Fall is upon us once again!  We are loving the cooler days and watching leaves as they drift down from the trees in the back yard.

Over the past several weeks the story, Owl Babies, has provided us with opportunities to share the feelings and emotions of being at school, apart from our families.  The reassuring theme that mom/family always come back has helped us settle into trusting that will happen each day.  From there the children have had great fun exploring owls in a multitude of ways. Some of the experiences in small group have included: making owls out of a variety of materials – cardboard tubes, pinecones, fabric; transforming from children into owls through the use of face paint, beautifully crafted owl headbands and fabric wings; studying owl skeletal structure, feathers, and owl pellets; setting up places for owls to play; and going “owling” on the playground by finding pictures of owls that were camouflaged by their surroundings.  The owl fun helped bring us together in our small groups. This was a new experience for many of the children.  We have successfully “nested” in group and are ready to take flight toward our next exploratory journey….

Inspired by the children’s conversations about recent travels, we will be talking about TRIPS!  Where can we go?  How will we get there?  What will we need?  What will we do while we are there?  Our travels will involve a lot of imagination, exploration and creativity.  We aren’t quite sure where we will “go”, but it is sure to be an exciting adventure!

Studio Discovery Friday’s have been a sensorially satisfying exploration of Scooping and Pouring.  We have used scoops, spoons, seashells, cardboard tubes and our hands to scoop and pour sand, water, flour, water beads and beans.  This has been such a satisfying experience each week that the children don’t want to stop when it is time to let another group of friends have a turn.  They could stay there for an hour!  Our next Studio Discovery series will focus on Pushing & Pulling.

HALLOWEEN:  We will celebrate Halloween on Wednesday October 27th and Thursday October 28th in Friends ‘n Fun style.  We want to celebrate one of the kids’ favorite holidays, and we do it in a way that everyone has fun and feels safe. Costumes can be scary and confusing to some children, so we ask that you keep your child’s costume at home and not bring them to school.  We will play games, read some Halloween stories, have a special snack and have our annual pumpkin rolling race!  We are still not allowed to have any home made goodies – all snacks must be store packaged or whole fruits/vegetables. If you would like to contribute, we will have a sign-up available at drop-off/pick-up for: snacks, halloween plates, cups or napkins – and we always love Halloween stickers. It would also be great if you could send a small pumpkin to school on our celebration day for the race. A pie pumpkin is the perfect size!

PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES:  Thanks to everyone for making the time to meet with your child’s small group teacher.  We always enjoy this time to connect, especially since our daily connecting time is limited due to COVID protocols. If at any time you would like to talk again, please let us know.  We are always happy to set up a time for that, in-person or via phone.

SNACKS: Many of you have asked how you can contribute to our snack times.  If you want to plan on a specific day, send us an email with the day you want to bring snack and we will put your name on our snack calendar.  Or, if being spontaneous is more your style, bring some snack at morning drop-off time.  We will either use the snack that day, or save it for another day your child is at school.  Thank you!

Please watch Channel 9 News for notices of school closings or late 

opening times on days of extreme snow.  If you can, check Channel 9

News online for the most current updates, as the television has a 

delay time from when we called.  We will also post closures on the 

“Latest & Greatest” page on our website and our Facebook page: 

www.friendsnfunchildrenscenter.com

www.facebook.com/FriendsnFunChildrensCenterInc

Phone numbers – If something should come up during off school hours call

Jane or Janet’s cell phone number (on the class list).

HAPPY FALL EVERYONE!!!!! 

           Janet, Jane and Katey