The Learning Gardens Child Development Center

Over the last couple of weeks, every classroom created an extra-special art project to be displayed in our gardens. Here is the Little Sprouts' project: a pinecone mobile🍃✨
Besides the pride of seeing our work displayed at the school, this project helps us grow by utilizing the following skills:
🎨Creative Thinking: Using everyday materials expands our understanding of the possibilities of daily objects.
👉Fine Motor Development: Spread/mixing the paint required us to poke, shake, and squeeze the bags.
🧪Science Skills: Exploring the sensory experience of different materials and seeing the cause and effect of mixing colors.

Looking for a fun family activity?
Check out the Olbrich Gardens' special Blooming Butterflies event! This educational opportunity offers the unique ability to see butterflies up close and learn about their life cycles. 🐛✨🦋
Visit https://www.olbrich.org/calendar/events to learn more!

Our Summer Odyssey group enjoyed a trip to the Madison Children's Museum! We enjoyed exploring all the wonderful exhibitions and play structures MCM has to offer🦋🌟🫟

We enjoyed perfect weather for our water day on Friday☀🌊
Besides being a fun summer activity, there are many benefits of water play for our early childhood learners.
💧Water can act as a calming therapeutic activity; its sensory properties promote well-being.
💧Through play, water can enhance early science, math, and problem-solving skills such as experimentation with gravity, volume, and cause and effect.
💧Water's versatility stretches children's imagination in novel ways.
💧Scooping, squeezing, squirting, and pouring promote physical development such as hand-eye coordination, while running and jumping help develop gross motor skills like balance and strength.

This week in ASL, Miss Jaden taught us signs for fruit!
Did you know learning a language at any age is beneficial for your brain? Language learning incorporates a wide range of cognitive functions, including memory, attention, and problem-solving.
Challenge yourself to learn one of these signs to incorporate into your and your kiddos' daily life!🍓🍍🍉

The Learning Gardens students have been hard at work creating wonderful outdoor art pieces! We painted birdhouses, recycled bottles, pinecones, sticks, and rocks, which transformed into mobiles, wind chimes, and garden displays.

Creative Thinking is an important part of development; we refine our motor skills, explore sensory experiences, and learn cause and effect. Using everyday materials also expands our understanding of the possibilities of daily objects. 🖌🌳

At The Learning Gardens, we believe time in nature is essential to a well-rounded education. From infancy, nature play offers unstructured, hands-on interaction and exploration of natural elements, promoting social-emotional development and self-regulation. 🍃 Spending time outside helps us connect to nature and the community, boosting health and wellness. ✌️ To learn more about the benefits of the great outdoors, visit https://www.childrenandnature.org/resources/nature-in-early-childhood/

Our Summer Odyssey adventure continues! Exploring the Olbrich Botanical Gardens was an amazing opportunity to connect with our wonderful world🌎💚. We were given maps to help us explore, jumped and played in the kid zone, and soaked up the beautiful greenery. 🌺🗺🌱

Looking for a fun family activity? Check out the ART CART traveling to Vilas Park this week. A joint project created by MMoCA and MSCR, the Art Cart offers a unique opportunity to engage in community, art, and nature. 🚐🎨🍃
For more information and additional dates/locations, see MMoCA's website at https://www.mmoca.org/artcart/

From infants to school-age, our students enjoy our fantastic extracurricular programs! This week, we danced and sang with Casey Day, Miss Valentina talked to us about animals in Spanish, and Miss Jaden taught us summer-themed ASL signs. 🥁🐘☀