Back to School Safety Tips

Here are some simple reminders for drivers:

• Slow down and be especially alert in the residential neighborhoods and school zones
• Take extra time to look for kids at intersections, on medians and on curbs
• Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully
• Watch for children on and near the road in the morning and after school hours
• Reduce any distractions inside your car so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings.
• Put down your phone and don’t talk or text while driving

Reminder for your kids:

• They should cross the street with an adult until they are at least 10 years old
• Cross the street at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks
• Never run out into the streets or cross in between parked cars
• Make sure they always walk in front of the bus where the driver can see them

Free on-line summer camp.

Can’t beat that. The National Center for Family Literacy, the wonderful locally based organization that brings you Wonderopolis, is now bringing a Free on-line summer camp to you and your kids. If you haven’t signed up for Wonderopolis you are missing out on one of the most entertaining and educational experiences available. Oh, did I mention it is Free? Go to Camp What-A-Wonder for the details. 

Susan A. Vessels
Executive Director
Community Coordinated Child Care (4-C)

FREE Summer StoryTime!!!

Bring the Family Out for STORYTIME!
 
Storytellers will engage audiences with
Fairy Tales & Multi-cultural Folktales!
 
We invite your family to ANY of the Storytimes listed below!
*~*All Storytimes are FREE and open to the public*~*
 
Saturday, May 19th @ Old Louisville SpringFest
10:30am-10:50am and 11:15am-11:35am
http://www.oldlouisvillespringfest.org/

Tuesday, July 3rd @ 2:00 pm

Louisville Free Public Library – Fern Creek Branch
6768 Bardstown Rd.
Louisville, KY 40291

 
Tuesday, July 10th @ 2:30 pm

Louisville Free Public Library – Jeffersontown Branch
10635 Watterson Trail
Louisville, KY 40299
 
Saturday, July 14th @ 11:00 am

Louisville Free Public Library – St. Matthews Branch
3940 Grandview Avenue
Louisville, Kentucky 40207
 
Tuesday, August 7th @ 2:30 pm

Louisville Free Public Library – Bon Air Branch
2816 Del Rio Place
Louisville, Kentucky 40220

BE SURE TO MENTION THAT BLUE APPLE SENT YOU!!
 
Why Tell Stories?
Stories Can Help Children:
Motivate interest in reading
Develop language
Cope with stress
Develop imagination
Appreciate his/her own cultural heritage, as well as others
Make decisions
Form judgments and values
 
If you have any further questions please contact Heather Burns at Heather@blueappleplayers.org

What kid doesn’t love building and using hideouts?

This blog from Not Just Cute is a great resource for ready made or homemade tents, forts and hideouts. Click here to check it out.

Susan

Fabulous Fine Motor Play

If given half a chance kids take care of their need to move their bodies and develop those gross motor skills needed to walk, run, jump, etc. But the fine motor skills are often lacking when kids get to school. As a result, holding a pencil, buttoning their coat, tying shoes can be difficult for them.

That’s why I was happy to see the terrific list of fine motor skill builders at www.handsonaswegrow.com . All of the activities use common household items to encourage little ones to use those fingers, hands, and eyes in a coordinated manner. Check it out.

Susan A. Vessels
Executive Director

Ready…Set…Science!!!

Check out this newsletter from The Louisville Science Center on fun science activities to do together! 

Early Childhood Newsletter 3

Frost Paint

Want to add a little science to your art? Try making Frost Paint! The recipe is simple –water and Epsom salt- but the result is amazing. Crystals will form right before your eyes!

Add ½ cup Epsom Salt (found in the pharmacy section) to ½ cup boiling water. That’s it! Boiling the water is the key to make sure the salt dissolves completely in the water.

• Draw a picture on a piece of colored construction paper.
• Paint over it with your Frost Paint.
• When it dries, the water will evaporate and leave the long, thin Epsom salt crystals. It will look like frost on your drawing.
• Do some experimenting. Try it with a larger amount of salt in the water. How is the result different?
• Try adding food coloring to the water. Do you think it will make colored crystals?
• What do you think would happen with table salt or rock salt? Try it!

Prescription for Play

Onion Peel Eggs

Instead of dyeing eggs this April with a kit, try turning the craft into a science experiment by using onion peels. This is a traditional German way to dye eggs that I learned from my grandmother. She was even featured in a local paper back in the 1970s.

The process is easy, and there are many ways to play around with the concept. You will need yellow or brown onion peels, but you can try other colors for different results, although purple peels do not result in purple eggs. You can also lay other items on the eggs, such as a clover leaf, before adding the peels to create images on the eggs. The results are beautiful, interesting and unpredictable.

What you need:

• yellow or brown onion peels
• light colored eggs
• string

 What you do:

1. Soak the onion peels in water just long enough for them to soften.

2. Wet the eggs and wrap them in a layer of peels. Wrap and tie with string.

3. Boil the eggs for 12-15 minutes.

4. Unwrap them; dry them; and shine them with shortening or oil.

Clean Mud

Clean Mud

• 1 Roll of Toilet Paper
• 1 Bar of Ivory Soap 
• Vegetable Peeler 
• Water 
• Large Bowl

1. Take the roll of toilet paper and tear the sheets in to small pieces.
2. Place the pieces of paper in a large bowl.
3. Use the vegetable peeler and shave about a quarter (1/4) of the bar of soap into the bowl filled with the paper.
4. Add warm water to the mixture. Start out with just enough water to dampen the paper.
5. Have the child mix the ingredients, working the “clean mud” in between her fingers.
6. Slowly add more and more water to the mixture to create a slimier feeling.

 Less Mess: Place the mixture into a Ziploc bag and allow the child to feel the “clean mud” from the outside of the bag.

 More Mess: Mix small items (such as coins or small plastic beads) into the mixture and have the child find the hidden objects.