Welcome Spring and Happy Easter

     We have been busy welcoming spring and Easter here at SMART START! After a long winter of many snowy, cold days, the children are eager to learn about all things spring and get outdoors! To welcome spring we read some books such as, The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle and planted green beans. The children enjoyed filling their pots with soil, planting seeds and watering their plants. Our young learners are patiently waiting for their green beans to grow. It brings us joy to see how proud they are of their hard work!

A song we sang while planting was:

First (Child's name) made the hole,
then he/she puts the seed inside,
he/she covers it up with dirt,
(child's name) planted green beans!

Watering our green bean plants

Cody, Kaylee and Mickey caring for their plants

     Smart Start was filled with all things Easter! Bunnies, baskets, and eggs, OH MY! The children simply loved to gather the plastic eggs and take them apart and put them back together again. A fun game we played was writing the 26 upper case letters on plastic eggs and trying to match them to work on letter and color recognition. They were so sweet dressing up in Easter bonnets, carrying around the Easter baskets and purses, and taking care of the furry little Easter bunnies. During circle time we introduced the song "Here comes Peter Cottontail" and the children loved to sing and dance along! We read several Easter books with the children which filled them with the Easter spirit. It's always nice to incorporate the holidays into your child's reading routine to help them learn more about the celebrations and make connections.

Kaylee fashioning Easter wear

Emma filling a special basket for the stuffed bunny she named "Pluppy"

Cody, Emma, Benny and Mickey matching colors and letters

   The children were very excited to color and decorate their own Easter eggs! They all did a wonderful job following directions and decorated many beautiful Easter eggs. Even the youngest one in the bunch at 7 months old had a fun time participating and kept up with her big kid friends. We are passionate about and love watching the younger ones observe and learn from the older children. After coloring their eggs the children chose a basket and filled it with Easter grass and placed their eggs inside to bring home. We had an Easter egg hunt in our outdoor area. Each egg was filled with treats. SMART START friends also decorated their own foam Easter egg using tissue paper, stickers, bonkers, crayons, glue and glitter. Each Easter egg was unique and we hope they looked beautiful hanging up in your home this year and for many years to come.

Egg decorating fun

Theo and Nora admiring their work

Zoe and her egg

Easter egg hunt

Easter egg craft

The Very Spring and root of honesty and virtue

lie in good education.

-Plutarch

💙 Mary and Francesca 💙