Sunday, March 17, 2024

Holiday celebrations at AOMF: Happy St. Patrick's Day


St Patrick’s Day is celebrated in Ireland and around the world every year on the 17th of March. It is a day to celebrate the St Patrick, believed to have brought Christianity to Ireland, and banished snakes from the country. People typically dress up in green and participate in parades. Here 9 fun facts for preschoolers to prepare for the holiday and how the Academy of Maryland Farms celebrated. 

9 Fun Facts About St Patrick's Day For Preschoolers

People used the color blue when celebrating St Patrick’s Day up until 1798.

Over 100 countries around the world celebrate St Patrick's Day! 

Maewyn Succat was probably the original name of St Patrick.

Wearing green will keep the Leprechauns away.

St Patrick’s Day became an official public holiday in Ireland in 1903.

St Patrick’s Day holds the Guinness world record for being the friendliest day of the year.

Female leprechauns don’t exist!

St Patrick’s Day is even celebrated on the International Space Station.

Saint Patrick is said to have been buried in Downpatrick.


Check out the celebration at the Academy of Maryland Farms!!



Little one from Infant 2 wear green for dress of day 
PreK kiddos getting ready to do a leprechaun craft 

PreK student excited about his treat bag from his party!

Preschool 3 is ready to enjoy some yummy St Patrick's day treats!

Toddler 2 enjoying the St Patrick's Day party treats.

Saying cheese to Mom and Dad because he's the luckiest baby of them all😊

Grab-n-go treat 

Toddler 2 enjoying their special treat.

Preschool 2 styling and profiling for St. Patrick's Day photobooth.


I found me gold!

Selfie King and his toddler 1 pals!

PreK Craft

Toddler 2 craft

Preschool 1 craft

Infant crafts

Preschool 3 crafts

 
Preschool 3 enjoying a craft!






Friday, March 1, 2024

Fine Motor Activity’s with PreK

Playdough is a wonderful sensory and learning experience for children.

As your child shapes the playdough into a ball or a snake, they’re thinking creatively. The squeezing, pinching and pulling movements also strengthen your child’s hand muscles and develop their fine motor skills.

And if you give your child some tools and toys to add to the playdough activity, you can really spark your child’s imagination and creativity.

Check out our PreK class at the Academy of Maryland Farms putting their skills to work! 








Monday, February 19, 2024

The Importance of Black History Month for Kids

 


Kids of all races and ethnicities, ages and backgrounds can discover something new and important in learning about Black history, from amazing achievements of Black Americans to a legacy of working toward something better. 

Here are some reasons why it’s important to learn about Black history:

  • Black youth can learn about people who look like them (representation matters)0 and understand their ancestors’ accomplishments and obstacles, as well as how those translate to today.

  • Since Black History Month was created to call attention to the amazing achievements of Black people, it’s a great time to expand young people’s understanding of the Black experience beyond slavery and civil rights. From inventions to industry, cuisine to pop culture. Black culture and contributions continue to have a lasting impact on our nation.

  • For students learning about slavery and civil rights, this history can build their empathy and understanding as well as their sense of justice and advocacy.

Sunday, February 4, 2024

Benefits of Yoga




 Yoga is not just for adults! In fact, it can give children very important life skills that can help them succeed in the world.

  1. Yoga helps children manage their anxiety. The breathing exercises and relaxation techniques learned from practicing yoga can help children with stress management. Teaching children how to reduce stress in a healthy way is an important life skill that will help them as children and as adults.
  2. Yoga improves children’s emotional regulation. Another benefit of yoga for children is that it helps children learn to be in the present moment while relaxing and gaining a peaceful state of mind, which ultimately improves their emotional regulation.
  3. Yoga boosts children’s self-esteem. Yoga for kids can do wonders for their self-esteem. Perfecting a pose or improving their balance and flexibility can give young children a sense of personal empowerment.
  4. Yoga increases children’s body awareness and mindfulness. Going through a variety of yoga poses helps children learn about their bodies and the movements they’re capable of doing.
  5. Yoga enhances children’s concentration and memory. One of the top benefits of kids’ yoga is that the different types of moves requires children to focus and work on their memorization skills—both of which can translate over into their academic performance.
  6. Yoga develops children’s strength and flexibility. Yoga helps strengthen children’s growing bodies and helps them improve their flexibility, which can reduce their chance of injury.
  7. Yoga teaches discipline and reduces impulsivity. Yoga can reduce challenging behaviors in the classroom by providing a physical outlet for children to express themselves. It also teaches children about discipline as they work on clearing their minds and perfecting their poses.

Sunday, January 28, 2024

STEAM Activity-Snow Storm in a Jar

 This week at AOMF, our friends in Preschool 3 got to do a cool STEAM activity! This activity was called Snow Storm In A Jar. 

Check out some pictures!





Do you want to know how to make a Snow Storm in a Jar too?
Materials:
1. Mason jar
2. Water
3. Baby oil
4. White paint
5. Glitter
6. Food coloring
7. Alka-seltzer tablets

Instructions:
1. Fill your jar about 1/4 with water
2. Pour about a tablespoon of white paint into jar
3. Fill the rest of the jar with baby oil
4. Add glitter and whatever food coloring you wish
5. Wait for the paint to settle at the bottom of the jar.
6. Break up the alka-seltzer tablet and drop in a piece at a time and watch the reaction!


Sunday, January 21, 2024

Snow Day Activity!

 With all of the snow that we got here in Tennessee; here is an activity you can do with your kiddos to keep from going stir crazy in the snow! 

Snow Paint

Materials:

1. Kool aid packets

2. Squirt bottles

3. Water

Directions:

1. Add one flavor packet of kool aid to an empty squirt bottle, using one bottle for each color of snow paint that you want to make. 

2. Fill the bottles with warm water

3. Secure the lids and have kids shake bottles until the kool aid dissolves

4. That’s it! Now it’s time to head outside and paint some snow!


Friday, January 12, 2024

New friend, Blu!



 On Monday here at AOMF we had a special friend come and visit us, Blu! Blu is a therapy dog. Therapy dogs encourage children to be calm. A visit from a therapy dog can help children who struggle to handle their big emotions. 

Check out some photos of our friends getting to meet Blu!












Friday, December 29, 2023

Candy Cane Fizz Experiment

 This past week here at AOMF has been full of fun crafts and a science experiment called "Candy Cane Fizz Experiment!"

Here are some photos of some of our Preschool 3 and Pre-K friends trying out the experiment!





Here are the directions if you want to try out this fizzy experiment at home!




Materials:
-candy canes
-vinegar
-baking soda
-tray
-food coloring
-condiment squeeze bottles

Directions:
1. Unwrap the candy canes
2. sprinkle the tray with baking soda, placed the candy canes on top, then sprinkle the baking soda on the canes, coating them completely.
3. Fill the squeeze bottles with vinegar and your choice of food coloring
4. squirt the vinegar mixture onto the candy canes
5. watch what happens!




Thursday, December 21, 2023

Holiday Crafts









 This holiday season at AOMF has been one filled with lots of joy, sweet treats, crafts and love! Check out some of the crafts our friends did to close out this Christmas season!