Author: MISS LORI

I am a certified center-based director, attaining over thirty years of experience in the field of Early Childhood Education; achieving an Associates of Arts degree, and completing 40 + early childhood educational units (16 E.C.E units as well as the essential 24 state required early childhood education courses, in addition to completing 150 + college credits in psychology, theater, sign-language and English). I also possess a current C.P.R and First Aid Certificate. I am also an aficionado of comedian memoirs, avid collector of snowmen paraphernalia, rainstorm enthusiast, red wine connoisseur, candle hoarder, water baby, national public radio diehard, ardent music lover, romantic comedy movie junkie, audacious self-published author, as well as an extraordinarily passionate preschool teacher and director, who is college educated with a background in theater, psychology and child development. I’ve received various certificates of notable accomplishments for my commitment to educating children and have self-published various children’s books; Pumpkinpants, Little Turkeys, Tis the Season to be Molly, A Makeup Surprise for My Valentine Eyes, Lizzie the Lazy Leprechaun and Eddie the Edible Easter Bunny, as well as several adult books; Get it?, The Big Kid Method, Life After Lipstick, Diary of a Preschool Teacher, plentyofpickles.com and Aftertaste.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

MISS LORI

We had a magical celebration. First, we colored our Holiday CRAFT, and then we heard the LITTLE CHRISTMAS ELF story and sang the Winnie the Pooh version of The Twelve Days of Christmas. We added our Santa hats to sing Raffi’s It Must Be Santa, motivating us to put on our bell-adorned reindeer antlers and perform Jim Reeves’s Jingle Bells. Then we danced around the tables to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. And then we played games! We played THE CHRISTMAS TREE WALK (earning a Present & Chocolate Santa), then THE HOLIDAY MEMORY GAME (earning a prize), and then THE BEAN BAG TOSS HOPSCOTCH (earning a treat bag). Then we had fun getting involved in a CHRISTMAS COOKIE DECORATING contest (winning a treat bag). Then it was time for our HI PIZZA MAN story to prepare us for our surprise delivery person from Mountain Mike’s! This year it was a PIZZA MAN! And then on to our huge feast.

Our bellies were more than satisfied. To wind down the day’s festivities, we watched A CHRISTMAS MOVIE, opened our stockings that Santa filled last night, heard the adorable story SIX SNOWY SHEEP, and finally took a long hard winters nap. As the big man in the red suit always says, “Merry Christmas to all…and to all a good night.”  

P.S. An enormous thank you to my preschool parents who went above and beyond!

Dawn’s mom, Cierra, got each student a lovely Christmas bag filled with treats and toys, and for me the most unique gift of a real Christmas tree to plant, fun socks with foot lotion, and a fancy bottle of red wine. We all really missed you, Dawn!

Andrea’s parents, Brittney & Roy, brought each student a cute bag filled with bath paint & fun snacks, and gave me the most unimaginably ideal Birthday gifts and greatest Christmas gifts for me & Magic—cheesecake (my favorite), a DoorDash gift card (perfect!), a thriller novel (which I plan to start reading tonight, super excited!), the adorable gunny sack bag of candies (yum), teas, which I am so into right now, the spectacular bottle of fancy red wine, and the Christmas toys for Magic rock. He LOVES them!

Alexandria’s parents, Erin & Travis, got me the softest and cutest Christmas socks, delicious scented vanilla bean noel hand cream, and a fancy cinnamon caramel swirl candle.

Audrey Jo & Colbie Lynn’s parents, Lindsay & Dale, gave me the fanciest Mondavi red wine with an adorable Christmas mug, and the absolutely best assortment of home-made treats (the stroopwafels are to die for) that you can imagine.

Bennett’s parents, Kathryn & Jake, got me the most gorgeous purple Orchid, cocoa baton wafer cookies, a Starbuck’s gift card, a bottle of fancy red wine, and beef & sweet potato dog treats for Magic in an adorable Trader Joe’s bag.

Every gift was super thoughtful and fancier stuff than I could ever get myself.

I am beyond grateful and feel so blessed. I am surrounded by kind, intelligent, colorful, creative, fun students each day who have exceptionally generous, thoughtful, and loving parents.

Life is good.

May all your Christmases be filled with as much joy as this day brought me…Thank you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

#teddybearclass

#ChristmasParty2025

#KidsFirstLearningCenter

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

MISS LORI

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

Our little turkeys had themselves a fabulous celebration. We created Turkey Bookmarks and made Pinecone Turkey Centerpieces to take home. For our events, we played TURKEY TOSS, winning a PRIZE, and THANKSGIVING BINGO, winning a treat bag. After crafts and games, we sat down to devour an incredible feast. And then, we got to relax our little turkey bellies by watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. This year, I am super thankful for all of my exceptionally respectful and sweet students, and their incredibly generous parents, who have supported me by making donations and paying tuition early (an immense help). I am SO incredibly thankful to have such wonderful and loving parents. I couldn’t be here without you! I am beyond grateful to all of you and look forward to the year ahead. Thank you!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

MISS LORI

We had a spectacular HALLOWEEN BASH in the KIDS FIRST Teddy Bear Class! We had the best time earning prizes after doing a Halloween Craft, listening to the hilarious Skeleton Hiccups book, dancing to the Monster Mash at our Pumpkin Walk contest, playing a Witch Hat Ring Toss Game, and spinning around in circles to pin the Witch Hat on the Big Orange Pumpkin. The Purple People Eater, Witch Doctor, and Walking Through the Cemetery songs brought us into the Halloween spirit while we feasted on our Halloween-appropriate snacks! And then winding down the activities with a Halloween Cartoon made it a huge success. Have a great time TRICK OR TREATING Everyone!

A special thank you to Brittney, Lindsay, and my good friend, Terry, for going above and beyond to create exorbitant Treat Bags (for every student) with the coolest toys and treats! I am SO impressed! And an extra special thank you to Brittney for the Witches Brew wine (clever), and the adorable monster dog toy for Magic!!! He LOVED it!!! Such a neat surprise. THIS made my day!

ART WEEK

MISS LORI

For our theme GOING ARTSY, we created masterpieces every day, using our imaginations and getting messy, learning about new art mediums. We created Bracelets, produced Watercolors, Finger-Painted, molded Air-Dry Clay, performed Stencil Rub Art, constructed Magnets, Sponge-Printed, colored Abstract Designs, invented Toothpick Sculptures, fabricated Magazine Name Art, and generated Pastel Art. We also heard the stories, Lucy’s Picture and Harold and the Purple Crayon, and played restaurant, creating play Food Art. ✍️🖍🎨🖼

What an exceptionally fun week!

#artwork

#teddybearclass

#kidsfirstlearningcenter

Happy 4th of July

MISS LORI

We engaged in a rollicking Patriotic Cupcake Memory Game, a 4th of July Bingo Game, painted our Independence Day Sun Catchers, and engaged in a thrilling Balloon Toss Game (earning 4th of July treat cups and toys). Then we enjoyed decorating and devouring our  U. S. A. Flag Cake along with Submarine Sandwiches, Barbecue Chips, Watermelon, patriotic donuts, cupcakes, and 4th  of July bomb pops! We already crafted our spectacular 4th of July shakers, made nifty patriotic fans, popsicle stick flags, and colored fireworks pictures in celebration of this holiday. It has been an awesome day!!!

And a special thank you to my amazing Mother, who took time out of her busy schedule to make the kids a cake to decorate. And, as expected, it is out of this world delicious. Yum! Thanks, Mom!

HAWAIIAN LUAU!

MISS LORI

Aloha!🍢🥥🌴

Our end of the school year HAWAIIAN LUAU for all children who’ve earned their “Pin of Honor” has been the best ever! With traditional Hawaiian music playing in the background, we began our festivities by playing with Beach Balls and Hula Hoops and then creating fabulous-looking Sun Visors earning a Treat Bag. And then we had the best time participating in the Limbo event and then performed a Hula Dancing routine we’d been practicing. After that, we performed our wonderful Humuhumunukunukuapua song about the famous Hawaiian fish wearing our Fish Hats earning a special PRIZE. This led us to our LUNCH feast of Mountain Mike’s Pizza, Submarine Sandwiches, Barbecue Chips, Pudding, Fruit Kabobs, Sprinkled Cupcakes, and Hawaiian Punch. After stuffing our faces, we relaxed and watched a fun ocean show. Aloha!

#teddybearclass

#hawaiianluau2025

SPORTS & GAMES WEEK

MISS LORI

Today we played Chutes and Ladders, A Balloon War Card Game, Baseball, and Basketball, and earned our Sports Certificates with a Medal of Honor Ribbon🏆! Throughout the week we did SO much. We created Sports Bookmarks, played the board game of Life (2 students chose college, 3 chose careers😜), and were introduced to Golf, Ping Pong, Football, Sneaky Snacky Squirrel, Candyland, Scramble, Hi Ho Cherry-O, I Spy Sports, Velcro Catch, Scoop Ball, Chess, Checkers, Monopoly, Bowling, Soccer, Frisbee, Horseshoes, Badminton, and Volleyball. We had the best week…🏓⛳️🎾🏀🏐⚽️🎳🧲🏁♟️🏸🏆

#sportsandgamesweek

#teddybearclass

HAPPY EASTER!

MISS LORI

Happy Easter!🥚🐣🌸🌷The Easter Bunny was here…yay!👏🫶He not only filled our Easter Baskets full of fun treats, but he also hid candy-filled eggs for us to search for! We had the best party! We created an adorable “Easter Craft”, engaged in playing Bunny Match, and performed the Bunny Hop Dance all the way to play Pin the Tail on the Bunny where we got to win Treats and Toys. Then we did the movement activity, I am Bunny Pink Ears, earning a Bunny Treat, and went on our Easter Egg Hunt! Then we got to enjoy our special snack feast of carrots, sweet & salty kettle corn, Yum Earth jellybeans, Easter cupcakes, frosted cookies, Jell-O, lemonade, and our dyed Easter Eggs that we decorated! What a spectacular party.

Happy Easter to all of you little bunnies out there.

A special thank you to Andrea’s mom, Brittney Madrigal, for bringing the cutest bunny treat bags filled with awesome goodies for each student, and Audrey Jo and Colbie’s mom, Lindsay Kirk, for bringing adorable Easter treat bags with bunny glasses, and Teddy’s mom, Maddie Scalvini, for bringing huuuge translucent Easter Eggs filled with goodies for every student, and a luxurious Easter basket for me (filled with the fanciest coffee’s, chocolates, scented candle, wine stopper, and fig spreads)! I am so grateful to have such generous and thoughtful parents and such exceptional children.

#teddybearclass

#easterparty2025

https://kidsfirstpreschool.com

HAPPY ST.PATRICK’S DAY!

MISS LORI

Happy St. Patrick’s Day☘️!

Top o’ the Morning! The wee little folk in the Teddy Bear class did the Irish jig to our traditional Irish music, and proudly wore our personally crafted shamrock headbands most of the day. But sadly, we did not catch a leprechaun this year—I know! We really thought this would be the year. It was sure a surprise to see the big mess they made in our playroom! Of course, they did leave us some rather delicious rainbow candy treats, which made up for their shenanigans. We started our party festivities by Decorating a Shamrock Cookie. Then we played a Lucky Coin Toss Game, a Wild Shamrock Match Game, and a St. Patrick’s Day Bingo game—winning St. Patrick’s Day Stickers, Rainbow Lollipops, nifty Treat Cups, and more!

We also watched Green Eggs and Ham and feasted on green Jell-O, green dill pickle chips, green apples, Lucky Charms cereal, festive shamrock cupcakes, rainbow fruit roll-ups, and green juice. And then we enjoyed a special St. Patrick’s Day movie🫶.

And a special thank you to Lindsay Kirk (Audrey Jo & Colbie Lynn) for bringing the outrageously delicious homemade shamrock cookies, and to Nerissa Quinn (Avery) for sharing her chocolate coins left to her by a leprechaun. Super sweet and generous, thank you…🙏

May the luck of the Irish be with you today☘️!

#teddybearclass

#stpaddysday2025