All Early Years – Groups

Landmark 2 (Animal Friends Monthly)

Bugs, bugs, everywhere bugs! It seems that everywhere we look we find new bugs! That is where the inspiration for Northern Lights Bug Hotel came from! It took a few walks to find all of the materials we needed to build the perfect home for these bugs. Our hotel consists of-Pine cones, flowers, sticks, leaves, rocks, and woodchips as well as paper towel rolls and planters to hold it all together! We used all second-hand, reusable, and natural items. While creating this hotel we got to explore new plants and talk more about the importance of nature and the bugs around us. It also gave us an excuse to spend more time outside. When building we even found our first tenant a spider that was living in a flower we pulled. Our future entomologists are ready for anything now! We cannot wait to see which insects join our hotel.

Northern Lights Children’s Daycare – July 26, 2021

Landmark 6 (Play in Nature a Full Hour)

Taking turns and negotiating through big emotions and sharing space. Breathing in the freshest of air and thanking the apple tree who we have watched become full and green. “Where are those apples…?” asks Hughey. We will have to wait a little more to taste her delicious snacks… We spot bright red mushrooms and are amazed at how cool the breeze makes us today.

Babbling Brook Daycare – July 22, 2021

Landmark 3 (Exercise Senses Daily)

The children love visiting the boat launch in our little village and most of all they enjoy throwing rocks in the water. Today while throwing the rocks in the water some of the children noticed that some rocks make bigger splashes!

Northern Lights Children’s Daycare – July 20, 2021

Landmark 3 ( Exercise Senses Daily)

Today was another hot one so we decided to stay cool by the water. We visited the boat launch again and while we were there today we had a little challenge to see how far we could throw the rocks. Everyone chose a rock and at the same time, we all throw the rocks together. After everyone throws their rocks we discussed why we thought some rocks went further than others.

Northern Lights Children’s Daycare – July 22, 2021

Landmark 5 (Garden/Care for Animal)

We sure love our animal friends at Sunshine Daycare. This is our tank we are preparing for our snails to arrive next week!

Sunshine Daycare – July 20, 2021

Landmark 3 (Exercise Senses Daily)

Our garden is a place for all of our senses…we taste freshly picked zucchini, smell dill and cilantro, feel the spiky leaves of cucumber plants, hear them buzzing of the bees, and look in wonder at the beautiful changes. We spy all the yellow flowers and follow the creeping vines. Our daily morning and afternoon visits here fill our souls and our senses!

Babbling Brook Daycare – July 19, 2021

Landmark 13 (Travel a Familiar Route)

The children race down the path with anticipation and purpose. “Hello climbing tree!” they yell, as they greet their good friend. They reach towards the sun and the tips of the trees, their legs, and arms working in perfect cooperation. Their bodies stretch and their minds work quickly, as they plan their movement and adapt to unexpected challenges. They breathe in the smell of this sweet cedar bark and giggle together as they gently bounce on a sturdy limb. This place is magic!

Babbling Brook Daycare – July 20, 2021

Landmark 3 (Exercise Senses Daily)

We explored mud. Dumping it from one container to another. Squishing it between our toes. As we walked barefoot through the sandbox. Used sticks to stir the water and sand together to create the mud.

CELC-Peterborough – July 6, 2021

Landmark 8 (Nature Art Weekly)

We provided the children with markers and small pieces of tiles for the children to draw on. After they were done colouring we provided the children with a cloth so they could wipe it off and start again.

CELC-Peterborough – July 9, 2021

Landmark 5 (Garden/Care for Animal)

Our next big animal adventure is hatching baby ducks!! Each room takes a turn misting the eggs to simulate the wet mommy duck sitting on the eggs. The incubator keeps them warm and turns them. In about 24 days hopefully, they will start to hatch. Stay tuned!

Sunshine Daycare – July 15, 2021

Landmark 10 (Grow and Eat Food)

From tiny seeds, to a marvelous lunch! These friends have been working hard watering, weeding, and singing to our garden. Today we harvested our lunch from our yard and it was so rewarding. Kinsley loaded her bag with dill, while Hughey focused on eggs and spinach – the result of everyone’s collections was delicious! The friends arranged, washed and cooked their ingredients in their own culinary adventure. Everyone had a bit of a different idea and approach-showing us how wonderful it is to work together. Growing food to share is allowing us to feel connected to the earth and one another. Collecting and preparing the gifts from our backyard supports us in our understandings of the beautiful world around us, and contributes to a sense of wonder and respect. It’s hard work to grow and harvest food! We feel so grateful to Mother Earth.

Babbling Brook Daycare – July 13, 2021

Landmark 8 (Nature Art Weekly)

This morning we harvested herbs from our garden to hang to dry. We will bring these home to taste our garden all winter long. We also foraged for some St John’s Wort, which is wonderful for tea. We made sure to ask before picking this vibrant yellow flower from her large patch.

Babbling Brook Daycare – July 12, 2021

Landmark 3 (Exercise Senses Daily)

Wonderful tasty wild raspberries tingled our senses. We are checking on this bush every day to see if more have grown up red and juicy. What a great find on the trial pals!

Babbling Brook Daycare – July 5, 2021

Landmark 1 (Explore Together Weekly)

This rainy day was perfect for puddle jumping!

Babbling Brook Daycare – July 7, 2021

Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)

We made so many wonderful observations this morning, as usual. The world is changing around us! Yes, summer is drifting by slowly…even though it’s only July we have noticed the flora changing around us. The bladder campion is no longer pink and white, soft and moist. It’s a bit crunchy and brown…this made us curious and caused us to fully investigate. The season of bladder campion (at least the earliest blooms) is floating away, like the seeds that we found hidden inside the gorgeous domes of summer. We carefully and meticulously picked apart the flowers, seeing all the different parts. We were fascinated by this small but mighty flower and got a closer look at how seeds spread and wild flowers happen.

Babbling Brook Daycare – July 5, 2021

Landmark 2 (Animal Friends Monthly)

Our creature critters bring so much joy to our lives! Every morning we collect fresh greens from the garden for our sweet bunny and guinea pigs. Sometimes we plop Ellie right into his own pot of lettuce-YUM! We listen carefully to his “crunch, crunch, crunch”. Our chickens are always so happy to see us for an afternoon snack-Claudette the hen will eat right of our hand and it’s magical. Mollie accompanies us on all manner of adventures, leading the way sometimes and following close behind at other times. We try to find cool water for Mollie to jump in and her “shake” cools us down too!

Babbling Brook Daycare – July 8, 2021

Landmark 1 (Explore Together Weekly)

Lots of muddy fun to be had after a rainstorm. Our big tractor tire is a perfect place to mix it all up and have some messy fun!

Sunshine Daycare – July 9, 2021

Landmark 1 (Explore Together Weekly)

We explored the bark firstly with a focus on touch, sound and smell. Then used the magnifying glasses to take a closer look, especially at the bumps.

Trent Child Care at St Luke’s – July 2, 2021

Landmark 4(Favourite Place Weekly)

Find a field and they will run!!! So much fun to be had by just letting loose in an open field. It was a great nap that afternoon for sure!

Sunshine Daycare – July 8, 2021

Landmark 5(Garden/Care for Animal)

We take VERY good care of our animal friends. Here you can see Herman the worm enjoying a relaxing day at the Sunshine Spa!!

Sunshine Daycare – July 8, 2021

Landmark 7 (Books, Songs, Games Weekly)

Best rainy day game? Puddle jumping!

Sunshine Daycare – July 5, 2021

Landmark 3 (Exercise Senses Daily)

Playing in the rain is the best sensory activity! Feeling, hearing, seeing, and tasting!!

Sunshine Daycare – July 5, 2021

Landmark 3 (Exercise Senses Daily)

Bubbles can be a tasting sensory experience too!

Sunshine Daycare – July 2, 2021

Landmark 1 (Explore Together Weekly)

Water activities provide so many opportunities to practice our skills. Pouring, filling, cause and effect, math, sensory, self reg, and more!

Sunshine Daycare – July 5, 2021

Landmark 4 (Favourite Place Weekly)

Rock hunting is our favourite activity EVERY time we are outside. We find lots of cool shapes and colours.

Sunshine Daycare – July 5, 2021

Landmark 5 (Garden/Care for Animal)

Introducing the newest addition to our group…” Piggy Hopper” the grasshopper. (The bug catcher was part of some gardening materials purchased through pathway funding). The children have been quite excited about taking on the care of our new friend.

Compass HCC Providers – July 5, 2021

Landmark 6 (Play in Nature a Full Hour)

One of the children returned from a fishing trip, so asked our educators if they could set up a pretend fishing area. Their friends played “fishing” – “catch and release unless you’re gonna eat them” they told their friends – for over an hour.

Trent Child Care @ Campus – June 29, 2021

Landmark 3 (Exercise Senses Daily)

One of our educators has a pet pig, and brought pictures to share with the children. The children then wanted to create individual buckets of mud for their toy pigs to roll around in. They told many stories to each other while they played with their pig in the mud.

Trent Child Care @ Campus – June 21, 2021

Landmark 2 (Animal Friends Monthly)

Continuing with their exploration and discussions about pigs, the children wanted water buckets to wash the pigs off…so that they could get them muddy again. Wash, dirty up, repeat.

Trent Child Care @ Campus – June 21, 2021

Landmark 8 (Nature Art Weekly)

The children wanted to make their garden brighter, so asked if they could go for a walk and hunt for rocks to paint. They enjoyed their walk in the woods, and collected rocks, putting them in the wagon to bring back to the centre. Once back on the playground, the children collected paint and brushes and got to work.

Trent Child Care @ Campus – June 28, 2021

Landmark 2 (Animal Friends Monthly)

Our infant program has been going on walks this season, and have been going to a special spot by the river, monitoring the growth of a family of geese.

Trent Child Care @ Campus – June 28, 2021

Landmark 8 (Nature Art Weekly)

Students were asked to find an area in their backyards to create a bug park. I got this idea from Nature Nancy.

Kroesen the Path – June 10, 2021

Landmark 6 (Play in Nature a Full Hour)

Practicing our balancing skills.

Sunshine Daycare – Juen 23, 2021

Landmark 5 (Garden/Care for Animal)

Taking care of our gardens is a full-time job.

Sunshine Daycare – June 23, 2021

Landmark 5 (Garden/Care for Animal)

William loves strawberries. He decided to stay in our garden to watch it grow. That way he could be the first to have a taste!

Sunshine Daycare – June 22, 2021

Landmark 7 (Books, Songs, Games Weekly)

Wow! We learned a lot about pollinators during our visit with Shelly from Bee City Canada. Did you know bees have four wings, not two? And there are so many different kinds of bees in the world. We learned about how important bees and other pollinators are for helping plants to grow. The plants give us air to breathe and so many of the foods we love to eat. Thank you bees!

Kindergarten Explorers – June 22, 2021

Landmark 2 (Animal Friends Monthly)

Cadbury is the funniest bunny!! She explores everything- our chairs, our beds, even our garbage can!!

Sunshine Daycare – June 17, 2021

Landmark 8 (Nature Art Weekly)

Using nature for our loose parts art activity.

Sunshine Daycare – June 17, 2021

Landmark 6 (Play in Nature a Full Hour)

We put on Muddy Buddy suits and splashed around in the rain for over an hour, making mud pies, dancing, and jumping in mud puddles 🙂

Trent Child Care @ Campus – June 18, 2021

Landmark 4 (Favourite Place Weekly)

The preschools got together and made a plan over several weeks to enhance their playground, and completed a new special place each week. They started in late May and their project is almost complete. This is their fairy garden.

Trent Child Care @ Campus – June 1, 2021

Landmark 4 (Favourite Place Weekly)

We dug in the dirt and used bricks and big rocks to build a road in the grass that we can drive our toy cars on. It was tough work but the children took turns and cheered each other on. They used problem-solving to work together and create the pathway that worked for them best. They are all pretty proud of this project 🙂

Trent Child Care @ Campus – June 8, 2021

Landmark 4 (Favourite Place Weekly)

The children wanted to build a construction site, so organized to have big rocks, small rocks and bricks collected into one area, where they can use their toy dump trucks and back hoes to build anything their little minds can think of:)

Trent Child Care @ Campus – June 14, 2021

Landmark 5 (Garden/Care for Animal)

Taking care of our plants. They need lots of water, sunshine, and love!

Sunshine Daycare – June 18, 2021

Landmark 7 (Books, Songs, Games Weekly)

We shared our morning with Melody Crowe today and continued our learning about water. Melody read us “The Water Walker” by Joanna Robertson, about the true story of a woman who worked hard to make people aware of taking care of Mother Earth’s precious water. The kindergartens drew amazing pictures and told their own detailed stories about what water means to them and why it is important to help keep the water clean. Melody shared her water song with us and we really enjoyed hearing her play her drum.

Kindergarten Explorers – June 17, 2021

Landmark 3 (Exercise Senses Daily)

We have noticed that our flowers are a great calming strategy for our friends. Just stopping to look and smell can make a world of difference!

Sunshine Daycare – June 16,2021

Landmark 1 (Explore Together Weekly)

William, William how does your garden grow? Using some loose parts to check out the strawberries!

Sunshine Daycare – Jun 16, 2021

Landmark 5 (Garden/Care for Animal)

Look what happened! The Senior room now has butterflies! Our next step is to let them go in our new flower garden.

Sunshine Daycare – June 15, 2021