Happy New Year!

We were hoping to welcome spring by now, but winter seems quite happy to linger a little longer! This extended stretch of cold weather has brought some challenges to outdoor play, but it hasn’t dampened our spirits. Instead, we’ve embraced the season by finding fun and creative ways to enjoy winter, staying active, and making the most of our time together both indoors and outdoors.

With hills of snow to climb and slide down, four feet of snow has truly transformed our outdoor environment. The play structures don’t seem quite as tall anymore, and the paths are trickier to navigate, but these challenges help children build balance, coordination, and stability as they move and explore.

Indoors, things have been just as exciting! We welcomed new friends and have enjoyed getting to know one another. Spending more time inside, we noticed how much natural light pours in through our large windows. Hmmmm… What could we do with all this light? We decided to explore shadows!

Using transparent blocks, the children built castles, houses, and even a kitchen. One child noticed the shadows looked like a rainbow, inspiring imaginative play around making “rainbow drinks.” With colorful food toys from our dramatic play centre, we created smoothies and shared lots of creative fun.

The gym has also been buzzing with energy as we focus on building social skills through active play. Children have been learning to take turns being “it,” cheering one another on, communicating with friends, and playing catch together. We’ve been enjoying group games like Red Light, Green Light and What Time Is It, Mr./Ms. Wolf?, games that get everyone moving, laughing, and working as a team.

Educators set up action-packed stations that invite children to balance, run, jump, and hop, turning the gym into an adventure space full of movement and excitement. All this active play strengthens growing bodies, builds confidence and self-esteem, and encourages teamwork and friendships.

Our soup supplement program also started. We began making soup together as part of our daily learning experience. The children helped prepare ingredients by cutting vegetables with child-safe tools and mixing everything together to create a warm soup to fill our bellies. Making soup together encourages conversation, teamwork, and exploration of the four senses. It also supports food security and helps children feel proud of contributing to a shared meal.Through all of these experiences, our days have been filled with moments of pure joy as children continue to grow, explore, and build meaningful friendships. 

February is I Love to Read Month, and we are excited to invite family & community members to join us as guest readers! If you haven’t signed up yet, please speak with one of our educators, we would love to have you participate. We will celebrating Black history month, Friendship day, Festival du voyageur and Lunar New Years. We are excited to share all the fun things we learn this month with you all!