A further child care center, which belongs to our kidéal Kitas network, is run in Münchenstein under the name Kita Chinderstern. It works with a slightly different concept than the ylaa Kitas. To find out more click here!
When the sun shines and the temperatures rise, we feel even more drawn outside than usual. The warm months at ylaa Densa Park are filled with lively movement, joyful laughter, and countless moments of exploration under the open sky. Whether on the large lawn playing with water and balls, painting colorful pictures on the pavement, splashing in the sand and water, or watching ducks and boats on the Rhine – the children experience summer with all their senses.
But it’s not just about playing – it’s about learning through exploration: What does wet sand feel like? What happens when I pour water over it? What new color appears when I mix two others? What does the wind sound like in the trees or the water bubbling in the fountain?
Nature and the urban surroundings offer daily inspiration for shared experiences, for wonder, experimentation, and creativity. In these moments, the children experience agency and strengthen their social skills – effortlessly, while painting, splashing, or listening on a picnic blanket in the shade.
We believe it’s important to offer children these rich experiences while also giving them space for free play and childlike curiosity. Because it is exactly here – outdoors, in contact with their surroundings, with water, stones, colors, movement, and people – that deep and lasting learning happens in the most natural way.
In the last few days, we have been intensively involved with the Legos. Building with Lego boosts children’s creative and cognitive skills by using their imagination and designing their own structures. It improves fine motor skills by gripping and putting the building blocks together. Children develop their problem-solving skills by overcoming challenges and finding solutions.
Building together strengthens social skills, such as cooperation and communication. These activities also promote hand-eye coordination and dexterity. Children learn to think logically and increase their endurance. Overall, building with Lego offers a playful way to develop important skills while having fun. Myki was also there again, have you spotted him yet?
December is one of the most beautiful months for us at the Kita ylaa Densa Park. Everyone is looking forward to the Christmas season. During this month we are intensively busy with various creative activities, the decorating of the Kita with Christmas ornaments, window pictures, fairy lights, baking cookies and even decorating a Christmas tree. Through these activities, we get in the mood together, sing, play and enjoy the time until Christmas Day.
As every year, a big highlight is the visit of Santa Claus and the Christmas charity with the parents, where we prepare something with the children for the Christmas bazaar. The proceeds of the sale will benefit SOS Children’s Villages.
We wish all families and friends of the daycare center ylaa Densa Park happy holidays and a happy new year 2025.
At ylaa Densa Park, we love to be outdoors, no matter what time of year it is. In addition to the numerous activities that take place within the child care centre, such as morning circle, free play, creative activities and reading time, we spend several hours in the fresh air every day.
This is not only fun, but also promotes the health, social interaction, as well as cognitive and motor development of the children. Through joint outdoor activities, the children learn to interact with each other, solve conflicts and form friendships. The desire to discover is awakened by nature’s incentives: What is the name of this flower? What kind of creepy-crawly animal is this? How big is this tree? The cognitive skills are trained and the children learn to open up to their surroundings. The movement strengthens the children’s gross motor skills and serves as a balance. They can use their energy consciously by running, climbing or opening a construction site in the sandbox.
For this purpose, we are regularly in the garden directly behind the house, the nearby playground with numerous activities or organize walks and excursions, to the Lange-Erlen in the zoo or simply along the Rhine to watch ships. The children thus have the opportunity to get to know the world outside the daycare center and can benefit from the diverse learning experiences.
In our ylaa child care centres, we deal with the topic “My body belongs to me” with the children every year. This year, we were able to carry out this project at the ylaa Densa Park daycare center with the support of the Limita concept. The Limita concept is a service offered by the Limita office, which is committed to the prevention of sexual exploitation of children, adolescents and people with disabilities. The concept consists of different modules that are tailored to the needs and age of the children. The aim is to strengthen the children’s personal development, to give them a positive body image and to help them to maintain and respect their boundaries.
We dealt with the following elements with the children during the project weeks:
• Emotions
• How to get help and secrets
• My body belongs to me!
• How to say No
These topics were conveyed by us through various media such as picture books, games, songs and creative offers. The children were allowed to make emotion cards, give each other a stone massage, learn a poem about feelings and transfer depicted situations to their own everyday life with the help of the picture books.
The room of a child care centre is also often referred to as “the third educator” alongside parents and the staff. The design of the room has an influence on how the children feel comfortable in it and should meet the needs of the children. In this way, a room can stimulate activity, calm down or, as is currently the case, set the mood for a special event.
The team and children of the ylaa Densa Park daycare centre have decorated their rooms for Christmas together. Window pictures, garlands, fairy lights and creative works by the children make the daycare centre shine in a pre-Christmas splendour. Miky has also found his favourite place. Can you guess where?
In November, our two first aid course days “Emergencies in Children” took place in Adliswil.
Practical exercises for alerting, chain of survival, recognising the various symptoms of a heart attack/stroke, etc. were taught to our motivated employees.
Another very important item on the program was resuscitation for children and adults. This is a very important point, as there are differences between infants and adults regarding the application of pressure during resuscitation. In this context, the defibrillator was also used repeatedly, and the corresponding handling was explained in detail.
It has been shown that the practical part and the associated repeated repetition in groups and different staged emergency situations is mandatory, on the one hand to overcome certain fears of contact and on the other hand to be able to act immediately correctly and purposefully in an emergency.
As part of the anniversary theme for 15 years of kidéal, we were able to celebrate our summer party in circus style together with the children and parents.
Music, dancing, treats and fun games were of course not to be missed. The deliciouse cotton candy and our popcorn machine were of course particularly popular with the children.
But also the ring throw and the lion game, the handicraft table and the make-up station enjoyed great popularity.
Of course, our circus director Miky was also part of the party. He watched over the donation box of the SOS Children’s Village, for which we were able to collect generous donations again this year.
