Is Your Daycare Closed When it Snows?

It is winter and inevitably that means snow will eventually show its beautiful glistening flakes! Now, some of us enjoy this weather wonder and take the opportunities to stay home and play outside building snow people, having snowball fights, you know, all the classic snowy day fun. However, other people dread the sight of the winter snowfalls and cringe each time the weather station declares a snowfall warning. Stress sets in and then stress is followed by panic!

"I have to go to work tomorrow and I just know my daycare is going to be closed now due to snow! Ugh! What am I going to do? I better start making phone calls and see who can take my
kids for the day. Or else I’ll be phoning work and losing pay, not good!"

Sound familiar?

Well, not if you are registered at one of our Jolly Giant Childcare Centres! Bring on the snow! More snow means more fun for our childcare providers and your children!

Schools are closed, daycares are closed, we are… OPEN!

We understand that we are an important and essential service for many families in our community who need to go to work, regardless of weather conditions. We know that if we shut down we are creating quite a stress and disservice to the families who rely on us each day to care for their children.
You can count on our doors to be open, our lights to be on, and our staff awaiting your child’s arrival in a warm and fun environment, ready for perfect snowy day fun!

We always encourage those families who can stay, to stay home, due to safety and road conditions. But, we know that some families don’t have this choice and we ensure that we are here to support that need.

Now, we know that some people will choose to disagree with this decision…

"I think it’s wrong to put your staff at risk just to stay open."
We understand and 100% support any staff who choose to stay home due to road conditions. If they are unable to find reliable and safe transportation then we recommend that they put their safety first and stay home.

And we understand that some of you may be concerned…

"How can you maintain ratios if your staff can’t all make it into work?"

We always advice any families that can stay home, to stay home. We also find that most often staff will find reliable transportation to come to work and therefore staff- child ratios are lower than any typical day.

"What if conditions worsen through the day, are we expected to pick up our child?"
No, we leave that decision up to the families, as long as you will be able to pick up at your designated contract time safely.

"What if I’m not a registered family of Jolly Giant but I need to go to work and find childcare for my child?"
Each child does need to be registered, it only takes a short time to fill out the paperwork, so give us a call and if we have space we will sign you up!

So, if panic is setting in and you are watching the weather channel every evening on the edge of your seat…
If you are dreading the snowfall warning and the early morning scramble to find care, so you can go to work, we ask you why? Why put yourself through that type of stress from October until May?
Contact us today! Choose Jolly Giant Childcare as your family’s childcare provider and ensure that you have reliable and consistent childcare every day! Regardless of weather conditions!

Then you can smile and let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Sharing Christmas Traditions

Traditions….

In the eyes of a child, Christmas is the most magical time of year. As adults, this magic is somewhat clouded with the hustle and bustle of shopping, baking, decorating, visiting and long to-do lists. However, we need to be reminded what this season is all about. We need to remember to make sure the magic of Christmas is not lost for our children.

Traditions are a special way of ensuring the magic stays close to our hearts and our families during such a busy time of year. Traditions are a way of reminding us that our children are only little for such a short time and it is important to create special memories that they will not only carry on in their lives but possibly generations to come.

These special times also enable us to take a breath during the month of December and really enjoy the magic through our children’s eyes! Seeing the smiles and sparkle in their eyes during these times, those are the memories we will carry throughout our lives.

The wonderful thing about traditions is that it doesn’t have to be a big production! It doesn’t have to be a big, thought out plan. It’s just about creating moments between the people you love that you look forward to sharing each year.

Here are just a few ideas…

• Donating gently used clothing and non-perishable food to families in need
• Going to a tree farm to cut down your own tree
• Baking goodies to deliver to neighbours or a seniors home
• Making a gingerbread house and drinking cider or cocoa
• Visiting Santa
• Writing a letter to Santa together, reminding your child to also think of others in their letter
• New individual tree ornament for each year, make sure to write the year on it!
• Attend a Christmas Eve church service for caroling and fellowship
• Get into your pajamas, make some hot chocolate and hop in the car to go in search of Christmas lights!
• Watch a favourite Christmas movie together
• Make a special hand-made gift for grandparents
• Make cookies to leave out for Santa and reindeer food for Rudolph
• Go for a walk on Christmas Eve, try to spy Rudolph’s nose!
• Track Santa on Norad Tracks Santa!
• Give your child a box of candy canes as you decorate the house, let them put them wherever they can find a place to hang them, you may be surprised!
• Make gingerbread playdough! (see previous post)
• Save a few favourite recipes that you only make during the Christmas season
• Use Christmas mugs on Christmas morning
• Rock around the Christmas tree to your favourite Christmas CD while decorating the tree
• Create bird feeders out of pinecones to give the birds a special gift
• Use candy canes to stir your hot chocolate, mmmm minty!
• Have special Christmas pajamas or socks to wear at Christmas
• Make a Christmas Pickle for the tree and follow the historical tradition!
• Make or buy a special little beaded spider for the tree and talk about the Legend of the Christmas spider, on Christmas Eve when the children have gone to bed, hang tinsel on the tree for tem to discover Christmas morning!
• Make your own stockings to hang
• Have a special advent calendar to count down the days together

There really are so many wonderful ways to create Christmas memories, we would love to hear about the special traditions your family has during the Christmas season! Please feel free to share in the comment section of this post :)

Gingerbread Playdough

This activity will have your home smelling
like Christmas in no time! So fun!

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 tbsp vegetable oil
cinnamon, allspice, ginger and nutmeg

In a saucepan mix the dry ingredients together. Add spices to the smell you like. Mix water and oil together. Add them to the dry ingredients and stir. Cook the mixture for two or three minutes stirring. The dough will clump together and pull away from the sides of the pan. Take the dough out of the pan and knead it until it becomes soft and smooth. Allow to cool and store in an air tight container

Christmas Songs and Fingerplays!

Tried and true non-traditional favourite Christmas Songs and Fingerplays!

Reindeer Pokie (Sung To: Hokey Pokey)
You put your antlers in,
you put your antlers out,
you put your antlers in,
then you shake the,em all about.

You do the reindeer pokie
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your hooves in,
you put your hooves out,
you put your hooves in,
then you shake the,em all about.

You do the reindeer pokie
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your tail in,
you put your tail out,
you put your tail in,
Then you shake the,em all about.

You do the reindeer pokie
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your red nose in,
you put your red nose out,
you put your red nose in,
then you shake the,em all about.

You do the reindeer pokie
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your whole self in,
you put your whole self out,
you put your whole self in,
then you shake the,em all about.

You do the reindeer pokie
And you turn yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

Way up High on the Christmas Tree Way up high on the Christmas tree (Point up)
Two little candy canes winked at me (wink),
So I shook that tree as hard as I could (pretend to shake tree)
And down dropped those candy canes (squat down)
Mmm, Mmm, Good!! (Rub Tummy)

Little Reindeer One little, two little, three little reindeer
Four little, five little, six little reindeer
Seven little, eight little, nine little reindeer
Pulling Santa's Sleigh

Five Little Christmas Trees Five little Christmas Trees (Hold up Five Fingers),
Standing all alone
Their hearts were very sad (Make Sad Face)
'Cause they hadn't found a home
Then chop went the axe (chopping)
And down fell the tree (clap)
And off she went with a happy family! (Make Happy Face)

Four little Christmas Trees (Hold up Four Fingers),
Standing all alone
Their hearts were very sad (Make Sad Face)
'Cause they hadn't found a home
Then chop went the axe (chopping)
And down fell the tree (clap)
And off she went with a happy family! (Make Happy Face)

Three little Christmas Trees (Hold up Three Fingers),
Standing all alone
Their hearts were very sad (Make Sad Face)
'Cause they hadn't found a home
Then chop went the axe (chopping)
And down fell the tree (clap)
And off she went with a happy family! (Make Happy Face)

Two little Christmas Trees (Hold up Two Fingers),
Standing all alone
Their hearts were very sad (Make Sad Face)
'Cause they hadn't found a home
Then chop went the axe (chopping)
And down fell the tree (clap)
And off she went with a happy family! (Make Happy Face)

One little Christmas Trees (Hold up One Fingers),
Standing all alone
Her heart was very sad (Make Sad Face)
'Cause she hadn't found a home
Then chop went the axe (chopping)
And down fell the tree (clap)
And off she went with a happy family! (Make Happy Face)

No little Christmas Trees
Standing all alone
Their hearts were very happy
'Cause they all found a home

Five Little Bells Five little bells hanging in a row.
The first one said, "Ring me slow."
The second one said, "Ring me fast."
The third one said, "Ring me last."
The fourth one said, "I'm a chime."
The fifth one said, "Ring me at Christmas time."
The sixth one said, "Ring me with the others."
The seventh one said, "Ring me for the mothers."
The eighth one said, "Ring me with a song."
The ninth one said, "Ring me all day long."

Two Very ‘Cool’ Ice Crystal Projects!

The first of these two awesome projects is not edible, as it uses soap. However the second of these ‘ice crystal’ experiments is edible, yummy! Both projects require adult help as they deal with boiling water. If you are planning on doing both projects, we strongly suggest labeling the jars clearly as to which one is edible and which on is not.

1^st Project – Borax Ice Crystal Snowflakes!

You will need:
Borax soap (found in laundry section of grocery stores)
Boiling water
Pipe Cleaners
Food coloring (optional)
Wide mouth jar
A pencil
A piece of string

Instructions: Make the snowflake shape. Cut a pipe cleaner into three equal sections. Twist the sections together at their centers to form a six-sided snowflake shape. The snowflake will need to fit inside the jar.
Tie the string to the end of one of the snowflake arms. Tie the other end of the string to the pencil. You want the length to be such that the pencil hangs the snowflake into the jar.
Fill the wide mouth jar with boiling water.
Add borax one tablespoon at a time to the boiling water, stirring to dissolve after each addition. (The amount used is 3 tablespoons borax per cup of water.)
You can tint the mixture with food color.
Hang the pipe cleaner snowflake into the jar so that the pencil rests on top of the jar and the snowflake is completely covered with liquid and hangs freely (not touching the bottom of the jar).
Allow the jar to sit overnight, do not lift or move the snowflake during this time.
Approx. 24 hours you will see spectacular crystals!

Ice Crystal Project #2 – The Edible one!

You Will Need:1 1/2 cups of white sugar (possibly more)
3/4 cup of water
Small saucepan
Tall glass or jar
Piece of clean cotton string or thread
A pencil

Instructions:
Pour the water into the saucepan and bring to a boil.
Pour the sugar into the water and stir until no more of the sugar will dissolve (you will still be able to see little grains of sugar floating around at the bottom of the pan). If all of the sugar dissolves at first, add a little more until you can't get any more to dissolve when you stir it.
Keep cooking the liquid and stirring it until it is clear, but not for more than 5 minutes, or it will get too hot and turn into hard candy!
Turn off the stove when it starts to look clear.
Pour the sugar water into the glass or jar, but go slowly to make sure that none of the undissolved sugar from the bottom of the pan goes into the glass. Fill the glass about 2/3 full. (You might have enough for two glasses.) Add food coloring if desired.
Dip the string into the solution so that half of the string is coated. Take the string out and let it dry. It doesn’t take long
Once the string has dried, tie the clean end around a pencil and put the dipped end back into the glass of sugar water solution, balancing the pencil across the rim of the glass. Make sure the string does not touch the bottom or the sides of the glass, or your crystals will not form right!
Carefully move your glass to a place where it won’t be touched. Check it each day to watch the crystals grow. Within a few days, you should start to see a few crystals growing on the string. In approx. one week, you will probably have a lot of crystals on your string.
When your piece of ice candy is as big as you want it to be, take it out of the glass and hang it in a clean glass to dry. Then you can take the pencil off, cut the extra string off, and enjoy eating your sugar crystals off the string!