Alphabet Daycare Red Deer
Bay 150 6005 67a Street T4P 2Z9 Red Deer, AB, Canada

Alligator Room February 1, 2021 This morning we were presented with white ping pong balls and plastic containers. We noticed that there are different plastic containers placed in a row. Our motive was to aim the balls into the containers. We spent a little bit time playing this, then we took the play in our own way. We made a castle out of the containers and then try to aim the balls for the castle. In which, we used our throwing and aiming skills to make our motive successf...ul. We enjoyed turning this play into our own game of ideas. Some of us turned it into a obstacle course for the balls. Then we build a castle out of this. Our playing and playful skills were nourish by participating in this play.

Sloth Room (February 1, 2021) We had a sensory activity last Friday. When we play in the yard outside, we always try to lick the snow on the ground. Our educators always have to stop us for hygiene reason. To respond to our curiosity, our educators prepared some ice cubes in the freezer in our kitchen. They gave us each a ice cube in a mini cup. We touched the ice to receive the sensory input and had conversation about the feeling of cold. We licked and kissed the ice. We also talked about how ice felt on our hands. It felt cold, wet, and slippery. Some of us even dropped it on the floor. We also observed how the ice changed into water when being held too long in hands. This activity provided the opportunity for language development as we learned different descriptive words.

Alligator Room Daily Report January 12, 2021 Good afternoon, this morning we had a little experiment with balls and papers. Our educator made a medium circle out of a white paper the stick it onto a black paper. Then our educator tape it onto the door. Then she taped some stars onto the door. While we looked up at the setup, our wondering and questioning were processing our thoughts. The space topic have captured the imagination of us. This gross motor activity will help us ...to learn about the universe. We called the white circle, the moon. Our motive was to hit the moon and along with this our educator encouraged us to strike the moon from a further distance or up very close. Some of us were able to aim the moon and some us did hit the stars. While we were aiming and hitting, we were saying, I hit the moon, I hit the star. Through this we were able to work on our hand-eye coordination as well as gross motor skills. Then we had a little talk about shooting stars. Through this process, we were able to figure out how much force we need to exert to hit our aim. See more

Sloth Room (12 January 2021) We had a sensory activity, Straws and Rigatoni on Box, yesterday. Our educator observed that when we did our shoes, we had difficulty threading the straps through the holes. So, she poked holes on a box and let us practice targeting. We tried to put the straws in the holes to make it stand. Then, we threaded the straws with Rigatoni. We were very eager to work on our fingers and we kept asking our educator for more straws and Rigatoni. It was a good chance to train our fine motor skills as well as our concentration and patience. What's more, we exercised our creativity as a mighty learner by putting the Rigatoni on our fingers. We held our hands up to show our educator, saying cheerfully, 'Fingers! Fingers!'

Koala Room We were asked, "Which items can you fit through the tube?". Our educators provided us with different materials, such as scarves, toys, blocks, and popsicle sticks. We tried each one and discovered that most of them could fit through the tube. Through this activity, we used different muscles in our hands and fingers to get the objects through the tube. This also helped us think about ways on how we can engage with the materials presented to us. Another skill developed is the action and reaction/ cause and effect. What happens to the items when it goes through the tube?

Koala Room We investigated foam sheets with different textures. Some were bumpy, smooth, rough and swirly. The foam sheets were so interesting that we managed to lift them off the floor and investigate them closer. We playfully explored and investigated the properties of the foam sheets. Through this activity, we worked on our sense of touch and sight. We also developed our gross and fine motor skills as we moved around the room with the foam sheets.

January 29, 2021 This morning in the Owl room we pretended to be on a huge basket ball court. We took turns dunking the ball into the basket ball net. We used our large muscles to stretch and jump to reach the net. Our friends became the crowd that cheered each of us on. We felt like real life basketball players. In this experience the children took turns and shared the ball with each other. Through play the children learn sharing and and being a part of a team.

Alligator Room January 29, 2021 This morning, we started our day with spreading some love to our friends and making Valentine hot air balloon craft. We were provided with red tissue papers, popsicle sticks, glue and pink paper. To make this process more interesting, our educators added the pictures of us, some buttons and shiny diamond stickers. In this activity, we are being challenged to show our capabilities in using different materials also participation is being observed too. We tried to observe what others are doing, negotiating how to use the buttons. We also learned new strategies as they go on. Our active participation helped us to improve our sharing and participation skills.

Alligator Room January 11, 2021 This morning we had a combination of art and sensory activity. Our educator planned an activity of snow and food colouring. We noticed that we have some coloured bins in our room and a basked filled with snow. Our educator provided us with snow in the bins and food colouring in a white bowl. Then she added some paint brushes. We were in deep thoughts of finding out. Once the set up was finished, our educator asked us to join the table. It was ...snow painting. Snow painting is a unique way to both introduce children to the joy of creation, and nurture their artistic talent. Some of us got the matching bins with the colours. While we were colouring the snow, we noticed that it is matching with the bin. It was full of enjoyment to creat a colourful work of art in the snow. Through this we were able to improve our creativity as well as fine motor skills, which plays key role in our daily routine. In addition to this, our hand-eye coordination skills were nourished. Exploring the snow and colouring it was full of joy and happiness. See more

Sloth Room (11 January 2021) We had a sensory activity last Friday using colander and spaghetti. Our educator turned the colander upside down and showed us how to make the spaghetti go through each small holes of it. We had to do it slowly and targeted at the holes accurately so as to not break the spaghetti. The activity did not only train our fine motor skills by using the small muscles in our fingers, but also our concentration and patience. It helped enhance both our physical and emotional development.

Alligator Room November 18, 2020 Painting is a wonderful way to express ourselves. The more opportunities and materials your provide for the children, the more ways they can find to express themselves. Last Monday, we had construction play with Styrofoam pieces. Some of us wanted to paint on the pieces that day. Today, our educator provided us with Styrofoam pieces, paint and papers. This styrofoam art exploration is a great way to find different patterns. One of was stampin...g using the piece on the paper and creating beautiful patterns. We came up with a creative way to prepare our beautiful masterpiece. One of us started painting the pieces. When we started the project, we were really excited to show our creative skills. The mighty learners showed their participation disposition through this play. As we were holding the pieces, using our strong grip helped us to improve our fine motor skills. Our participation disposition encourages us to share our ideas with others.

Sloth Room (24 November 2020) Recently, we have fallen in love with the song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars. Our educator observed that we would sing the song while playing toys, changing bums and waiting for lunch. Many of us like to do the hand gesture of opening and closing fingers to make the twinkle stars. Following our interest, our educator prepared some star shaped black papers for our art time. We dipped paint with cotton swaps and did the painting by exercising our fine motor. The activity was calming and therapeutic too when we were listening to the song at the same time of colouring the stars. We added some glitter glue in the end to make it twinkle more before putting them up on the wall in our cozy corner. we pointed at them and said, 'stars'. We visualized our favourite songs.

November 17 2020 Dancing in the Owl Room! What a wonderful day to get our gross motor skills warmed up and worked out. An Owl requested to listen to action songs. We started out dancing alone, then to imitating our educator. She showed us how dancing can involve balance, rhythm and innovation. Some of us moved on to dancing with partners or in circle holding hands. Our educator was so impressed how we could read each other’s body language and move together!

Sloth Room (November 18, 2020) Whenever we play in the yard, we are always mesmerized with the snow. We always try to touch the snow and throw it in the air. One day, Ms, Angie prepared a snow painting activity for us. When she was getting some snow in the yard, we couldn’t wait so we were following her all the time. After she prepared the materials, we were all excited to put on a paint suit. Ms. Angie put some colors into the snow by adding some squeeze bottles and paint b...rushes. Some of us used the paint brush first, then we dipped it in the paint and painted the snow. It was such a nice color. Then, some of us tried to squeeze the bottles creating different colors. It was fun as there were more varieties of play. We also tried to touch the snow with our hands. It was cold, but we continued to use the paint brush to put some more colors. We were able to recognize colors too. We felt relaxed and calm while doing the activity. We all had fun! The snow was full of colors after the activity. This activity did not only help children with their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Painting could be a great podium for children to progress and discover their creativity. They also could learn about mixtures of colours. In the curriculum connections, when a child is getting used to touching mediums, understanding what’s happening and seeing things unfold, it sparks their curiosity and they become eager to start exploring. Once a child understands what is happening in the actions of painting, they become more interested, and concentration levels start to last longer.

Koala Room We did an unwrapping activity where our favorite objects found in the koala room were wrapped in foil. At first, we were unsure what to do with it. As we try to investigate each one, we discovered that some make sounds, some have irregular shapes. Our activity allowed us to do a sensory experience. We touched and felt the objects wrapped in foil; we used our eyes to see how the shines brightly. Doing this activity enables us to explore our curiosity of what we can find inside. After all, children loves surprises!

Thank you Angie's Bodacious Cookies for some amazing cookies! Made our staff meeting so much more enjoyable!

Monday November 23, 2020 Yeah we finally got outside. We all had fun playing in the snow. The boys were playing mine craft. They we building traps in the snow and trying to chop creepers with the wooden pieces of wood. The girls and one of the boys were playing follow the leader and then they were playing family. They really enjoyed finally being able to get out.

Tuesday November, 16, 2020 Gecko Room Our educator thought it would be interesting to see how plants grew when we take care of them. It has to do with us learning all about the world around us and how we can take care of it. We planted three different types of succulents. Each child will have a turn to water the plants. We also added dinosaurs to our terrarium. Let’s have fun taking care of our plants. We are also making a special project for the holidays. The children had fun starting the project. It includes using different colours and fine motor skills.

Sloth Room (23 November 2020) Last week, our educator presented to us a provocation consisting of rigatoni, a small paint brush, a paper and a small cup of paint. She observed to find out how we would manipulate the materials. One of us started painting on the paper right away. One of us was painting the rigatoni in the container very gently and attentively. One of us exercised her small muscles of the fingers by picking up the rigatoni and painting it in her hands. One ...of us dipped the rigatoni in the paint, then started stamping on the paper to make print. Another one of us also dipped the rigatoni in the paint, but rolled it on the paper to make patterns. More interestingly, one of us put the rigatoni in his fingers to do the painting. Our mighty learners were displaying their creativity and playfulness. They were joyfully exploring and investigating the properties of materials by inventing their own ways of doing art. This engagement with the symbols and practice of art was fulfilling and inspiring.

November 23, 2020 The Owl Express! We love our trains in the Owl Room. Lucky for us we have several trains to play with, but sometimes we want more. So today one of our Owl friends started to move the chairs around, and ended up making a line. Our educator said Hey, you made a train! We got so excited that more of us joined in for imagination adventures. We travelled the world, and sometimes brought dinosaurs with us. Since Owls are so good at sharing we all got a turn being the conductor. Being creative and communicating our stories, plus using both gross and fine motor skills is fantastic way for us to play and explore.