Henry's Grandad came to visit, and he brought his guitar!

Hello!  We had such a treat last Friday!  Henry's Grandad, who is a folk musician came to school and brought his guitar to play for us.  We were all very excited and we talked about it for a few days before his actual visit.  At the lunch tables, we talked about how he would bring his guitar and sing for us.  We wondered if he knew the same songs as we do.  Or if he and Jana knew the same songs... we were really excited by the time Friday rolled around!  Here are some pictures of his visit.  Henry was SO proud! 

 

 

Henry and Grandad showed us how they play songs together.  Henry strums and Grandad plays the chords.  He let as many kids play the strings as wanted to!

 

Le Roi took a few turns strumming.

 

Scarlet, too!

 

 

 

With the performance at an end, he had many willing helpers to put the guitar back in it's case.  Henry and Le Roi were allowed to zip it closed.  Bel lent a helping hand, too.

 

 

Then it was time to go.  Henry's mom and Grandad gave Henry big hugs and kisses, and then said goodbye.

 

 

 

At gather time, Henry sat right in Grandad's spot, happily sharing with Luba. 

We had such a great time!  We love it when families come in and share beautiful moments like these.  I know toddlers really respond to music.  What is your families favorite tunes to listen to or sing together?  Some families have brought in CDs that are popular at their house, and they are popular in the classroom, too!  Is your family musical?  You have an open invitation to come and play with us!

P.s.  Leslie, can you tell us the names of the cool songs your dad played?  We'd like to try and sing them some more!  Thanks for coming!

OK! 

Melody

 

 

 

Welcome Back!

Greetings Toddler Families!

It has been a few weeks since our last blog due to technical difficulties. We sincerely apologize, and we are happy to share that the problem is solved! Here are a few pictures to give you an idea about what we have been up to during the month of January.

Pancake Friday has become part of our weekly routine!

The toddlers participate in every step of the pancake making process!

Twirling in aprons is special part of pancake making.

We made a few batches of home made play-dough, and we use it almost everyday.

Let us know if you would like the recipe!

We are discovering new ways to use the light table.

Magna-tile building in the dark is popular.

Also, using the sensory table on top of the light table is fun!

We are exploring scooping, dumping, filling up, and transporting with puff balls.

Organizing the cars happens frequently. The children (especially Gideon and Jack) are also giving them names! We have a garbage truck, banana car and Vancouver car so far!

Dinosaurs! The toddlers have been very interested in learning the names of the dinosaurs.

Jack, Luba, Scarlet, Le Roi and Malia have been visiting the Art Studio with Jill to work with yarn.

Last week it snowed at school for about 15 minutes! We watched the beautiful flakes drip down from the covered porch, then went out on a neighborhood walk.

Gideon and Aiden were hoping to find snowmen and Christmas.

The children have been playing with the people and enjoy finding characters that look like themselves their moms and dads, and our music teacher Jana.

Scarlet, Malia, Avery and Aiden made a collage in the art studio with Michelle.

Look for it in our classroom!

Thanks again for your love and support!

Love,

Jill, Michelle and Melody

Pancakes for snack!

A few weeks ago you might remember, Le Roi's Mom and Noni came to make us pancakes!  Since then, the kids have been stirring up and serving imaginary pancakes to us and their friends.  Many kids were coming in and telling us that they had pancakes for breakfast, and in general there was a lot of pancake chatter!  On Thursday at gather time, they came up again.  Aiden told us that he had pancakes with chocolate chips in them, and that his Daddy makes good pancakes!  We asked the group if we should try making them at school for morning snack.  Everyone agreed heartily that this was an excellent idea!  So, Friday morning we had a quick gather time.  I pulled out my old cook book, and we read the ingredients and how to mix them all together to make our special treat.  Here are pictures of the results! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a really fun thing to do together!  Everyone pitched in to make our delicious snack and it tasted all the better for it!  I love it so much when a simple activity unites the entire group! Thanks to Kristin and her Mom coming to share thier pancakes with us, the conversations and play has blossomed into a wonderful regular 'date' for us as a class! 

What do you think is happening for the children with an activity like this?   What is your favorite thing to put on top of your pancakes? We would love for you to join us!

OK!

Melody

 

 

 

 

 

 

A busy week!

This week was a busy one for the Trillium Toddlers!

 Here is a peek of what we have been up to.

 

 

Gideon, Jack and Le Roi explored liquid watercolors with coffee filters.

 

 

Aiden asked to cut open a pumpkin that has been living in our class...so we did! We found seeds inside, so Melody took a small group up to Maya's kitchen to have them roasted.

When Maya returned with the roasted pumpkin seeds, everyone was eager to taste them. They were gobbled up quick!

 

Sam, Avery and Aiden explored chalk in the Art Studio. Aiden explained to his friends the parts of an airplane as he drew, and soon Avery and Sam and Aiden produced airplane themed chalk drawings!

 

Avery enjoyed the chalky colors on her fingers!

 

 

One morning, I observed kids drumming on every surface in the room. I heard Aiden ask Gideon, "You have a drum? I need a really big one." So, I invited Aiden and Gideon to help me find the school's really big drums.

 

We brought 5 drums back to our class and sat together all morning with our very own drum circle!

It was wonderful to find a material that brought the whole group together, laughing, giggling and naturally turn taking with the drums and mallets.

 

Henry, Avery and Le Roi spent a long time one afternoon quietly playing with mirrors. The children made silly faces and mimicked each other's movements. The downward dog yoga pose was a favorite!

 

Magnatiles have to be the most used materials in our classroom! The children began the year building flat designs, matching shapes and color. Now they are building up! Building bigger! Building boxes!

 

The class has also learned alot about working together, asking "to be next" and how to ask for space while using the magnatiles.

 

Malia and Le Roi spent an afternoon with Michelle on the carpet with a jar full of circles from the hole punch machine. They all giggled as they picked up handfuls of the tiny circles and blew them into the air!

 

 

Malia and Le Roi explored clay and paint with their whole bodies!

 

We wish you all a wonderful weekend and look forward to playing together next week!

 

Love,

Jill and the Toddler Team