CA Appreciation

Olympics: Week 2

Rhythmic gymnastics: The girls designed their own leotards. I had no idea that the leos designed for the US Olympic team are completely custom, one of a kind, and cost thousands of dollars and many months to design and create. Some ladies think of them similarly to a wedding dress (!).

We made ribbon wands and danced around the house. So elegant and fun.

The next day we watched a little bit of the shooting. We also talked about gun safety...

me) "What do you do if you find a gun?" (I was a little worried after I heard some of the replies!)

"Hide it in the bushes so no one can find it!"
"Play with it! Fight the monsters!"

I mentioned that we should never touch a gun we might find- they can be dangerous. We should tell an adult right away. If we find a gun and we don't know if it is a toy or if it is real, we should ask a big person before we touch it. Never point a gun (toy or otherwise) at anyone's body.

Olympics: Week 1

I love the Olympics! I am always amazed by the determination, skill and humbling stories from the athletes all over the world. So naturally we will spend the next few weeks celebrating physical fitness, games, and the olympic values (friendship, unity, respect, courage, excellence, determination).

We had to paint some olympic rings!

We watched a youtube video about the olympic torch and about some of the torch bearers. Then we made our own.

Color by letter flag printable.

We watched a few minutes of the cross country equestrian race at the Greenwich Park stadium, and a few clips of riders who couldn't stay on their horses. Then we set up our own obstacle course.

Medal stand!

Picture of the Day: Shady Snack

Ah the park was perfect for late July! A cool breeze kept the kids from getting sweaty after 3 minutes. I love the days when it works to eat outside- I don't mind letting mother nature take care of the crumbs instead of my floors.

Fire Safety {Printables}

The American Red Cross has so many great resources. I love this set of fire safety printables (and because I can only seem to find a PDF link, I can't pin{terest} it!) and wanted to keep the link handy. We will work through these over the next few months.

Today we talked about YELLING!

It is OK to yell if there is an emergency, if you smell smoke, or need help. We practiced YELLING INDOORS! (An activity I normal discourage here at daycare.)

Patriotic Crafts

The girlies spent a LONG time with their lacing. They love the colorful wooden blocks, but were happy to make something they could take home. We talked a little bit about patterns, but they couldn't be bothered with planning ahead.

We finally updated the banner wall. With the kids' help we made a patriotic theme bunting. The cricut cut out millions of shapes and sized stars- the children glued, colored and glittered their triangles.

I used a paint by letter system for the wooden craft flag. They each got a set of wooden craft sticks labeled with a w, r or b and took turns with the paints (old applesauce containers) also labeled r, b, or w. They did a great job.

Safety on the 4th

A few good ideas when you are celebrating in large crowds this Independence day:

• It will be dark when the show starts – make sure if your kids are wandering around that they are back with you before dark. 
• Put a piece of reflective tape on the back of their clothes to help keep track of them as you’re leaving and always bring two flashlights with you (in case the batteries run out on one.) 
• Be sure your kids know your cell phone number and address in case they get lost on the way out. 
• If your kids are going to a fireworks show with a friend, give the parents a recent photo of your child and memorize what clothes they were wearing so that you can easily describe it to officials. 


from homesecuritysource.com