December News from Especially for Children

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SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN

"You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout; I'm telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town."

Santa Claus will be coming to visit our good little boys and girls on Thursday, December 22, starting at 10:00am. Santa will visit infants, toddlers, then preschool. He might even have a few surprises up his sleeve... If you would like to come and take pictures of your child with Santa, please feel free.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLD

During the month of December, we celebrate many different holidays from around the world. If your family has a special tradition that you would like to share with us, please let us know. We would be happy to invite you into our classrooms for a lesson.

PARENT REMINDERS

HOLIDAY CLOSURES

Please mark your calendars in preparation for the holiday season. EFC will be closed the following days:

12/26/16: Christmas Observed
1/2/17: New Year's Observed

For your planning purposes, you can view our holiday closure dates in 2017 here .

STAR WELLNESS

OUTSIDE WINTER GAMES

www.familyeducation.com

HAT TRICK

Building a snowman is a favorite among most kids, so why not make a game out of it? Have everyone help make the snowman, complete with a carrot nose and charcoal eyes, but don't put a hat on him--that's where the game comes in. Once your snowman is built, have everyone line up about 10 feet away. Take turns trying to land the hat on the snowman's head by throwing it Frisbee style. The player who lands the hat on the snowman's head in the fewest number of throws wins.

SNOWBALL RELAY

This game is a great way to burn off some extra energy. You'll need two or more teams of equal numbers to play.Start off by making a "track" in your yard by stomping snow down in a large oval shape. Have each team make a snowball to use as its relay stick. To play, each player runs around the track, and passes his/her snowball onto the next player. Continue this until each team member has run around the track. The first team to finish wins.To make this a little more challenging, try making hurdles along your track by packing mounds of snow for the players to jump over.

PARENT RESOURCES

CHRISTMAS LIGHT STRAWBERRIES

INGREDIENTS

1 cup red candy melts

1 cup blue candy melts

1 cup yellow candy melts

1 cup green candy melts

1/2 cup black candy melts

16 strawberries

6 pieces of thick black licorice

12 toothpicks

Multi-colored sprinkles

PREPARATION

1. In separate bowls, melt down candy melts in the microwave.

2. Dip 4 strawberries into the red candy melts, sprinkle with multi-colored sprinkles (as desired) and let them set on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat this process with the blue, green and yellow candy melts. Transfer baking sheet to the refrigerator for 10 minutes.

3. Cut the black licorice into 1/2 inch pieces. Break toothpicks in half and insert into each piece of licorice.

4. Cut off the stems from each strawberry. Transfer melted black candy melts to a zip top bag and cut off a bottom corner for piping. Pipe out melted black candy melts around the base of each piece of licorice. While the black candy melts are still warm and melted insert the black licorice into the tops of the strawberries.

5. Using the black candy melts, pipe out a zigzag line onto a platter. Connecting the top of the strawberries to the line, place the strawberries onto the platter to form a string of Christmas lights.

Courtesy of www.myrecipes.com .

ESPECIALLY FOR PARENTS

THE IMPORTANCE OF FINE MOTOR SKILLS

In a world where technology is not going away and infants and toddlers are learning to "swipe and tap", we don't want to be fooled into the idea that these activities are what children need for the development of fine motor skills. From an early age children need time to play with and experiment with materials that help them develop coordination in their fingers and strengthen their hand muscles. These experiences start in infancy when a child learns to hold a rattle and pick up food to eat. Then children move on to skills like building with blocks, playing with play dough and eventually learning to zip and button, draw and form letters.

There is real concern across the country that children are not getting enough practice with real objects. Many are going to kindergarten lacking the basic fine motor skills needed to hold a pencil and write. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends absolutely no screen time for children under the age of two, and less than an hour a day for preschoolers. Parents should not give their smart phones to babies in car seats or strollers. They should not play videos for infants and toddlers to keep them occupied. They should not take iPads to restaurants. Preschoolers should not have televisions in their bedrooms.

Those are a lot of "children should not..." rules. But at Especially for Children we want you to be assured that we supply our classrooms with time-tested materials to help children practice fine motor skills. From crayons, markers, chalk, paints, pencils and scissors to blocks, Legos, dolls, play dough and finger paint, children have a multitude of materials that allow them to manipulate real objects and interact with people, not screens.

We thought it would be helpful to give you some ideas of activities you can do at home to help your child build fine motor skills. We have posted them on our blog with specific suggestions on how to incorporate them into your daily routines. Here is an example:

Kitchen projects : Making homemade play dough strengthens muscles in the hands and fingers. Roll snakes and balls of all sizes: build with the balls and snakes. Your child can play with play dough at the counter or table while you make dinner. See EFC's favorite play dough recipe on our blog.

Make peanut butter or sugar cookies that require the dough to be rolled into balls and smashed with a fork.

December is often a month with lots of cooking projects, so think ahead to how your child can participate. Not only will you be enjoying the activities together, but you can think about the important fine motor skills you are helping your child to develop. Look on the blog for even more ideas to do at home!