Thank you!

What a wonderful last day! Our children did what they do best - play, laugh, share, create, and smile! It was bittersweet as we watched our SK children visit their new grade 1 classes in the afternoon, and enjoyed the classroom with our JK-soon to be SKs. It really was hard to say goodbye at the end of the day.

We spent some time asking our children some 'end of the year' questions.

And for the video advice I think I'll follow....

It's been an absolute pleasure working with you this year. Thank you for sharing your children with me. For my JKs this year, see you again in September! I'll be updating the blog throughout the summer and sharing interesting articles, tips, and information about the school start up. Check in often!

Library Field Trip

Our field trip to the Amherstburg Public Library was wonderful! The weather was sunny and warm, the walk was enjoyable, and the librarian had some great books for the children to read and ideas to share!

Walking to the library from our school...

Listening to some great books!

Hot Dog Day

Unfortunately we have cancelled the hot dog day scheduled for the last day of school. Thanks for your understanding.

Dragonflies

The children noticed some very unusual dragonflies in our playground this week.  We have a large screened clothing hamper (bought at Ikea) that makes the perfect flying insect container. It is big enough to let the creatures fly, and lets in plenty of fresh air. It's a great viewing area for our children to use at the science center. We're hoping to use it for migrating butterflies in the fall.

Hip Hip Hooray!

Check it out!  We've had over 10 000 hits to our blog! Thank you for your interest and support of our children and program! We couldn't have done it this year without all our amazing families and friends!

Basket Printing

We used plastic strawberry baskets to make some really interesting prints this week. The children quickly realized that if there was too much paint on the basket bottom, it would not make a clear print. Problem-solving how to get just enough paint on the basket was an interesting task for many children.

This was also a very meaningful activity as it allowed us to recycle these baskets into art tools. We are hoping to collect enough baskets so that we can add them to our building center for next year. If you have any at home, please consider donating them to our program. Thank you!

Gibson Gallery

The Gibson Gallery is offering children's art classes this summer. Click here for information.

The Art of Irish Dancing

We had a treat this week! One of our children performed some of her Irish dancing for us. The children were captivated by the beautiful costume and intricate footwork.

Chick Pea Structures

We soaked dried chick peas overnight in water to make them soft.

Then we invited children to use toothpicks with the chick peas to create interesting three-dimensional structures.

It was tricky to get the toothpick into the chick pea - but great fine motor practice and hand/eye control.

While we were working we had a great conversation about the differences between 2D and 3D shapes!

Sand Paint

We decided to add some sand to our painting cups in order to capture children's interest and add texture to the finished paintings.

In order to do this, add 1 part sand to 1 part tempra paint.

Mix very well.

The children found it challenging to paint with the sand paint - it made the bristles stiff and the children needed to really coat the brushes to get their desired effects.

The artwork was stunning!

Bubble Prints

We experimented with another form of print making using bubbles. After combining 1 part water, 1 part tempra paint, dishsoap, and food colouring, each child was given an individual straw and invited to blow bubbles in the mixture. Once a high level of bubbles was created, the children quickly pressed paper down to create a bubble print. 

What messy fun!