Southern Stars Preschool

Today, our little bakers continued Little Baker’s Week with a fun and delicious No-Bake Yogurt Parfait Cup activity! 🧑‍🍳🍓✨

Our stars became “parfait builders” as they layered ingredients to create their own colorful and healthy snack. This activity allowed children to explore textures, practice independence, and enjoy a sweet treat—no oven needed!

🥣 Ingredients:

• Vanilla or plain yogurt 🥄
• Granola or crushed cereal 🍯
• Fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, bananas, or grapes) 🍓🫐🍌
• Optional: honey drizzle or cinnamon sprinkle 🍯🍂

🧑‍🍳 Instructions:

1. Children helped scoop yogurt into a clear cup.
2. They added layers of fruit, granola, and yogurt to build their parfait.
3. Our stars practiced choosing ingredients and creating their own “designs.”
4. Children repeated layers to make colorful stacks.
5. Once finished, they enjoyed their homemade parfait cups!

🌟 Learning Focus:

• Math (Sequencing & Layering): Children practiced ordering steps and building layers while creating their parfaits.
• Fine Motor Skills: Scooping, pouring, and layering ingredients helped strengthen coordination and control.
• Sensory Exploration: Children explored textures like creamy yogurt, crunchy granola, and juicy fruit.
• Independence & Choice-Making: Our stars selected their own ingredients and created unique parfait designs.
• Healthy Eating Habits: Students learned that nutritious foods can be fun, colorful, and tasty!

Today, our stars enjoyed a fun and creative hands-on snack experience making Bagel Face Creations! 🥯✨ This activity gave our little learners the chance to explore healthy ingredients while expressing their creativity in a playful way.

🧑‍🍳 Here’s what our little chefs did:

Our stars began by spreading cream cheese or hummus onto mini bagels. Then, they used a variety of fresh toppings such as sliced cucumbers, olives, cherry tomatoes, cheese slices, and spinach to design their very own silly, happy, or silly “bagel faces”!

Each child created a unique character by choosing ingredients for eyes, noses, mouths, and even fun hair styles 🌱🍅🧀

🌟 What Our Stars Learned:

• Creativity & Expression: Children used their imagination to design unique edible faces and “bagel characters.”
• Fine Motor Skills: Spreading and placing toppings helped strengthen hand control and coordination.
• Healthy Eating Habits: Students were encouraged to explore and enjoy a variety of nutritious foods in a fun, engaging way.
• Decision Making: Our stars practiced independence by selecting ingredients and designing their own creations.

🍏🥔Today, our stars got their hands wet and their minds full of curiosity during our Potato Scrubbing and Apple Scrubbing activity!

We learned the importance of washing fresh produce, practiced good hygiene, and explored the textures and colors of different fruits and veggies. It was an exciting, hands-on learning experience that connected to health, cleanliness, and science!

For this activity, we used a safe, natural solution of vinegar and water to help clean the produce. Our little ones participated in washing apples and potatoes. They explored different textures, sizes, and shapes, discovering how potatoes feel bumpy and rough, while apples are smooth and shiny. The children were amazed at how dirt could be scrubbed away, making their fruits and veggies sparkle!

What Our Stars Learned:
• Health & Hygiene: Children learned that washing fruits and vegetables helps remove dirt, bacteria, and pesticides, keeping us healthy and safe. We talked about how washing our hands is just as important as washing our food to stay clean.
• Sensory Exploration: Kids used their senses to describe the different textures, smells, and colors of the produce. Potatoes felt rough and bumpy, while apples were smooth and shiny, making it fun to compare the different surfaces!
• Science of Cleanliness: Our stars discovered how water and scrubbing can make things clean. They saw the dirt wash away and understood how cleaning is important to keep food safe to eat.
• Motor Skills: The children worked on their fine motor skills by holding, scrubbing, and rinsing the produce. These activities helped them develop coordination and hand strength.
• Healthy Eating Habits: Through the activity, we discussed how eating fruits and vegetables keeps our bodies strong and healthy. The children were excited to eat the clean apples 🍏 and potatoes 🥔 afterward as a tasty snack!

Today we wrapped up our week with an exciting and refreshing Water Play Friday! 💦🌞

Our young learners enjoyed a variety of hands-on water activities that encouraged exploration, teamwork, and lots of joyful learning through play. Water play helps children naturally explore scientific thinking while staying active, curious, and engaged.

⚗Our stars turned into real chemists this week as they dove into a hands-on experiment during Ooey Gooey Science Week: Fizzy Fun with Baking Soda and Vinegar!

Using trays filled with brightly colored baking soda, children carefully used pipettes and spoons to drop vinegar on top—and watched with delight as fizzy bubbles danced and popped! Some children experimented with mixing colors, while others explored how different amounts of vinegar created bigger or smaller reactions.

What were we learning?
• Chemical Reactions: Children discovered what happens when an acid (vinegar) meets a base (baking soda), all through safe and simple materials.
• Scientific Thinking: They made predictions, tested ideas, and adjusted their techniques as they explored.
• Fine Motor Skills: Using pipettes and spoons helped strengthen little hands and build coordination.
• Cause and Effect: The immediate fizzy reaction helped our stars connect actions with outcomes—and inspired lots of curious questions!

⭐At Southern Stars Montessori, we are committed to providing a safe, nurturing, and high-quality learning environment for every child. As part of that commitment, our staff participate in ongoing professional development throughout the year, including health and safety, child development, Montessori education, and best practices in early childhood education.

Here are the courses our staff has completed recently:

- CCR&R Classroom Management and Appropriate Behavior Management

- Toddler Biting Support

- CCR&R Health and Safety and Supervision

• Active supervision strategies

• Medication administration

• Reducing injuries

• Ways to keep your preschoolers active and ready for learning

- Staff Management - taken by SS Director

These trainings help our teachers strengthen their skills in supporting children's physical safety, emotional well-being, social development, and overall learning experiences!

🍩Mark your calendars...on June 18th, in honor of Father's Day, we'll be celebrating all of our Dad's with our annual Donuts for Dad's event! We will have lots of yummy donuts and juice at morning drop off for you to enjoy with your little Star as a small thanks for all you do! 🍩

Today our campers had an exciting hands-on experience during Ooey Gooey Science Week as we explored Slime Lab Day! 🟢✨

Our young scientists created their very own slime using simple ingredients like glue, baking soda, and contact solution. Once the slime began to form, campers added glitter, foam beads, and colors to make their creations unique and fun!

🧪 Slime Lab Exploration
Campers had the opportunity to:
• Mix and observe ingredients changing form
• Stretch, pull, and squish slime of different textures
• Compare sticky, stretchy, and gooey materials
• Experiment with adding different materials to change their slime

* 1/2 cup white school glue (like Elmer’s)
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons contact lens solution
(must contain boric acid + sodium borate)
* Optional: glitter, food coloring, foam beads

💡 What Our Campers Learned
Through this messy and engaging activity, children explored important science concepts including:
• States of matter (how materials can change and behave differently)
• Texture and material properties (sticky vs. stretchy vs. firm)
• Cause and effect (how mixing ingredients creates slime)
• Early scientific observation and experimentation skills

Today, our young scientists explored the curious world of solubility through a hands-on activity called “Will It Dissolve?” Each child received a clear cup of water and a variety of materials to test—salt, sugar, sand, flour, rice, and baking soda. Before adding each material, we paused to make predictions: “Will it disappear or stay?”

As the children stirred and observed, they were amazed to see that some things, like sugar and salt, vanished into the water, while others, like rice and sand, stayed right where they were!

What were we learning?
🔍 Observation Skills – Our stars used their eyes and words to describe what happened when each item was mixed with water.
❓ Scientific Predictions – Children made thoughtful guesses about what would happen and then tested their ideas.
💧 Solubility Concepts – Through real experience, they began to understand which materials dissolve in water and which do not.
🗣️ Vocabulary Building – Words like “dissolve,” “float,” “sink,” and “disappear” came to life during the experiment!