Christmas Christmas Everywhere!

What a couple of weeks! AOILV has had the most Christmas-filled adventures this month. We hung stockings for each teacher, had Santa at the center, and then our Christmas performances followed by our Christmas parties. We followed the next week with 3 days of giving for our teachers and all the Cookie adventures. What's better? 

Santa made his grand appearance last Thursday morning! The kids were so excited to hear his "Ho Ho Ho's" and him ring his magic bell! Most were over the moon to see Santa, but there were some who were not so sure. Lots of emotions at Santa's visit. 😊😂

Our Christmas performances were a huge hit. Christmas music and kiddos dancing, it was fantastic! Due to Covid-restrictions, our beloved parents couldn't be here to watch, but it didn't stop us from going LIVE on Instagram! All the parents (who could) tuned in, and all the rest caught the recorded version of the performance on Instagram and/or Tadpoles. That afternoon, the kids partied hard! There were red and green cupcakes, cookies of all shapes and sizes, fruits, veggies, and all the goody bags any kid could ever want! What a great end to a week!! 🎉

We kicked off our short week with 3 days of giving for our wonderful teachers. All our teachers were pampered with gifts and love, by both families and their management team! On Tuesday, Max came to listen to Mrs. Robyn read The Night Before Christmas, which made all the kids even more excited for what Santa had to offer on Christmas morning! 💚

 It was an amazing Christmas. As we transition into these long weekend and short weeks full of all things holiday fun, we hope everyone stays safe and healthy! Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a goodnight! 🎄🎅

Christmas Door Extravaganza

 Today concluded a 2-week long Christmas door decorating extravaganza! Our teachers spent so much time and effort creating the most wonderful doors for all the families and staff to look at and love. We are spending so much time relishing in the joy that Christmas and the Giving Season brings to our center! This is going to be a short blog, but enjoy looking at all the wonderful doors and their descriptions. 

The winner will be announced on our Instagram tomorrow morning! We are so proud of our teachers and all their amazing work!! 

Let it Snow by Preschool 3! 

Elves Workshop by Preschool 2! 

Santa's Workshop and all his little elves by Pre-K 2! 

"Oh Deer" Hot Chocolate Cup by Pre-K 3! 

 

Gingerbread House by Toddler 2! 

Gingerbread Wonderland by Infant 3! 

How The Grinch Stole Christmas by Toddler 1! 

The Polar Express by Preschool 1! 

Rapid Elves on the loose by Infant 2! 

Winter Wonderland by Infant 1! 

Seriously, we are AMAZED at all their hardwork! 

Cookie the Elf

 We have all heard of the infamous, Elf on the Shelf. The mischievous little elves come to some of your homes during this month of December to cause havoc. but also encourage your kiddos to keep it together and stay on their best behavior. This past week, our center introduced Cookie, the elf to all the kids! They got so excited to see that we would have an elf visiting us every day. 

Cookie is encouraging the kids to drop off their letters to Santa! 

Over the next couple of weeks, Cookie will be up to some fun activities. 

Cookie loves sipping the creamer! 

So far, Cookie has been a huge hit! Many of our older kids come in looking for him every morning! We love seeing their smiles and hearing their sweet squeals whenever they find him hiding in the tree or swinging from the balloons, in the hallway. He has definitely brought so much joy to the kids these last 2 weeks! 

Cookie loved hanging out by the lights on the breakfast bars. 

Keep an eye out on our Instagram for stories in the coming days for Cookies' silly games! 

Silly Cookie, those presents are for the kids! 

Cookie's most favorite place to be is the garland and the Christmas tree's throughout the center! He is such a crazy little elf! 

Let The Giving Continue

     This past week concluded our amazing canned food drive. If you didn't know, our center-wide goal was 500 donated items. We had 3 classes individually surpass that goal which was so amazing for us to watch. The older kids enjoyed the friendly competition, almost as much as their dads did. We had multiple families get into little battles to see who could donate the most cans. It was such an exciting time for everyone involved! 

Our grand total was 2,650 items! Even after the competition had ended, we had parents bringing more items in. It was heart-warming to watch each box fill to the top with all the goodies for the less fortunate. We are so thankful for all our families and their generosity in this time, we know 2020 hasn't been an easy year for anyone. 

On top of the canned food drive, we had a thankful flock that quickly grew. Some were thankful for their cars, some for their families, and many for our center and the love our teachers give to their babies. We had our older classes fill out "I am thankful for.." sentence strips that covered our hallways and brought smiles to every parent's face. Thankful was definitely in the air all month, but especially last week! 

With the Christmas season right around the corner, we have so much giving coming up in the next couple of weeks. We are going to run a coat donation drive and have special guest giving their time in each classroom. A special frog-street gift, salt dough ornaments, and everything Christmas is on the calendar for the month of December. It is our hope here at AoILV that we teach the kids that the season is about receiving, but also about giving. 

With this season in full effect, we are so thankful for the time we have with your kids and all that we get to do with them. We take every moment spent with them to heart and hope that every family knows how truly loved they are, as they walk through our doors. As we have already said, it is the most wonderful time of the year and our hope is that every child feels that here at our center.

    

    

The Giving Season

     Here, at AOILV, we are so thankful for all that we have. With the craziness of 2020 and all the world has going on, we decided to find a way to give back. This year, we are hosting an annual Canned Food Drive through the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee to give back to Sumner County. All the items donated to the canned food drive will go to a local family for a Thanksgiving Feast! 

As you can tell, the kids are all on board with donating to help out a local family! The older classes have been using this opportunity to not only talk about why we are donating, but they are including it in day-to-day curriculum. Pre-K 3 has been counting their own cans and learning to "tally" them, as they count. The younger classes have decided that the cans make better sensory toys! 

 We are spending all of this month teaching the kids what "grateful" means and how we can express gratitude in different ways. We truly believe that it's never too early to teach them the importance of appreciating everything that they have! Our calendar is full of "thankful", Thanksgiving, and turkey activity and art- enough to fill your heart and cover the front of your fridge! 

 Later next week, we are doing a "I am thankful for" sentence strip activity that we will post all up and down the halls of AOILV. We hope you'll take the time to see what each child and teacher is thankful for. It is always so heartwarming to see what the kids have to say. Thanksgiving really is the start of the most wonderful time of the year! 

With all that being said, be sure to donate to your kid's classroom to win them a party of their choosing! Not only are you helping the kids feel a sense of pride, but you are donating to a local family who needs it. We are so THANKFUL for all of our families and students and all the joy they bring to our life. We hope this season of giving is full of all things wonderful and magical for you all. 

 

   

Halloween 2020

Although things are a little different in the world this time around we still had a BLAST here at AoILV celebrating Halloween!!! 

The kids dressed up in their favorite costumes and took turns Trick-or-Treating from classroom to classroom. All morning you could just hear the excitement around the center. Everyone couldn’t wait to show off their amazing costumes! 

After the Trick-or-Treating was said and done, we got ready for the afternoon parties!!! As they anxiously waited for the sweet treats and snacks they had brought in earlier in the day; smiles, laughs, and memories were being made!

The kids spent the afternoon eating cupcakes, drinking juice, coloring Halloween pictures, and playing with the goody bags provided by all our wonderful parents. It was a day full of everything Halloween should be about, leaving us feeling thankful to have such an amazing home away from home! 

Football Friday Kick Off

Football Friday’s are a BIG DEAL around here at AoILV! Walking around the building on Friday’s you will see a very wide variety of football teams. College and NFL Teams from all over under one roof. No matter what team you support ALL are welcome!

Even our Infants take part in this special event of ours! As well as our staff! Football Friday’s bring everyone of all ages together for a fun filled day! Take a look at their faces. That itself says it all!!!