TODDLER NEWSLETTER
by Cris Santos
January 2013
Winter is here!! For toddlers snow can be fun. Snow is for digging and for shoveling. And snow
is great for making new friends (snowmen). Children build snowmen and snow forts. They like
building with snow and drawing in snow. It’s fun for them to make snowballs and throw them
high. Some children make snow angels or for making tracks when we go for a walk in snowy
day. They can even go sledding or slide down hillsides. They can just roll around. Toddlers
love to touch the snowflakes and taste them. For them snow can be delicious. It’s beautiful and
peaceful all around. We also talked about the winter gear that we have to use to keep us warm
because it is cold outside. Brrrr!
BEARS - Toddlers learned the different types and colors of bears like black, polar, panda and
grizzly. We did the activity “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”. They can sing the song: “Teddy
Bear, Teddy Bear”. Children love to sing these repeatedly. We asked children to bring their own
Teddy Bear from home for a “Show and Tell” activity. For arts/crafts: we did easel painting of
bears, lacing them, play dough fun and dressing them. We read the books: “Bear Wants More”,
“Three Snow Bears”, “Otto the Book Bear”, “Brown Bear”, “Brown Bear” and “What Do You
See?”. Children always give a bear hug every day.
February 2013
Groundhog Day is celebrated across the U.S. and Canada. We discussed that on February 2nd , it
is believed that the groundhog comes out of his burrow (underground home). If the sun is
shining, he sees his shadow and there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If it is cloudy,
the groundhog cannot see his shadow, so he will come out and that is a sign of an early spring.
For the toddlers' activity, they did Shadow Hand Play, Dancing Shadow and shadow tag outside.
We read the books about groundhogs and they did easel brown painting. They did a big hole
with the empty box. We let the kids dig in the dirt at the playground.
Chinese New Year is one of the most important traditional Chinese holidays. We had a little
Chinese feast in our daycare centre. Children were wearing red Chinese dresses. We ate Chinese
food and we read books about the Chinese New Year.
Valentine’s Day – The theme is called, “I Care About You.” We talked about friendship, people
we care about, and celebrating Valentine’s Day. We helped children to make Valentine’s cards,
they did friendship cheerios necklace and practiced cutting heart skills for arts/crafts. We had a
pot luck Valentine’s Party. Kids had so much fun.
Family Day – Toddlers named the members of their family. They learned about families.
Children sung and acted out, “Farmer in the Dell” and “Hush Little Baby”. We read the book
“Are You My Mother?” and “Just Me and My Dad”. They did role playing: making dinner in the
kitchen, bedtime stories with dolls, grocery shopping, etc. They did family tree and easel
painting for arts/crafts. Toddlers love to look at our Family Tree on the wall.
January Newsletter
PETER PAN DAYCARE – Preschool Room
What did we do this month?
January marks the beginning of a new year – let’s hope for another wonderful year together! Winter is in full
swing with the children’s favorite – you guessed it, SNOW! With snowmen, snow angels, sledding and shoveling,
there’s plenty of the white stuff to go around! We were very busy this month with 4 interesting and diverse
themes – check them out below 
What is your name?
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January 7-11
The children noticed their old name tags were being
thrown out, so they wanted to make new ones for their
new cubbies - we decided it would be a fun learning
opportunity to learn how to spell our own names
Special activities included alphabet stamps, making
new name tags, ABC scavenger hunt, walking to the
library, and working on spelling our names!
Bones
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Houses
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January 14-18
A large appliance box became the center of attention
this week as children transformed the box into a
playhouse, complete with windows, doors, furniture and
even a bird’s nest!
Special activities included making drawing of our own
houses, taking a walk around the neighborhood to
observe different kinds of houses, and decorating the
playhouse in red for the Chinese New Year
January 21-25
A child from the daycare recently hurt her arm; hence
the children were very interested in doctors and bones.
Special activities included making their own casts,
doing their own x-rays of various body parts, and
doctor/nurse/patient check-ups and role play in the
dramatic area with props and costumes. They loved
paper mache, a great success!
This interest soon transitioned from human bones to
animal bones, with dinosaurs being the main topic
What in the world?
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Jan 28 – Feb 1
With the Chinese New Year coming up, the children
showed interest in different cultures around the world.
Therefore, we decided to explore the world around us
by exploring different languages and flags
Special activities included learning about the
Canadian flag and other flags from around the world,
creating our own flags, children of the world puzzle,
dressing up in multicultural clothing and exploring the
world and the beautiful community around us
February Newsletter
PETER PAN DAYCARE – Preschool Room
What did we do this month?
February was a very busy and eventful month here at Peter Pan Daycare. Our preschoolers learned about a
couple of holidays and were a very important part of the festivities and celebrations that took place. These
celebrations included the Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day and Family Day 
Chinese New Year
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February 4-8
The children were very interested in learning about the
Chinese culture. Through the festivities, books and
crafts, they had an opportunity to learn about
traditions, the Chinese dragon, the importance of the
color red, gold fish, the zodiac and more!
Special activities included Chinese fan’s and lanterns,
handprint dragons, firework craft, cherry blossom trees,
chop stick games, and zodiac animals
Valentines
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Families are Fabulous
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February 19-22
The children were taught that it is important for
everyone to take time for their families and that this
holiday emphasizes the importance of family values –
which is why there was a day off from work and schools
Special activities included making drawings of everyone
in our family, going on a community walk, “F” is for
family activity, and counting on families
February 11-15
Children explored the history of Valentine's Day, a
holiday that celebrates love and is observed by
exchanging candy & gifts. The children also learned
about Cupid and his role in this special day
Special activities included making their own valentine’s
and decorating envelopes for parents, heart shaped
fridge magnets, reading valentine’s themed books,
decorations and a party to wrap it all up!
Beaches
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February 25 – March 1
Perhaps the children were tired of winter and needed
a change of scenery; hence, this week the children
were very interested in the sand box and wanted to
have a pool/beach party.
Special activities included making Nemo, palm trees,
flip flops, sand castles, fishing in the water table, beach
volleyball, walking to sandy beach, beach related
books, and a beach party with clothes and
decorations for the occasion
SCHOOL AGE NEWSLETTER
January 2013
Our program for January included the following:
CARING
After Christmas break, a lot of children showed and shared the gifts they received from people
who care about them. We reminded them of “The Four Pillars of Care” and of New Year
resolutions. We provided art materials and encouraged the children to make gifts or cards to
show their appreciation and love for their loved ones.
BALLOON FUN
We encouraged all the children to write their birthday on the calendar. Most of children are
hoping they have lots of balloons for their birthday party. We provided balloons and let them
practice “Inflating Balloons and Tying Knots”, then decorate their own balloon. In the gym, they
had a lot of fun playing with balloons.
LIVING WITH ALLERGIES
We brought this issue up because a lot of children have no idea about “allergy”. We had a
meeting talking about “allergies”, “treating and preventing allergies”. Thanks Cole A. for
showing how to apply an EpiPen, and we thank Cole A.’s parents for lending the EpiPen to us.
SPORTSMANSHIP
Recently, some boys played hockey very roughly and fought for the scores. We called a meeting
to discuss sportsmanship and reviewed all the rules.
February 2013
Our program for February included the following:
CHINESE NEW YEAR
According to lunar calendar, Chinese New Year falls on Feb 10, 2013. We made dumplings,
spring rolls, and fried rice for the party. We showed the children how to make lanterns, origami
and how to play a zodiac game. We had poster to introduce Chinese New Year traditions. They
enjoyed the celebrations.
VALENTINE’S DAY
This week we encouraged the children to decorate the classroom and to think of how to express
their love to the ones that mean the most to them. They created beautiful cards, then exchanged
cards, gifts, and chocolate. We taught them that Valentine’s Day is from the heart, so a simple
hug or hand-drawn card is just as welcome as gifts and flowers.
FAMILY
We introduced that Canada is made up of many cultures, and many lifestyles within these
cultures. We encouraged the children to talk about their families, cultures, activities, religions,
languages, special events, and how important the family is to them.
HOUSES AND SWEET HOMES
Recently, we obtained a lot of recycled boxes of different sizes and shapes. We encouraged the
children to design their own houses and rooms. They even made beautiful houses for their pets.
On PD day and teacher convention days, we had many activities. For example, we had parties
for Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day, we went on nature walks, went skating, swimming
and played indoor games.