One of our many fun days at RUGRATS is our Chinese New Year Party.
And like the many years before, this one was such a hit!
I have been to Chinese New Year celebrations and my very favorite thing to see is the Lion Dogs! I love the way they look so real even if you see the man/woman inside!
This year, I was so happy to find some little Lion Dog marionette puppets. I also found a dragon and I practiced with them so that I could put on a great show for the kids. They are always very forgiving of my mistakes and this puppet show was no different. The kids were absolutely glued to the show! Even the smallest children were in awe of those little dogs! I made those doggies bounce around and made up a story of how the dragon came and tried to scare them. I made the dragon fly around and they clapped and giggled and got a little scared! They were so amazed and sat and watched with such patience as I fumbled through! They clapped for the puppets and even petted the dogs after the show as if they were real! I got a big kick out of watching them laughing and interacting with the puppets. And then they each tried to make the puppets move and walk by trying to be the puppeteer! 
Then lunch was a bit of a battle as they all tried very hard (with some success) to master the art of eating from bamboo sticks!
To end our day, the music of Chinese Drums filled the house as they danced around with their paper fans and ribbons and when it was time to go home, they each took some Chinese rice candy! 
What a great day. We will definitely keep our Chinese New Year party!

 We had so much fun celebrating the different holidays this past year! The 2015 fall and winter holiday season started off in November with our annual Thanksgiving Pow Wow and continued on with our unique Rugrats tradition of celebrating the 5 Days of Christmas.
Making Indian corn with pretty buttons was a fun project for little fingers and good practice for small motor development. A perfect little craft for the end of fall. And dancing to the loud drums of traditional Native American pow wow music and sporting handmade necklaces created out of colorful macaroni, topped off the happy day for our Thanksgiving Pow Wow at Rugrats. Enjoying a "friendly feast" and some pumpkin pie with our daycare family is also a must for this special day.
In December, the focus is on a week filled with Christmas fun with each day dedicated to an icon of Christmastime. For Snowman Day, we had a wild indoor snowball fight and made snow globes from little plastic water bottles! On Gingerbread Man Day, the focus was on creating a plate full of ginger-boys that tasted pretty good at lunch time! On Nutcracker Day, the floor was covered with the remains of all kinds of nuts cracked with all kinds of nutcrackers, and all over the place! The kids are still playing the Nutcracker story and dressing up to be Clara, The Nutcracker Prince and of course, The Mouse King!
During Santa Day, everyone became Santa, his elves or the reindeer. Sometimes all of the above at the same time! The toys were shoved into big red bags and given to each other as wonderful gifts on pretend Christmas morning! They played Santa with joy all afternoon and created one-of-a-kind Christmas cards to take home. Then on Jesus Day, they painted a special sparkly angel decoration because the angels sang a beautiful song on the day that Baby Jesus was born, and we all participate in His birthday with Christmas trees, beautiful decorations, giving gifts and singing. And a little gift in a Christmas lunchbox present made celebrating Jesus Day the best of all!
Each one of these special days brought its share of new and fun free-play ideas and the hours of unique play experiences are part of this happy time in the family of childcare.
At my house, celebrating the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas have always been a very important part of my life, and I hope that the memories that I am creating for my childcare children will give them warm, loving feelings about these holidays and stay in their hearts forever, long after I have gone.  

At my childcare, we are very relaxed about play. And I believe that children need to be able to have normal, "ordinary" days as well as special days filled with fun and excitement! And that the two should be easily recognized by the children. Too many "special" days can create an atmosphere of over stimulation where we see that children act out and are not satisfied with the simple act of play. There is a place for both types of day in the memories of childhood. This is for the benefit of the adult that these little ones will become.
Children in childcare can become very co-dependent on adult-created fun. And why not? Adults can think of some pretty fun stuff to do! Usually way out of the skill set of a preschoolers imagination! 
In daycare environments where children's days are filled with created activities specifically designed to stimulate, alleviate boredom and move children from one thing to the next, children are not allowed to feel the sometimes negativity of normal life. Child-directed games ebb and flow, changing with new toy choices or different friends etc. Sometimes these choices are negative and sometimes positive and the learning goes without saying.
Time spent at creating their own fun, (without the constant intervention of adult ideas and logic) is a simple, yet necessary way that little kids can learn to deal with the normal ups and downs of daily life. 
At my house, we save those wonderful, overly-excitable days for parties!
In October we had a special Magic Show and I tried out my amateur skills as a magician on my childcare children. And they were AMAZED;)
​But that was not too hard because children are very happy with the simplest things of childhood and pretending to be a magician for the rest of the day was such a happy thing for them to be! It seemed that every toy in our play room was made to "disappear" inside of someone's magic hat!  
These special days are unique, not to be wasted on the ordinary. 
Each day is not always going to be filled with balloons, dancing and magic, but some very special days are!
(Here are all the little Houdinis! And you try to get a good picture of 8-10 kids!;)

I love parties! And what says fun more than a carnival? 
So this year, I decided to add to our yearly party calendar, an End of Summer Carnival. 
It was a beautiful sunny day and the kids were very excited to play the fun basic skill games and to blow lots of bubbles! They got to pay me a ticket for each game, ate a lot of popcorn, had cotton candy for a lunchtime treat and won a prize to take home! They had so much fun and the simple little games were easy and such a hit. We will definitely be having this party again next September! 
(Catching the swimming ducky game was by far the fav!)

Here are some Rugrats in their Rainy Dayz Pull-Over Play Pants!
The fall in Oregon is covered in clouds and rain. But kids in daycare and preschool do not have to stay inside everyday when they can wear Rainy Dayz Pull-Over Play Pants to keep their clothes clean and dry! Check out my contribution to promoting abundant free play for kids by considering http://www.rainydayzoforegon.com/
If your children are in daycare or preschools here in Oregon, consider sending them to their school/center/daycare with the first ever protective play pants for children to pull on over their clothes. 
These pants will help keep them clean and dry when they play outside! 

"So much fun! I very much appreciate your environment and the children's ability to PLAY! 
Madelynn is such a responsible, reliable assistant! Outside is beautiful with bees, flowers and vegetables! There are no issues to discuss and no technical assistance to give. Thank you for your preparedness for this visit!
Barbara Whiddon, Licensing Specialist Oregon CCD

While eating lunch, Austin (4) told everyone his mommy had an accident in her car. His friend Ina responded
"Did she potty her pants?"

"This environment is set up for exploration and play! The children experienced science activities, construction, problem solving, community cooperation, dramatic play experienced, collecting, sorting and identifying, gross motor, fine motor, counting and number recognition, receptive and expressive language opportunities.  The environment is full of beauty and sensory opportunities -- a lot of vestibular stimulation as there are 14 swing seats, some high, some low. THIS is preschool with a capital 'P'!!"

-- Barbara Whiddon, Oregon Child Care Division Licensing Specialist