Weekly Visits with our Grandfriends

For the past couple of years we have had monthly visits to a seniors home for a music and story time.  Over the summer I saw a video about a preschool in a seniors residence in Seattle.  I forwarded the video to the coordinator at our seniors home and she said it has always been her dream to have a similar multi-age environment here. From that discussion, and interest of some of our families, we decided to hold StrongStart up at the residence once a week for the full morning.
           
We use their activity room which is a nice size for me to set up play areas
to allow the children to play and wheel chairs move around freely.
            
        At the far end of the room are comfy chairs perfect for a tea party. 
             
I brought dishes, a stove top and some play food to encourage interaction
between the children and the grand friends.
 
Each week I set up a simple craft.  This week I put out materials to make an autumn leaf but as the children and grand friends coloured one senior drew bunny ears on her plate then held it up to her face like a mask.  Soon the child beside her made a lion mask.   Regardless of age we can learn and play together.
 
There is a small sensory bin that has rice and figurines in it.  It provides another conversation starter or a soothing activity for someone who may be a bit nervous.

A few other activities set up include play trays, puzzles, blocks, animals, and vehicles.  They are set around the room some on tables and others on the floor to accommodate the range of ages and capabilities.
                        
The children sign in when they arrive.  The first time they visit they print their name, or the first letter depending on their age, on a tongue depressor then choose which can to put it in.

           
After playing for about an hour we move out to the lounge for songs, stories and playing with the parachute.
             
                           
During this time Julia, a music therapist, joins us and teaches us new songs.  One song we sang while using the parachute involved blowing bubbles.  It was a lot of fun.
 
Next we have a special snack, cookies and juice, then if time we go for a walk in their flower garden. 
                 
By visiting once a week we are getting to know our grand friends better.  We are learning how to be compassionate.  We are learning that we all have something to offer regardless of our age.

Autumn Leaf Garland

            
            
Using watercolour paints the children added colour to maple leaf shaped coffee filters.   
 
            
While using the watercolours they learned that they needed to add lots of water to the cake to make it wet otherwise they couldn't paint much colour on the paper leaf.
     
They also learned that when they added too much water it spread and soaked the whole leaf.
             
                                Beautiful autumn leaves.
  
                     I strung the leaves on yarn to make the garland.

We had enough leaves to make garland for both of our windows, our door and the school office window.              Happy first day of Fall.

A Surprise in the Garden

One morning, a week ago, as I was walking into school I passed the garden
                   and noticed some plants growing in our Spud Tubs. 
                      
                 Some were weeds but one looked just like a potato plant. 
                    
As the nights are becoming colder I was starting to worry about frost so
                        today we decided to harvest the plant.
                        
                   We dug in the soil but couldn’t find anything.
               
Then I pulled the plant up and there was one little potato attached to the roots.
      
The children continued to dig and we found one more.  I think a great experiment, for next year, would be to plant a second crop of spuds after we harvest our spuds next June.  Would they grow over the summer?
                    
              We noticed a different plant growing beside our spud tubs. 
                                 I think it is a pumpkin plant.

Knife, Fork, Spoon, Spatula–Cha Cha Cha

I learned several new songs to start this school year off.  This one was recommended by another facilitator through our Facebook page for facilitators.  She found it at Jbrary.  Knife, Fork, Spoon, Spatula is easy and catchy.

I’m so grateful for our Facebook page as it gives us a chance to share ideas, concerns and celebrate what we do.

From Garden to Market

It’s harvest time and families are busy in their gardens.  I set up a garden in our room for the children to play and talk about what they would grow in a garden.
                      

Last week the children stayed busy digging, filling pots and telling me what would grow.
              
I encouraged them to write, or have someone write for them, their ideas.
           
This week I added fruits and vegetables that they had mentioned plus a few more.
 
They explored each piece, burying some and digging them up again.  Strawberries were the most popular.
      
This morning I rearranged a bit to add a farmers market stand so they could practice selling.
  
They learned that each item has a price and they practiced playing with money.
                
They even learned about weighing items.  I’m hoping we will visit a real farmer’s market soon.