Joyful Noise Children's Center

🌱Garden Adventures with the Hedgehogs! 🌱

Our Hedgehogs class was a HUGE help in the garden today!

They helped water our flower beds, and we were excited to spot some flowers beginning to sprout! 🌼✨ We also spent time in our large garden where each child had the opportunity to plant a vegetable plant of their choice.

The kids chose from cucumber plants, tomato plants, pepper plants, and even a ground cherry plant! 🍅🥒🫑🍒

They did an amazing job digging holes, gently loosening the roots, and planting each plant deep into the soil. The best part? The children were so knowledgeable about the plants that it felt like they were teaching us teachers! 😊

Now we can't wait to watch our plants grow tall and climb our beautiful trellis throughout the summer. 🌿☀️ We are so proud of our little gardeners and all of their hard work!

BIG changes are happening in our garden area! 🌱☀️

Miss Alissa and Mrs. Leslie have been hard at work the last few days moving our BIG garden from outside the playground to inside the playground in hopes that the deer will stay away from our lovely tomatoes this year! 🍅🦌

The children also helped plant flower seeds where the old garden used to be. We will now have two new flower garden beds with some scents that may help deter the deer while also making the outside of our playground even more beautiful! 🌼

The kiddos helped plant peas and cilantro and watched Miss Alissa plant onion bulbs. We talked about how the onions and cilantro will make a yummy addition to the tacos and pork carnitas we love so much! 🌮🧅 The kids also helped water the garden after planting.

We can’t wait to watch everything grow this summer! 💚

A huge THANK YOU to Ace Hardware of Appleton for donating watering buckets and hand shovels to help support our summer garden program! 🌱☀️

The children will be so excited to use them while planting, watering, exploring nature, and learning hands-on in our outdoor spaces. We are so thankful for community support that helps make these experiences possible for our kiddos. 💚

Over the last few weeks, the kids have been watching the amazing life cycle of caterpillars right in their classrooms 🐛🦋 We are so excited to share that they finally turned into beautiful butterflies!

Last week, the children and teachers took them outside to release them back into nature and become part of the ecosystem. The kids closely admired all of their changes and loved watching them sit in the trees for a little while before they were finally ready to fly away. 💛

What a special hands-on way to learn about the butterfly life cycle and the beauty of nature!

Happy Mother’s Day to all our amazing mamas! 💐💖

We loved starting the morning with our Muffins with Mom breakfast today! 🧁☕ The kiddos had so much fun sitting with their moms, sharing a little snack, and spending some extra special time together before the busy day began. 🥰

Thank you for all the love, comfort, patience, and care you pour into your little ones every single day. We are so thankful for each and every one of you and loved getting to celebrate you this morning at Joyful Noise! 🌸💕

Another day to celebrate and appreciate our amazing teachers! 💛
A huge thank you to Simple Simon Bakery for always doing such an amazing job with the adorable decorative cookies! 🍪✨
And another big thank you to Miss Linda for stopping by and surprising the team with donuts today! 🍩 Your kindness and support mean so much to us and our staff! 💕

💖🍪 Teacher Appreciation Week has been full of so much love already! 🌮✨

Today our amazing families spoiled the staff with a taco lunch bar, sweet treats, and personalized goodie bags filled with some of each teacher’s favorite things! 🥹💐
The kindness and support you show our team truly means more than words can say. Our teachers work so hard every single day to love, guide, teach, and care for your children, and feeling appreciated by our families makes such a difference. 💛

We also have our Meet the Teacher binder out in the front lobby! If you’d like to get to know your child’s teachers a little more, feel free to stop and look through it during drop-off or pickup. 😊

Thank you for helping make our staff feel seen, celebrated, and loved this week. We are so grateful for the incredible community here at Joyful Noise! ✨🫶

🌸✨ Teacher Appreciation Week ✨🌸

This week, we celebrate our wonderful teachers who show up every single day with patience, love, and dedication. 💛

They wipe tears, celebrate milestones, teach little minds, and create a safe, happy place for our children to grow. From the big moments to the smallest ones, they truly make a difference every day.

To show just a small piece of our appreciation, our team was gifted beautiful flowers this week. 🌷 A reminder of how much they are valued and how grateful we are for everything they do.

If you see your child’s teacher this week, take a moment to say thank you… it means more than you know 💕

We are so lucky to have such an amazing team! 💫

Day 2 at the WCCAA Conference!

We kicked things off with an incredible keynote from Kristin Brey of the Point Taken Podcast. She brought such upbeat, energizing vibes while celebrating the work we do as childcare professionals. As a parent herself, she really hit home with the idea that childcare is a true PARTNERSHIP, and a powerful reminder that not everyone can do this work. What we do matters, deeply.

One of the most special moments was when she invited three amazing women to the stage who have each dedicated over 35 years to this field: Sheila Smozynski, Nancy Youngberg (Director of the Early Learning Center in Neenah, who we’re lucky to collaborate with!), and our very own Kelly!

They shared how building strong partnerships with parents is one of the most rewarding parts of this work. And to all the parents out there: YOU ARE DOING GREAT!!!

When asked what they would change in the industry, they spoke honestly about the need for better support, especially ensuring early childhood educators earn a true living wage. It was a powerful reminder that while the passion is there, continued advocacy and legislative action are essential to support the people doing this critical work every day.

Feeling inspired, grateful, and proud to be part of this field 💛