JUNE 2018
Amazing
Ants
Build Imagination through
STORIES & BOOKS
Welcome to the Playhouse Can you believe Summer Camp is already here? With the first day of Summer Camp, the Summer Camp Dance, and the Playworks Beach Party, June is the perfect time to dive into everything the sunny season has to offer! Run your fingers through the grass and find some of nature’s favorite creatures this month! The creative curriculum for pre-K students in June is insects, ants, and flowers, while the infant and toddler classrooms will be busy enjoying stories and books.
JUNE
Important Dates JUNE 11: First Day of Summer Camp JUNE 17: Father's Day JUNE 22: Summer Camp Dance 3:30-5:30pm • Playworks LINK Event Center
JUNE 23: Beach Party 2-5pm • Playworks Atrium
Another school year has come and gone, but as June’s Dakota value—wisdom—shows, there is never a time to stop learning. Avoid the “summer slump” by dedicating time to reading, math, and learning over the next three months—you’ll be happy to see your child’s smooth transition into another school year. There are so many places to play and so many things to learn. Get out and make the most of it this summer!
Playworks Staff Spotlight: Jenine Speikers How long have you worked at Playworks? 19 years
describe yourself in one word: Caring
What is your position at Playworks? Educare Teacher's Aide (Preschool)
Favorite board game: The Game of Life
favorite part of working at playworks: The children—I love them all!
Favorite food: Green peppers/steak
Favorite children’s book: The Giraffe Who Cock-a-Doodle-Doo'd by Keith Faulkner
Favorite color: Green Favorite animal: Giraffe
Educare Early Learning Classrooms
Suggested Reading The Ant and the Elephant by Bill Peet
One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes
Sunflower House by Eve Bunting
The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle
Weird Insects
by Michael Worek
Insects, Ants, and Flowers + Enjoying Stories and Books In the eyes of small children, bugs are fascinating! This month, we are turning that curiosity into a learning opportunity. Our preschool and pre-K students will discover everything about insects, ants, and flowers—from planting seeds and watching flowers grow to exploring how insects live in their natural habitats. Investigating a topic that is familiar to kids allows them to gather information, practice problem-solving, and use their imagination. Students in the infant and toddler classrooms will once again dive into the exploration of stories and books. Sharing stories, talking, and singing with your child every day helps them develop communication and speech skills, in addition to creating a stronger bond. Try to make it a daily habit to read and tell stories with your child. This time of year, children and parents alike are going to want to spend much of their time outside! Take a walk through the garden and point out crawling and flying insects, or go on a family outing to the zoo to get an up-close look at bugs and butterflies. Observing insects, as well as flowers, in the outdoors will help your child become excited about the world around them.
Ant's VIEW OF THE WORLD
Habitat
Ants are social insects, meaning they live and work together in ant colonies. Ant communities are led by a queen ant, who lays thousands of eggs to help grow the colony. Worker ants, which are the ants we usually see outside, help find food for the nest and help protect the colony.
Brilli
Different types of ants prefer different environments. Some like to live underground, some build mounds at ground-level, and some prefer to live inside trees or plants. Sometimes an ant colony has lots of tunnels and rooms! Each room has a purpose, from storing food to housing the baby ants.
facts about ants
To a tiny ant, a single blade of grass looks like a tall, green skyscraper. Specks of dirt are rolling hills, and cement sidewalks look like a vast, gray ocean of the unknown. Ants might be small, but their role in the environment and with other insects is mighty.
Flowers Ants love flowers!
These busy insects can often be seen crawling around on flowers because they use the sweet nectar as food.
Ants don’t have ears— they hear by feeling vibrations through their feet.
There are more than 10,000 species of ants all over the world.
Lifestyle
Ants talk to one another by letting off chemicals, alerting others to danger or to a food source. They typically feast on seeds, fungus, other insects, or nectar. Each colony of ants even has its own smell, so an intruder can quickly be detected. Ants are as old as dinosaurs. They have been around for millions of years. The average life expectancy of an ant is around 45-60 days—that’s just under two months. Ants also never sleep—they stay awake all day, each playing their own role in the colony. An ant can lift 20 times its own body weight—if a second grader was as strong as an ant, they would be able to pick up a car!
Reading Aloud:
laying a foundation for success Reading Aloud:
Looking back on our own childhood memories, many of us remember being read to or snuggling in for a bedtime story. As Playworks’ infants and toddlers gear up to take on a month of stories and books, here are a few reminders on the importance of reading aloud with your kiddo.
Promotes language development and early literacy skills Builds motivation, curiosity, and memory Sparks your child's imagination Fosters a positive association with books and reading later in life Provides a way to explore and understand emotions
PreciouStatus: what is it?
PreciouStatus is an electronic daily sheet that uses a free app on Apple or Android devices where parents are able to access their child’s profile and daily progress. Parents and guardians have their own secure login to access their child’s real-time updates, such as activities, naps, meals, diaper changes, photos, and more. Accounts are customizable to meet your needs. Teachers will send pictures of your child involved in activities each day along with notes about your child. All login and child information is safe and secure.
Sign up for PreciouStatus by filling out and signing the appropriate form! (available at the Playworks front desk)
Craft:
egg carton
Materials:
Ants
Calling all insect lovers!
With a few simple steps and supplies, you can recycle an egg carton into giant ants for some fANTastic fun.
□□ Cardboard egg carton
□□ Sharp pencil
□□ Scissors
□□ 4 pipe cleaners
□□ Assorted tempera paint
□□ Glue
□□ Paintbrush
□□ Googly eyes
Directions:
1 Cut a strip of three cups from the egg carton. 2 Paint the cups whatever color you’d like, and let dry. 3 Using a sharp pencil, poke two holes in the top 4 Next, poke a hole on the sides of the first cup. From inside the cup, poke both ends of a pipe cleaner through the holes to make antennae (one end through each hole).
5 Glue the googly eyes onto the ant’s head.
of each cup (six holes per ant). Push a pipe cleaner through the holes in the first cup—these are the legs. Repeat with the second and third cup.
6 Repeat steps 1-5 for remaining ants.
BUILDING CONNECTIONS:
I Love You
Ritual 1
2
Hidden away where nobody sees.
Here’s the beehive, where are the bees?
Hold the child’s closed fist and look all around the hand with an inquisitive expression.
I Love You Rituals are an important Conscious Discipline tool that help promote messages of hope for children. Start this “Here’s the Beehive” game with your child, making a fist with their thumb tucked inside, so no “bees” are showing.
Say this line with a sighing voice as you shrug your shoulders, looking at the child’s closed hand.
3
Watch and you will see them come out of the hive... Showing anticipation and delight, prepare your other hand to “remove the bees.”
4
One, two, three, four, five! Pick out one “bee” at a time as you count the child’s fingers being opened. As each finger is extended, make a “Bzzzz” sound.
Family-Friendly SMSC
EVENTS
june 11 - august 31
playworks xtreme summer camp
Playworks (2200 Trail of Dreams, Prior Lake)
Is your child ready for Xtreme adventure and Xtreme fun this summer? With loads of field trips, plenty of outdoor activities, and entertaining educational programs, Playworks’ Xtreme Summer Camp will provide your child with an unforgettable summer. Whether you want part-time or full-time care, this summer camp offers flexible packages to fit every schedule—from one day a week to 12 full weeks! Visit playworksfun.com for more information.
Shakopee Dakota Convenience Store #2
CUSTOMER APPRECIATION DAY raffle All-day discounts & specials
drawings
& Prizes
KS95’S
june 15
shakopee dakota convenience store #2 customer appreciation day
CRISCO ON-SITE
noon-2pm
Noon-2pm SDCS #2 (14160 Wilds Path NW, Prior Lake)
Fill up on fun during Customer Appreciation Day at Shakopee Dakota Convenience Store #2 on Friday, June 15! Score all-day discounts and specials, enter raffle drawings, and enjoy tasty samples. Plus, from noon-2pm, stop by and visit Crisco from KS95!
SDCS #2 | 952.233.2992 | sdcstores.com 14160 Wilds path NW • Prior Lake SHAKOPEE MDEWAKANTON SIOUX COMMUN ITY • 2018
june 23
atrium beach party
2-5pm Playworks Atrium (2200 Trail of Dreams, Prior Lake)
Ring in summer during the Atrium Beach Party on Saturday, June 23! Family-friendly games and activities will take place in the Playworks Atrium, along with plenty of summer food favorites. Normal rates apply for drop-off and Family Play.
5
AUGUST 17, 18 & 19
SKIP & BUY ONLINE THE LINE
smscwacipi.org
I'll catch them and keep them alive! Pretend to catch the bees by gently tucking the child’s fingers inside your hands. When the “bees” are caught, stop the buzzing noise. Check on the “bees” several times to make sure they are still alive. Each time you check, show the child that the bees are alive by making a “Bzzzz” sound.
nline Offer
O SIVE EXCLU s
June 1-24
Purchase any shirt online and receive one FREE Wacipi admission!
or
Buy one Wacipi admission and receive a second admission FREE! Wacipi buttons are valid for admission on August 17-19, 2018.
Wacipi
952.445.8900 | smscwacipi.org
3212 dakotah parkway • shakopee
Celery Pretzel
butterflies
Looking for a healthy snack that is both pretty and easy to make? Try this recipe and make beautiful butterflies that won’t fly away!
Ingredients:
Directions:
1 Cut celery into 2-inch pieces. Slice a thin strip off the rounded/bottom part of the celery to make a flat surface. □□ 2 tablespoons cream cheese □□ 2-3 celery stalks
□□ Handful of raisins
2 Fill the celery with cream cheese.
□□ Handful of pretzels
3 Cut the raisins in half and place them on the cream cheese. 4 Place two pretzel twists onto the cream cheese to make butterfly wings.
• Playtime • Family Play • Groups & Parties
PLAY HERE. PLAY TODAY!
Playworks is the best place to PLAY. We offer a variety of hourly child care services, family play, and more. Our child care is both flexible and fun for children 6 weeks to 12 years of age.
952.445.PLAY (7529) | playworksfun.com 2200 Trail of Dreams, Prior Lake, MN | Owned and Operated by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community