Infant 1 Room // 0-6 Months
At Bottineau Children’s Academy, our Infant 1 Room offers a variety of engaging activities tailored to support the development of infants aged 0 to 6 months:
- Tummy Time: Encourages muscle development and prepares infants for crawling.
- Sensory Exploration: Provides opportunities for infants to explore different textures, sounds, and visuals, enhancing their sensory development.
- Interactive Activities: Engages infants in activities like reading, singing, and playing peek-a-boo to promote social and language skills.
- Mirror Play: Allows infants to explore their reflections in a baby-safe mirror, fostering self-awareness.
- Textured Toys: Offers toys with various textures, such as soft fabrics, crinkly materials, or smooth surfaces, to stimulate tactile senses.
- Bubble Play: Blows bubbles for infants to watch and reach for, promoting fine motor skills and visual tracking.
- Cuddle Time: Provides ample opportunities for cuddles and bonding with caregivers, ensuring emotional security.
These activities are designed to support the holistic development of infants, fostering growth in a nurturing environment.
Infant 2 Room // 7-12 Months
At Bottineau Children’s Academy, our Infant 2 Room is designed for infants who are beginning to explore their environment more actively. We provide a nurturing space with engaging activities that promote physical, cognitive, and social development through hands-on learning experiences.
Daily Activities and Developmental Support
- Wiggle Time: Encourages movement and body awareness by allowing infants to stretch, roll, and wiggle freely.
- Music and Movement: Introduces age-appropriate music, dancing, and musical toys to stimulate auditory senses and motor skills.
- Obstacle Courses: Simple, soft play structures encourage crawling, climbing, and problem-solving while developing coordination.
- Building and Stacking: Soft blocks, stacking toys, and large puzzles support fine motor skills, spatial awareness, and early problem-solving.
- Nature Stroller Walks: Daily outdoor walks allow infants to experience fresh air, observe nature, and develop sensory awareness.
- Infant Massage: Gentle massages promote relaxation, bonding, and sensory development.
- Creative Exploration: Hands-on activities like finger painting and sensory play introduce textures, colors, and creative expression.
- Interactive Storytime: Reading touch-and-feel books, board books with bright pictures, and storytelling sessions help build early literacy skills.
- Baby Sign Language: Basic signs introduce early communication skills, helping infants express needs and emotions.
- Social Play & Hide-and-Seek: Encourages interaction, social development, and object permanence through age-appropriate games.
Each activity is thoughtfully planned to foster curiosity, engagement, and developmental milestones in a caring, supportive environment.
Bottineau Children’s Academy is proud to utilize Experience Curriculum, a research-based early childhood education program designed for children from birth to age five. This engaging curriculum integrates key developmental skills through hands-on activities, music, art, and storytelling, fostering growth in social-emotional, cognitive, and physical domains. With thoughtfully designed lesson plans and thematic monthly kits, Experience Curriculum helps our educators create a nurturing and enriching learning environment for every child.
Toddler 1 Room
- Circle Time: Encourages structured age-appropriate group learning in a fun way.
- Art Projects: Creative expression through paint, coloring, building, collages, and stickers.
- Sensory Play: Play through stimulating children’s senses, sight, sound, touch, hearing, and smell.
- Practice Patience Play: Activities that require turn-taking and practicing patience and sharing.
- Fine Motor Skills Focus: Activities focused on encouraging specific movements to help naturalize fine motor skills.
- Communication: Activities and interactions that encourage children to learn and utilize the ability to voice their wants, needs, feelings, and thoughts, including speech and sign language.
Toddler 2 Room
The Experienced Curriculum for toddlers focuses on fostering creativity, exploration, and social interaction through a structured yet flexible schedule. Here’s a typical daily routine:
- Welcome and Warm-Up: As toddlers arrive, they are greeted warmly.
- Exploration Time: Open-ended play where toddlers explore different themes, sensorial materials, and manipulatives to build cognitive skills.
- Circle Time: Group gathering for interactive storybooks, songs, and finger plays. Facilitates language development and social bonds.
- Creative Art Activity: Guided art projects using different materials to inspire creativity and fine motor development.
- Snack Time: Nutritious snacks are served, focusing on self-feeding skills, sharing, and conversational skills.
- Outdoor/Physical Play: Exploration and gross motor skills enhancement through running, climbing, and playing in the outdoor area or indoor gym.
- Sensory Activities: Activities involving water, sand, playdough, or other sensorial experiences to engage touch, sight, and coordination.
- Music and Movement: Active participation in music activities—singing, dancing, and playing simple instruments to enhance rhythm and body coordination.
- Lunch: Includes practicing self-help skills, such as using utensils and napkins, while fostering a community atmosphere.
- Rest/Nap Time: Quiet time for rest, essential for growth and rejuvenation, with individual mats and blankets.
- Story Exploration: Post-nap quiet time with books and storytelling to stimulate imagination and language.
- Free Choice Play: Child-led play where toddlers choose activities or centers, promoting decision-making and independence.
- Group Activity: Structured group activity focusing on a theme from the curriculum, incorporating learning and social interaction.
Preschool 1 Room
Our preschool rooms are a fun and engaging space designed to support the growth and development of young children. Here’s a typical day:
- Arrival: Children arrive, greet teachers, hang up their coats, and store backpacks.
- Circle Time: Gather on a rug for songs, stories, and discussions about the day’s themes and activities. Children learn to check themselves in for the day.
- Learning Centers: Children rotate through various centers like reading, art, science, dramatic play, and blocks. Each center focuses on different skills.
- Outdoor Play: Time for running, climbing, and playing games which helps develop motor skills and social interactions.
- Snack Time: A healthy snack is served while children practice manners, share stories, and engage in light conversation.
- Group Activity: Engage in a guided activity tied to the theme of the week, such as craft projects or themed games.
- Music and Movement: Singing, dancing, and rhythm activities to promote physical activity and listening skills.
- Storytime: Children gather on the rug to hear a story, fostering a love for reading and improving listening skills.
- Lunch: Mealtime with an emphasis on nutrition, independence, and social interaction.
- Rest Time: Quiet time with mats and blankets, allowing children to nap or rest quietly with books.
Preschool 2 Room
Children participate in activities that promote: STEM exploration, fine motor development, letter and number recognition, phonics and letter sounds, and social and emotional learning. Here’s what a typical day looks like in our Preschool 2 room:
- Arrival: Children arrive, greet teachers, hang up their coats, and store backpacks.
- Circle Time: Gather on a rug for songs, stories, and discussions about the day’s themes and activities. Children learn to check themselves in for the day.
- Table Time: Children come to the table to work on writing, math, curriculum-based activities, and more. We incorporate Heggerty Phonics into our daily table time.
- Learning Centers: Children rotate through various centers like reading, art, science, dramatic play, and blocks. Each center focuses on different skills.
- Art: Every day is a different project! Children create projects based on the month’s curriculum theme.
- Outdoor Play: Time for running, climbing, and playing games, which helps develop motor skills and social interactions.
- Snack Time: A healthy snack is served while children practice manners, share stories, and engage in light conversation.
- Group Activity: Engage in a guided activity tied to the theme of the week.
- Music and Movement: Singing, dancing, and rhythm activities to promote physical activity and listening skills.
- Storytime: Children gather on the rug to hear a story and participate in storytelling, fostering a love for reading and improving listening skills.
- Lunch: Mealtime with an emphasis on nutrition, independence, and social interaction.
- Rest Time: Quiet time with mats and blankets, allowing children to nap or rest quietly with books.
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