Little Duck Family Child Care

I love baking when it’s cold out and teaching the kids how to bake is such a great educational experience! They learn to mix, count, and begin to explore scientific facts. This is such a great way to incorporate home cooking and a whole new interest that may blossom into something big one day.  The little bakers were very excited to hear we were going to be making cookies today and it helps to take up a large portion of our morning. I love to use up all our old Halloween candy in this way so that the kids aren’t just eating junk food for a month afterwards. So this round I gathered up all the smarties and dumped them into a large container.  I used this wonderful recipe for  Smartie cookies  but kept the white chocolate out. You could use any kind of chocolate in exchange for smarties but that’s what we used this time.  While the kids waited for the cookies to bake they coloured their own cookies using round cutouts of brown construction paper. It’s always a goo...

We love to do something special for each and every holiday and Remembrance Day is so important to us as a community it just made sense to create a unique piece that can be taken home and enjoyed year after year!  I like to make crafts that can displayed and kept year after year so this year we made cute grave marker crosses and poppies. The kids didn’t quite understand the project but that is ok they have plenty of time to learn about our fallen heroes when they are older. I simply explained that grandmas and grandpas who are no longer with us or lived a long time ago needed a special day to remember things they did years ago.  To create our cross I cut out cardboard into evenly sized strips, added some tape and glue and had the kids paint them in a pretty silver colour. After that we created our poppies from cupcake wrappers.  Then we waited for our cross to dry and printed out a soldier taking a knee next to one of his fallen companions. We glued the soldier and the pop...

The leaves are falling like crazy all over town and it is always nice to try and enjoy some of what nature has to offer! There are a huge number of leaf crafts you can do with the kids the year and we had the most fun making leaf stamps this year. We simply went out on a nature walk and spotted as many leaves as we could and looked at the difference between the trees that lose their leaves and the ones that do not. Teaching the small things in nature is always a great idea when exploring. Small pieces of information like: Some trees stay green year round and that is the mystery of nature, these are the ones we use as Christmas trees! The kids grabbed their favourite leaves and we brought them inside to dry off.  We picked out some lovely fall colours and painted the side of the leaves with the veins. These are some great  tempura paints  that easily wash off tiny hands.  Begin stamping your leaves on either blank paper, a canvas, or card stock.  These would make...

We love to get crafty here in our daycare and getting creative with items we have on hand is one of our best talents. I always try to use the items I have in my home before buying anything new, not only does it help to save money on craft supplies but it helps to declutter and spark creativity.  This week we made jack o lantern necklaces using ping pong balls and they turned out super cute. The ping pong balls are big enough that even the little ones can wear them while being supervised without worrying about whether or not they are going to choke.  I used a drill to create a hole on either side and then strung it through the ball. I helped he little ones create a face on their necklace but if you have bigger kids you can definitely allow them to colour their own or use stickers to decorate. You could also slip in a small glow stick before putting it on the string to create a glow necklace as well.  Some other great fall crafts we absolutely love creating are:  Super...

Trying t on get my kids to read books is nearly impossible now that they are older and have cell phones and tablets. I have been fighting a losing battle and it seems I will never raise avid readers. I kept trying to encourage it and continue to encourage it as I run my daycare, it only works for so long but I will not give up. I use special tricks to encourage the kids to read and they absolutely love it, so try some of these to encourage reading more often! Themed books (Here is a list of The Best Halloween Kids Books ) Comfy reading spaces, blankets, jammie days! Look and find books are always popular with little ones  Give books as gifts and take the time to read with them Setup a designated time to read together before bed Bring books on trips and adventures Use books for researching people and places you visit Always encourage kids to pick up a book and read, if they ever find a series they like try to nourish it and help the love grow by making it a big deal. Reading is beco...

Spring time is such an amazing season filled with fun and excitement. The weather is getting warm, the animals and bugs are all busy waking up and getting back to their usual activities and the kids are watching everything happen in pure wonder and curiosity!  Our favourite activities in the spring have to be making sun catcher crafts, playing with nature and observing different creatures around the yard.  Getting the kids involved in creature finding with buckets is a great way to show them what is crawling and creeping in the mud and grass. These little  bug catchers  are perfect!  Making rainbow leaf prints was a huge hit with both parents and kids! Such a fun craft to do and see when it is done. The best paint to use is gonna depend on how much you want to clean up after but I found a decent  washable paint  that is very vibrant on amazon!  Check out this great post on  how to raise independent kids !  What are your favourite things ...

As parents we are always flying out the door to get to our next scheduled activity or play date with friends. Getting our kids out the door on time is usually top priority making our hair, makeup and clothing fall to the side lines. There is nothing wrong with being comfortable and dressing in our sweats and t shirts once in a while but what if we need to look too notch for a certain event or job opportunity?  Networking can happen almost anywhere and even when you are not looking somebody might be looking for perspective clients or new hires? You may be able to connect with new clients and contacts for future business endeavours. Dressing with fashion in mind could help you to be seen as a more respectable and desired person for the role in question. There is wholesale shapewear for every body type and desired look.  This doesn’t mean you can’t still be comfortable but keep these tips in mind when you are headed out for your next activity as a busy parent. https://www.waistd...