and enjoying a little fresh air.  Donned in hats, jackets, splash pants and rubber boats the children ventured outside and enjoyed playing in and experiencing all the rain had to offer.  However, one of us thought she was made out of sugar and tended to snuggle near the playhouse where things were a little more dry. ;)

Cornucopias

Cornucopia, or horn of plenty, is a symbol of nourishment and abundance, and is usually filled with fruits, vegetables & flowers.  We usually attribute this symbol to the holiday of Thanksgiving.  The children thoroughly practiced their cutting skills as they snipped various objects to fill their cornucopias.

Thanksgiving Corn

What can you do with little balls of tissue?  Create a beautiful Thanksgiving corn project. Using tissue paper, the children made little balls to create the corn kernels and then green construction paper for the corn husk.  We often see these types of corn in stores around this time of year and many gourds as well.  Did you know they are also called maize or flint corn?

Turkey Time

Thanksgiving is just around the corner (actually a week from now) and the children at Susan's have begun doing crafts pertaining to this food-filled holiday.  We started with one of the most known objects related to Thanksgiving, and the one that's the most yummy - Turkeys!! So far we've created turkeys, hats and masks to pretend to be turkeys.  We've got pretty good "gobble gobbles" - hope you've had the chance to hear them. :)

9 & 10

Last week we completed our 1-10 series with the numbers 9 and 10.  Nine was a cute little caterpillar rolled up into the numerical symbol and composed of 9 circles.  Ten was a little bit of a larger project which makes sense since the children did just jump from single to double digits.  Our ten projects, 10 cars, lined up wonderfully and the children were very excited to display this work of art to their parents.

7 & 8

How do you get creative with numbers?  Well, just ask Susan. On "Number 7" day, the children made a necklace.  Not only did it have the symbol for the number (7) but all the beads put on were in groups of 7 (7 red, 7 yellow, etc.).  For "Number 8" day today, the children made the numeral but cutting and colouring and then added legs (eight to be exact).  It's so much fun learning numbers at Susan's when you can do it in new, interesting, exciting ways!

7 & 8 on PhotoPeach

Counting Games

Last week and this week the children have been working hard on learning to recognize numbers 1-10.  They've also been matching numerical symbols to amounts (ie. 7 = X X X X X X X).  If you and your child would like to practice counting and numbers to 10, here are a few websites where they can do so (just click on the underlined title).

Counting to 5

Count the Feathers

Count and Order

 

How Many Under the Shell

Finding Groups

 

Counting Fish

Numero 6

We picked up from where we left off last week with the number 6 today.  The children are getting very good at counting and identifying the numbers.  Keep up with us throughout the week as we work our way up to 10!

Fall Weather

Well it's definitely fall in Saskatchewan.  And with the falling leaves, we have entered into a rainy period that has brought a bit of a chill with it.  But that hasn't stopped us from enjoying some outdoor play once the raindrops have ceased to fall.  Donned in our rubber boots, splash pants, sweatshirts and hats we were overjoyed when we could venture outside and exert our energy in play.

3 - 4 - 5

We started the week at 1 and made it to 5 by Friday.  The children are having a blast learning number recognition and relating amounts to numerical symbols.  We have cut, painted, glued, stuck and explored while creating our numbers.  The children are excited to continue with 6-10 next week.

Numbers

It's numbers week at Susan's!  For the next two weeks, the children will learn the numerical symbol for and relate quantities to numbers 1-10.  Monday was number 1 and the children coloured number 1 images and learned how to represent the number.  Tuesday was number 2 and using bingo dabbers and stickers represented groups of two.  As the week continues and on to the next one, the children will get a good number sense base.

Irish Representations

What represents Ireland?  A map?  An Aer Lingus plane? A flag? A castle? A shamrock? Yes!! All those as well as much more (for example animals, coastlines)  Those are images the children used today at Susan's to create Irish collages.  We cut and pasted and used our creativity to create wonderful collages who WS would be proud of.  We are truly embracing the impact Ireland has on us this week as we think fondly of our friend afar.

Ireland

One of our beloved daycare workers has left us to start a new adventure in Ireland.  She has jetted away, landed safely and is now a resident of an isle afar.  To celebrate her new home, the children at Susan's made flags of Ireland.  Using orange, white and green they painted away!  May the luck of the Irish be with you WS!! :)

Fishbowl Fun

Where do fish live? River? Lakes? Ponds? Yes!! But the ones we keep as pets in our homes can be found in fish bowls (or fish tanks).  Take a look at our colourful fish friends.

What Lives in a Pond??

Our week of animal homes/habitats continues as we studied what lives in a pond.  From turtles to frogs to bugs to ducks, there are many animals that call a pond home.

Animal Homes

Where do animals live?  What are some types of animal homes?  Those are questions the children at Susan's are finding answers to this week as they take a look at various animal homes.  We started off with doghouses - a man made home, and today looked at a natural habitat - trees.  Do you know what animals live in trees?  We do!! Squirrels and birds - some of our favourite critters.

Ant Masquerade

Using our creativity, we transformed ourselves into ants on Friday.  Colouring, cutting and a bit of string led to our ant masks which had us masquerading as ants at Susan's.  We weren't quite sure what sounds ants make so if you have any ideas we'd love to hear them. :)

A is for . . . Ants!!

What do you get when you mix paint, paper, colouring tools, glue, fingers and the letter A?  Why a fun-filled craft, that's what!  To create ants along our letter A we used our fingers to paint the bodies of these little creatures.  Its always a blast being able to get the colouring tool on our hands on purpose.  The children have a blast learning their letters as they work and experimenting with different mediums.

Motoring Along Finely

Ever picked up a bead?  Strung it on a string?  Managed to fit small pieces of blocks into one another?  Well these are tasks the children do at Susan's as there are many opportunities for them to work on their fine motors skills.  Practice, practice, practice on skills even during play.

Puzzle Fun

On of our young "clients" showed some amazing critical thinking powers, hard work and determination as she skillfully assembled this many piece puzzle.  Way to go!! :)

Take a Look in a Book

Reading continues to be a favourite past time at Susan's.  The children hunker down with a few books and enter into worlds of dinosaurs, princesses, talking animals and endless realms of imagination.

Sand, Water, Fun

The children LOVE playing outdoors at Susan's!!  There is so much to do!!  Whether it's playing with water, having a water fight, feeling the sand under our fingers, building dams/houses/castles, using our imagination in the kitchen and playhouse, inventing our own games, riding bikes on the board walk, singing or doing whatever, we always have a smile on our faces as we thoroughly enjoy our outdoor play time.

Marching Ants

The ants go marching one by one....Aw, a popular "classic" for children and adults alike.  Our ant week continues and today's craft had us creating ants that were walking, marching, crawling or moving however we chose in the grass.  The children are doing such a good job at their cutting and tracing skills and we're always very proud of the work they do.

Ants, Ants, Ants

Our theme at Susan's this week: Ants!!  During the warm months in Saskatchewan these little critters can be found outdoors in many places.  The children love to watch them and study their behaviour.  While doing hands-on activities and crafts, the children learn many cool things about ants such as:

*they can carry up to 20x their body weight
*they have two stomachs: one is for themselves and the other is to share with others
*ants have six legs
*ants are excellent team workers
*ants can be many different colours (ex. red, black, and yellow)
*and, according to the children, the red ants are BAD!

Flower Power

The sun has been shining and the flowers around us are in full bloom!  The vibrancy of the colours and wonderful smells stimulate our senses and brighten the world around us.  This week has been "Flower Power" week and the children at Susan's have been busy making a variety of flowers using different mediums and styles.  We absolutely LOVE getting hands-on and artistic in the crafts and activities that we do.

Today we used our natural painting tools - our fingers!! - to have some fun with finger painting flowers.  We also used cotton swabs to paint our bees (who also love flowers very much).  The children love being able to explore moving paint with different tools.