Little Chefs

Kids love to cook! We have measured, stirred, cranked and spread while learning how to make some our favorite foods. The children learned about measuring and following a recipe while making chocolate chip cookies with Miss Dawn on Monday. I understand the kids were not very good about sharing the cookie they got to take home! Miss Talacey came back on Tuesday and we played with chop sticks and made fried rice and pot stickers. Wednesday we learned how to make noodles with a hand-crank pasta machine. The children had their choice of butter or spaghetti sauce (because we know some children will only eat "clean" noodles) and ate ALL the pasta they made! Some of our friends made their own "bakery" and were cooking up all sorts of playdough treats for us to enjoy. And didn't you just love the chef hats that the children made with Miss Christi? They were too cute! We ended our culinary week with a Mexican Fiesta. The children made bean and cheese "burritos" (really they were more like quesadillas) and both classes at snack together in Room 100. When I asked the children where chefs work, they told me bakeries, restaurants and at home! Some of their favorite restaurants are Applebees, Red Robin and, of course, McDonalds.

Fried Rice that kids will eat:

3 cups cooked rice

2 TB oil

1 cup frozen peas and carrots

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

3 eggs (beaten with a fork)

1/2 cup diced ham or turkey (we use deli lunch meat)

If you are using deli meat, have child use a plastic knife to cut it into small pieces (or they can use clean hands to tear it). Then have child help you break the eggs into a bowl and beat with a fork. Have the child measure out the cup of frozen peas and carrots.

The adult's job is to heat the oil in a frying pan or electric skillet. Add the rice and stir until the rice is coated with oil and hot. Add the peas and carrots and soy sauce. Cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes. Push the rice mixture to the edges and pour the eggs into the center and quickly scramble the eggs. Mix in with the rice, add the meat, heat through and serve. Depending on your child and kitchen set up, the child can do all the pouring and stirring in this recipe as well.

Makes enough for a family of 4.

I Spy With My Little Eye....kids having lots of FUN!

It was so much fun to see so many preschool friends at Summer Blast! It truly was one of our best years - the music was wonderful and the lessons about the great kings of the bible and the armor of God were really great.

We came back after Summer Blast to Week Four of Summer Session: I Spy. Miss Pat and Miss Chris started the week off with a discovery hunt using photos of everyday school items like chair legs and the bark in the playground and playing a fabulous three-dimensional I Spy game that challenged the children to look very carefully! More fun science experiments followed, like name the mystery food and the infamous egg drop. We all learned that concrete is very hard! It was finally warm for Water Day and we all took advantage of the nice weather to really enjoy getting wet! Miss Pat and the children had a free-for-all water war. Miss Pat had the hose but the children had an arsenal of water bombs. Good thing Miss Pat dries off quickly! We ended the week with lots of red, white and blue art as we got ready to celebrate America's birthday on the 4th of July.

Miss Talacey was gone this week on vacation and we were glad to have Miss Sandrea with us. We also welcomed a new friend this week, Elijah Baum. His mom is Brandy so be sure to say hi.

In the Jungle

Our cool weather continues to hold and makes our days so pleasant but it also means we really have to use our imagination to pretend we are in the hot and steamy jungle! Today was a jam-packed day making monkey masks, giraffe spots, our very own stuffed snakes as well as starting our Father's Day presents (shh - they're a surprise!) Miss Sandrea brought in some artificial trees and comfy cushions to make an "jungle book corner" outside.



Some of you were pleasantly surprised to see an old friend from the 07-08 school year back at school, Sofia is back for the rest of summer session! Say hi to her mommy, Carla, when you get a chance!



Just a reminder that Summer Blast is next week. There's still time to get your registration in if you forgot! There will NOT be any preschool next week!

Tips on making your own stuffed snake: start from the skinny end (the tail) and push small bits of stuffing down the tie (a dowel or chopstick is a great tool to use). Do not stuff the tie too full. Some like to leave the head (pointed end) flat or just lightly stuffed. If necessary, repair seams and stitch the end of the tail to keep stuffing in. When the tie is stuffed, fold over the head and stitch or glue down. Glue on googly eyes and a felt tongue. Decorate with a ribbon tied around its neck. Great way to use up old ties!

Camping in the Great Outdoors

Kids, tents and flashlights....they make a great combination! Add in some chocolate and marshmallows and you've got a guaranteed recipe for success! We finished up our Camping week with the children playing with flashlights while Miss Chris read stories around the "campfire" in the gym and eating ooey-gooey-chocolately-messy s'mores outside!

Here's the easy directions for making lots of s'mores at once in the oven:

Have children break graham cracker rectangles into squares and break chocolate bars into little squares or rectangles. Heat the oven to 300. Use a shiny silver metal pan or line your pan with aluminum foil. Have children line up graham cracker squares and place a marshmallow in the center of each. The adult puts the pan in the oven to bake 5-10 minutes (watch them carefully - pull them out when they swell and get golden). Next adult job: Pull out the pan and quickly top each marshmallow with chocolate squares and another graham cracker square - press down lightly so marshmallow squishes out a little. The warm marshmallow will melt the chocolate and seal the graham cracker lid on. These cool quickly - eat and have fun!

Variations: use mini marshmallows and chocolate chips instead!

Welcome to Summer Session!

Hard to believe we are almost finished with our second week of Summer Session! This week we have been Camping in the Great Outdoors at our own First Cov Camp. The kids have really gotten into camping! Miss Christi set up a tent in the playyard and we have our cook-out gear and lanterns all set for some great pretend grub. Miss Talacey helped the children make their own canteens and lanterns this week and Miss Pat made campfires and fish prints with the campers. Miss Chris did a great language activity with the children, asking them who was in their tent! On Thursday we will finish off our camp week with s'mores, of course!

Today is our first official water day and it is still a bit too chilly to get out the big pool. The children are out there in their swimsuits splashing in the water table and having fun with the hose. I love listening to their squeals as they get wet outside!

We have two new friends who are joining us for summer session only: Styer and Wyatt. Styer is the son of Pastor Jesse and his wife Holly and the grandson of our Senior Pastor, Pastor Ted. Wyatt's mommy and daddy, Cami and Nick, are in Sacramento for an extended job assignment and will be returning to their home in Indiana in the fall. Please say hi to these new families when you see them!

Next week we will be going on a jungle safari. Miss Pat will be in Oregon celebrating her son's commissioning into the Navy so Miss Sandrea will be here instead. :)