Douglas Park Preschool: April 2018

Friday, April 27, 2018

FIRST HOT WEEK OF THE YEAR!

HAPPY FRIDAY TO ALL OF OUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS. THIS WEEK WAS FULL OF SUNSHINE AND FRESH AIR.

BEFORE WE GET TO OUR POSTS HERE ARE A FEW REMINDERS:

WARM SUMMER SUN IS HERE SO PLEASE REMEMBER SUNSCREEN BEFORE CLASS AND HATS TO PROTECT OUR HEADS!
MONDAY IS A FIELD TRIP FOR UNICORN 4 PM AND ORCA 4 PM CLASSES. WE ARE GOING TO THE BOG IN PACIFIC SPIRIT PARK AT 12:00 PM
MOTHER'S DAY TEA INVITATIONS HAVE BEEN SENT OUT PLEASE RSVP SO WE CAN PLAN FOR OUR TEA PARTY
WE ARE SEEKING CRAZY FORTS. IF ANYONE HAS ANY THEY ARE NOT USING ANYMORE OR HAVE ANY LEADS ON SOMEONE GIVING THEM AWAY PLEASE LET US KNOW!

WE STARTED OUR WEEK OFF WITH A LITTLE SUNSHINE AND YOGA

WE WARMED UP OUR MUSCLE AND PRACTISED OUR BALANCE WHILE LEARNING SOME NEW CALMING TECHNIQUES. THANK YOU PANDA YOGA!

DURING CIRCLE WE DISCUSSED ALL THE DIFFERENT BUGS WE MAY FIND OUTSIDE, AND WHEN WE WENT OUTSIDE WE WENT ON A BUG HUNT. LOOKING FOR ALL THE LITTLE CREATURES , IN ALL THE MOST INTERESTING PLACES.

WE FOUND BEETLE

S, LADY BUGS, BEES, ANTS AND WASPS! WHAT GREAT TEAM WORK!

WE ALSO WENT TO VISIT OUR COMMUNITY GARDEN! WE EXPLORED THE AREA, LEARNED ABOUT THE NEW PLANTS GROWING AND WE EVEN FOUND SOME NEW DINOSOUR FRIENDS 😊

SOME OF US WENT TO VISIT CHOICES. WE LEARN ALL ABOUT HEALTHY FOOD OPTIONS AND WHAT GOES ON BEHIND THE DOORS AT THE LOCAL MARKET!

WE BUILT CAMPFIRES AND TO END THE FANTASTIC WEEK WE MADE OUR VERY OWN YOGURT AND JUICE ALL FROM SCRATCH!!

MIXING THE INGREDIENTS FOR YOGURT!

THIS WAS OUR TASTE TESTS!!!! AND WE LOOOOOVED IT

THIS IS US JUICING!!

STEP ONE:

WE CUT UP ALL THE FRUITS

STEP TWO:
PUT THEM ALL INTO THE JUICER

STEP THREE:

DRINK IT ALLLLLLLLL UPPPPP!!

YUMMMMMMMMMM

WE LOVED IT!

HAPPY FRI-YAY EVERYONE

😊😊😊

Friday, April 20, 2018

April 20th

It is Friday!

😁😁😁

The week started off quite rainy. But it didn't bother us! We worked as a team and built some amazing tunnels. This made our rain lakes into a full river systems!

We brought out our animals to splash around with us!

Our interest in our seeds and flowers has continued to 'blossom' 😉

We worked together to investigate just why some of our seeds were growing fast than the others !

Mid week the sun came out and we soaked it up!

Working on our aim in our bowling game!

Learning about our new vegetable plants outside our classrooms!

We added a mud kitchen to the play space outside. feel free to use it before and after class but please return the items to the correct bins and place back all items! The children know the drill 😁

After learning all about healthy foods, we went out to our mud kitchen and Chef Emi cooked us up a great meal!

We are working on our gross motor with catching and throwing our new balls!!

Took our gross motor a step further and worked on our jumping skills and coordination!

Crawled through our tunnels to escape the hungry caterpillar!

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Hemp Milk Acitivity

Greetings to all of the families at Douglas Park Preschool!!!

Last week we had an exciting opportunity to make hemp milk, which is a dairy-free alternative to regular milk. Hemp seeds are a safe option for people with nut allergies and they have a smooth, nutty flavor.

Hemp milk is a great source of "omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, B vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin E, and protein, as well as quite a few other minerals, such as potassium, iron, magnesium, and zinc." Hemp milk is also calorie dense, which provides a great opportunity to give children energy throughout the day.

(Source: https://www.organicfacts.net/hemp-milk.html)

Here is the step by step process of how we made it:

1. First, we blended the water and the hemp seeds together in a blender.

2. Then we poured the pulpy mixture through a nut milk bag.

The children were actively involved in the process of squeezing the bag to extract the liquid.

3. We then combined the milk with some dates that had been soaked in water, cacao powder, and a pinch of salt.

4. Then, we served the hemp milk to the entire class.

Many of the children commented that they liked the taste of the milk. One comment that was heard often was "I liked the chocolate." Cacao powder contains "Protein, Potassium and Zinc, as well as Dietary Fiber, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Copper and Manganese" (Source: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/sweets/5471/2).

Iron is one of the most important nutrients for children to consume because many children do not respond well to other sources of iron, such as kale and spinach. Making these smoothies allows children to consume these important nutrients in a way that is appealing to their taste buds. The link below provides a list of common nutrient deficiencies among young children.

(Source: https://www.seewhatgrows.org/common-nutrient-deficiencies-childhood/).

5. The pulp that is leftover from the extraction process can be used to make crackers when combined with flax seeds, chia seeds, and some seasonings. The mixture can be placed in an oven at a low temperature or a dehydrator and then cut into bite-sized portions. For people who enjoy fishing, the pulp can also be used to make fish bait.

Don't throw it in the compost - it is still rich in fibre and nutrients!

Teaching children about health fosters habits that can last for an entire lifetime.

“

The greatest wealth is health.

Virgil

Friday, April 13, 2018

APRIL 13 2018

FRI-YAY!

Happy Friday Everyone!

This week was a fun week full of planting, healthy eating and WAFFLE MAKING!

**Reminder to everyone Tuesday April 17th is a PD Day and there will be no classes!

**April 20th is Picture Day for the 4's Classes

Check out our weekly pictures:

nature was calling us out during our rainy week, so we headed out to our snail tree, found some slugs, flowers and decided on an art project which ties the plant life cycle together!

We watched some of our flowers bloom this week so we decided to do an art activity that involved a plant life cycle! Seed --> into dirt--> grows roots-->sprouts--> into a flower!