Friends + Fun = Winter Olympics at the Center

Winter Olympics at the Children's Museum was so much fun!  It included 3-D paper art projects, Broom Hockey, ice cube relay races, frisbee throwing contests, dodgeball, and games galore!

The homemade sidewalk chalk was also a hit!

Ready? Set! Go! And they are off! We had lots of fun - including use of the penalty box for high sticks! A few broken sticks, but lots of happy hockey players!

Bobsled Racing was just as exciting... several of the kids caught on quickly and mastered the technique of blowing their ice cubes across the table with ease! Fun Times!

Nice try, Miss Lindsey, but I'm afraid you were left cold on the track by Nate's winning "sled!"

Gung hay fat choy!

Happy New Year in Cantonese! Yes, our Leapfroggers and SHARK kids both celebrated Chinese New Year with games, craft projects, snacks, and books about the Chinese culture.

Our Koi Pond was so cute with all of the beautiful bright fish that the children designed.

We also learned about panda bears and then made panda bear noisemakers using paper plates and rice.

The Leapfroggers made brightly colored dragon puppets using the warm colors of red, orange, and yellow. They added sequins to make them extra sparkly.

The SHARK kids also spent an afternoon figuring out if they were born during the year of the rat, dog, monkey, or ram. They also wrote their names in Chinese characters which was a fun learning experience!

Miss Lesa and Miss Madalyn's Yellow group spent one afternoon replacing our dried out playdough with brand new soft and fragrant playdough that was handmade. The kids enjoyed mixing  flour with cream of tarter, alum, water, and some wonderful smelling spices like cinnamon and cloves. They made two colors: pink and blue. The soft and yummy smelling playdough was a hit with everyone and continues to be a fun elective! Thanks Yellow group for the fresh playdough!

Funny Faces and Friends!

There were no winter blahs at the community center this week! Well, maybe a few...WE WANT SNOW!  We made up for mother nature's lack of snow by making our own!

Learning about emotions...

Making snow out of ivory soap and toilet paper was "snow" much fun!

Snowmen or penguin?

The SHARK kids played a dice game where the first kiddo to build their penguin was the winner. These were just two of the cool penguins we ended up with...

Nothing warms our tummies like homemade pancakes and syrup! The second graders love cooking with Miss Madalyn and Miss Lesa!

From Wild West to....Winter Fun!

Our SHARK kids ended our Wild West week with a plethora of campfire songs and line dancing! The favorite dance -hands down - was the line dance they learned to "Cotton Eyed Joe." Way to go Lindsey, Lesa, Madalyn, Whitney and Ashley for a great time with the kiddos!


Moving into a week of Winter Fun we started the cold day off with homemade hot chocolate and 'nilla wafers, snowman mosaics, a friendly game of Twister - Girls against the Boys, and hanging out in the water and sand tables...look for our fun with fake snow tomorrow...and we can't wait to celebrate NATIONAL PENGUIN DAY on Friday!

Rumor has it that the boys won, but I'm sure the girls are up to a rematch anyday!

Cute Snowman mosaic...

Water fun at the water table...

One of the kids thinks we should call this the hot chocolate table. I would have to agree since it does look like hot chocolate powder...

Is Winter finally here?

We debated on whether we would be able to enjoy exploring the Winter and Weather theme this week or if we would have to resort to our theme of Spectacular Space instead. Luckily for us, the winter storm that has been predicted for the past couple of days is now arriving. The kids have enjoyed reading about winter animals and outdoor snow activities, making snowman puppets, playing in multi-colored sand at the table, and building igloos out of our blocks. We are hoping to play in snow tomorrow as part of our water table as we learn about the Water Cycle. (If the real snow doesn't come, we're making fake snow - either way, it will be a blast!) I am so proud of our kiddos and the great things that they are doing!

Once there was a snowman...

How many friends can fit inside our igloo?

Three!