Nature is all around us, we breathe fresh air, have the opportunities to connect our mind, body and spirit while we explore our true wonders. This past month our classroom has explored nature and wildlife. Now here’s our story of how we got there. During our time outside, the children are running around, laughing with their friends, creating dramatic play in the sandbox and swinging on the hammock. Until we hear a friend gasp, they have found a caterpillar! All the children immediately raced over to take a peek, the children made an observation that the caterpillar was very fluffy, but they wanted to take a deeper look! I asked the children. “What should we put the caterpillar in?” Some friends, had the idea of making a home out of sticks and leaves for the caterpillar, others found magnifying glass jars where we can have the opportunity to look deeper at the caterpillar. Everyone got to take turns holding the jar, picking names for our new friend. The preschoolers engaged well by this learning opportunity and they wanted to extend on it, that’s when we brought the opportunity of creating an open-ended art experience where the children can make their own caterpillars! The art experience is around our classroom walls, are endless of colour and unique to their own expression. A couple days go by and the children are still talking about butterflies and we got a great question from peer and they wanted to know how do butterflies come along. Together as a group we read stories like the very hungry caterpillar, learn about the lifecycle of a butterfly, and how to protect their habitat!

This month, the toddlers at RisingOaks Early Learning | St. Patrick showed a growing interest in painting activities. To extend their learning, educators set up a sensory-rich painting experience. On a round tuff tray, bowls of brightly coloured paints; yellow, blue, orange, pink, and green were placed alongside silicone puzzle shapes and other vibrant materials. These open-ended materials encouraged creativity and self-expression, allowing each child to explore in their own unique way. Lily was the first to show interest, dipping her brush into the paint and spreading it across the paper. She experimented with the silicone puzzle shapes and Squigz handles, stamping them into the paint and onto the paper. Her curiosity grew as she transitioned from using brushes to puzzle shapes and then to painting with her hands, creating colourful handprints. This hands-on exploration supported Lily’s sensory development and strengthened her fine motor skills as she gripped, pressed, and manipulated the materials. Augustus and Brantley explored the experience with great focus, dipping their green and blue square shapes into the paint and stamping them repeatedly on the paper. Their engagement reflected an early understanding of cause and effect as they noticed how pressing harder or softer created different patterns and prints. Sebastian was drawn to the activity as he dipped a brown star shape into the paint, observing the marks it made and enjoying the visual contrast between the bright colours and the white paper. Dante and Emmie were particularly engaged by the sensory aspect of the experience. They explored with both brushes and their hands, feeling the paint’s texture. Emmie showed great curiosity and creativity as she experimented with new techniques, switching from the brush bristles to the handle to create different effects. Zoey enjoyed hand painting, dipping her hands into the paint and pressing them onto the paper. Her excitement and smiles showed her joy in exploring the textures and colours while expressing herself freely. Robbie focused intently as he dipped his brush into different colours and painted across the paper. He proudly pointed and named the colours “green” and “red” demonstrating his growing colour recognition and language development. Clementine used the paint tools to mix colours together, saying “blue” and “orange,” which supported her expressive language and deepened her understanding of colour concepts. Throughout these activities, the toddlers demonstrated curiosity, creativity, and confidence as they engaged with the materials. They named colours, shared tools, and interacted socially, strengthening their expressive language.

This week, The preschoolers at RisingOaks Early Learning | St. Patrick joyfully celebrated Diwali the Festival of Lights through art, creativity, and cultural learning. During this festival, the Indian people illuminates their homes, shops, workplaces with diyas, candles, and lanterns. They also create the vibrant Rangoli patterns using the rice, colours and coloured sand. The Diwali-themed activities were planned to help children explore and appreciate cultural diversity while engaging in meaningful, hands-on learning. Through art and group experiences, children developed important social, emotional, and creative skills. They created Rangoli art using colored sand to represent happiness, positivity, and liveliness of a household, and is intended to welcome Goddess of wealth and good luck. We also designed paper Diyas to represent positivity and kindness, and made paper lanterns to brighten our classroom and hallway. The children helped the educators to decorate the hallway, they showed their excitement to put the Diwali poster on the hallway wall, so their parents can see their art work. These activities supported fine motor development, creativity, teamwork, and cultural appreciation.

The Toddler 1 program at RisingOaks Early Learning | St. Patrick, explored the joyful celebration of Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights. We introduced the children to this beautiful cultural tradition through music and art. It was a vibrant day full of colour, creativity, and cultural connection. To bring the spirit of Diwali to life, we invited the children to create their own firework art. Using a variety of materials like bright colour paper, sponges and glue, the children. enthusiastically expressed themselves on paper. They swirled, stamped, and splashed, making dazzling displays of colourful fireworks. The room was filled with excitement as each child proudly pointed out their creations. As we played traditional Diwali music, the sounds and colours created a sensory rich environment, and we could see the wonder and curiosity in their faces. Through this celebration, we opened a door to learning about different cultures and the ways people around the world celebrate with joy and togetherness. We spoke simply about the meaning of Diwali how it is celebrated with lights, fireworks, family gatherings, and sharing sweets. This supported children’s early awareness of cultural diversity, and helped nurture respect and curiosity for traditions beyond their own. We will continue exploring different celebrations from around the world to build a more inclusive and culturally rich learning environment. We look forward to more opportunities where children can explore traditions through sensory play, music, and art celebrating both similarities and differences in meaningful ways.