JUNE 2019
Xtreme Summer camp begins June 10 Recipe:
Strawberry and Pudding Flower Pots
Exploring The Importance of Insects
This Month at Playworks… Summer is a time for kids to do what kids love to do—have fun and play! The benefits of outdoor play are endless. When children play outside, it encourages their physical development. Exercise, like playing tag, swinging, and riding bike, helps children gain muscle strength, flexibility, and coordination. Not only does outdoor play develop a child physically, but playing outside can also promote mental development and well-being. Outdoor activities encourage exploration and imagination, and can help children develop confidence and independence. Throughout June, we encourage you to make time for your child to play outside. Go to the park, spend a day at the beach, or play a game in the yard. Playing outside will help your child learn and develop—but more importantly, it’s always a fun way to spend a summer day!
important dates Pre-K Graduation 5pm ● Playworks
June 4:
June 10: First Day of
Suggested Reading Bee and Me
I Love Bugs!
by Elle J. McGuinness
by Philemon Sturges
by Lois Ehlert
by Iza Trapani
Waiting for Wings Bugs A to Z
by Caroline Lawton
Shoo Fly!
Hey, Little Ant
by Phillip and Hannah Hoose
Xtreme Summer Camp
June 28: Summer Camp Dance
3:30-5:30pm ● Playworks
For a full list of Xtreme Summer Camp events, visit playworksfun.com!
BUILDING CONNECTIONS:
I Love You Ritual
Build a strong relationship with your child through this month’s I Love You Ritual, “Little Miss Muffet.” This Conscious Discipline activity will use actions to help build a bond between the two of you. To begin this activity, explain to the child that a tuffet is a little chair. You and the child should both make a tuffet by making a fist with one hand. Place your tuffets together with yours and the child’s knuckles touching. Tell the child that you will be Little Miss Muffet, and the child will be the spider.
say the verse:
do the action:
Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet,
With your other hand, make Little Miss Muffet by holding up two bent fingers from a fist, then bring Little Miss Muffet over and have her sit on your tuffet.
Eating her oatmeal today.
Move your two fingers back and forth in an eating motion.
Along came a spider and sat down beside her,
Have the child make a spider with their other hand by holding their hand palm down with their fingers dangling like the legs of a spider. The child should “walk” the spider over to sit on their tuffet hand.
And said, “Have a good day!”
Use your Little Miss Muffet hand to open the child’s tuffet hand and shake it while saying the verse.
Educare Early Learning Classrooms
Flowers, Insects, and Ants Plants and insects are everywhere—and kids love to learn about them! This month at Playworks, Educare students will study flowers, insects, and ants. When kids play outside, they love to search for the insects and ants around them. Children are fascinated by the colors, shapes, and movements of bugs, and they often put them in jars or get on their hands and knees to get a closer look.
Throughout June, the study of flowers, insects, and ants will encourage children to explore a topic they’re already familiar with through experiences, allowing them to gather information, solve problems, imagine, and think symbolically. Children will study different species of insects and flowers, how they work together, how they keep themselves safe, and how they help the environment.
The beauty of plants and flowers is also bound to catch a child’s attention. Digging in the dirt, planting seeds, watching plants grow and change, picking flowers, and using the hose to water plants are all things children like to do. They find joy in giving flowers to someone special, placing them in their hair, and observing the movement of insects among them.
Next time you’re at the park, ask your child why bugs love flowers or why plants are good for the environment—you’ll likely be surprised by how much they’ve learned about the world around them!
Playworks staff Spotlight: Betzua Alvarez HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED AT PLAYWORKS?
DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN ONE WORD:
1 year
Fun
WHAT IS YOUR POSITION AT PLAYWORKS?
FAVORITE BOARD GAME:
Customer Care Representative
Sorry!
FAVORITE PART OF WORKING AT PLAYWORKS:
FAVORITE FOOD:
All of the friendships I’ve made and interacting with the Playworks families
Tacos
FAVORITE CHILDREN’S BOOK:
Purple
FAVORITE COLOR:
Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
FAVORITE ANIMAL:
Panda
Highlighted Learning Objective:
Traveling Skills
Kids are eager to move from the day that they’re born, but advancing these skills can take time. This June, Playworks will focus on traveling skills and teaching children to move around successfully in a number of different ways.
What this may look like: Rolls over several times to get a toy Pushes objects while walking around
Ways to support these skills: Create a protected space for young children to explore movement safely while on their stomachs and backs
Pushes a riding toy with feet while steering
Provide time every day for outdoor play; make sure there’s space for running, jumping, and skipping
Walks and marches around a room
Provide riding toys for children to push or pedal with their feet
Avoids obstacles and people while moving
Include activities that have a range of ways to participate so every child has the opportunity to be successful
Climbs up and down playground equipment Jumps and spins around
Play travel games, like hopscotch, or calling out a traveling movement (spin, jump, run, etc.)
THE IMP RTANCE OF
insects
Some are creepy and some are crawly but insects play a vital role in most ecosystems. At any moment, there are an estimated one million trillion insects alive around the world—that’s 18 zeros! These bugs play many important roles—they pollinate, they break down dead plants and animal waste, and they are food for millions of animals. They may be scary, annoying, and gross, but, without insects, many plants and animals would be doomed.
So how do insects support the world around us? Learn more below! Insects help decompose plants and waste.
Insects control the pest population.
Many bugs are parasites, and they feed on weeds, animals, and other insects to keep their populations at a reasonable level.
Bugs break down dead animals, plants, and animal waste that would make the world around us very messy.
Insects pollinate fruits, flowers, and vegetables.
Insects feed millions of animals.
Without pollination, we’d lose almost all of the fruits and vegetables that we rely on for nutrients.
Bugs are a great source of protein, vitamins, and minerals, and the sole food source for many amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals around the world.
FUN FACTS ABOUT INSECTS: Cicadas can make sounds that are nearly 120 decibels—or as loud as a chain saw.
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Mosquitoes bite up to 500 percent more during a full moon.
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Recipe:
Strawberry and Pudding
Prepare a fun, flowery summer snack with this Strawberry and Pudding Flower Pots recipe!
Ingredients: Graham crackers Chocolate pudding cups Strawberries (or other fruit of choice) Wooden skewers or toothpicks
Directions: Crush the graham crackers to resemble dirt and set aside. Slice your strawberries, using a knife to cut small triangles out of the wider end of each strawberry to create a shape resembling a tulip. Insert your wooden skewer or toothpick into the other end of each flower to create a stem. Open your pudding snack cups and sprinkle a layer of your graham cracker dirt on top. Add your fruit flowers and
FOCUSED EXPERIENCE:
While Educare students focus on insects, ants, and flowers, Playworks infants, toddlers, and young preschoolers will learn about the world around them. June’s focused experience will encourage children to learn outside, and it will provide ample opportunity for students to explore the great outdoors. See how your child learns through being outside below!
When your child…
They are learning…
Crawls through grass
To explore with all of their senses
Climbs over a tree stump
To use gross motor skills
Picks up pinecones and puts them in a bucket
To group objects
Rolls a ball to another child
Social skills
Family-Friendly EVENTS
JUNe 1
summer kickoff
11am-3pm Mazopiya (2571 Credit Union Drive, Prior Lake) Bring the whole family to Mazopiya during their Summer Kickoff event on June 1, featuring local vendors, food samples, giveaways, kid-friendly activities, and more! June 10–August 30
Playworks Xtreme Summer Camp
Playworks (2200 Trail of Dreams, Prior Lake) Xtreme Summer Camp kicks off on June 10. For information on how to register, or for a full list of summer camp activities, visit playworksfun.com.
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Craft:
COFFEE FILTER
Butterfly
Grab your crafting materials and head to the picnic table to create these beautiful Coffee Filter Butterflies. This easy, inexpensive craft will add fun and color to any summer afternoon.
Materials: Markers Coffee filters Spray bottle
Craft glue Pompoms Clothespins
Directions: 1. Use markers to design and color your coffee filters. Note: Markers may bleed through coffee filters, so lay down newspaper before you begin coloring. 2. Spray colored coffee filters with water to make the colors bleed together. 3. Glue pompoms to the clothespins to create the butterfly bodies. 4. Once glue and filters are dry, scrunch the middle of each filter and clamp it with a clothespin. 5. Enjoy your new kaleidoscope of butterflies!
• Infant–Pre-K • School-Age
EDUCARE Educare is our contract child care program, featuring high-quality, developmentally appropriate programs for children 6 weeks to 12 years of age. Full-time and part-time care is available—call for more information!
ENROLL TODAY! 952.445.PLAY (7529) • playworksfun.com 2200 trail of dreams, PRIOR LAKE, MN
enterprises owned and operated by the shakopee mdewakanton sioux community