Mimi's House Family Childcare

I encourage you to take a moment and be inspired by these 2 short videos on the topic of play. They are both fabulous. “Watch Children Play” reminds me very much of our program, as our days are full of joyful play that follows the children’s interests.

Introducing “Let Us Play” Video Shorts Let Us Play is a video-based advocacy effort committed to informing those who care for children about the magic of play. This is accomplished by capturing authentic examples of children engaged in free and guided play and through interviews with researchers, teachers and academics who share their pe...

“To nurture a garden is to feed not just the body, but the soul."
💚🍃-Alfred Austin

🍎Mark your calendar! The 2026 Michigan Apple Crunch will be celebrated on Thursday, October 15! 🍎
Look for the Crunch registration to be released in August along with an *updated* Crunch Guide and *new* Michigan Apple Crunch resources. Please make sure to follow the Michigan Apple Crunch page for the latest updates and to post pictures of your Crunch when you celebrate on October 15th.
We’re grateful to Michigan Apples for partnering with Michigan State University Extension and the Michigan Farm to Institution Networkto support the Crunch this year!

"If children don't grow up knowing about nature and appreciating it, they will not understand it. If they do not understand nature, they will not protect it."
🍃-Sir David Attenborough

Words do not always do justice to the joyful, nature-connected adventures these children share each day while here. There is a beauty in it that feels magical. I’m grateful and honored to be such an important part of their early childhood.💚

💚Our Picasso melon taste test had all thumbs up!
“I think there’s over a thousand seeds!”
💚Repurposed pool noodles were added to our Construction Zone. The children soon used them to pretend to be alligators. You can guess who the alligators were chasing!😂❤️
💚Broccoli and red cabbage were added to one of our new garden beds.
💚We harvested salad greens and dragon tail radish from our Kitchen Garden to enjoy with lunch.
💚We added a thrifted spinning object. I’m really not sure what the original use was. But I cleaned it and we put rocks inside. The children love the spinning motion.
💚Watercolor process art
“I made a red moon. I saw one before.”

Monday a wonderful videographer visited our outdoor classroom for an interview. I will share more on that after the video is complete and posted elsewhere. I will just say, it was such an honor and had me smiling all week as I thought of the word “community”.
Our program was closed this week, but even then I feel the way the community uplifts and supports our program. This week:

💚A dear friend of mine gifted us a beautiful little bench for our outdoor classroom.
💚A community member gifted us garden items, and even included Merigold seeds from her own garden.
💚A retiring ECE gave us a spider themed learning set, which included a very cool tarantula exoskeleton.
💚We added a darling bumblebee hopping toy that was from a community member in our local Buy Nothing group.
💚A community organization employee is taking the time out of her busy day to have a Zoom with me later this afternoon on the topic of Farm-to-ECE.

I am grateful.❤️

🍃Littler explorers giggled in the sunshine during their bunny tea party themed picnic breakfast.
🍃One of the children’s grandmothers gifted us gem corn seeds. This morning the children sowed their seeds and gave the soil a good watering.
🍃 Children have been bringing in vegetables throughout the week. Today they chopped up, dumped, and stirred as they prepared for their friendship soup that was served with today’s lunch.