Tillsonburg Little School

Summer Fun in the Owl Room (Preschool)

We have been busy in the Owl Room at Tillsonburg Little School these past few weeks. We enjoyed a couple fun trips to the Splash Pad! The children loved trying out the different water stations and playing on the climbers and swings in the park too. At the centre we have enjoyed lots of cool bubble and water activities outdoors as well as some science experiments. In our classroom we are excitedly waiting for our monarch caterpillar to come out of its chrysalis as a beautiful butterfly! We are also looking forward to graduation as we get ready for kindergarten ("big school") :)

Welcome to the Penguin Room’s Campsite! 🏕️🎣

Our dramatic play center was transformed into a campsite allowing the Penguins to be creative in their imaginative play.

The Penguins were seen setting up the camp by placing the camping chairs in different locations, making a fire, cooking food for each other, comparing foot prints, and catching fish.

While catching their fish, this helped foster their hand eye coordination by using fishing rods with hooks to loop onto the fish. They also used a ruler to measure the fish, introducing simple math as they were measuring, counting and comparing.

This also allowed them to demonstrate their sense of expression as they communicated their ideas through role playing, story telling as they connected the center to their own personal experiences or stories they have heard and their own conversations. The Penguins were able to learn from each other and create new ideas from everyone’s experiences and thoughts.

We took the opportunity to allow the children to make and taste test their own s’mores!

We had such a fun afternoon having the ice cream truck come to our school!! 🍦🍦❤️
Thanks so much Suppa Swirls for coming today and letting us have some super delicious ice cream!!

🍪 If You Give a Toddler a Cookie... 🍪

Today our toddlers enjoyed a sweet literacy adventure inspired by the story If You Give a Mouse a Cookie! 📚❤️
After reading the book together, we talked about the story and all of the fun events that happened when the little mouse was given a cookie.
The children then put their creativity to work by making their own chocolate chip cookies using paper plates and construction paper. They carefully glued on each "chocolate chip," practicing their fine motor skills while creating their own unique masterpieces.

To finish our special activity, everyone got to enjoy a real chocolate chip cookie as a yummy treat! 🍪 Seeing the story come to life made the experience even more meaningful and memorable for the children.

Activities like this help foster a love of reading while encouraging creativity, language development, and hands-on learning through play.
We had so much fun creating, learning, and, of course, enjoying a delicious cookie together! 💙🍪📖

July has been full of summer fun! We started the month off with Canada activities and lots of water play with all the hot weather. Not only have we done lots of cool water activities in our sensory tables, we also got a new splash pad for our park! There is so much learning that we see happening with water play - children build gross and fine motor skills, see cause-and-effect, and begin to learn math and science concepts. To go along with that we have been doing lots of arts, crafts, and sensory activities centred around ocean life. We are looking forward to all the fun and learning August holds!

🐦🌿 Nature Right Outside Our Window! 🌿🐿️

Our little friends have been absolutely loving our new window bird feeders! Each day, the children eagerly gather by the window to watch birds and squirrels stop by for a snack. There have been so many exciting moments as they point, smile, wave, and observe our furry and feathered visitors up close. It’s become one of our favourite parts of the day!

These special moments encourage curiosity, observation, and a growing appreciation for nature. As the children watch the animals, they are building attention and focus, developing language skills by naming what they see and sharing their excitement, and learning that living things have needs, such as food and shelter. Watching the birds and squirrels come and go also supports early cause-and-effect understanding, as the children begin to recognize that filling the feeders brings visitors to our window.

We can’t wait to see who comes to visit next! 🐦🐿️💚

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🍋💛 Freshly Squeezed Fun! 💛🍋

Our toddlers had a wonderful time making their very own lemonade! The children helped squeeze real lemons, watched the juice drip into the pitcher, and observed how the ingredients came together to create a refreshing drink. They were excited to explore the lemons up close, feeling their bumpy texture, smelling their fresh scent, and even bravely tasting them! The sour reactions brought lots of smiles, laughter, and curiosity as the children experienced the different flavours.

This hands-on activity supported many important developmental skills. As the children squeezed the lemons, they strengthened their fine motor skills and hand muscles. Exploring the lemons through touch, smell, and taste encouraged sensory development and helped them learn about the world using their senses. The experience also supported language development as children used words, gestures, and facial expressions to communicate their thoughts and reactions. Making lemonade together encouraged curiosity, participation, and a sense of accomplishment as the children helped create something they could enjoy together.

There were plenty of puckered faces, happy smiles, and meaningful learning moments as we explored lemons and made our own delicious lemonade! 🍋✨🥤

A little rain never stops these ducklings from having fun 🐥🌧️🌈🌦️❤️

The Penguin Room has been taking care of some tadpoles for the last 3 weeks!

Through observation, discussion, and songs we will encourage the children to ask questions, make predictions, and learn to care for nature and living things. Caring for the tadpoles will also help teach responsibility, patience, and respect for the environment.

So far the children have observed that they were “tiny” when we first received them and have since gotten abit bigger. We have been using magnifying glasses to take a closer look to see if their legs have started to come out. We will start preparing for a bigger tank for them soon!

We have been taking turns helping to feed the tadpoles and change the water.

We can’t wait to see more of the changes that start happening over the next couple weeks! 🐸