Monday, August 17, 2026

 

🎨 Little Artists, Big Benefits: Why Art Matters in Preschool

Walk into a preschool classroom during art time, and you’ll likely see bright paint on tiny fingers, colorful masterpieces covering the tables, and lots of happy little voices sharing their ideas. Art is more than just a fun activity—it’s an important part of how young children learn, grow, and express themselves. 🌈

At our preschool, we believe every child is an artist. Whether they are painting a rainbow, building with clay, drawing a family picture, or creating a collage from colorful scraps, children are learning valuable skills along the way.

🖍️ Art Encourages Creativity

Art gives children the freedom to imagine and explore. There is no single “right” way to make a picture or choose a color. A child might paint a purple sun or create a house with three doors—and that’s perfectly wonderful!

Creative activities encourage children to think independently, make choices, and discover that their ideas have value.

✋ Art Builds Fine-Motor Skills

Painting, cutting, coloring, gluing, and molding clay all help strengthen the small muscles in children’s hands and fingers. These skills are important for everyday tasks such as buttoning clothes, using utensils, and eventually learning to write.

Those little paintbrush strokes today can help prepare little hands for big accomplishments tomorrow!

😊 Art Supports Emotional Expression

Young children sometimes have big feelings but don’t yet have the words to explain them. Art provides another way to communicate.

A child can use colors, shapes, drawings, and movement to express happiness, excitement, frustration, or curiosity. Art can be a calming and comforting experience, giving children a safe space to explore their emotions.

🧠 Art Makes Learning Fun

Art can be woven into almost every area of the preschool curriculum. Children can count objects while creating a collage, explore patterns with paint, learn about animals through drawing, or discover new cultures through different types of art.

When learning feels playful and hands-on, children are more likely to stay curious and engaged. 🌟

🤝 Art Helps Children Connect

Group art projects also provide wonderful opportunities for children to practice sharing, taking turns, communicating, and working together. A classroom mural, for example, becomes a special project that everyone helps create.

Children learn that their individual ideas can come together to make something beautiful as a team.

🌈 Celebrating the Process, Not Perfection

Perhaps one of the most important lessons art teaches is that the process matters more than the finished product. Preschool art doesn’t need to look perfect—and it certainly doesn’t need to look like an adult’s idea of a masterpiece!

When we celebrate children’s effort, imagination, and discoveries, we help build confidence and encourage them to keep trying new things.

🎨 Let’s Make Room for Creativity!

Art brings color, joy, curiosity, and discovery into the preschool classroom. From the first scribble to the most imaginative painting, every creation represents a child exploring the world and discovering more about themselves.

So, let’s put out the paintbrushes, bring on the crayons, and make plenty of room for messy, joyful creativity! Every little artist has a big imagination waiting to shine. 💛🖌️🌈

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Ocean Fun at AOR

 


Ocean Fun

This month AOR is diving into Ocean Fun!


Our students are having a blast exploring all things ocean!


From water and the sun to animals and the sand its never ending fun and exploration!










There is so much fun happening with our summer curriculum and there is so much more to come! 


Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Hello Summer at AOR

 

HELLO SUMMER

This June AOR has kicked off summer with a TON OF FUN!!

 



Our students and staff are enjoying our fun new summer curriculum, water days, and soaking up with sun with great weather!

 




From Infants to PreK our students are exploring all that summer has to offer! Our PreK students are also enjoying Kindergarten Bootcamp which is allowing them to learn valuable skills for their next step in education.





Friday, May 15, 2026

Learning Through Play in Preschool

 Learning Through Play


Play is one of the most important ways children learn and grow! Through hands-on experiences, children build confidence, strengthen social skills, develop creativity, and practice problem solving.




Activities like gross motor games, bubble play, fine motor and sensory exploration all support different areas of development while keeping learning engaging and fun. Gross motor games help build coordination, balance and strength while fine motor strengthens small muscles needed for writing and every day tasks.





Play also contributes to curiosity, creativity, language development, and emotional regulation. Play is an important part of each child's day from infants through prek.


When children learn through play, they are actively exploring the worlds around them, developing important life skills, and creating a strong foundation for future learning.

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

The Benefits of Open-Ended Questions

 


Open-ended questions are a powerful tool in early childhood education because they invite children to think, explore, and express themselves in meaningful ways. Instead of asking questions with one  correct answer, open-ended questions encourage children to share ideas, make predictions, and explain their reasoning. 




These types of questions also support social-emotional development. When children are given the space to share their thoughts, they feel heard and valued which helps build confidence and independence. It also allows teachers to better understand each child's thinking process which allows them to guide learning on an individual basis.


 




Incorporating open-ended questions during daily routines can turn simple moments into rich learning experiences. Over time, children become more curious, engaged, and willing to take risks in their learning.

Some examples of open-ended questions are:

What do you think will happen next?

How did you build that?

What do you think we should do?

How can we use these materials?

Why do you think the character did that?

What inspired you to draw that?








Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Green Our Scene

 


Green Our Scene: Little Hands, Big Impact 🌱


This month our school theme is "Green Our Scene" and we are exploring what it means to care for our environment!

We are planting flowers, recycling materials, and learning how to make our earth a little greener for everyone.

We are passing out seed packets for our families to participate in Green Our Scene and help continue our teaching beyond the classrooms.




Why Planting Matters🌸

Planting flowers isn't just fun, it is full of meaningful learning experiences! As our students help to plant flowers they are building important skills like responsibility, patience, and teamwork.

Gardening also supports early science learning. Children begin to notice how sunlight, water, and soil help plants grow. They ask questions, make observations, and feel a sense of excitement when they start to see changes!

Planting flowers helps to beautify our space, but it also supports our environment. Flowers attract important pollinators like bees and butterflies, which can help plants grow and thrive.


Ways we can "Green Our Scene" Together ♻

Green Our Scene doesn't stop at the garden! Here are a few simple ways families can continue helping the environment at home:

- Plant flowers, herbs, or even small vegetables together

- Turn off lights when leaving a room

- Use reusable water bottles and containers

- Pick up litter in your neighborhood

- Recycle when possible

- Save water by turning off the faucet while brushing teeth


Little Learners, Lasting Change 💚

It is inspiring to see our students take pride in caring for the environment. Through activities like planting, they are learning that they have the power to make a difference even at a young age. 

Together, we are growing more than flowers, we are growing the future caretakers of our world!


Send us pictures of your families helping to Green Our Scene! We cannot wait to see how impactful this is for your family and community.








Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Fire Drills

Fire Drill

Fire drills may be one of the things that seem ordinary in schools but they are not insignificant. They may only last a few minutes but they play a critical role in keeping students and staff safe, prepared, and confident in the event of a real emergency.


           


Fire drills can be loud and surprising, so taking the time to explain what will happens makes a big difference on our little ones. Teachers are able to walk through the steps, model calm behavior, and reassure students that the alarm is a signal that helps to keep us safe.

After our fire drill, we were able to get a special visit from firefighters! Meeting these community helpers helps to reduce fear and builds understanding of the drill. 

  


Our students LOVED getting to meet some of the men who help to keep our community safe!