Ocean Themed Lunch

Adorable lunch! Perfect for oceans week. Click the link below for more fun ideas!

Meet the Dubiens: Fun Food Friday

Summer Safety: Pools and Water

• Supervision is a must. Follow the 10/20 rule when you’re at the pool. The 10/20 rule states the supervising adult needs to position themselves to be able to scan the pool every 10 seconds, and reach the water within 20 seconds.
• Always have rescue devices, such as UL-LISTED life preservers (ex: life jacket or buoys), nearby.
• Flotation devices, toys and inflatable swimming aids are not safety devices. They are toys and can easily puncture and deflate. They often promote a false sense of security and are NEVER a substitute for proper supervision.
• Always drain wading pools after children are done playing. Infants can drown in just a few inches of water. This is true for water tables or other fun stations that use water.
• Have a telephone nearby and appropriate emergency numbers posted. If you are using a cell phonc
• If you have a pool at home, install a fence. The fence should be at least four feet high and have a self-closing, self-latching gate that has a locking mechanism beyond a child’s reach.
• Cut overhanging tree limbs and remove chairs or ladders from the pool area to prevent children from climbing over the fence that surrounds the pool.
• Keep grates and drain covers in good repair and secured in place. Alert your family and guests to stay away from these devices, as the suction from drain outlets can be strong enough to cause entrapment of hair or body parts, which can potentially cause a person to drown.
• Make sure you know infant and child CPR if you are planning any visits or vacations around water. Your local Red Cross chapter may even have instructors who are willing to come to your home to teach a group of parents.

Trees Week

The children had a fun time walking around the neighborhood collecting leaves. First for our leaf collection/build your own tree. We talked about different shapes and colors of leaves and trunks. Double sided sticky tape worked well instead of glue (which would have been everywhere including the paper).

Later in the week we collected more leaves for leaf rubbings with different shades of green.

Purple Cow

After passing by the Purple Cow home laminator at Costco for many months, I finally decided to buy one. So far I have laminated some calendar pieces for the classroom, a spring bingo game and color flash cards. I am waiting for some more pockets to arrive in the mail, because as it turns out Joann's no longer stocks them (my one and only complaint- I love laminating things!).

For only $19 the machine seems like a steal. Each 8.5 x 11" pocket at a copy center would be $1 and the machine came with 90 assorted pockets. Of course it would be fun to have a gigantic table top laminator some day, but this is really sufficient. I am just happy not to use packing tape for little projects (seriously!).

Sleepy-Time Strategies

A few ideas from familyfun magazine's February 2010 issue.

Aspartame vs. High Fructose Corn Syrup

This article at healthychild.org reminded me of one of those slightly annoying questions that goes something like...

If you were stranded on an island for 10 years and you could only take one of these with you, which would it be???

I think of it in those terms because aspartame gives me the worst headache and I know my hips and I are easily addicted to things with high fructose corn syrup. (Thanks, Julia, for the summer of homemade caramel!)

While the entirety of this message comes across a little preachy, I think the bottom line is fair: while processed and convenience foods seem to make things easier and quicker, simple homemade foods keep things- simple. Simply nutritious.

Rainbows Week

I had my fingers crossed for a real rainbow this week- we had a few rainy days and sun mixed in. We didn't find any and had to settle for some rainbow jello and our rainbow art.

Naturally it was Saturday when I remembered you can make your own rainbow on a sunny day (by turning on the sprinklers!). Oh well.