Exercising with Friends

Healthy food, good friends, and lots of exercise.

We can all stay healthy this coming season by playing hard, eating right and having fun with our friends. Follow me on this blog and see where a fun day with PattyKakesKids takes you.

Citrus is all around us during the cold season. Stock up and let the kids enjoy a delicious cutie. They love to peel the little buggers themselves and eat away



Find a good park where the kids can explore, just like here.

 

A train is always a treasure to find.



A good roll down a hill, sans the wet grass, is a great way to get started in warming up.

Swinging on the bars help stretch those muscles, just like little monkeys.

Running with friends to our next exercise stop is a good social opportunity,

not to mention, it gets the heart pumping.

Climbing together is so much fun for balance and strength.

Let's throw those leaves as high as we can, stretch, stretch and throw.....



Just feel those leaves falling down.





Stop and pose for Patty. Oh, she never puts that camera away.



Just another great day getting in exercise and having fun with our friends.

November's Field Trip

Downtown San Jose Christmas in the Park

 

What do you get when you take Light Rail with 11 preschoolers, lots of beautiful Christmas trees, the cold weather and smiles from ear to ear?  

A memorable field trip with PattyKakesKidz!

First, we gather all 11 preschoolers onto light rail.  People were ooohing and aaahing at our children.  I feel like we were on stage, as everyone couldn't get enough of the cuteness of our little friends.  This field trip included PattyKakesKidz and our friends from Tanya's Preschool.  We have all become good friends and enjoy many group fieldtrips with them.     

Look how intense the kids were on the train:

Rules were, stay together, sit quickly so you don't fall and have fun.

Mom, look, I'm on a train!

Up on the knees so we can look for the tunnel.

Sitting and waiting for the train to arrive at Christmas In the Park

Once we arrived, we organized a "Buddy System".  We shout out, "FIND A BUDDY".  Immediately, all preschoolers look for a buddy, hold their hand and make their way through the crowds. 

 One at a time, we stop at each favorite Holiday Display, shouting every time they see something totally awesome.

This group of preschoolers loves to pose for the camera, as you will notice here:

Trains, wow, this is always a favorite.

Oooooh, we are just so excited to be here!

Really, I'm not cold LOL!

After the trees, off to the fountains to have snack.

Pass the snacks please.

Look at me, me, me!

Finally, we round up the group and head back on the train.  We arrive to our vehicle and head home.

If your families make a trip to Christmas in the Park, you will find our group tree there.  It is number 254.  Here is a picture of our tree and also a picture of the ornaments we made to put on the tree.  I plan to go this weekend and put them on. 

I hope to see many families there. Happy Holidays from our home to yours.

  

#254 ChildCare Network

Busy November Schedule

So much has been happening in November, with holidays, birthdays, and preschool, we have been busier than ever.  Follow this blog entry to see a typical busy preschoolers schedule at PattyKakesKidz. 

Socialization:
As I wander the playground, I find little pockets of chitter chatter and talking about games, families, plans, ideas and more.  It's the beginnings of the social-development among others.






Flannel-board stories:
Telling stories to the children in flannel board style brings the stories alive, but when a child asks to be the story teller, it brings a whole new meaning to story telling.

Learning the letter G:

So many opportunies to learn letters were done.  From collaging the letter G, making G is for Goats, worksheets, and more.  We reinforced our letters in so many ways through out the month to help the children see how to use our letters daily.

We learned the letter H:
H is for House.  This letter was an opportunity to learn about homes as well.  See next line to see our unit on homes.

All about homes:
Learning about our homes was so much fun.  We played games, made puppets to tell the story of City Mouse, Country Mouse, we created art to express our learnings of homes for different animals.  We told stories and so much more.


The letter I:
I was for so many things.  From Igloos to Iguanas.  We did art work, worksheets and spent time writing and finding the Capital and Smaller letter I's.  We found the letter I in 4 of our names; Riley, Julian, Piper, and Nicole.  The children realized that I's are everywhere. 

We used our large muscles:
From riding bikes, climbing structures and trees, swinging on swings, teeter-tottering, and more; the kids continue to use all their large muscles to help them grow strong.

We rested:
We eat good food, play hard and strong, learn many things, but part of growing includes resting too.  Each child has their very own cot, sheet and pillow to get a good afternoon rest as part of their growing cycle.











We baked cookies:
Part of our learning includes cooking and baking.  Some items this month have been; home made clay, playdough, cupcakes, pancakes and cookies. 

All about fall colors:
After taking a walk in our neighborhood, we talked about fall colors.  The kids then painted their own version of fall colors into leaves.


 


Preschool work:
I often hear that people are against "worksheets" but I have found that if incorporated lightly into a daily preschool routine, the kids love writing and feeling like they are big kids doing homework.  It's a good experience to get them ready for kindergarten as well.

Park Visits:
We discover new parks all the time.  This park was only 10 minutes away from our preschool and the kids loved the frogs, the riverbed and the climbing structures like never before.

Cornucopias to Turkeys:
From cornucopia art work to creating turkeys with pinecones from our southern Californian home.  The kids had a blast learning about our Thanksgiving in many forms.

 

And as a promise, my father made road signs as a surprise for the kids so they can learn about following the rules while riding bikes, trikes and cars on our roads.  They haven't seen these yet, so watch for future blog on the big surprise.

Our Spotlight of the Week

Piper's Busy Day

Piper had a super fun and busy weekend last week--so we thought we would share. She got to spend all day Saturday playing with her Grammy who came to visit.

Then we went out to a yummy dinner and she ate a bowl of spaghetti that was as big as her. 

On Sunday she participated in her first charity event--a walk in San Francisco to raise money and awareness to end Polio. She did so well on the walk even though she got soaking wet--so she got a cupcake for a special treat. And then she got to go on her first cable car ride. 



Sounds like a very eventful weekend for Piper.