Hi Sandy Hill Family!!
As the weeks away from each other turn into months, and we head into Spring, I’m reminded how quickly things grow. Flowers are in bloom, baby animals are zipping around, and all of a sudden, our kiddos seem to grow right before our very eyes! I miss them all so SO much. I miss their smiles, their hugs, their wonderful stories, and I miss the way their small hands find their way into mine. I especially miss seeing them bloom and grow into their own little personalities, and miss watching friendships grow! This is such a special age, and although as parents, you may find yourselves frustrated, at the end of your rope, or just at a loss of “what else can we do?!?”, try to cherish these moments at home with your little ones. We are in this together, and you are not alone🦋
Love and hugs to all
Ms Jessica
Ideas from Ms Jessica
Painting feet/pedicure station: materials needed: paint, large paper-like shipping/packing paper, paper plates, tub, soap/water/washcloth. Kids love to get their feet in the water. For this activity, go outside :) put out a few paper plates with a bit of paint on each, and spread out a large piece of paper (like packing paper from an Amazon shipment, etc). Set up a little pedicure station: a tub of water with a soap bottle and a washcloth next to it, and maybe a little chair. Have the kids step into the paint, and walk around on the paper. Next, they can head to the pedicure station and wash up. Repeat! They love to see their footprints!
Painting with fruits and veggies: a lot of “scraps” from meals we make have another use: panting! You can use the end of a celery bunch as a paint stamp. Cut off the good celery, and use the Leftover end to dip into the paint (the part you dip into the paint will be the cut side). It makes a very cool pattern. Apples: cut the apple across the middle and it makes a cool star pattern when paint stamped Bell peppers: cut across the middle and see the cool pattern :)
YouTube book read aloud: When Spring Comes
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IHgxFFxWV0Y
Ideas from Ms Susi:
Coffee filter butterflies and Butterfly Sticks! Please see attached pictures for detailed instructions and pictures 🦋
Ideas from Ms Erin:
Paper plate watermelon craft
Book suggestion:
The Enormous Watermelon
Gardening: Plant watermelon seeds for your garden!
Ideas from Ms Kacy:
The letter of the week is W
"W" for water play!
Get out the hose, buckets, bins, pool noodles, funnels, measuring cups, and start pouring!
You can set up a big bin outside. Fill it with water. Put out some plastic containers and you have hours of entertainment!
Raise the bar and add ways you can get water from one bin to another.
Measure how much you start with and how much comes out the other side.
https://www.raisingdragons.com/pool-noodle-pour-station/
Walks
Take a walk in your backyard, neighborhood, or some of the parks that are beginning to open. Look on leaves for caterpillar eggs. If you see a butterfly, follow it and see if it lands on a certain plant. Check it for eggs each time you visit that area.
Native plants and the birds, butterflies, and bees they attract.
https://www.audubon.org/native-plants
Story- "Are you ready to play outside?"
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Wish Jar
This is a time to say "Yes" to the things you can for your child.
But there are some things we just can't do right now.
Turn a negative into a positive.
Put all those wishes, ideas and plans down on paper and place them in a jar to save for later. This will give hope and something to look forward to when you can do those ideas.
Experiment with bubbles
Try 2 different recipes and compare
Materials
1st Recipe
3 cups Water
1/4 cup Dish soap
1/4 cup Corn starch
1/2 T Baking powder
1/2 T Glycerin dissolved in warm water
2nd Recipe
3 cups Water
1/2 cup Dish soap
1/2 cup Light Corn syrup
Add all ingredients to the water. Try to stir slowly as to not form bubbles in the bin. Dip wands and compare which mixture makes the best bubbles.
Here are some easy to make wand ideas. Compare which works best for you!
Plastic cup:
Punch a hole in the bottom to blow through.
Dip the large open end into the solution and blow.
Plastic water bottles:
Cut the bottom off the bottle and dip.
Use the lid end of the bottle to blow you bubbles.
Pipe cleaners:
You can create just about any shape you like to form a pipe cleaner, just make sure you keep a small section as a handle. Try with circles, stars, or even triangles. Connect it to a cookie-cutter for more shapes.
Plastic funnel:
This already has a natural shape for a bubble wand. Using the large end to dip and the small end to blow, this is a sure winner
Ideas from Ms Tracy:
The SUN is out and it is a wonderful time
to start PLANTING!
My children always loved eating things they grew themselves and I am sure your little ones will too.
You don’t need a big yard or lots of gardening equipment all you need is a few seeds, some recycled containers, soil and time [and time is one thing we all have plenty of].
As luck will have it many things children love to eat are also fun to grow, mature fast, and don’t need too much room.
Carrots are lots of fun to grow and the surprise is the good part is hidden!
Start with an egg carton and put a little soil in the egg wells.
Next place 5 or 6 seeds per egg well (good counting skill) a little more soil and water. Put them in a window and see how fast they grow! Check them every day and count how many little plants pop their heads up. You need to keep them wet and will need to water every day.
When they get too big for the egg carton (about 2 – 4 inches) you can plant them in an old milk jug.
Do you have any dry beans at home? Then you have seeds!
Wet a paper towel and put the bean seeds between the sheets. Put the wet towel and seeds into a zip bag. Keep the paper towel wet and in a few days, you will have little plants. If you look closely you can even see the roots! You can put the little plants in soil and grow beans!
Try different seeds - lettuce is fun to grow, cherry tomato’s love to grow in containers, and all kinds of flowers! Use different containers – empty boxes, jars, eggshells, even old shoes can be planters!
Plants need sun and water and children are wonderful at watering.
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