Westlock Child Care Society

A little photo dump from some of our activities this week !!

Exploring Mehndi Art
Today, the children were invited to take part in a cultural art experience inspired by Mehndi, also known as henna art. The activity began with children tracing around their hands on paper. They then used henna cones to create their own designs inside and around the hand outline.
Some children recognized this type of art and eagerly shared their prior experiences. They talked about seeing henna designs on people’s hands at celebrations or in their families and communities. A few children connected Mehndi designs to tattoos, noticing that both can include detailed patterns and personal meaning.
The children showed great curiosity as they explored how the henna flowed from the cone. They carefully squeezed the cone, watched the lines appear on the paper, and experimented with dots, swirls, lines, and repeating patterns. Each child created a unique design, using their imagination to decide where and how to place each mark.

Water Balloon Floor Art

The children filled a large canvas with vibrant colour and creative paint prints during our Water Balloon Floor Art experience. Using water balloons as unique painting tools, they pressed, bounced, rolled, and dragged the flexible, weighted balloons across the paper to create a variety of marks, lines, and shapes.

As they explored, the children noticed how the balloons changed shape when squeezed or pushed against the canvas. They tested cause and effect by discovering that a gentle press made a soft round print, while bouncing or dragging the balloon created longer streaks and movement through the paint. Each child experimented in their own way, making choices about where to place colour and how to move their balloon across the canvas.

This open-ended art activity encouraged children to explore colour mixing, spatial awareness, and creative mark-making without needing to create a specific final product. Working on a large sheet placed on the floor also supported whole-body movement as children squatted, stretched, balanced, and reached across the canvas. Manipulating the slippery, rounded balloons strengthened hand-eye coordination and fine and gross motor control.

A fun dinosaur invitation to play! 🌴🦖🦕

A Wonderful Day at the Parade 🎉

A huge thank you to the Westlock & District Agricultural Society and to everyone who took the time to decorate a float and help make this year’s parade such a wonderful experience for the children of Westlock Child Care Society! ❤️

Over a month ago, we set a goal for our children: to walk from our program all the way to the library so they could experience the parade together with their peers. We knew it would be a big adventure, so we spent the weeks leading up to the parade preparing and practicing.

We started with walks around our neighbourhood, then ventured out to local parks and gradually increased the distance. Step by step, the children built their confidence, endurance, and excitement—and when the big day arrived, they did absolutely amazing! 👏

The children had such a wonderful time watching the parade and were incredibly excited to be part of this special community experience. Seeing their faces light up as they watched the floats go by made all of our planning and practice worthwhile. 🥰

We are so proud of their perseverance and participation, and we are grateful to our community for giving them the opportunity to make these special memories with their friends.

Thank you, Westlock, for making it such a memorable day for our children! 🎈❤️

Exploring Cause and Effect Through Splat Art

Today, the children were excited to explore cotton ball splat art. They used hammers to gently smash paint-filled cotton balls onto paper, watching closely as the paint splashed, spread, and created unique patterns.

As they experimented, the children noticed how their actions created different results. One child observed, “It’s splashing,” while another identified a colour, saying, “It’s orange.” The children continued exploring with curiosity and enthusiasm, experimenting with movement, colour, pressure, and cause and effect.

Through this experience, the children demonstrated a strong desire to seek, participate, and persist as they tried different ways of making marks and discovering what would happen next. They were actively involved in their learning and shared their observations and discoveries with others.

In celebration of the amazing space events happening today, the children at Kali’s stepped into the exciting world of space exploration. Through hands-on activities, stories, and conversations, they showed curiosity and enthusiasm as they learned about the sun, moon, stars, planets, and the vast universe beyond Earth.

The children created their own planets using round lanterns, carefully choosing colours and designs to represent the planets they were learning about. They also participated in space-themed puzzles, word searches, and bingo, developing their concentration, problem-solving skills, and new vocabulary.

During water sensory play, the children explored the idea of space in a creative and imaginative way. They experimented with floating objects, swirling colours, and pretend planets while sharing their ideas about what it might be like to travel through space.

We read different books about space and discussed the unique features of the planets. The children observed pictures of planetary alignments and talked about how the planets move through the sky. They were excited to share their knowledge, ask questions, and make connections between the activities and the space events they were learning about.

Through these experiences, the children developed their curiosity, communication skills, creativity, and understanding of the world around them. Their interest in space continues to inspire imaginative play, meaningful conversations, and a desire to discover more about our universe.

Our Yellow and Orange Sunflower rooms went for a walk in our community this morning and here are some of the artwork the children recreated from things they seen on the way!

Today the children in the Orange Sunflower Room enjoyed painting outside in a new and exciting way. Using water guns filled with coloured water, they sprayed onto paper laid out on the sidewalk and watched as their marks appear. The children were curious, engaged, and eager to experiment with different colours, distances, and spray patterns.
As they worked, the children strengthened their hand-eye coordination, gross motor control, and understanding of cause and effect. They noticed how the colour spread, mixed, and changed on the paper, which supported their early science exploration and creativity. The outdoor setting also gave them space to move freely, collaborate with peers, and enjoy a sensory-rich art experience.
This experience showed strong problem-solving and artistic expression as the children adjusted how they held the water guns and where they aimed the coloured water and how they worked to fill them back up by submerging them in buckets of coloured water. Their excitement and concentration reflected deep engagement in the process. It was a joyful invitation to explore art in a playful, active, and hands on way.

Worm Hunt Exploration
Today, the children at Kali’s embarked on an exciting outdoor adventure, a worm hunt. With curiosity and enthusiasm, they searched through the soil and carefully collected nine worms, placing them gently into various jars for observation.
As they gathered their findings, the children began to compare their worms, noticing differences in size and movement. This naturally led to an exploration of measurement. Using a ruler, they worked together to see how long each worm was, practicing early math skills such as measuring, comparing, and counting.
Throughout the experience, the children demonstrated teamwork, communication, and respect for living creatures. They handled the worms with care and showed growing awareness of the natural world around them. Conversations emerged about where worms live, what they need to survive, and why they are important for the earth.
This hands-on investigation supported the development of early numeracy skills through counting and measuring, scientific inquiry through observation and questioning, social skills through collaboration and shared discovery, and fine motor skills while carefully handling small objects.