Valentine's Day

Tomorrow in playschool, we will have a Valentine's Day celebration, having some treats and discussing ways to show that we care for one another all year round. The kids are more than welcome to bring treats to share with their friends and valentine cards to exchange. We will also do some fun crafts.

Our Trip To See Muhtadi!

Last Wednesday we ventured to the Spadina Branch library to see percussionist Muhtadi perform. It was a very exciting and interactive performance, that had the kids singing, dancing and of course drumming! The kids got to see and learn about some different types of drums, as well as learn the basic calypso rhythm. The kids got to take turns drumming with Muhtadi. Pictures to follow soon!

Black History Month

Hey folks! TD Canada Trust is promoting Black History Months through a campaign called 'Then and Now". On the website (http://www.td.com/thenandnow/) there is a description of some very cool events to go to! Great date night ideas parents!

Drama and Dance!

Our new collaborative drama and dance time on Tuesdays has proven to be so much fun thus far! The great space we have in the rec centre gives the kids so much room to try things out, and also work together and learn from one another. Lorna has been doing a great job creating engaging and fun lessons for the kids.

Warming up and making sure they have enough space to do the activities.

Freeze! The mirrored wall really helps the kids to look at the movements and patterns their bodies create during this time as well as to help them follow Lorna.

Here the kids are following Lorna's movements.

Look at that flexibility and range! The kids really enjoy the time they have during drama and dance days.

Our Adventures at the Drop-In Centre

We are very fortunate to be able to frequent the drop-in centre not only as a warm place to eat lunch, but a GREAT place to do lots of fun activities,experiments and an opporunity for the kids to socialize with one another.

Fresh snow+food colouring = a great art experiment. The kids used droppers to release different amounts/concentrations of colour onto the snow.

Making snowflakes, and animal chains has become a favourite past time. It is also great for the kids to work on their dexterity and development in relation to their hand muscles by doing so! Also helps them improve on their cutting abilities, something they all seem to want to be more comfortable and confident with.








Here the kids are enjoying a healthy snack after completing a ton of activities! Time to re-fuel and then head outside for more fun!

The drop in centre is always a lot of fun, and gives the students the opporunity to explore different learning options in a unique space. Thanks for always welcomming us!

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Great Books!

I have brought in a bunch of books from my own personal collection for this month. Please feel free to take a look at them when you come for pick up. You may be interested in reading one of them with your child! Leah and I will be reading them as well, but I think its great for kids to hear about these themes more than once, even if it is from the same book. They are around the themes of Black History as well as ways to show you care+compassion and empathy!

-Erin

Celebrating Chinese New Year

It was a fun week learning about Chinese New Year. On Tuesday we went to Chinatown with the Twirly Birds to look around. We saw a ton of decorations for Chinese New Year and explained to the kids that each year, a different animal is celebrated and that each animal has special traits/characteristics.

We bought some decorations for our individual spaces to celebrate the year of the rabbit, as well as some traditional envelopes. We discussed with the kids that it would be a really nice idea to put nice thoughts or pictures in the envelopes and give them to someone they care about since we are learning about ways to show we care this month.

Then, we headed to the rec centre for drama and dance, and had a great time. Lorna brought in a very cool Chinese dragon that the kids had the opportunity to wear and dance around in to music made by them (thanks to some pot covers!). Lorna also read the kids a very neat story about how certain animals became a part of the Chinese New Year celebration

We will continue on with these concepts this week as well as learning more about Chinese New Year, even if it has passed.