Little Sprouts Early Learning CDH

07/28/2026

Yesterday was an incredible day of STEM learning thanks to the Iowa Governor's STEM Scale-Up Program and the Iowa Regents Center for Early Developmental Education! 🚗✨

We spent the afternoon immersed in ramps and pathways, playing, experimenting, and tackling challenges that ranged from simple setups with one ramp, one block, and two objects to more complex designs featuring jumps, switchbacks, and even figuring out how to make objects roll UP an incline. Some of those challenges really had us scratching our heads, testing theories, making adjustments, and trying again. The problem-solving, persistence, and critical thinking that happened today were exactly the kinds of learning experiences I can't wait to bring back to my Little Sprouts kiddos!

And the best part? We came home with so many amazing new materials to explore, with even more on the way! 🎉

My students are going to be SO excited today. Thankfully, the weather looks a little cooler because we're going to have a lot to unpack, and investigate. I came home with new ramps, and lots of other exciting materials build, and discover. Over the next few weeks we'll also be welcoming a brand-new Community Playthings block shelf, and fresh set of unit blocks, that will support STEM learning, creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving through play.

And don't worry—our current unit blocks already have a new home lined up! Once our new set arrives, the blocks that have been loved by generations of Little Sprouts children will be headed to a West Liberty preschool classroom, where they're sure to make a whole new group of kiddos very happy. 💚

I am beyond grateful for opportunities like this that bring high-quality materials and professional learning directly into early childhood classrooms. The future engineers, architects, inventors, and problem-solvers in Little Sprouts are about to have a whole lot of fun! 🌱🛤️🏗️

07/02/2026

Well... look what finally decided to show up. 😂👏

After months of stalking the delivery updates, our pebble harp is officially HOME! 🎶🪨

Was I a little too excited to open the box? Absolutely. Do we already need more pebbles? Also yes. 😂 The roof and tray are still hanging out on the wish list, but thanks to the Growing Iowa Grant covering a big chunk of the cost, this beauty is finally part of our outdoor classroom!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be over here pretending I'm setting it up "for the kids"... when really I'm the first one who wants to play with it. 🤷‍♀️🌿💚

06/22/2026

🍓☀️ Make It Monday! ☀️🍓

Today marked our first official Summer Make It Monday, and the school-age crew jumped right in by helping make homemade energy balls for our afternoon snack!

There were measuring cups flying from one end of the table to the other, ingredients that didn't always make it into the bowl, plenty of laughs, some pretty goofy looks, and just enough mess to keep things interesting. 😂

While it may have looked like we were simply making a snack, the children were actually practicing a wide variety of skills. Cooking activities help develop math skills through measuring and counting, literacy skills through following directions, fine motor skills through mixing and rolling, and social-emotional skills through teamwork, communication, and problem-solving. 🥣📏🔢

The best part? The children were engaged from start to finish because they were creating something meaningful that they could share with their friends. Experiences like these help build confidence, independence, and a positive relationship with healthy foods.

Now comes the moment of truth...will the energy balls be a hit at snack time, or will I hear 17 different versions of "I don't like it" before anyone even takes a bite? 🤣🤷‍♀️

Either way, there were lots of laughs, lots of learning, and memories made along the way. I'd call that a successful Make It Monday! ❤️

🍓☀️🥣💚

06/22/2026

☀️🌿 Happy Monday! 🌿☀️

It was a busy weekend with very little downtime, but we survived and are ready to make the most of this week! 💪☕ After another VERY rainy day yesterday, Mother Nature finally decided to cooperate. Today was absolutely gorgeous, even if our outdoor classroom is currently somewhere between "nature playground" and "swamp adventure." 😂🌧️➡️🌞

We spent several hours outside this morning, enjoyed lunch in the fresh air, and then headed indoors for nap time because the mud was winning the battle. The kiddos were excited to check out our new outdoor lounge chair, spending time reading books, relaxing, and enjoying a cozy literacy experience in nature. 📚🍃 Research continues to show that outdoor learning environments support language development, creativity, problem-solving, and social-emotional growth—and honestly, they are just more fun too! ❤️

The school-age girls also stepped into leadership roles today by creating an obstacle course for the younger children. 💪🏃‍♀️🌿 They worked together to plan the course, test it out, make adjustments, and then guide their younger friends through each challenge. Activities like this help build leadership, communication, problem-solving, and teamwork skills while giving younger children opportunities to practice balance, coordination, body awareness, and confidence. Watching children learn from and encourage one another is one of my favorite parts of mixed-age care. ❤️

The mud kitchen was busy as usual with potions, soups, and mysterious concoctions being created. 🧪🌱 One overheard conversation had me trying not to laugh:

👧 "Do you want some coffee?"

👶 "Yes!"

👦 "No! She's too young for coffee!"

👧 "It's okay...it's poison coffee." 🤣☕☠️

Thankfully, no actual coffee or poison was involved—just some excellent dramatic play, imagination, communication skills, and storytelling happening in real time. Early childhood educators call that learning. The kids call it Monday. 😂

Here's to a four-day week filled with muddy boots, outdoor adventures, creative play, and hopefully a little less rain. Other than Wednesday, the forecast looks fantastic, and we're planning to soak up every minute of it! 🌞🌿🦋

☕😂🌱

06/21/2026

🍃✨ So You Want an Outdoor Classroom? ✨🍃

What an amazing morning! Today we hosted our "So You Want an Outdoor Classroom?" training, presented through the Quality and Family Child Care Professional Engagement Groups (PEGs) with Iowa AEYC.

So often as educators, we feel the pressure to make sure children are exposed to music, math, science, literacy, art, and more each day. Unfortunately, that can sometimes lead to outdoor time being viewed as "just recess" or a chance for gross motor play. We are here to challenge that mindset because everything you do indoors can also be done outdoors! 🌿

Throughout the morning, we explored what it takes to create a meaningful outdoor classroom, from considering shade and safety to incorporating literacy, math, science, art, sensory experiences, and loose parts in outdoor learning environments. Best of all, participants got to experience it through hands-on activities rather than just listening to a presentation.

Even with a smaller group, the training was incredibly successful and so much fun. I'm always amazed at how similarly early childhood educators think! Using loose parts like twigs, pinecones, mini tiles, moss, fabric, and other natural and reclaimed materials, participants designed their own outdoor classroom models. As I listened to them describe their creations, I often knew exactly what they had built before they shared because their ideas were so creative and visual.

And let's be honest... when Taylor and Anna left me unsupervised at The Create Exchange in Cedar Rapids a few weeks ago, it was basically the equivalent of leaving a child alone in a candy store! 😂 So many incredible materials that would otherwise end up in a landfill, all waiting to be transformed into learning opportunities. I may have been just a little too excited.

A huge thank you to Taylor and Anna for helping plan and facilitate this training, and to Wendy and Jillian at Iowa AEYC for trusting me to put together the slideshows. Every time we offer one of these trainings, I leave feeling energized and inspired.

Thank you to the amazing educators who sacrificed a perfectly good Saturday morning to come learn with us. As if that wasn't impressive enough, two participants even spent part of their birthdays at our training today! 🎂 Now that's dedication to early childhood education. I can't promise we had cake, but I hope the inspiration, laughter, and hands-on learning made it a pretty great way to celebrate. 😊🌿💚

I hope you left feeling as inspired as we did. Nothing excites me more than watching educators begin to see nature not as a place for "just recess and gross motor," but as a rich learning environment where children can engage all of their senses, build meaningful skills, and grow through play. 🌱💚

And if you couldn't make it today, be on the lookout as we are hoping to offer this training again soon!

🍃☀️📚🦋

06/20/2026

Questioning my sanity for starting this project at 8:00 PM on a Friday night. 😅 Two hours later, it's finished, my back may never forgive me, and I'm wondering why I didn't start it earlier... but it will be completely worth it when the kiddos see their new cozy reading spot in our outdoor classroom! 📚🌿

Another item checked off the outdoor classroom wish list! ✔️

Because apparently I don't know how to relax on a Friday night, I've also spent the evening cutting cardboard squares and prepping materials for tomorrow morning's outdoor classroom design training, presented by both the Quality and Family Childcare Professional Engagement Groups (PEGs) through Iowa AEYC.

Earlier this month, I took a trip to The Create Exchange store in Cedar Rapids and loaded up on loose parts that providers will be using to build 3D models of their outdoor classroom designs. I'm pretty excited to see what everyone comes up with. Give early childhood educators a pile of random materials and a vision, and amazing things tend to happen. 🌱✨

So while most people are spending their Friday night relaxing, I'm over here building reading nooks, cutting cardboard, and preparing for a training about outdoor classrooms. Questionable life choices? Maybe. Worth it? Absolutely. 💚

06/19/2026

06/19/2026

☀️ Another gorgeous outdoor naptime day! ☀️

While we were a little delayed getting outside this morning (not making it out until about 9:45), and our outdoor adventures were briefly interrupted by the lawn crew mowing and trimming, we simply pivoted and made the best of it. We loaded up into Big Bertha for a walk and then enjoyed some Duplo building on the deck while we waited for the yard to be ready again.

To make up for the lost outdoor time, we pushed lunch back about 30 minutes so the kiddos could enjoy some extra free play in the yard. After a delicious lunch of tacos, squash, and fresh strawberries, we cleaned up and settled in for one of my favorite parts of summer—outdoor naptime. 🌿💚

The birds are providing the perfect soundtrack, there's just enough breeze to keep everyone comfortable, and thankfully it's helping keep the bugs away too. Days like this remind me why I love our outdoor classroom so much. Nature has a way of slowing everyone down and creating the perfect environment for rest, relaxation, and sweet summer memories. 🐦🌳😴

☀️🌿💚

06/19/2026

Happy Rainy Wednesday… well, technically yesterday, Mother Nature really said “hold my weather system” 🌧️🌪️😅

We started the day with some early morning chaos after storms rolled through, and I found myself doing a full outfit change before 7:30am 🫠💃 after rescuing the recycling from the street (again… thanks wind 🙃), retrieving a water table like it was a dramatic mission 🛶, and chasing down a chair cushion before it fully moved out of state 💨😂

We rolled into the day slow with only 5 little Sprouts in attendance, which honestly felt like a calm little bubble before the energy hit 🌦️ The big kids were ready to launch straight into bounce house mode first thing 🎉🏰 but the energy was way too high to be contained, and our 1-year-old was absolutely NOT about to be left out 👀 so we did a very intentional educator pivot (aka: “we are not surviving this morning without structure” 😅)

We shifted into sensory regulation at the light table 💡🧠 with green transparent beads and insect pieces 🐛✨—calming hands, focused minds, and just enough sparkle to redirect the chaos into learning.

For our littlest friend, we created a safe sensory basket experience 🧺💚 filled with soft sensory balls perfectly sized for tiny hands—because we are not doing choking hazards AND storm-day chaos at the same time 🙃

From there, the creativity really took off ✨ fort building 🏕️ + puck lights 🔦 turned into full-on imagination engineering, teamwork, and problem-solving in action.

After lunch and a solid nap reset 😴☁️ we brought out the bounce house again 🎉 and THIS time it hit just right—energy burned, laughter loud, and everyone got that much-needed movement reset 💥💃

And I have to share this one because it absolutely made my day 😂💛

At the end of it all, my 10-year-old looked at me and said: “Mom, these kids wore me out!”

Me: “Welcome to my world!” 😌☕

Him: “You are gifted… like really truly gifted to be able to handle them!” 🥹😂💛

Rainy days, wild energy, big feelings, and lots of learning… just another day at Little Sprouts 🌿💚

06/19/2026

Happy Thursday from Little Sprouts 🌿☀️ We are this close to the weekend and I can feel it in my coffee cup and my bones 😂

Right now we are also in the middle of our very important “Dear Insects, You Are Our Friends” class unit 🐞🪲✨ because I am actively trying to prevent the daily outdoor concert of 6 children screaming in harmony every time a bug appears 😅🎶 So we are practicing gentle hands, calm voices, and reminding ourselves that bugs are part of our outdoor classroom ecosystem… even when they are unexpected roommates indoors 🙃

And let me tell you… it’s a win every single time a little human stays calm, uses gentle touches, and chooses curiosity over chaos 👏💚 Even when said “bug friend” happens to be an earwig 😵‍💫🪳 (which I personally find absolutely horrifying). I did my best to keep my educator face on, quietly process my internal panic, and still encourage calm curiosity while it crawled around like it paid rent 😌🫠 Growth mindset… for BOTH of us.

This morning brought us that perfect cool summer breeze again, but we’ve officially learned our lesson from Tuesday’s “lunch-in-the-chill” situation 🥶 so we made a smart educator move and shifted the picnic tables right into the sunshine ☀️ and added umbrellas for our little shade options. Flexible seating = outdoor classroom problem solving at its finest 😌🪑

Mother Nature is still working through her temperature mood swings, so the yard is currently a little too squishy for outdoor nap time (thanks for that, ma’am 🙃🌧️). But honestly… the kids don’t even mind. Muddy feet = happy hearts most days around here 💚

And BIG Little Sprouts news… we officially have a brand new little Sprout who joined the world on the 6th! 👶💛 He is absolutely adorable and already stealing hearts from afar. He won’t join our crew until fall, but we are over here already planning all the snuggles and welcomes 🥹🌱

The kiddos spent their day doing what they do best—exploring, playing, and fully embracing summer joy 🌈🫧 The big kids even squeezed in bounce house time during nap and let’s just say… the energy was HIGH 💥 (so high that Kai was knocked out cold by 6:00pm 😴😂 justice served).

Summer days at Little Sprouts look like sunshine, splash play, big giggles, and a whole lot of “we’re learning through PLAY” energy ☀️💦🎉 And honestly? We wouldn’t have it any other way 💚