Weather in Ottawa

It’s March and still the bone chilling cold that Ottawa’s winters are famous for is not relenting! There is no going outside today to play because -42C with the windchill is too far past the limit! I’m not sure what is worse, a few days inside or spending 20 minutes dressing two children for a 10 minute play outside. I’m still waiting for the temperature to warm up a bit for good snowman making. My girls and I love to make a family of snowpeople with hats, scarves, buttons, coal, yes and of course, a corn pipe for Frostie.

Wood Walks

Walk in the woods and observe the changes in nature as winter melts into spring, spring grows into summer, summer falls into autumn… Try the Jack Pine Trail on Moody Drive. I’ve heard that in the winter the chickadees will land on your hand for seed.

Homemade Safety Village

Create your own Safety Village in the basement by making traffic signs, and lights using craft paper. Mark streets and crosswalks using chalk or tape, then have your child cycle through your village.

Snow or Sand Animals

Does your snowman get lonely? Does he or she ONLY appear in winter? Add some unique snow creatures to your yard by making snow bunnies, ladybugs or porcupines. Or how about creating the man and his friends with sand? Lay or sit down in fresh snow or pile up damp sand, and create a bunny. Then add pennies for eyes and toothpicks for whiskers. Create a Ladybug in the same way but use coloured Smarties, jelly beans or pasta shells for its spots, and twigs for its legs and antennae. Use pine cones, twigs, berries and pine needles to decorate your porcupine. When there is no snow or you just can’t get into the sand idea, use ice cream. Play-dough or mashed potatoes and make mini snow animals indoors.

Snow Art

Fill a spray bottle with water and add food colour. Spray a rainbow of colours and patterns over the snow.

For the Birds

Feed the birds in your neighbourhood with feed you and your children prepared.

Supplies:
Sliced bread
Cookie cutters
Egg white
Basting or paint brush
Birdseed
Cookie Sheet
Ribbon or Yarn
Needle

Method:
Stir egg white until no longer stringy. Use cookie cutters to cut different shapes out of sliced bread. Coat bread shapes with egg white and dip both sides of the bread into the birdseed. Bake for 2 minutes at 325F(160C) until crisp. Let cool. Thread shapes hand hang them from a tree.

30th Annual Conference for Parents, Teachers & Caregivers

for more information.

Yummy Tummy~Fruit Salsa

Baked Cinnamon Strips

For the Family:

The "Joy" of Childhood:

Is the "joy" of childhood slipping away? The Toronto PCPC Special Needs Department has the awesome privilege of visiting your centres and seeing the wonderful programming ideas and the children interacting with the materials, their peers and you. One thing we have noticed, although very subtly, is that the "joy" of teaching, the "joy" of childhood is slipping away - maybe only in a minuscule way, but is it the beginning?
There is an underlying current out in our world to "speed up" learning, to accelerate our children into adulthood. Enjoyment of creating enriching, inviting play spaces for children to explore and enjoy for enjoyment's sake is being replaced by end-product "crafts," hard and fast deadlines/schedules,worksheets/homework for preschoolers and the unending request to "fix" the children who can't sit still, can't conform to our rules/regulations - both these are skills to be learnt, to be taught . . . (When was the last time you sat "still" for 20 minutes being directed by someone else?)
Are our expectations too high? Have we bought into this acceleration mode? Are we providing the children what they need - a place to play and enjoy?

A Peek at One of Your Sister Co-operatives:

The Kemptville Nursery School by Georgie Sloan

The Kemptville Nursery School runs under the umbrella of the Kemptville Area Family Resource Centre (KAFRC). We offer two-day programs for children ages 2 ½ to 4 years old. It is a non-profit, co-operative licensed preschool in which parent participation is important. We have theme-related field trips once a month, such as the apple orchard in September, the Pumpkin Patch in October, the Bakery in November. Field trips during the winter months include visits to museums such as the Nature or Children’s Museums. This year we have had a visit from The Reptile Rain Forest in January. In March we visited a sugar bush, in April we will visit Valleyview Little Animal Farm and in May we usually visit the Fire Station or have the police visit us. The workshops are another interesting part of our program. Each workshop is built around a concept. Manipulative activities help children develop small-motor skills, language and number skills, identify colour sequence and size relationships. Each child works independently but one-on-one with a teacher or Duty parent. We offer a balance between structured and free-play activities, active and quiet play. All in all, I find that involvement in the nursery school is very rewarding.

The Valley Preschooler is published by the Ottawa Valley Co-operative Preschool Assoc. 250 Holland Ave.,

Room 212, Ottawa K1Y 0Y6

(613) 722-1136