It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

There is a lot to do in the Peoria area this weekend if you know where to look!

On Saturday, December 4th from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. several local and regional artists will be hosting the "One-of-Kind Holiday Artisan Market." There will be jewelry, glass, ceramics and wearable art plus much more. An ornament auction will benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The market will be held at the Cornerstone Building. Don't know where the Cornerstone Building is? Sure you do-it's that beautiful building across from the old "Spalding/Academy" high school on Northeast Madison. Facebook fans check out the market at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/One-of-a-Kind-Holiday-Artisan-Market/167671959924511

If you would prefer breakfast with Santa at the zoo on Saturday, go to http://www.peoriazoo.org/index-1.html for time and cost.

The Gospelfest Singers will be performing at Five Points on Tuesday, December 7th at 7 p.m. Shawn and Anne Degenhart are MCP parents. If you would like to attend this family friendly event go to

http://www.peoria.com/events/event_details.php?event_id=1402&event_date_id=4446

Find some time for fun with your family this holiday season!

The 38th Annual Breakfast with Santa

The GFWC Illinois Metamora-Germantown Hills Junior Women's Club has invited Santa to breakfast! The breakfast (doughnuts, bagels and beverages) will be held at the Germantown Hills Middle School on Saturday, December 4th. The breakfast will be from 9-11 a.m.. The doors will open at 8:45 a.m. Tickets are $4 per person in advance and $5 per person at the door. Tickets are available at Jubilee Foods and Metamora Pharmacy.

There will be make and take crafts, games, a raffle and door prizes. All proceeds from the breakfast go to local projects sponsored by the Women's Club.

This would be a great way to start off your holiday season with your child and support local community service projects!

The Pizza Parlor

Dramatic play is a very important aspect of childhood education. Dramatic play allows children to try on various roles, communicate with their peers, build vocabulary and much more. Dramatic play is a HUGE part of our program. The pizza parlor is a fun center. We have had this center for two years. I was inspired by an exhibit at the Children's Discovery Museum in Normal, Illinois. http://www.childrensdiscoverymuseum.net/

With a few props you can create your own pizza parlor at home. We have two sets of the Melissa and Doug Pizza Party Set. http://www.melissaanddoug.com/pizza-party-play-food?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=googleshopping I love Melissa and Doug toys. These wooden toys are durable and child friendly. You can find these toys on the web or locally at the School House on Glen Avenue.

I used a large cardboard box to create a pizza oven. We provide plates, glasses, small soda bottles, phones (for delivery, of course), Parmesan, a clip board for taking orders and menus. You can see the menu has words and picture clues for the children to read. The pizza parlor will be open for another week and then will close for the season.

Bread, Bread, Bread

This week our MWF classes had lots of experiences with bread. On Wednesday, I started out with the question, "What do people all over the world eat?" "Bread!" We read the book Bread, Bread, Bread by Ann Morris with photographs by Ken Heyman.

After the book, we looked at many different kinds of bread. I had ciabatta, a baguette, corn and flour tortillas, pita bread, Italian bread, tandoori naan, an English muffin, a hamburger bun, croissants, dinner rolls and bagels. We talked about the shape, the weight, the color and feel of the bread. We also looked to see if the bread was flat or not. The basket of bread was available all day in the discovery center for the children to experience.

It is fun to introduce new foods to preschoolers. Okay, at school it is fun. They are often reluctant to try new foods but sometimes in a group are a little more adventurous. We tasted corn and flour tortillas, pita bread and bagels. We graphed what each child liked best and discussed the chart. We look at the chart and guess which has the most, we count and we use words like greater than, less than, least, most, zero and equal.

We looked at the tortillas and talked about how they were flat but the Italian bread was big (poofy was the term I think the kids used). What makes bread 'poof'? I showed them yeast in a bowl. I asked them, 'What does it look like?' They looked at it and smelled it. I explained yeast is what makes the bread rise. I added some sugar and told the children I was going to add some warm water. I asked them what they thought would happen. It will explode. It will make a mess. Lots and lots of fun answers. We added the water, waited and watched. Ask your child to tell you what happened.

Easy enough to do at home-you need a package of yeast, a teaspoon of sugar and 1/4 cup warm water. I did it in a small bowl and the reaction was great. Extend this activity with your child by trying to add cold water. What happens? Eliminate the sugar. What happens?


On Friday, we made bread sticks. Each child was given a bread stick and made the first letter of their name. The bread stick letters were a huge hit. We used the canned Pillsbury refrigerated bread sticks. This would be a great way to reinforce letter and number recognition.

The children also dictated a story about bread. This helps the children with the sequence of events and review of any vocabulary learned during the lesson. Underlining the word 'bread' and picture clues will help your child read the story. Put it with your other stories and have your child 'read' it to you.

Want to share more bread experiences with your child? Go into the bakery section of your grocery store (better yet go to a real bakery) and the bread aisle. Look at all the different kinds of breads with your child. Talk about the shape, color, size and texture of the breads. Pick a bread to taste. The kids really liked the pita bread and most said they had never eaten pita bread. Make homemade bread??? Nah! Frozen bread dough is much easier. Get some frozen bread dough and watch it rise. This is making me hungry for fresh bread. I think I am going to buy some bread dough myself!!! I love the smell of baking bread in my house.

Every time you share an experience with your child, they are learning. Have some fun with bread in your house this weekend.

Deal Me In!

Preschoolers love to play games. Cards games with playing cards or games like Uno can be frustrating for little hands. I made these card holders for my boys when they were little and we also had some at Grandma and Grandpa's house for family gatherings. With the holidays coming up, you might want to make some cardholders when your family gathers for game night.

They are super to easy to make. You can use lids from small coffee cans, instant hot chocolate, formula, oatmeal, Pringles, and frosting lids. Any small plastic lid will work. Poke a hole in the center of two lids. Push the brass fastener through and your done!

Milk & Ice Cream-liquids and solids

Holy Ben & Jerry's, did we have fun with liquids and solids this week. For the directions on tin can ice cream click http://metamoracommunityprek.blogspot.com/2009/11/science.html

A few pointers---this year I lined the cans with food storage bags and trimmed the bag after we put on the lid. We do not remove the lid and salt and ice the cans again-we just froze what we had. Ask your child what they thought of their ice cream experience.

A Plump and Perky Turkey

The bulletin boards in our room are for the children's work but not in the traditional sense. We send all their art work home so we use the bulletin boards as giant group art projects. The October bulletin board was a dark Halloween night with a haunted house. The children added ghosts, pumpkins, moons ( I am pretty sure we had more than one) and stars.

In November, we start out with a very plump but featherless turkey. In the art center, we have a basket for the children to cut feathers.

You will notice we reuse wallpaper. Construction paper is expensive (paper in general is expensive). We have lots of discontinued wallpaper books that we use for a variety of activities in our room. Cutting turkey feathers is one of those activities.

For the TTH classes, we trace the feather shape for the children. We just want them to use scissors.


For the MWF classes, the children have to trace, cut and write their name on their feathers.




TA DA! A plump and perky turkey!

















The MWF classes also make tally marks each time they cut a feather. At the end of the month, we will count up how many each class cut out for our turkey.