Holiday projects

November held a number of projects but my personal favorite were our chubby little turkeys! Plump and ready for Thanksgiving dinner...

We had so many projects over the course of the holiday season that we did almost one new craft project per day in addition to our other singing, sensory activities and games. December made for quite a busy month!
We made colorful ornaments that we all painted with our fingers.

We made fingerpainted trees with hand print stars on top as well. The girls really loved being able to paint with their fingers so a number of our projects were planned to allow them to do so.

Fingerpainting is a great sensory activity for little kids and in terms of art exploration, fingerpainting promotes process over product. The process of making art is far more important for children to learn how their bodies respond to the materials, how the materials can be manipulated to make an end result and the process can be key to building self-confidence. The end result is great as a keep sake and as a trophy or reminder of the activity but less important for the child's development. In day care, it is important to have projects that are both process over product AND projects that have a specific end result. Children love to be proud of what they have made and parents love to see all of the fun that children have had throughout the day. By having projects with both goals (process focused and end result focused,) children can learn through exploration, build confidence, feel pride in the projects that they create and parents feel good about what children are learning and doing. I feel that it is important for parents to understand why it is that multiple types of projects are planned and how they effect each child individually.

We did a number of projects with hand prints, thumb prints, foot prints and stamping. These are GREAT sensory activities and children love to see the result of paint transferring from their body parts to the paper. Here is a holiday wreath made up of hand prints and a tree made up of hand and foot prints!
 
We also read a few holiday stories, one of which was about Santa and his reindeer. In the spirit of the story, we made our own red nosed reindeer with prints from our feet! These were a big hit with children and parents.

There you have  pretty good selection of the projects that we did over the holiday season! We made memory books for our parents with the 12 days of Christmas in them! We used our hands, feet, fingers, thumbs and stamps to make images of all of the 12 days in the song. We gave these books to our parents for Christmas.

We talked about other cultures and holidays that occur in the month of December. In the future, I look forward to being able to incorporate other cultures and beliefs in what we learn. I think it is important to help children learn as much as they can about all of the different people. cultures and beliefs that may exist around them. Having a healthy respect for others is really important to me and hopefully it will be equally as important to the families and children who are involved in Fingerpaints Child Care.

Here at Fingerpaints, we are looking forward to the New Year and new beginnings! We have a new friend joining us this week and new fun and exciting projects to help us grow and learn. What an exciting year 2013 will be!

2012 A year in review

Wow- what a year!! We were very busy this year and very lucky to have such great friends to play with and time to discover and learn new things! I apologize to our readers as I have not kept up with posting information and images from our adventures so I am going to post a few highlights here...

In October, one of our favorite projects included stories about pumpkins and then making our very own! We talked about our faces, all of the parts that make up our face and how similar jack-o-lanters are. These were some of our fine pumpkins!

We did several hand/foot prints for a variety of projects but one of my favorite was a set of "Happy Fall" cards with pumpkin fist prints. 

We practiced letters and shapes on the BIG easel as often as we could! Luckily we have sidewalk chalk to use on the chalkboard side and crayons for the paper we can clip on top. It has been fun to learn how to control these drawing tools and everyone has been learning new things when it comes to their drawing/writing abilities. 

I promise to get back on to post more of our projects as I get them uploaded. We made a ton of different projects and tried to touch on learning new things as the seasons have rolled along using an assortment of different learning styles, media, games and toys. It really has been a fun year! I am so looking forward to 2013 and all that it has in store!

What a week!

We had two new friends this week! Morgan who is one and Abby who is two BOTH started at Fingerpaints this week and man did we have fun! We are all enjoying the new friends, play times and routines here.

Transition is not always easy, especially for the littlest members of a group but I think the girls are settling in well and we are enjoying each other already! We have been making art, reading new stories, trying new healthy foods, playing with new toys, sharing, learning and growing together. I am so lucky to be able to provide care to such great kiddos.

Looking forward to another exciting week next week!

We have openings for children ages 2 and up!

Today Zoe and I had the great fortune of meeting a fun and fabulous family who will be filling our last under 2 years old slot! We are very excited to see them in the coming weeks as they move closer to full time status. Zoe is excited to have a new friend here now the question is- who is going to be next?

We have openings for children ages 2 and older so hopefully we will meet other energetic kiddos with fun loving parents who would like to spend some time learning and growing with us!

Looking forward to meeting new friends!

A little more information please!

I have recently posted quick bits of information around the web and Rochester so I feel it is important for folks to get a little more information here with regard to what we provide.

We are fortunate enough to live across the street from the Seneca Park Zoo! With this convenient location, we are close to 104 and half way between 390 and 590. Our hours are from 7am to 6pm Monday through Friday though we are always willing to discuss circumstances and we will try to be flexible to meet the needs of our families if we can.

We provide Breakfast, Lunch and an Afternoon Snack daily for each child. Should your infant have specific feeding needs, (breastmilk/formula) you will need to supply those and we will collectively discuss a feeding schedule that works for us, for you and most importantly, for your little one.

If you have questions or needs with regard to the time that your child(ren) will be in our care, pricing, or any other matter, we are happy to discuss these with you privately.

We do not provide transportation though we do live in a fantastic neighborhood which we may take walks around or visit local playgrounds by foot or even the zoo!

The provider, Heather Potwin, has a Master of Science for Teachers in Visual Arts and is certified to teach grades birth - 12. As such, we will be making a wide variety of art projects and all ages will be invited to engage in sensory activities daily!

We believe that every child is unique and different and therefore not everyone learns the same way. We strive to meet the needs of each child and help them find the best mode or style of learning for them. Children learn at all ages and so we have a variety of toys and activities so that children can make new discoveries each time they play.

We are a licensed child care facility recognized by both the state and the Child Care Council.

Thank you for checking us out! Have a great weekend!

The Registration is in!

Alrighty folks- It is now state official! The state sent our registration certificate complete with state child care ID. This means that not only are we officially open, but the state recognizes us as safe, certified and on the map for any state data base as well as the child care council's data base. I am beyond excited to be through this whole process of opening our in home child care. It has been quite a road to have traveled but now that we have arrived at the finish line, I'm relieved.

Here's to the next adventure- Advertising and Interviews! I am excited to meet new families and see who is interested in us as well as who is a good fit for our home. I will break out of the digital advertising and put up information in a few places that I think may catch some eyes, hope for the best and think positive thoughts! Happy Friday everyone!

It's Official!

The Fire Marshall was here last Thursday, the twelfth of July, and gave us two thumbs up! The official letter with our state registration ID should be here today or tomorrow but with his two thumbs up, we are OFFICIALLY OPEN! Zoe and I have been prepping and cleaning so the day care rooms are ready for any visitors and potential friends who would like to come to Fingerpaint's Child Care.

I have all of the paperwork that might be necessary already prepped so now the fun part begins! We are looking to meet families who are looking for a small, in home child care setting for their little ones. I value the time and attention that I am able to give our daughter Zoe and I am looking forward to being able to give that same time, attention and energy to friends who come here to play. I have a formal certification to teach Visual Arts to students birth - grade twelve and being a creative person myself, I like to try to teach to a number of different learning styles. I know that not everyone learns and absorbs information the same way so while we will have fun playing with toys and games here, many of our activities will also be designed to teach children something while they are discovering materials and playing.

For those families that have infants and are looking for the right source of care for them, here are a few points I will share. I am happy to try to meet your child's feeding needs, be it formula, breast milk or starter foods. I am happy to accommodate breastfeeding wishes of parents with young children to the best of my ability. I have no problem handling breast milk if you would prefer to pump and bring some in for your little one throughout the day. I am also happy to give you and your child a quiet place to nurse if you would like to come in on a break to do so.

Similarly, our family chooses to buy and eat local meats, fruits and veggies whenever possible and the meals that I serve here will be designed with that in mind. I am fortunate enough to have a wonderful husband who is a chef and has agreed to help me plan healthy meals for all of the friends who are at Fingerpaint's Child Care. Zoe has started eating fruits and vegetables now and I am in the process of making her baby food from local veggies and fruits and I am happy to include other infants in this process or to give other parents information about how and what I am making.

I am looking forward to meeting new friends and families as we move forward! Happy Monday everyone!