Making friends with a giant caterpillar and other summer fun

Since I started this blog and started paying more attention to children's products, I've gotten a lot hipper to what kids like. But I'm still light years behind parents and people who work with little kiddos.


So when my mom (the preschool director) (who's always up on the latest trends within the two- to six-year-old demographic) started telling me about the summer program she was offering at the preschool with that Hermie and Wormie curriculum, there was silence on my end of the phone for a moment.

(**thinking, thinking**) "Who?"

"You know...Max Lucado...Hermie and Friends...Splash..."

(Still silence on my end. All I could think of was that '80's movie with the mermaid. )

"Oh. Maybe you don't know."

Nope. Sorry. That's a new one for me.

I don't follow Max Lucado's career closely enough to have known that at some point switched from writing inspirational Christian literature for adults to doing DVDs and curriculum for children involving a 3D caterpillar and other assorted crawling critters, i.e. Hermie and Friends. (Wikipedia says that happened circa 2003. So...yeah...I'm on top of things...)


Anyway, once I got it all sorted out, I found out my mom's preschool is doing this really cool summer program where Hermie and Wormie come (in puppet form) and teach the kids Bible stories. And, of course, there are all kinds of fun activities and crafts that go along with each day's theme. It's based on the Splash curriculum by Max Lucado, but, knowing my mom and her creative teachers, I'm sure they've added their own fun twists!


Summer programs like this are a great way to give young children some structured (but playful!) time a few mornings a week, so parents can spend some time with older siblings who are out of school for the summer or just to get some errands done.

If you live in the Phoenix area, here's the info on Mom's Splash summer program:

date/time:
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
June 1-19
9am-11:30am

ages:
3 1/2 (potty trained!) to just-finished kindergartners

location:
Trinity Preschool & Kindergarten
Mesa, AZ
fee:
$65

sign up/more info:
call the preschool at 480.834.9120


If you don't live around here, check out preschools and libraries in your area or give your local Parks and Rec Department a call.

So, what's fun in your neck of the woods this summer?

*****
Photos: Hermie by b r e n t painting by merebearlandon girl by Pixzamillion phone by indi.ca