photo of 2018 walk-a-thon

Our annual Walk-A-Thon at Grass Lawn Park in Redmond is approaching. Families are encouraged to ask for pledges from anyone who cares about ensuring your children have a great place to learn and grow. Friends, family, co-workers and neighbors. Remember to ask your employer about matching too. The family that raises the most money will receive the highly coveted GRAND PRIZE of a "Get Out of School Cleaning Coupon." The class that raises the most money will receive a popsicle party. Looking forward to seeing you there, rain or shine! Get more info from Jennifer via kcpfundraiser01@gmail.com

Many thanks go to Rob Stubblefield, a long-time KCP parent, for leading a Summer Soccer group that met every other Friday evening for an hour at Spinney Homestead Park. With such a great turn out, two groups were formed: current preschoolers and older KCP graduates. What a great way to strengthen those soccer and social skills at the same time. Thank you, Rob!   (photo courtesy of Malaika Silliker)

Activities at Home & Places to Experience
The winter holidays are often filled with traditions created by the greater community and traditions created by you for your own family. Traditions are a wonderful way to instill a sense of belonging, love and joy in your preschooler. Decorating a Christmas tree, lighting candles, making a specific recipe, exploring an art project, and reading books are some ways you can deepen your family bond through traditions.

Exploring holiday traditions outside of the home can be lots of fun! If you have experienced The Bellevue Botanical Gardens with Teacher Kym's class, consider visiting this time of year. A large portion of the garden has been decorated with scenes created by thousands of lights. For details visit https://bellevuebotanical.org/garden-dlights/

Parent Map offers a Family Fun Calendar of activities around Puget Sound. https://www.parentmap.com/calendar
Red Tricycle is a great resource for kid oriented activities. http://redtri.com/seattle-kids/

Teacher Amy's preschool teacher introduced this recipe to her when she was in preschool. Amy has carried on this tradition by making it with each of her classes. The children were fascinated by using their kid power and an old fashioned grinder to make this recipe. They enjoyed watching the berries and other fruit smoosh together. They even tried the juice that dripped into a bowl while grinding the fruit. You can also use a food processor but the old fashion grinder is so much more fun!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rinsed raw cranberries
• 2 peeled and cored apples, cut into thick slices
• 1 large, whole (peel ON) seedless orange, cut into sections
• 1 to 2 cups granulated sugar to taste

Directions:  
     1. Wash fruit and get grinder or food processor ready
     2. Push fruit through grinder: Push the cranberries, orange sections, and apple slices through the grinder. Include the orange peel! Alternate the fruit as you push it through the grinder so that different fruits get ground together
    3.  Add sugar: Stir in the sugar. (Start with less than a cup and keep adding 1/4 cups to taste.) Let sit at room temperature until the sugar dissolves, about 45 minutes. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.  You can store in refrigerator for up to 10-14 days or freeze for up to 2 months and then defrost in the refrigerator.

KCP's handcrafted wood sign tells a story of it's own. This summer it was given a facelift with a fresh coat of paint by our in-house teacher artist, Kym Meade. KCP is very fortunate to have an alumni grandfather determined to support the co-op spirit, who fashioned new posts and installed the sign. Deep gratitude to Walt Mauldin, otherwise known as our "Pa Walt." In the upcoming weeks, the posts will be painted our school colors of blue, red and green. Many hands make work light!

Kirkland Co-op Preschool is a 5013c non-profit preschool. Your donations make KCP great as well as give you a tax deduction.
Here is how you can send a donation to KCP:
PayPal

• Go to paypal.me/kcppayments
• Enter a dollar amount
• Log in to your account
• Enter a note that includes your name and reason for payment
• Send payment
• Email kcptreasurer01@gmail.com. In the note section please include your name and indicate the amount is a donation.

Mail a Payment
Mail a check made payable to Kirkland Co-op Preschool to:
Kirkland Co-op Preschool, Attn: Treasurer
7525 132nd Ave NE
Kirkland, WA 98033

Fall is here and KCP classes have been busy learning all things fall related through songs, art, activities and even pumpkin farm visits. If you would like to do a little pumpkin learning at home, give this recipe a try.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Ingredients:

• Seeds of one pumpkin
• Olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt.

 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
2. Wash the seeds thoroughly in warm water- make sure all the pumpkin gunk is gone.
3. Spread the seeds out on a paper towel and let them dry completely.
4. In a bowl, toss the seeds with olive oil.
5. Spread the seeds on a cookie sheet.
6. Sprinkle with salt.
7. Put the seeds in the oven for 20 minutes, stirring every five minutes.  The seeds are done when they are dry and golden.
8. Cool and serve.

 
You can be creative with your seasoning – other suggestions are cayenne pepper, sugar and cinnamon, powdered taco seasoning, garlic salt, cheese popcorn seasoning, soy sauce, curry powder.