Local Community Workers share their careers with the students at Little People's Center

April was another busy month for the children at Little People’s Child Care Center in Medford.  First, the children learned about ecology and protecting our environment in preparation for Earth Day.  A representative from Girls Scouts of America visited Little People’s and educated the children on the various types of recycling they can participate in to help our environment and keep our land fills free of reusable items.  They participated in a fun hands on activity and worked together to show what they learned about reduce, reuse, recycle, and composting too!
                The children learned about community workers first hand when several local business owners and workers visited Little People’s Center.  Lou from Tony’s Pizza engaged the children in a pizza making lesson and they even spun their own individual dough balls into pies and spread sauce and covered their pies with cheese!  The children took their individual pies home and cooked them with their families, promoting the connection of family and school.        Paige from Medford Florist and Design taught the children about the structure of flowers and the children were able to dissect the flowers and observe the parts themselves. They enjoyed inspecting stamen and touching the pollen inside Calla Lilies.  Paige explained to them the importance of bees in growing flowers and the plants we eat.  She introduced the children to a variety of flowers and they were able to touch prickly flowers such as Sea Holly and examine sunflower seeds and petals.  A favorite flower was the Snapdragon; the children loved the weird and wonderful petals and how they actually snapped like a dragon’s mouth!  Each child got to take home a flower of their own to share with their families.     Local craftsman Mr. Anthony introduced the children to carpentry and woodworking.  Each child choose a pre-cut wooden shape and were given a piece of sandpaper to smooth the edges of their cutout.  They enjoyed the smell of the freshly exposed wood and were amazed at the amount of sawdust they created.      We had a wonderful culminating lesson from teacher Mrs. Ricciardi! She taught the children about all the different jobs they could have when they grow up.  It opened their eyes to the opportunities available to them.  They were amazed that they could make cars and be professional dancers.  Mrs. Ricciardi instructed the children on how to create a self portrait of themselves dressed as the career of their choice. It was a wonderful end to a fantastic week!  You can contact Little People’s Center at 289-7493, like us on Facebook or visit our web page at www.littlepeopleschildcare.org.