Blog

Infants love music and making noise! At the Canandaigua center, our infants have lots of fun making their own music with a variety of materials. The babies play music on pots and pans with wooden spoons and also use shakers for some added rhythm. As the music is playing, teachers talk about what is...

Celebrating milestones is one of the many fun things we do at Care-a-lot! Many children join Care-a-lot when they are only infants and it's our great pleasure and privilege to watch them learn and grow through the years. One of the biggest milestones that we celebrate with families is graduation day...

In learning about animals and the tracks that they make, the Greece preschoolers worked on creating their own paw prints!  With construction paper and a plate of tempera colors, the children explored making animal prints with paint! This activity offers many experiential benefits!  Children can pra...

Cloud dough is one of the Farmington / Canandaigua toddler's favorite activities and it has many benefits! Also known as moon dough or moon sand, Cloud dough is a silky and mold-able substance that provides perfect sensory, science, and fine motor experiences for young children! The dough is so sof...

What a fun and exciting way to learn about nature by watching with our own eyes how caterpillars grow every day and change into butterflies! The first change that the Henrietta toddlers noticed was that they grew quickly! (They must have been eating healthy food).  Then the children discovered that...

Getting outside for physical exercise and play is a daily activity at Care-a-lot!  The school-age children in Greece look forward to outside playground play time as much as possible during the summer! Children enjoy climbing, swinging, sliding, and playing basketball and soccer. Outside play not on...

Check out our young chefs at Care-a-lot Farmington / Canandaigua!  The school age children tried their hands at pizza making! The children did it all, except for the actual oven baking that was supervised by their teachers..  The children had a blast and were exposed to many important learning oppor...

The Henrietta toddlers have a special fondness for working in the dramatic play area with kitchen toys and pretend food every day!  Kitchen play supports children in many developmental areas, including fine motor, socialization, and imagination skills.  Working with various utensils promotes fine mo...

Research has shown that art activities offered to young children are important for brain development!  One of these is sensory play, such as finger painting, where children learn through their senses.  The Greece toddlers enjoy great fun and numerous learning opportunities with this activity! Messy...

The 3 year olds in the Grasshopper classroom at the Farmington / Canandaigua center spent time learning about ponds and all that exists within and around them!  Together, the class talked about what makes up a pond and created a list of all the plants and animals that they could think of that live o...

Spring brought endless possibilities for engaging units in our Henrietta Kindergarten classroom!  Frog and butterfly life cycles, as well as plants and flowers, were an absolute must!  New life observed in the springtime offers much to experience and investigate! During our plant unit, we discussed...

The three year old Greece preschoolers celebrated spring by learning how plants grow and getting their hands directly in the dirt!  The teacher placed a large container of dirt and available gardening tools on the table. There were trowels, watering cans, Popsicle sticks, pom-poms and trays for each...

Sensory play is a favorite activity in the toddler room at the Farmington / Canandaigua center!  Daily experiences with sensory activities provide important educational opportunities for young children to explore their world. Recently, the Ladybug toddlers learned about the color purple through a v...

Circle time in the Henrietta preschool classrooms is an important start to every day!  During this time, the children pick their jobs, review the calendar, discuss the weather, talk about letters, listen to a story, and finish by singing and dancing! Asking children to choose their job for the day...