We Are Back!!!

It was a little hard getting out of bed when the alarm went off so early this morning, but get out I did.  After some last minute cleaning up I was ready for business.  Sprout was the first to come through the door... what a big smile and the best hug a Provider could ever want!!  Scamp was the only one not so sure about this whole childcare thing again... but after Dad left (sorry Dad, I know how hard it is to leave a crying baby) and a few seconds she was just fine, even smiling and laughing at the kids before they went to school.  

Coming back to childcare after an extended break can be hard for everyone.  Getting back into routines, getting to know each other again, and missing Moms, Dads, and siblings can be hard, especially for the the littlest ones.  So I spent a lot of time close to the kids, on the floor, this morning.   I set up lots of fun, open ended things to do, and then let the kids go.  It didn't take much time for everyone to find their groove and remember what we do here.  It was fun to see the kids rediscovering each other, as well as finding some favorite toys.

Little Man kept trying to put the baby into the stroller and Scamp kept pulling the baby out and dropping it at Little Man's feet.  Little Man kept coming to me and trying to get me to make her keep it in the stroller... NOT HAPPENING :)

A little Easel Painting is always a great activity, you can be by yourself, but also with the rest of the kids in the room

Play Dough was a huge success this morning.  The little ones are beginning to really want to play with it and not just eat it.  They squeezed, rolled, pounded and cut!!  How much fun!!

I introduced the color RED today, we looked for RED things, and read a great story about colors.  The kids were excited to go to Circle Time and did great sitting waiting for a turn to come up to the circle time center.  We read the story Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin.  Oh My... What an awesome book.  ALL the kids loved it and we spent the rest of the morning singing it.  I recommend it to everyone!!!  I can't believe I hadn't heard about it before.  One of my best friends told me about it and then even bought it for me!!  I am the luckiest girl!!  What a great 1st day back!!!