Back into the Swing of Things

Or shall I say the "jump" of things?! It's J week here at SCP, and so we're jumping into the new year! Jumping with scarves:
Reading Jump, Frog, Jump:
Which is most fun to do while holding hands with a nearby Mom:There was also lots of action at the playdoh table today:
And some serious police officer business:
Of chasing after this elephant:
Who turned out to be an injured elephant in need of some serious foam reconstructive surgery.
And then some more police officer busniess, though maybe not quite as serious:
Or maybe it was, this officer does look a little tousled up after all.
And we got to congratulate a new big sister, her baby sister was born on New Year's Day!
So, I'd say we're off to a great jumping start to 2010!

Winter Wonderland at SCP

The kids have been having a great time with wintery projects here at coop this month. Lots of ice castles are being built:

"snow" being played with:
holiday books being read, and trees being decorated:
and so much more!

Winter Celebration!

I know I'm not the only one who was camera happy at our winter celebration this year, so if you too took some great shots you'd like to share, you should do so over at our facebook page! Here is a slide show of mine:

What a wonderful winter celebration!

Costume Fun

We had such a wild good time in the Imagineers class today! A number of the kids decided to pop into costumes and it resulted in quite a show. Here is the picture evidence:
Ivy as "Princess Esmerelda" (she had no idea she was meant to be "Snow White")
Teacher Patty burying a bunch of wild creatures:
The wild creatures burying Teacher Patty:
Ah, she awakes!
Claire Raccoon and her ice castle creation:
Snacking wild creatures:
What wild fun indeed!

An Afternoon Spent with Friends

One of the perks of becoming an Inventor is you get two new friends in your classroom. Clopsy and Mopsy. Clopsy and Mopsy are horses, a horse backback and horse puppet to be presise. Whoever is the VIP for the day gets to bring Clopsy and Mopsy home to spend the night, and return the next preschool day. The kids love spending time with Clopsy and Mopsy. Or at least my kid does. Everything that day was more fun because she could share it with them. Clopsy and Mopsy apparently like Legos and playing store, but they do not like salad, not with dressing. And my normally camera-shy little girl was constantly requesting “Mom, take a picture of me and Clopsy and Mopsy playing cards,” “Mom, take a picture of me and Clopsy and Mopsy eating snack,” and “Mom, take a picture of me and Clopsy and Mopsy reading a book!” Before their return to school, the child gets to dictate what Clopsy and Mopsy did for mom or dad to write down in Clopsy’s journal, which Teacher Patty reads the next day during circle time. The kids love this special time, and it’s a great introduction to bringing things home from school and remembering to bring them back.
~Emily Kelton, Inventor Mom

Fire Fightin' Fun!

The Imagineers dudded their fire fighter gear over at the Shoreline Fire Department Fire Safety Center and learned all about fire safety. The kids were quite attentive to the fire safety video the educator showed. They learned that the fire alarm is like a nose that sniffs smoke, to roll out of bed if it goes off at night, get low and crawl to one of two exits, how to test the door for heat, yell for help at the window if necessary, not hide from the firefighter, once outside get to a safe meeting place, and also how to dial 911. Of course, they also learned how fun it is to sit up in the truck and slide down the fire staion pole!(She's not an Imagineer yet, but H, like many of our other little siblings had a great time today too!)

Halloweeny Fun for Imagineers

We've had a fun time at SCP the last few weeks doing lots of Halloweeny activites:
hammering nails in pumpkins, driving monster trucks around the "pumpkin patch", "cooking" Halloween cookies, painting, stamping, drawing on, stickering and more on paper pumpkin, making marble painted spider webs, reading all sorts of Halloweeny books, singing and saying Halloween songs and rhymes, and dressing up! Here are a few photos: