Nett's Family Daycare.

This will be my last post on this site as I’m retiring. I have been an educator for over 30 years and I have cared for, loved and provided a safe learning environment for so many children. I loved my job and the children I cared for but it’s now time for me to move on. It has been the most rewarding job a person could have. What other job can you have where you are trusted to care for and love the most important thing in a parents world. Thankyou to all the wonderful families who have allowed me to love, care for and educate their children. Nett❤️

Our gingerbread house is looking good. It’s been a huge hit with all the children, especially our 11 month old.

The children are having a ball exploring our gingerbread house. So much giggling and excitement. The children are slowly decorating it with their wonderful Christmas artwork.

First thing on a Monday morning and this 11 month old boy has decided to explore our recyclables. He’s having so much fun checking everything out.

Well I’ve made our cardboard gingerbread house. Now it’s up to the children to decorate it with their art work and to have fun playing in it.

We saved the scraps from making yesterdays Christmas wreath and we cut them up into little pieces to use for today’s pasting. We drew the letters to this little boys name and he pasted the pieces onto them. We cut them out and laminated them to make his very own name puzzle. He was so excited as he sat there figuring out where each piece belonged. We talked about the letters in his name and the similarities in some of the pieces. He was able to complete the puzzle on his own.

Christmas is nearly here and we all celebrate it in different ways. My parents are from Holland and we grew up with wonderful Dutch traditions in our home. Today is Sinterklaas (St Nicholas eve) and I thought you might like to read how we celebrate it.

Christmas in The Netherlands

For most children in The Netherlands, the most important day during December is 5th December, when Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas) brings them their presents!
St. Nicholas' Day is on the 6th December, but in The Netherlands, the major celebrations are held on the 5th December, St. Nicholas' Eve. The name Santa Claus comes from the name Sinterklaas.
It all starts on the second Saturday of November (the first Saturday after 11th November) when Sinterklaas travels to a city or town in The Netherlands. Dutch tradition says that St. Nicholas lives in Madrid, Spain and every year he chooses a different harbour to arrive in The Netherlands, so as many children as possible get a chance to see him.
Sinterklass travels with his servants called 'Zwarte Pieten' ('Black Peters'). When Sinterklaas and the Black Peters come ashore from the steam boat, all of the local church bells ring in celebration. Sinterklaas, dressed in his red robes, leads a procession through the town, riding a white horse. Every town in The Netherlands has a few Sinterklaas helpers, dressed the same as Sinterklaas who help give the presents out. (And sometimes you might one see one or more Zwarte Pieten with Sinterklaas!)
Children are told that the Zwarte Pieten keep a record of all the things they have done in the past year in a big book. Good children will get presents from Sinterklaas, but bad children will be put in a sack and the Zwarte Pieten take them to Spain for a year to teach them how to behave!
On the evening that Sinterklaas arrives in The Netherlands, children leave a shoe out by the fireplace or sometimes a windowsill and sing Sinterklaas songs. They hope that Sinterklaas will come during the night with some presents. They also believe that if they leave some hay and carrots in their shoes for Sinterklaas's horse, they will be left some sweets or small presents. They're told that, during the night, Sinterklaas rides on the roofs on his horse and that a 'Zwarte Piet' will then climb down the chimney (or through a window) and put the presents and/or candy in their shoes.
In many families the children are told that Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet make a weekly visit, so the children leave their shoe by the fireplace or window i.e. every Saturday until the main Sinterklaas party on 5th December.
The evening of December 5th is called St. Nicholas’ Eve 'Sinterklaasavond' or 'Pakjesavond' (present evening). The children will receive their presents during the evening. There might be a knock at the door and you might find a sack full of presents!
Sinterklaas parties are often held on St. Nicholas' Eve (5th), where treasure hunt games are played with poems and riddles giving the clues. Children follow the clues to find little presents left by Sinterklaas. Special biscuits and sweets are also eaten at the party. One type of biscuit is called 'letter blanket' or 'banketletter' (meaning letter cake), which is made from marzipan or pastry. The biscuits are made in the shapes of the first letter of the peoples names who are at the party. Another sweet biscuit that is eaten at the parties are 'pepernoot' which are made with cinnamon and spices in the pastry biscuit mix.

How beautiful is this Christmas wreath that one of the children made with a little help from me. First he had fun painting using gold, red and green paint and then we traced his hand and cut the hands out of his paintings he had done. Then he stuck the hands on a paper plate that had the centre cut out of it, and lastly we stapled a blue bow onto his wreath. He was so happy with the end result and he’s so excited to take it home and show his mum and dad.

Our Christmas sensory tray is great for little investigators.

The children enjoy changing the Christmas decorations on our tree we made. We talk about sizes, colours, what they are and we counted them. All this learning and the children are just having fun. Our little 10mth old enjoyed exploring all the decorations.