The INShape Indiana fitness room at the Day Nursery State Center was converted into a family fun area earlier this week in celebration of the Chinese New Year. Activities included a writing area where children could practice writing Chinese characters and a dramatic play area complete with pretend tea, sushi and soy sauce. Thanks to Assistant Center Director Amy Cavin for sharing these photos.
Please join us in welcoming Sarah Ferguson to the Day Nursery Association senior management staff. Sarah started Monday as our Director of Development taking over for Beth Rodriguez who is relocating to Bloomington. Sarah comes to us from the Riley Children’s Foundation where she served as a Riley Society Gift Officer. During her career she also worked for the Alzheimer’s Association, Greater Indiana Chapter, as Development Director for six years. Sarah has been an active volunteer in our community with affiliations to Junior League of Indianapolis, United Senior Action, Community Health Charities, and A Caring Place – Adult Day Service. Sarah is married and has two young children. She can be reached at (317) 636-9197 ext. 240 or sarahf@daynursery.org.
The Chinese New Year kicked off Monday with celebrations around the world.
At Day Nursery, the activities varied by center with many classrooms using the holiday to expand the children’s knowledge of different cultures.
The three year olds at the Ruth A. Lilly Day Nursery Center, 3522 N. Central helped prepare fried rice in their classroom and then tried their hand at using chop sticks. Thanks to Center Director Shannon Garrity for sharing these pictures.
The Souper Bowl of Caring uses the energy around our nation’s biggest sporting event to mobilize and inspire youth to fight hunger and poverty. Because one of the important lessons we share with all Day Nursery children is caring for others, and because Indy is hosting the “big game,” we thought 2012 would be the perfect year to launch the Souper Bowl of Caring in all our centers. The teachers at each Day Nursery center have identified a local charity to benefit from their collections. Our children are encouraged to bring in coins from their piggy bank and canned food items to support a local food pantry.
The Day Nursery Federal Center has elected to help Tackle Hunger in partnership with the Metro Baptist Center food pantry at 952 N. Pennsylvania Street, a short walk from our Federal Center. In a typical month, the emergency food pantry serves 400 to 500 people. We will accepting donations at our centers for the Souper Bowl of Caring through Friday, February 3.
Happy Chinese New Year from the 3-year-old class at the Day Nursery Federal Center. Ms. Diane Taylor‘s preschoolers practiced eating with chop sticks as they learned about different foods eaten to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Ms. Tamika Lasley’s Preschool 3 classroom at the Day Nursery Northwest Center in Indy’s Park 100 area is working on solid versus liquid experiments with their winter theme. Ms. Tamika and her assistant Mr. Aaron Highbaugh working with the students to chop away the ice that formed around random toys from their classroom during an experiment. They are working on science, fine motor skills, problem solving and cooperative learning techniques. Thanks to Assistant Center Director Deanna Saylor for sharing these pictures today. To find out more about enrolling your child in this center, call 317-291-8048.
Hat Day fun in Mr. Tim's preschool class at Day Nursery State Government Center
Last week the Preschool 1 class at our Day Nursery Federal Center downtown Indianapolis read 10 Little Rubber Ducks by Eric Carle. Their teacher, Ms. Kesha Booth told the children about the true incident that inspired the book. In 2003 a shipment of rubber ducks and other bathtub toys fell overboard from a cargo ship and washed up on shores all around the world. The children and their teacher discussed how the ocean is really cold in certain places, and much warmer in other parts. They decided to see what would happen if they put their ducks in water in the freezer. They were quite concerned when the ducks were “stuck” in the ice when they took them out. They then watched the ice melt as they let warm water run over the ducks from the faucet.
Preparing the ducks for their trip to the freezer
Ms. Kesha gets the ducks settled into the freezer in the teacher's lounge
The children even used binoculars to explore the ducks in their frozen state
A little warm water helped set the ducks free
The wind chill made it too cold to go outside on Friday but these toddlers at the Day Nursery Hendricks County Early Care and Education Center in Avon got to play with the snow anyway. Center Director Joy McCall reported that the color of the week in the Toddler 2 classroom was purple so their teacher added red and blue to the snow in the sensory table and the children mixed the colors to make purple.
This Sunday is National Hat Day so the Day Nursery Federal Center Preschool 1 class of Ms. Kesha & Ms. Brittany got into the celebration early. This center currently has a few openings for children ages 2 1/2 through 5. Call Sarah Parks, Center Director for a tour 226-5487. This center is open to the public and is located at 575 N. Pennsylvania.
The Day Nursery Indianapolis Early Edition 