I find one of the things that really helps my daycare to run smoothly are our rhythms. The children know what day it is by the activities we do and this helps them know what's coming next so that they can feel joyous and comforted in the now. There is no rush when things are planned, they know they have plenty of time to do things with loving care. Here is some of our rhythm
Monday- gardening
On Mondays we work on the garden. We check the veggie patches progress, notice new seed, pick weeds and feed them to our chooks. Some garden activities we enjoy are planting seedlings, making plant marker tags, making bird feeders, picking flowers to bring inside, mud kitchen 'cooking'
Tuesday-Washing day
on Tuesdays we wash clothes and bedding in the morning. Children help to strip their beds and put their bedding in the washing machine. While I hang up the washing they have a basin to wash dolls clothes and a small line to hang them on (rope tied between two chairs)
In the afternoon the children draw with beeswax crayons. We often like to do this at our outdoor table as the garden and our animals make for lots of drawing inspiration
Wednesday-painting day
On Wednesday we paint. Generally we do wet on wet watercolour paintings but sometimes we paint a craft project or our garden tree stumps that we use for jumping and balancing
Thursday-baking day
On Thursday we bake a healthy treat. Some things we love to bake are bread, Honey sweetened fruit muffins, rainbow chard slice, popcorn, fresh pasta and porridge. We often base our recipes around what can be gathered from our garden or make fruit salad when fruit has been given to us by friends with abundant trees.
Friday-Polishing day/ Nature walk
On Friday morning we go for a walk to find beautiful spots around our town.
We have gotten to know the best spots for picking wild flowers, our favourite climbing trees and places to sit quietly to spot kangaroos and rabbits on the edge of town.
We take along a picnic so we may stop and savour a special place together.
In the afternoon we polish some of our favourite wooden things.We rotate weekly between polishing different wooden toys and also our wooden cutlery plates and bowls. We use home made beeswax polish, often with a hint of lavender to calm and relax us
Thank you for sharing! What a beautiful week you have set up for these little ones. I'm sure they love every minute of it.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Elizabeth
Thanks for your post. I love reading about others rhythm. I don't have much of a weekly rhythm, in terms of chores for us. Every time I create one I just don't stick to it. I need to as I'm sure it helps the week go smoothly.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Becca
It looks like a perfect week. Thanks for sharing. :)
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