Welcome


Welcome to the Mom's Morning Out Blog! We are here to share with you some of the great activities we participate in every day at MMO and to give you some ideas on how to carry those activities over into your home. Because of our varied age group we aren't your typical preschool learning environment, we learn on the go and while we play, which is the best way to have it in our opinion! Our theme, shapes, letters and colors are introduced at the beginning of our day, usually through the chalk board and manipulatives we have out and reinforced during snack and circle time. Our themes at MMO are reinforced through our craft activities and the stories we choose to read each week. Learning at MMO is never forced and always fun. We try and expose the children to early learning skills through fun play and exploration. We hope you enjoy our blog and we'd love to hear your feedback! Be sure to check out our website!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

November 15th - 20th

We spent this week covered in feathers!  Ok, not exactly covered, but lots of glue + lots of feathers = lots of fun!

We are excitedly getting ready for Thanksgiving week and this week at the shop we read Thank You, Thanksgiving by David Milgrim.  This is a cute picture book about a little girl whose mom sends her on a last minute errand.  Along the way she finds everyday things that she is thankful for, her warm boots, the birds singing, the pretty clouds.  It was a great opportunity to discuss what we are thankful for.

Thank You, Thanksgiving
 For our craft this week we made sweet Thanksgiving cards.  I hope that those of you who brought them home kept them for yourselves or shared them with a special loved one.  In this process we learned to follow directions, what different shapes are (we used a heart shape for the turkey body,  a peanut shape for the turkey's head and 'gobble gobble', and a diamond folded in half for his beak), and to make choices...they picked out the feathers they wanted to decorate their turkeys.

Sample of completed front of card




Hard at work! (kiddos faces have been blurred for privacy reasons)
 We also created our own Corn on the Cob Craft in which we stuffed paper bags and glued on construction paper pieces.  This worked our fine motor skills as we strategically placed all those 'kernels'.

There are a great number of Thanksgiving books that you should check out at your local library or purchase at your bookstore.  Most people have a lot of holiday books around, but usually Thanksgiving is overlooked (I'm guilty of that one as well). So check out these great titles!

Happy Thanksgiving, Biscuit! by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Pie by Alison Jackson

Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes

Turkey and Runt by Lisa Wheeler


There are a ton of great activities out there that you can do with your children as we approach Thanksgiving. Here are a few great ideas to check out:

Kaboose  (there are video ads on this site)
Fun Thanksgiving Activities for Preschoolers
Family Fun

And for those of you who enjoy blogland and all it has to offer, check out these great suggestions for the kids table!

It's always a party at the Parkers
Skip to my Lou
Paper Glitter
Simplified Bee


I know we at Mom's Morning Out are thankful for all of our great customers!!  What are you thankful for?

Next week we will be in the shop from Mon - Wed and will be enjoying some more Thanksgiving Fun!








Thursday, November 11, 2010

November 8th - 13th

November is Child Safety and Protection month.

One of the books we read this week was Miss Mingo and The Fire Drill by Jamie Harper. 
Miss Mingo and her class go through the steps of preparing for a fire drill.  As parents, we remember how loud and scary those school fire drills were as little kids.  It is good to introduce them to the concept of a fire drill at an early age so they can learn what to expect.  This book gave us an opportunity to point out what our Smoke Detectors look like (similar to those in your home) and what ours sound like.  

This book discusses STOP, DROP AND ROLL.  Though the ages of kids at our shop varies we discussed, "What do you do if an article of clothing you are wearing catches on fire?"  Most of our answers (which were all acted out) included some sort of screaming and flailing action, some running.  So we discussed what to actually do should something you are wearing get caught on fire.  Stop. Drop. And Roll.  We acted it out and repeated it a few times...

For one of our crafts we created Fire Men helmets. Each child had a helmet template that they painted or colored and we used paper bands to make them into hats.  



Our shape for the week was a Rectangle.  For another one of our crafts we used shapes to paint.  Using Lego Duplo blocks we created some great artwork! 


As parents we need to introduce our children to Fire Safety at a very young age.  Reinforce or introduce your child to "Stop, Drop and Roll."  Even if they are very young, it's good to know what to do in a situation I hope they never encounter! 

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, each year 2,000 Thanksgiving Day Residential fires, 250 fires due to Christmas Trees, another 170 fires due to holiday lights occur in the home.  As the holiday season approaches, be sure to refresh yourself on a few fire safety tips.  

You can check out the Holiday Fire Safety article from U.S.F.A. by clicking HERE.
Please create a Fire Escape plan for your home, you can find out how to do so HERE
A Parents Guide to fire safety for Babies and Toddlers is HERE.
And for those of you with older kids, check out the USFA for Kids website HERE.

Next week we start our Thanksgiving theme...we hope to see you and your child for an appointment!  

If you'd like to join us, remember you can call (857.234.0989), email (momsmorningout508 AT gmail.com) or visit our website (www.momsmorningout.com) to do so!