An Early Spring Scavenger Hunt

We are all aching to spend more time outdoors as the weather starts to warm up and change. Hopefully we can soon ditch the boots and heavy winter jackets for some lighter outdoor wear! While we wait for the days to warm up, it's a great time to take children outdoors to witness the changing season first hand. Birds are out and chirping more often, and many animals are scurrying about, waking up from their winter haze in search of food.

It's a great learning opportunity to go on walks this time of year as nature stars to stir and become more active. We thought a spring scavenger hunt would be a great way to pay attention to the subtler signs of spring that otherwise might be missed. These don't have to be found all in one day, in fact, it would be better to take all of spring to spot everything on the list. Feel free to add or change anything on the list. You can even turn making the list itself into a craft project by getting the children to draw pictures on a poster-board of everything they'd like to spot.

An Early Spring Scavenger Hunt:

• Spot a Butterfly

• Spot 3 Different Kinds of Birds
• Find something naturally RED (flower, ladybug, leaf...)
• Find something naturally PURPLE (flower, butterfly...)
• Find something naturally YELLOW (Flower, plant, butterfly...)
• Spot a Puddle
• Spot Someone Else Enjoying the Weather ( jogging, biking, playing in a park..)
• Spot a Seed (acorn, helicopter, pinecone...)
• Find Some Animal Tracks
• Spot Some Green Grass
• Find a Wiggling Worm
• Spot a Bird's Nest
• Spot Some Buds on a Tree
• Spot a Squirrel or Rabbit
• Hear a Bird Song & Try to Mimic it
• Find Something Smooth & Something Rough
• Spot a Fluffy White Cloud
• Find Some Flowers Budding

We hope you find lots of time to get outside and explore nature using this scavenger hunt as a guide! Happy hunting!

Making New Year’s Resolutions with Children

As 2016 approaches you might be thinking of making some New Year's resolutions! If you have a young child it might be the perfect time to introduce the idea of making resolutions. Young children are only starting to develop habits and take responsibility for themselves. New Year’s is the perfect time to start a new ritual of creating New Year’s Resolutions together as a family. We have some ideas to make things go smoothly!

Set A Good Example

Children will look up to you and follow your example. You cannot ask them to do something you haven’t done yourself. If you make resolutions with them, and let them know you intend to stick to them, you can not only help hold each other accountable, but you lead by example. Making

resolutions can be a fun time for bonding at the end of every year. You can make resolutions as a family to be more active, learn something new, eat healthier, be kinder, or listen better.

Follow Up

You should try to follow up with your children throughout the year on the progress of their resolutions. Try to do this without nagging them. They will not want to participate if it feels like a chore they have to complete.

Be Positive

Try to word the resolutions in a positive way.  For example, rather than “Stop eating junk food”, you could try “Make healthier choices”. Or instead of “Don’t be greedy”, you could phrase it as “Share and be more generous”. By keeping it positive you set the tone for their resolutions right at the beginning

Here are a few child-friendly positive resolutions to give you some ideas! (These also make excellent adult resolutions too!!)

• Make healthier choices
• Get exercise every day
• Read x amount of books by the end of the year
• Learn or try something new
• Be kinder
• Listen better
• Share or be more generous
• Draw a drawing each day
• Spend more time outdoors

We hope you like our tips and suggestions for family New Year’s resolutions! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!

5 Healthy & Fun Halloween Treats to Make at Home

With Halloween approaching, it becomes harder and harder to ensure your children are not overdoing it on the sweets. Dressing up, trick-or-treating, and munching on candies all night is always fun for the little ones. If you want an alternative to the sugary snacks, look no further. Getting kids to help in the kitchen has many benefits. Kids will develop an appreciation for whole food ingredients and be more eager to try new foods if they are picky eaters. It is an opportunity to develop fine motor skills as well as food and kitchen safety. It is also a great way to spend more quality time with them!

These five fun and spooky treats are packed with nutrients and the kids will love helping you make (and eat!) them.

1. Apple “Bites”

Image and Recipe from Oh She Glows!

These creepy but fun snacks have only 3 ingredients, and the kids will love pushing the almond sliver "teeth" into the apple.

2. Homemade Nut-Butter Cups

Image and Recipe from Tasty-Yummies.com

Who doesn’t love a peanut butter cup? Well, these are a healthy version that will leave you craving more. Dark chocolate and sweetened with maple syrup- they are refined sugar and dairy free!

3. Boo-Nana Ghost Pops

Image and Recipe from SkinnyTaste.com

These have the added bonus of being irresistibly adorable! Easy as 1-2-3! You could sub raisins for the chocolate eyes, or add other spooky ingredients like shredded coconut.

4. Spooky Shaped Fruit Snacks

Image and Recipe from ThankYourBody.com

Store bought fruits snacks are one of those foods that seems healthy but in reality is loaded with sugar and artificial flavours and colours. Luckily it is very easy to make your own! This recipe creates simply cubed pieces, but you could totally go all out with some fun halloween themed moulds like these.

5. Veggie Skeleton

Image and Recipe from FeedingFourLittleMonkeys Blog

Sometimes it’s bet to just keep it simple, like this veggie skeleton. Let the kids pick out what kind of veggies are used and help you arrange them on the plate. Pick out any kind of veggie dip for the head- hummus, eggplant, ranch.. so many yummy options!

Happy Healthy Halloween!

About Discovery Child Care
Barrie Based Discovery Child Care brings nature into the classroom and takes the classroom into nature, offering an environmentally aware foundation of early learning for children, from infants to school-age. We follow an Emergent Curriculum philosophy which means, your child will be provided with hands-on, play-based learning opportunities that will encourage active exploration, autonomy, choice, problem solving and plain old fun! Your child’s individual interests, abilities and needs will be considered when planning our indoor and outdoor programs. For more information, visit http://www.discoverychild.on.ca

Building a Sand Castle Is More Than Fun!

Water and sand play are exciting sensory activities that will engage children of any age…and what better place to play with water and sand than at the beach!

The hot summer weather opens up so many opportunities for play-based learning. If you’re planning to take your family to the beach this year, you can incorporate some simple activates that will encourage learning and exploration.

One of the easiest, and more memorable experiences you can create at the beach is building a sand castle. You’ll have a blast with this classic activity, but the benefits far surpass excitement and fun!

Sensory Fun. I love sensory activities - they are easy to incorporate in most activities, but when you are playing with sand and water, it becomes even easier! No matter the age of your children, there are many opportunities to learn during sand castle building. Learning everything from cause and effect, to texture, scooping and sorting, is possible when building a sand castle. Your children can start off by exploring and building with their hands, and then you can add in tools and buckets to help their creativity flourish.

Fine and Gross Motor Skills. Shovelling, building, and even just walking through the sand have major benefits. They all improve gross motor skills. Combined with fine motor skill activities like filtering sand through fingers, sifting, patting and measuring, your child will build their physical development skills in a fun and exciting way.

Like Skills. Building a sand castle will allow your family to work together to create something unique. Cooperation, team work, creativity and communication are skills required to complete your very own castle.

Measurement Skills. Filling up a bucket of water and then dumping it out is super fun for a toddler, but it can actually help teach some basic measurement skills. Basic understandings of depth, volume, weight and measurement can be easily explained when your building your own castle, or even just playing in the sand and water.

Next time your at the beach, keep these skills in mind. You’ll be able to support the play-based learning that goes along with exploring sand and water. And don’t forget to help your kids find a new stick, stone or seashell to decorate their sand castle. This can turn into your own exploration of nature, or even a pre-planned scavenger hunt.

About Discovery Child Care
Barrie Based Discovery Child Care brings nature into the classroom and takes the classroom into nature, offering an environmentally aware foundation of early learning for children, from infants to school-age. We follow an Emergent Curriculum philosophy which means, your child will be provided with hands-on, play-based learning opportunities that will encourage active exploration, autonomy, choice, problem solving and plain old fun! Your child’s individual interests, abilities and needs will be considered when planning our indoor and outdoor programs. For more information, visit http://www.discoverychild.on.ca

Simple and Fun Sensory Activities to Explore at Home

We spend a lot of time at the Discovery Child Care Centre planning creative and engaging sensory activities for the children. Earlier this month, we spent time outside squishing “coloured” mash potatoes in the outdoor sensory bin. We used our hands and shovels to scoop up the mash, identify colours, and then squish them together with our hands.

The children enjoy exploring textures and colours with these types of activities, and they love to get messy and have fun. Sensory activities allow our children to learn through play, and they also help develop and cultivate different skills.

Activities like our mash potato play allow children to learn by using their senses – this is one of the most effective teaching methods as children learn best and retain the most information when they engage their senses.

By allowing children to explore and investigate through sensory activities, you’ll help them develop and refine cognitive, social, emotional, physical and creative skills.

Here are some sensory activities that’ll be fun (and messy!) and easy to do right from your home. Simply choose one of the following “ingredients,” fill up a bin or container and watch the exploration unfold. You can also incorporate different scoops, bottles, lids and measuring cups and spoons.


1. Mashed potato play.

2. Dry pasta noodles.

3. Sand.

4. Bubbles.

5. Cooked spaghetti.

6. Corn kernels.

7. Soapy jars.

8. Uncooked beans.

9. Rice.

10. Shredded Paper.


Feel free to add colouring to some of the ingredients to allow colour exploration – doesn’t “rainbow” bubbles sound more fun? And you can even make it a bit messier by incorporating paints with different tools like sponges, brushes, or anything unexpected like bubble wrap, ribbons or straws. A less messy option is to throw in some toys - farm, construction, dinosaurs or even holiday themes will help you engage your children even more.

Follow us on Facebook for more sensory activity ideas - we regularly post stories about our exploration adventures!

You can also check out some great examples of sensory activities here via PBS and see how each activity can be linked to learning a specific skill set.

About Discovery Child Care

Barrie Based Discovery Child Care brings nature into the classroom and takes the classroom into nature, offering an environmentally aware foundation of early learning for children, from infants to school-age. We follow an Emergent Curriculum philosophy which means, your child will be provided with hands-on, play-based learning opportunities that will encourage active exploration, autonomy, choice, problem solving and plain old fun! Your child’s individual interests, abilities and needs will be considered when planning our indoor and outdoor programs. For more information, visit http://www.discoverychild.on.ca

5 Easy Activities that Will Help Your Bring Nature-Based Learning into Your Home

Learning through play is an essential element of the Discovery Child Care Centre curriculum because it has the power to significantly impact the development of your child’s skills and abilities. When we connect play-based learning with a natural classroom, it results in increased attention span, healthy brain development and many other amazing benefits!

Our outdoor learning centres are the foundation of our natural classroom and offer numerous opportunities for individual learning. Learning through nature and play can be easily extended into your home or backyard by incorporating some of these fun activities!

Build a Garden. Growing your own vegetables may seem like a huge undertaking, but it doesn’t have to be! A garden of any size can create opportunities for learning for children of all ages. Designing, planting, harvesting, preparation, nutrition - the teaching opportunities are endless! If you are concerned about the time and space required for a garden, you can start with an herb garden or even a small boxed garden.

Go for a Nature Walk. Let your little one explore as you head out on a nature walk. Balancing on logs, observing and naming elements you discover, and measuring and digging, are all elements you can incorporate. You don’t have to take a trek in the forest to take advantage of the wonders in nature. Simply rethink your take on nature. While you likely pay no notice to a patch or grass or pile of dirt, your toddler would surely love to explore it.

Create Nature Art. Collect some natural items such as twigs, bark, pinecones, stones and leaves, and create your own masterpiece. This activity will drive creativity and imagination – let your little artist pick their own materials and start creating.

Play with the Mud. Do you have fond memories of making mud pies? Give your children the chance to get their hands dirty and explore the wonders of the earth. Use earth, soil, dirt, mud, water and let them go wild! Try not to worry too much about the mess – designate a place for “mud play” and have fun!

Create a Backyard Habitat. This activity is a great option if you’re limited on space. Make a simple bird feeder or butterfly house to increase the frequency and diversity of wildlife near your home. Your backyard habitat can be built to attract birds, insects, toads, frogs, turtles, butterflies, worms and much more!

As your child learns and grows, you can expand your natural “classroom” to include a wider variety of activities.

Contact us today to learn more about our flexible, play-based curriculum and how we help connect children with nature.

About Discovery Child Care

Barrie Based Discovery Child Care brings nature into the classroom and takes the classroom into nature, offering an environmentally aware foundation of early learning for children, from infants to school-age. We follow an Emergent Curriculum philosophy which means, your child will be provided with hands-on, play-based learning opportunities that will encourage active exploration, autonomy, choice, problem solving and plain old fun! Your child’s individual interests, abilities and needs will be considered when planning our indoor and outdoor programs. For more information, visit http://www.discoverychild.on.ca

Its Snow Time | 11 Family Activities for a Flurry of Fun

It’s a winter wonderland.  Or at least it will be!  Our first snowfall has already melted away, but we all know that won’t last too long.

Your kids are all set with their own snowsuits, snow mittens and boots – but are you? Invest in your own snow gear and take advantage of these 11 family snow activities that will encourage learning through play, during the most wonderful time of year.  

1. Go Tobogganing.  There’s nothing more fun than this classic winter activity!  Find a safe hill and head out as a family.  This is a great learning opportunity – make sure your children are aware of their surroundings and know how to stay safe.  Once the safety rules are clear, you can encourage exploration.
 
2.  Build a Snowman.  How can you make this classic activity more fun?  Search for different sticks or other nature-based items to dress up your snowman.  You can even incorporate old clothing or food colouring.  

3.  Colour the Snow.  Create colourful sprays using food colouring and water.  Then let imaginations go wild!  Your children will love spraying different colours all over the snow’s blank canvas, leaving trails and “artwork” everywhere.  Our Forest School children loved this activity – see how much fun they had here.

4.  Make a Snow Angel.  Create your own angels and try exploring different depths of snow.  Laying in the snow will also allow your children to explore a new perspective – encourage them to describe what they see.

5.  Make a Snow Sculpture.  Encourage your children to create their own snow masterpiece.  Use hands, shovels, spoons – or any other tools you can think of!  

6.  Build an Igloo.  Explore different shapes as you build your snow blocks, or consider creating a family igloo project that incorporates ice and colour.  Did you see this igloo last year?  What an amazing family project.

7.  Have a Winter Picnic.  Hot chocolate is the perfect addition to any winter activity, so why not plan a fun outdoor picnic?  Check fire regulations to see if you can incorporate a toasty winter campfire.

8.  Go on a Winter Hike.  Take a walk through the forest and explore the seasonal changes. And don’t forget to keep an eye out for animal tracks.

9.  Set Up a Scavenger Hunt.  In your backyard or during your forest walk, you can create an exciting scavenger hunt to find nature-based items such as pine cones or sticks.  Consider incorporating colours, letters and numbers into your hunt.

10.  Check Out Holiday Lights.  You can walk around your neighbourhood or look for municipal light displays like the Barrie Festival of Trees display at Centennial Park.

11.  Do A Good Deed.  Consider shoveling your neighbour’s driveway as a family.  Whether they are on vacation or have difficulties shoveling it themselves, your neighbour will be incredibly grateful and you will be passing along a valuable lesson.

Enjoy your family fun - let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

About Discovery Child Care

Barrie Based Discovery Child Care brings nature into the classroom and takes the classroom into nature, offering an environmentally aware foundation of early learning for children, from infants to school-age. We follow an Emergent Curriculum philosophy which means, your child will be provided with hands-on, play-based learning opportunities that will encourage active exploration, autonomy, choice, problem solving and plain old fun! Your child’s individual interests, abilities and needs will be considered when planning our indoor and outdoor programs. For more information, visit http://www.discoverychid.on.ca