Tiny Turtles Daycare

🎨 "What colour can you make?"

Today we explored colour mixing using droppers, measuring cylinders, beakers, and coloured water.

Before we began, we talked about primary colours and made predictions about what might happen when colours were combined. The children quickly discovered that a few drops can create entirely new colours!

What looked like simple play was actually rich with learning. Children were experimenting, making observations, solving problems, developing fine motor skills, and testing their theories through hands-on exploration.

One of my favourite moments was watching children return to the table again and again, completely engaged in their investigations.

Play, curiosity, wonder, and science all mixed together. 💧🌈

🌼 A small flower with a big job.

Yesterday the children planted marigolds in our garden. While their bright colours bring beauty to the space, marigolds also help attract pollinators and beneficial insects.

As our garden grows, the children will have opportunities to observe changes over time, care for living things, and discover the many connections between plants, insects, weather, and food.

Today we paused to admire one of our newest garden residents, sparkling with raindrops after a morning shower. 🌧️🌼

It was just a piece of wood...

Today, a small piece of wood with a fly on it turned into a big learning moment.

One child was excited to show it to her sister. Another child, not realizing, knocked the fly off.

Big feelings followed.

But instead of stepping in to fix it, I stayed close and watched something powerful happen…

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know what it was.”
“I wanted to show her, I’m really sad.”

They used their words.
They listened.
They worked through it together.

A few minutes later, they were back to playing.
These are the moments where real learning happens. 🌿

Deep play isn’t loud. It’s focused.

Today the children returned after a long weekend needing movement, connection, and time to settle back into our rhythm.

We slowed down and offered open-ended invitations: 🌿 building nests and caring for “baby birds”
🌿 exploring materials through hands-on sensory play
🌿 creating, constructing, and testing ideas

What looks simple on the surface is actually complex learning: – problem solving
– cooperation and negotiation
– fine motor development
– imaginative storytelling

Most importantly… they had the time to stay in it.
No rushing. No interruptions. Just space to think, create, and connect.

That’s where the real learning happens.

Natural Dye Exploration

Today we explored how everyday materials can transform.

Using turmeric, beets, and red cabbage, we created natural dyes and observed the changes as the colours developed. The children watched closely as eggs were lowered into each jar, noticing how time, temperature, and material affected the outcome.

This experience invited curiosity, patience, and prediction — what colour will it become?

Exploring wax and water

Today the children explored how different materials respond to water.

Using oil pastels, crayons, and watercolor pencil crayons, they first filled their papers with colour. When watercolor was brushed over top, something interesting happened. The wax resisted the paint, allowing the colours and marks underneath to remain visible.

The children watched closely as the water moved across the page, noticing where it soaked in and where it pushed away.

A simple invitation to explore materials can lead to rich discoveries.

Our Outdoor Classroom

One of the guiding ideas in a Reggio-inspired program is that the environment becomes the third teacher.
Children deserve spaces that invite curiosity, creativity, and collaboration.

Our outdoor classroom is designed so children can move freely between different areas of exploration:
• an art studio for painting, collage, and mark making
• building and engineering spaces with loose parts
• dramatic and imaginative play areas
• quiet places for observation and focused work
• open materials that can become anything a child imagines

Rather than directing play, the environment offers invitations. A train track becomes a city. A ramp becomes a racetrack. A piece of chalk becomes a story on the ground.

When children have access to thoughtful materials and space to explore, learning unfolds naturally through play, conversation, and discovery.