Thursday, February 21, 2013

Bee My Play Pal


Play Pals is a new program offered this year at the National Trail Parks and Recreation District. It’s a program for children ages 3-5 along with a parent or caregiver. This month the program happened to fall right on Valentines Day. How fun is that! We had eight children attend along with their parents and caregivers.
 Play Pals is a great time for parents or caregivers and their children to interact on fun activities such as games, arts and crafts and more. This is a nice transitional program for children who may not be ready to be left alone at a preschool program but still enjoy, along with their caregiver, participating in fun activities and socializing with the other children. It gives the child practice on listening and following directions for later preschool readiness.

The theme this month was Bee My Valentine. What could be a better valentine than a bee? Bees are essential to ecological health and we depend on bee pollinators for much of what we eat and drink. I just had to throw that in for all of you fellow bee fans.
 The program began with a valentine warm up game. The children took turns tossing a heart bean bag onto a poster board with various activities they could do, such as jumping jacks, dancing, stretching and more. If their bean bag landed on the heart, they would say their name and everyone would cheer. The children really enjoyed that.

This month’s craft was, of course, making a bumble bee out of cardstock and felt. The directions are at the end of this post. The craft went well with the adult and child working together. The snack was sort of like a craft too. We took apple slices and cut out the middle with a heart cookie cutter. The children added peanut butter with a little bit of granola and chocolate chips. The kids really liked them and I thought they were pretty good too.

At the end of the program each month, the parents are invited to visit an adjourning room to enjoy a cup of coffee or snack while socializing with the other adults.  At this time, we read stories to the children and this month also sang valentine songs. Not all the parents wish to leave their child and that is okay too. It’s just a good opportunity to see how their child will react to being separated while having a bit of time to themselves.

When the time arrives that the children are ready for a drop off program, we also offer the Trail Tots program for ages 3-5. This monthly program highlights nature themes with age appropriate activities and games. Children must be potty trained to attend.

It has been rewarding these last two months to get to acquainted with the adorable children and their pals. We have had mothers, grandmothers, nanny and this month a father also attended with his little girl. I look forward to the next Play Pals program on Thursday, March 14 from 10:00 am to 11:00 am at the NTPRD Administration Building.
 

- Penny Dunbar, CYSA, Recreation Specialist

Valentine Bee Craft


Follow the directions to make a Valentine Bee! You can use this bee to decorate or add to your valentine cards. This is a very easy craft and fun to make. Bee My Valentine!

Materials:

Yellow Cardstock
Black Cardstock or stiff black felt
Movable black eyes or wiggly eyes
Pattern or template for oval and circle
Glue or glue dots

Step 1:  Trace an oval (approximately 2.25” x 3”) onto the yellow cardstock and cut out for the bee body.

Step 2: Make a template for the head and wings.Cut out the head and wings from black cardstock or we used stiff felt.

Step 3: Cut out two antennas and 3 curved pieces from the yellow cardstock. Cut 2 hearts out of the black felt or we used small foam red hearts.

Step 4:  Glue the black head onto the body and wings underneath body. Glue the antennas under the head and hearts on top of antennas. Attach the eyes to head and curved black felt pieces to body. Let the glue dry and enjoy.

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