Puzzles

Yesterday I went to the School House.  We received some gift certificates for Christmas and I had great fun looking for new things for our room.  I bought three new floor puzzles.  We always have puzzles in the Discovery Center but we put floor puzzles in the nursery during the winter months.

We start off the year with four to six piece puzzles, puzzles with knobs/handles. Super easy puzzles with a low level of frustration.  These puzzles are with some more difficult tray type puzzles.  We still have the tray type puzzles but we now have the 24 piece jigsaw puzzles plus the floor puzzles.  Puzzles provide a lot of learning for your child. 

Puzzles help with eye/hand coordination and small motor skills.  Puzzles are great for logic and problem solving.  The children often try to just randomly put the jigsaw pieces together.  We teach them to use the picture on the box for 'clues' and  to see if the pieces make a picture. Some of the children already know how to look for the straight edged pieces to form the outline of the puzzle.  Logic. Problem solving.  Important educational skills.  For more information http://toys.about.com/od/learningtoys/f/whypuzzles.htm

This group of children love puzzles.  If your child loves puzzles, Melissa and Doug have really nice puzzles.   http://www.melissaanddoug.com/melissa-doug-childrens-puzzles Most of these puzzles are available at the School House on Glen Avenue.

If you have a spot in your home, set up a puzzle area this winter.  Puzzles are great for all ages, a good family activity and are fairly inexpensive. I am going to set one up myself! 

Now What?

Christmas is over and your kids are still home for another week...what are you going to do?

Well, Luthy Botanical Gardens in Glen Oak Park has a Kwanza display this week. The garden is open from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. The display is FREE but you can make a donation if you choose. For more information click-http://www.peoriaparks.org/calendarmodule/view/id/1779/date_id/3808/src/@random49ee23c6cbc2a/

During the day on New Year's Eve, Julie K will be performing over at Five Points. There will be a countdown to 12 noon. Concert is from 10:30-12 noon. Tickets are $8 or $10 at the door. For more information- http://fivepointswashington.org/PerformingArts/Site/events2010.htm

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Buon Natale! Kala Christouyenna! God Jul! Happy Christmas! Vesele Bozicne. Srecno Novo Leto! Mele Kalikimaka! Gledelig Jul! Joyeux Noel! Gledelig Jul! Frohliche Weihnachten!

Where ever you are and however you say it, Merry Christmas!

Light Show

Looking for fun free holiday entertainment? There is a home in East Peoria with an unbelievable light show. Enter 159 Cracklewood Lane into your GPS or Mapquest. When you drive up (you can't miss the house), you will see a sign to tune your radio for the musical accompaniment. The music in combination with the lights makes for one amazing light show. Look for the famous lamp from 'A Christmas Story' in the window. Put the kids in their pajamas, bring some hot chocolate and popcorn and sit back and enjoy!

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

If you are looking for some inexpensive holiday fun, there are many family activities available in the Peoria area this weekend.

The 63rd Annual Journal Star Family Christmas Sing is tomorrow (Wednesday, December 15th) at 7 p.m. Bring your family to the Peoria Civic Center. It's FREE! Free admission, free hot chocolate and free parking.

Forest Park Nature Centerhttp://www.peoriaparks.org/forest-park-nature-center has a Holiday Shop and Stroll on Friday, December 17th from 6-8:30 p.m. There will be music, storytelling, carolling, wassail and yummy treats to eat. Admission is $2.00

On Saturday, December 18th you can skate with Santa at the Owens Center on Lake Avenue. Santa will be skating from 5 p.m. -7 p.m. I didn't even know Santa could skate! Admission-$3/12 and under----$4/adults. Skate rental will cost you $2. Do you think Santa will do a triple salchow or a double axel?

Chain, Chain, Chain

Our Christmas program was this evening and it puts me in such a cheery Christmas mood. The children show up in their Christmas clothes and are just so cute and unpredictable. We will finish up the week with lots of Christmas fun in our room and then it's Christmas vacation! Two fun filled weeks with your kids!

We have had a lot of fun cutting and connecting paper chains in our room. This would be a fun activity for all age groups. We use wallpaper sample books for this art project. We draw lines with a Sharpie and a ruler. It is an excellent activity for your child to practice using a scissors.
Reusing is recycling so use colorful pages from magazines or catalogs. Better yet use this idea-one of our 'Grandmas' who picks up and drops off her granddaughter is using scraps of Christmas wrapping paper. Great idea and I'm going to use it for next school year! Thanks for sharing the idea!
Hang the paper chains in your child's room, in the basement or even on the tree! It really makes our room look festive!

Mr. Moose and Friends

Boy, today's weather would have Rudolph working overtime!

This week our MWF classes learned about deer, moose and elk. This is the second year for this unit so some activities were added. Your child should be able to tell you antlers are made of bone and only the boys have antlers. We learned the terms buck, doe and fawn for deer and bull, cow and calf for moose and elk. We also know we have lots of deer here in Illinois and many of us see them in our backyard. On Friday, we had a dictation activity. I'll get this typed up before the holiday break to send home. Be sure to add it to the rest of your child's stories.

The reindeer craft was fun. The children were really good listeners and are following directions extremely well. The photo is actual student work. After the holidays, pack your child's holiday projects in your Christmas boxes to put out next year. It really makes me smile to see my young adult boy's childhood projects at the holidays.

On Friday, we read "If You Give a Moose a Muffin" and made chocolate muffins. Yes, they were yummy! It is another super easy recipe using cake mix! Of course, we had a chart to see who liked and did not like the muffins. It was YES for all but one student. Remember that cooking with your child reinforces lots of important skills-reading, following directions and math skills to name a few.

CAKE MIX MUFFINS

1 box cake mix (chocolate, butter pecan, lemon and spice are all delicious)

1 cup oatmeal

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs

2 tablespoons melted butter (I used vegetable oil at school and it worked fine)

Mix cake mix and oatmeal. Add milk, eggs and butter. The batter is really thick. Spoon into a cupcake pan lined with paper cupcake liners. Fill about 1/2 way. Bake at 400* for about 13 minutes. Makes about 18 muffins.