Slip-N-Slide

It's officially summer! That means it's time for the slipperiest fun of all: the Slip-N-Slide! Ryan was by far the most adventurous of the bunch. He just couldn't get enough of the water fun. Shay enjoyed the water...from across the yard! That was close enough for him. He would come cautiously close, then run back. It was so cute! 

 Ryan and Shay decided to form a band together while everyone else was changing back into their clothes. They're called "The Swim Diapers"!

Bounce House Boogie

Baby MacBean has a Bounce House for the day! The large inflatable jumper, with the air blower humming, can be a little...unfamiliar to the little ones. It took about an hour before all the children dared climb inside. But they finally did, with Madison boldly leading the way!

Pizza Party!

Baby MacBean hosted, with Miss Marla's Building Blocks Child Care, a pizza party at Pizza Pirate in Benicia. It was so much fun! All the children were pleasantly surprised to see their friends in a different setting. The parents had a chance to chat and get to know each other better, especially since some parents had never met since their children attend on different days of the week. We even had a few prospective parents come so they could meet all of us and ask questions and chat with other parents. We're so glad that everyone took the time to join us for a fun evening. We're planning several more parties for this summer - so get ready for more fun!

Here are some photos from the party:

Play dough, crayons, sand oh, my!

Caroline, Joey, Madison, Shay and Ryan have been up to their ears in all sorts of art activities these past few weeks. We picked up these great window crayons from Wal-Mart and the children just love them! The windows clean up easily with a quick spray from the hose, which makes it extra nice. The play dough and sand are big hits, of course, even after the repeated "tasting" - it's all non-toxic so no worries there. :)

Color Time

Joey, Madison and Shay really loved Color Time today! We covered the toddler table with scrap paper and let them each use a special color-wheel crayon. These crayons are super easy for tiny hands to hold and since they have several colors on each wheel we don't end up with piles of crayons all over the floor to clean up. Truly a win-win. :)

Here's a video of how we teach the colors. When children are first learning colors it's important to NOT ask them, "What color is this?" They obviously don't know that yet and these types of questions can lead to disinterest or frustration. We gather solid-colored objects to represent each color, then tell them the color for each object and ask if they can find something else with this same color. this helps them learn associations and that colors can be found in many shapes and sizes and items.

Little Drummer Boy(s and girls!)

Baby MacBean took a fieldtrip a few months ago to the Sausalito Children's Museum

and the babies just loved playing these marimba drums! 

So, Claudia special ordered some from Kallisti Percussion just for Baby MacBean!

These new drums looks so bright and shiny! What beautiful instruments.

Ryan kept sticking his tongue out while playing. Must be a drummer thing. :)

 

Moving and Grooving!

 Today seemed to be all about movement - moving our bodies and streching our vocal cords!

We started with an outing in the stroller. All bundled up, they loved seeing the neighborhood and hearing dogs bark and birds chirp.

 When we returned the kids wanted to act like birds themselves.

They started "chirping" and yelping as well. They were like little songbirds in the backyard.

All that yelling made them awfully thirsty. Joey and Madison both signed they wanted water, after they finished their milk.

I gave them each a cup with a little water and was pleased to see they didn't spill a drop!

After lunch, what could be better than running in circles yelling?

How about bouncing and yelling!! :)

 

Not to be outdone, Shay added his two cents to the mix.  

Ryan was still sleeping.

Even though the windows were open in his room, he slept through all the "singing."

We practiced our hopping skills next. Joey is getting quite good!

Even Shay was trying is hardest to hop. :)

 Ryan finally woke up and joined his friends.

He showed them a thing or two about chirping at dinner time. :)