Littleton Historical Museum

Hello -
Today the kids and I went to the Littleton Historical Museum and had such a blast. For of all, it is completely free, which is always something that I'm looking for as a provider. There is a really nice museum with displays about the history of Littleton. When you go outside, they have several different farms with living history interpreters, meaning the staff there are dressed as they would be in the 1800's. We met a blacksmith and were able to watch him as he made different creations out of iron. The kids loved watching the sparks fly as he hit the hot metal with the hammer. Its amazing what they can make!

We saw many animals there such as peacocks, chickens, turkeys, geese, donkeys, sheep and cows. We visited a garden and learned that it is actually a very small garden compared to what they would have had back then. They grow so many different kinds of vegetables like cabbage, corn, squash, zucchini, beans, carrots, pumpkins, and much more. There is also a small schoolhouse and a couple of houses. There really is so much to see and explore there. And what made it so great was the beautiful fall weather that we're having today.

So for any of you that live within driving distance of the museum, I highly recommend it. Again, its free and there is so much to see!

Have a good day!
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Fall Colors

Hi everyone -
It's crazy to me that the end of September is here - I can hardly believe it! I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. The kids and I will be heading out on a nature hike to look for fall colors. We'll be doing some crafts with our collection, including leaf rubbings and leaf collages.

I am a nature girl at heart, so I have one little green tip for those of you who like to collect leaves too (and this time of year many elementary kids are doing leaf collections). When collecting leaves, its important to takes the ones that have already fallen off the tree. Those that are still attached to the tree are being used by the tree and are still very necessary. Just a thought I wanted to put out there!

Enjoy the beautiful fall weather!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Wildlife Experience

Hi everyone -
Today was a fun day for the kids and I as we ventured out to The Wildlife Experience in Parker. We had time to explore the Discovery Den (the avalanche was the kid's favorite part there), Cub Corner (one of the little ones dressed up as a skunk), the new Globeology exhibit and an IMAX film called "Wild Safari". We had a great time learning and discovering new animals and their habitats. Needless to say, we had no problems at nap time today - they were exhausted!

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading -
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Tiny Town

Hi everyone -
Yesterday was a fun day for us at Monarch Kids. We took a field trip to Tiny Town - this is located near Morrison, CO and is such a fun place for babies and toddlers. I highly recommend it. Everything there is miniature sized. They have buildings such as school houses, churches, fire stations, libraries, saloons, gold mines (mostly to reflect Colorado's rich history)...all built to such a small scale. Its perfect for little ones because they don't have to be picked up all the time to see in a building - its all on their level. But the biggest highlight by far is the train ride around the property. The kids heard the "choo choo" and got SO excited! The train ride lasts about 10 minutes and goes through the town but also over the creek that runs through the property. They definitely wanted to go again. Tiny Town also has a refreshment stand, picnic areas and a playground - so you can make a full day of it. The kids were exhausted after their time there. Its certainly worth the drive!

Have a great day -
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Oldies but Goodies

Hi everyone -
Do you remember those fun games you used to play as a kid with grandma or mom and dad? I sure do! Some of my favorites are Old Maid, Skip Bo, Go Fish, Sorry, Connect Four and Uno. Well, not that this will come as a surprise to many of you, but I'm finding that the kiddos here love those classic games as well. The favorite one right now is Memory. We have a set of fish cards and we play this several times a week. My 2 year-old has become really good at this game and has great memory retention.

I'm planning a trip to the local Goodwill to pick up more of these fun games to play with the kids. Hopefully they'll have Candyland and Chutes-n-Ladders - 2 more favorites of mine!

Have a great day!
Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Sharks!

Hi everyone -
Last week we went to the Downtown Aquarium in Denver and had a blast! I was fortunate enough to have a free pass so between the kids and I, the only thing we paid for was parking. We saw many fascinating animals such as fish, seahorses, jellyfish, ducks, river otters, snakes, frogs and sharks. One of the kids was so excited about the sharks - she was talking about them for days. In fact, the next day I took her to the grocery store (which is always very educational!) and I asked her what we would see at the store. She responded very quickly with, "Sharks!". I had a good laugh about that one:) At the end of the tour through the aquarium we got to touch some of the animals such as sea cucumbers, starfish, conch shells and sting rays. We used lots of hand sanitizer after that but it was definitely worth the experience.

The theme for last week really revolved around this field trip. We made some fish crafts, played "Memory" using my fish cards, and sang fish songs. What a fun week we had!

Thanks again for reading and have a good afternoon/evening!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider

Field Trips!

Hey everyone -
I'm so sorry I haven't blogged in a while - I will try and do a better job of this in the future!

The last couple of weeks, the kids and I have been going to several fun places in Denver and surrounding suburbs. We went to My Art Workshop, Denver Zoo, Hudson Gardens and swimming.

At My Art Workshop, they have a preschool option for 0-5 year-olds in which you pay a flat rate and they get to use all sorts of arts and crafts objects to create whatever you like. The kids were able to paint, make Father's Day cards, mosaics, create insects out of pipe cleaners and pom-poms, etc. They had a great time!

The zoo was a blast (as always!) but unfortunately, it started to rain, thunder and lightning while we were there so we had to leave early. But we did go to a wild animal show where birds of prey flew over our heads (this was my favorite thing!). The kids absolutely loved that part.

Hudson Gardens is in Littleton and is a great place to explore because of the beautiful gardens, wetlands, aquatic areas, miniature train depot and waterfalls. The kids and I found a couple of snakes, several large bullfrogs, many ducks and geese, fish and tadpoles. We also saw an older lady creating an oil pastel painting of the water lilies. Some of the staff there were cleaning out one of the aquatic areas and gave each of the kids a water lily flower. They lite up about that.

And then of course, you can never go wrong with swimming! That's always a hit. The weather here this month hasn't been truly a Colorado June so we're waiting for it to really kick in soon. Then we'll be able to go swimming more often.

Well, that's about it for now. Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend!

Kendall Stark
Monarch Kids Childcare Provider