Bouncing Buddies: What a Hoot

Everyone was excited to learn about our nocturnal friend the owl last week. After we read Sam and the Firefly we dove right into learning about the mysterious bird. The day couldn't have been more of a success.

Our first craft was hand print owls. It was the perfect way to individualize each child's owl. They got to choose the colors they wanted to use and which direction the wings(hand prints) went. Such a cute way to freeze in time how small their little hands are.

For snack we made Owl S'mores. They looked and smelled quite delicious and I think the kids agreed considering how fast those little owls disappeared off their napkins.

To finish off our day we made one final craft and then dissected owl pellets. The kids got to see what exactly are in the bellies of the hunters. It was hands on science and we found some quite interesting results.

I can't believe with all those activities the kids had time to play out in the playroom but they had their share of bouncing in between. Some even looked like they were flying like the owl.

Bouncing Buddies: All About Me!

Our first class was as unique as each of the buddies that attended. We focused on individuality and what makes each of them buddy special in their own way.

We spent a generous amount of time in the big playroom bouncing, building with jumbo blocks, playing with magnet dolls and Potato heads. In between all the running around we made

• Books about each buddy complete with fun facts about themselves.
• Lifesize drawings of the buddies.
• We decorated first initals.
• and made individual trail mixes.

Our day would not have been complete though without some fun playdough sensory time and reading books like Elmer, the colorful elephant and Crysanthimum. These stories reminded each buddy that they are uniquely and specially themselves!

If you haven't checked out our class yet it meets Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9:30 to 12:30.

SIGN UP TODAY!

Starting this fall, Bouncing Buddies!

We are excited to announce that starting September 13th we will be offering a morning preschool age class, Bouncing Buddies. Its an opportunity for you to go out and run errands, have coffee with a friend, or just relax while we watch your 3-6 year old's. Class will be from 9:30 to 12:30, every Tuesday and Thursday. Each day will be packed with stories, songs, projects and plenty of bouncing time!

Our teachers are so excited to start, and can't wait for your Buddies to join us!

September Schedule
Week 1

• Tues. Sept. 13th - Time to Play School
• Thurs. Sept. 15th - All About Me!

Week 2

• Tues. Sept. 20th - An Apple a Day
• Thurs. Sept. 22nd - School Around the World

Week 3

• Tues. Sept. 27th - What's in Your Lunchbox?
• Thurs. Sept. 29th - When the Leaves Fall

Summer Olympics

The Summer Olympics are not going on this year but they are at Bouncing Off the Wall. With a bit of friendly competition we completed warm-ups, 2 obstacle courses, a javelin throw, hopscotch race, mini shot-put, and all in just three hours.

(background, clockwise) the ball toss portion of an obstacle course, hopscotch race, cup stack portion of an obstacle course, and headstand practice. (center) tunnel portion of an obstacle course.

With all this fun we hardly had time to stop for a snack and bounce a bit. It would be safe to say that everyone went home exhausted.

We have two more Summer Olympic camps this summer and would love your child to be a part!

Jr. Chefs

We have had three Jr. Chef camps so far. Breakfast, dinner and the ever popular dessert. Campers got to experience measuring, mixing and cutting.

(top left around clockwise) Adding blueberries to the muffins, chopping up veggies for the Tortellini soup, chowing down on a delicious taco bowl, assembling their rocket dogs, enjoying a rocket dog after having to wait for it to cook, and cleaning up the dishes.

Chopping strawberries and mixing blueberry muffins


Heres a sample of what we made,

Breakfast:

• Blueberry Muffins
• Strawberry Yogurt Parfaits
• Breakfast Burritos
• Chocolate chip pancakes with berry syrup

Dinner:

• Tortellini Soup
• Mini taco bowls
• Rocket Dogs (Hot dogs on a stick wrapped in bread stick dough and topped with cheese)

Dessert:

• Chocolate oreo pudding pops
• Rice Krispie dippers
• Chocolate chip banana bread
• Vanilla honey milkshake

The favorites across the board were,

Tortellini soup, "It's so YUMMY, I love the cheesiness and the carrots!"
Blueberry Muffins, "I just want to eat the whole thing but I'm getting too full!
"I want this for breakfast all the time."
Vanilla honey milkshake, "Mmmm... vanilla!"

We still have a lunch Jr. Chef camp this summer, SIGN UP TODAY!

Just Girls

We had so much fun at girls camp this week! We had the greatest group of girls...all ready to jump in and have some crafty fun!

We made rope baskets where the girls got to dredge yarn in goopy glue and then create swirly patterns on a balloon. We then hung them outside to dry. Once dry, they'll pop the balloons and have a sturdy basket made only from yarn. They were so colorful and pretty!

We also made clay beads. The girls had fun rolling and swirling all the colors together to make their beads. We baked them and then the girls got to take them home to put on their favorite necklace or bracelets.

Another project we made was a lace up basket. These were made from fun foam sheets. The girls cut out the templates we made for them, punched all the lacing holes and then used coordinating colors of silky ribbon to lace up each of the four corners. We added a carrying handle and the basket was complete. To accessorize our baskets, we made paper flowers with tissue paper and pipe cleaners. The girls loved getting to crinkle up all the sheets and how real they looked afterwards!

We ran out of time to work on our paper beads and friendship bracelets this time...perhaps at the next girl camp!

Be sure to check our website for upcoming dates!

Minute to Win it

This camp was a huge hit! We had a great turnout so there were lots of kids to participate in our fun games. For those of you who haven't seen the hit TV show that this camp was modeled after, there are challenging and wacky games or activities that you must do for 60 seconds in order to win.


We didn't want to focus on individual competition like the TV show so we divided the kids into two teams. Each time a child could complete the task they scored a point for their team. At the end, the winning team members each got a tootsie roll pop. It was fun and friendly competition and the kids surprised themselves (and us!) by what they could do in 60 seconds!

Some of the activities pictured here are (listed clockwise):

• version of "suck and blow" where they had to suck up a candy using a straw and then blow it onto a waiting straw to balance
• sliding a cookie from your forehead to your mouth using only your face
• balloon relay where they had to get a balloon from point A to point B using only a squirt bottle
• balancing 6 dice on a Popsicle stick for 60 seconds using only your mouth

There are still a few Minute to Win it camps coming up...don't get left out of the fun!