It’s important for children to have fresh air, explore new worlds and generally run around. Children will play outdoors as the weather permits. While we do some structure activates such as painting, drawing, games, as well as have some of our snacks outside, most of outdoor playtime is free play (see below). In addition to the permanent play toys and structures, we have variety of different toys that are setup from time-to-time such as water toys, pools, slides, tunnels, tents, etc , keep the outdoor playtime experience fun and new.

We regularly practice a series of different indoor activities based on the age and daily emotional state of the children.  Some of our activities are seasonal, such as we make something for Mother’s Day, Valentines days, etc.  Regardless, we typically have a short circle time with the children 8 to 12 months and up lasting no more than around 20 minutes each day.  This helps builds some predictability to the child’s day.  We use this time to build simple sensory and cognitive skills (such as sights, sounds, colors, numbers, names and so on) and check on how each child is doing from needs standpoint (i.e. are they tired, cranky, sluggish or do they have excess energy; is there something they need to tell or share with us; are they excited and happy or is something bothering them, etc).  The type of activity we do will depending on the emotional state of the children.  For example, if the children are full of energy, we may put on some music and dance around.  If someone has done something neat, like go to the zoo, we may talk about all the different animals at the zoo. 

Some of the activities we typical do are as follows: story / book time, share time, dance / exercise, learning basics (colors, number, names, etc), painting & drawing, play cooking, playdoe, and a variatiey of other arts and crafts.

One to two times a week we bring in a Jamaroo Kids to conduct music class.  The class helps children discover the joy of music.  During class children will sing songs and have the opportunity to play with a variety of simple instruments, interact with puppets, use rhythm sticks, bean bags, streamers, and much more.  For additional information on their program, please visit their website at www.jamarookids.com.

All children under the age of 5 really should have a rest period. We typically have a rest period or “nap” after our lunch hour between the hours of 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm. No child is forced to sleep; however, they must remain quiet during this period. We discourages pickups and drop offs during this period time unless it is absolutely necessary in order to minimize the disruption to other children.

Piccolino provides breakfast, lunch and healthy snacks throughout the day.  Children are always offered the food, but not forced to eat.  Wherever possible, we seek to home cook most meals and use natural, hormone-free, non-processed foods that are locally sourced.  We buy organic when possible.  Most of our meals are designed to be well-balanced and include all the main food groups throughout the day.

For Infants, mothers need only provide breast milk until the child moves to formula and/or table food.  We provide formula until age one or when table food is started.  When infants are beginning table foods, we puree natural foods for them to eat.  We never buy or use processed, jarred baby foods. 

We understand many children have dietary restrictions due to allergies, religious beliefs and/or personal preferences.  Should you wish to limit or forbid certain food items for any reason, we can usually accomindate for requests.  Substitute meals or snacks can also be brought from home.