The Allentown Art Museum's Traveling Road Show

The Allentown Art Museum is presenting a special program throughout the 2012 summer for our school-age students at six LVCC locations. Along with visiting the museum to see the paintings, photographs, and artifacts, the students will also receive art lessons based on different topics taught by museum educators inside their own LVCC classroom.

LVCC's Campus Center and LVCC's Fowler Center started their program with a field trip to the Allentown Art Museum. A museum guide toured the children around the various galleries while engaging his audience with tales of historic and entertaining value. Intrigued with the museum artifacts, the students asked many interesting questions. At the conclusion of the tour, the children had the opportunity to create their own masterpieces using cardboard boxes, markers, crayons, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, and other mixed media.

Taking it's art on the road, the museum also came to LVCC's Judith Chase Early Learning Center. Museum educators brought along photos of ancient sculptures and painted works. Each piece of art had a distinctive legend attached to it which told of love, power, and bit of fantasy. The students tried on culturally-specific items of clothing from the same countries as the artwork. They also handled art tools from around the world. Making stamp art was another highlight of the class.

Other LVCC locations that will participate in the Allentown Art Museum's summer program include LVCC's South Mountain, LVCC at Stones Crossing, and LVCC on Union Boulevard.

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Students Say Goodbye School, Hello Summer

Children across the Lehigh Valley are celebrating the beginning of summer. LVCC at Muhlenberg School made the last day of elementary school a memorable event by having a makeup artist and a caricature artist visit.

The makeup artist transformed our students into a carnival of animals (dogs, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, oh my!), superheroes, and villains with face paint. Some students became fairies and butterflies, while others chose to be werewolves, vampires and zombies. Once the students all had their faces painted, they acted out their characters in the gym and danced to music.

Many of the students also participated in having their cartoon representation drawn by a caricature artist. It was fun watching the artists create their artwork, using the children as their canvas.

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Pre-K Counts Class of 2012

Many proud family members watched as their four- and five-year-olds "graduated" from the Pre-K Counts program this week at Lehigh Valley Children's Centers. The stepping up ceremonies varied between centers, but one theme remained the same; these students now have a good foundation for learning, better preparing them for kindergarten.

Dressed in their best, these precocious preschoolers bravely sang in front of the large audiences made up of moms, dads, siblings, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. As each child stepped up to receive their awards and recognition, families and staff cheered them on.

Throughout the year, the Pre-K boys and girls learned reading, math, and science. They also practiced everyday skills like paying attention, following directions, and getting along with others. Introduced to new and exciting adventures, the students experienced pumpkin patches, the Crayola Experience, the Lehigh Valley Zoo, and many other fun, educational field trips.

During the ceremony, the LVCC teachers tried their best to hold back the tears. Watching their students blossom since this past fall, the teachers keep a special place in their hearts for each child. They know that their students will be well-prepared as they head for a bigger adventure.... kindergarten.

Congratulations Class of 2012!

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Families Eager to Participate in Open House

This school-age child created a rainmaker with her mother.

Families that attended last night's open house discovered the joy of learning with LVCC at Lincoln School! Many new faces joined our arts, crafts, and science activity stations.

At one station, we decorated rainmakers, inspired by Native American tradition. This craft can easily be made at home.

Glue colorful decorations or artwork around a paper towel roll

Rubber band (or glue) sturdy paper to one end.

Fill with a cup of dried beans or rice.

Seal the other end by rubber banding (or gluing) another sturdy paper to it.

Once complete, shake the rainmaker from end-to-end. It sounds like rain!

The "cast" of LVCC at Lincoln School's Open House, from
left to right: Craig Tucker, Jabeen Chisty, LouEllen Banzhoff,
& Kristina Adams.

The students, their siblings, and parents engaged in many other projects as well. Some made silly putty, while others colored take-home puzzles and insect trivia coloring pages. Families also decorated photo frames together.

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Playing Games Teaches Skills

Playing games is an entertaining way to hone basic life skills, and form a solid foundation for learning. Our school-age students enrolled in LVCC at Truman School have discovered different resources, including playing card games and building with blocks, can be a fun way to explore these skills.

Cards help our students learn math skills like counting, number order, and probability. Children can practice basic strategy and concentration. By waiting to taking turns, the students learn patience. Social interaction takes place throughout the game. Once they have learned the rules of the game, our little card sharks enjoy giving simple instruction to others that do not know how to play. They also develop good sportsmanship by winning and losing gracefully.


Using wooden blocks and the power of ingenuity, our students can create masterpiece structures. Constructing a towering block building takes imagination, problem-solving, and when working with others, communication.  Our junior architects learn the basics of geometry through using different shapes. They also discover the science of gravity if the blocks are not balanced properly.

Zoo Exploration & Army Discovery

Our Pre-K Counts class from LVCC's South Mountain discovered all kinds of animals on our field trip to the Lehigh Valley Zoo. In the big birdcage, different types of birds landed on us. We had the opportunity to pet and feed goats. We especially had a howling good time playing in the wolf den. What a cute wolf pack we make!

We asked many great questions about animal habitats and the kinds of foods animals eat. Our teachers made knowledgable safari guides too!

Back in the classroom, Pre-K Counts Assistant Teacher, Ms. Tara, brought a visitor to LVCC's South Mountain. Ms. Tara's brother, Specialist Jonathan Cericola of the U.S. Army, spent time with the children on his short leave from Afghanistan.

We asked him tons of questions about his job overseas, where he lived and slept, the Army truck he drove, the meaning of his many patches on his uniform, and what kinds of animals he saw in Afghanistan. After we sang a few songs, we presented Specialist Cericola with a flag that we made. He can take the flag with him upon deployment knowing that this group of preschoolers supports him and appreciates the hard job he has!

Observing the Butterfly Life Cycle

Preschoolers throughout LVCC have become quite the experts on the life-cycle of the painted lady butterfly. Our young entomologists received a jar of caterpillars in each preschool and Pre-K Counts classroom a few weeks ago. We watched the caterpillars' transition as they grew.

Egg (3-5 days old)

Prior to our receiving this fun nature experiment, the caterpillars started their life cycle as small eggs, the size of a pin head. Once the incubation of the eggs completed, a painted lady caterpillar, or larva, emerged.

Larva (5-10 days old)

Like all babies, the caterpillars were very hungry. They ate constantly, gnawing away at leaves with their strong jaws. The more the caterpillars ate, the more they grew. They got so big that they grew right out of their skins - four times! 

Larva/caterpillar stage

Pupa/chrysalis stage

Chrysalis (7-10 days old)
The caterpillars slowly made their way up to the top of the jar, where we then gave the caterpillars a bigger home inside a mesh butterfly observation house. Our teacher hung the house from the ceiling so we could watch the caterpillars begin their metamorphosis and pupate. The caterpillars spun a silk string and attached themselves, upside-down, to the top of the house. After a few days, we couldn't recognize the caterpillar anymore because its skin changed again, becoming a chrysalis. Our teacher told the class that the caterpillar became completely liquid inside this chrysalis. Soon after the chrysalis became transparent, a butterfly emerged.

Adult (2-3 weeks)

The butterfly fought its way out of the casing and sat on our teacher's hand to rest. Once it had energy again, it unfolded its crumpled wings to dry. We all took turns looking at the butterfly. Its wings were too delicate to touch. After a few hours, the painted lady butterfly began to fly.   

Newly hatched adult 

Crammin' in Crayola Fun

Imagination came to life when our Pre-K Counts class from LVCC's South Mountain went to The Crayola Experience in Easton. Our four-year-old bunch had a grand time using all the colors of the rainbow as their tools.

The Crayola Experience is as close as heaven can get to a four-year-old. Who else lets us draw on the walls? We colored many beautiful pieces of artwork and constructed scenery and costumes out of paperbags, crayons, and markers. Some fun stations included die cut figures that we could decorate. We were allowed to take all of our creations home!

Little fingers can explore the world of color through crayons, markers, pens, pencils, and now light through the Doodle in the Dark room. We used special pencils to draw pictures that glow in the dark! Some of our clothes glowed in the dark too!

Our final discovery led us to the canal boat room, where we could play canal boat captains and learn how food and other products were transported in the past. We floated a canal boat through a watery pathway. This path went under bridges, across pulleys, and through locks. Amazing that a little mule could pull these heavy canal boats through narrow areas!

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Week of the Young Child Success

LVCC's Campus Center

Pennsylvania State Representative Joe
Brennan with Pre-K Counts

Our Pre-K Counts class at Campus Center enjoyed a reading of the book "Bear at Work" by State Representative Joe Brennan when he visited Monday. Rep. Brennan also brought us each a coloring book and crayons to keep! See more photos...

The Pre-K counts and preschool classes held a "Hop-a-thon" fundraiser for the Muscular Distrophy Association. We enjoyed hopping around and using up lots of energy!

PNC Bank representative with Pre-K Counts

A PNC Bank representative came to visit our Pre-K counts and preschool classes. She read us a story and talked about how saving our pennies can add up. 

LVCC's Fowler Center on Main Street

Bethlehem Fire Lieutenant Mike
Rampulla with LVCC's Fowler toddlers

In between fighting fires, Bethlehem firemen made a stop at our toddler and preschool classes. They talked about what to do in case of a fire and let us try on the fireman hat. In addition, Fire Lieutenant Mike Rampulla read about llamas to the toddlers. See more photos...

Pennsylvania State Representative Steve Samuelson 
with LVCC's Fowler Center Pre-K Counts.

State Representative Steve Samuelson also visited our students. He read "Way Down Deep In the Deep Blue Sea" to the Pre-K Counts class. Rep. Samuelson seemed impressed that we all knew the words and could rhyme in time with him. We were highly attentive and enjoyed his visit.  See more photos...

LVCC's Judith Chase Early Learning Center

Ellen Kern, Senator Pat Brown's
Chief of Staff , with thank you tree.

Senator Pat Browne's Chief of Staff, Ellen Kern, came to our center to read to the preschool classes. As a thank you for visiting us, our preschool class gave her a piece of our artwork. Each student wrote their own name on each leaf of the tree. See more photos...

Our Pre-K Counts class received a K-Nex construction demonstration. We were able to build structures and received a K-Nex gift to take home.

Bernie Krokus of Allentown Health Bureau
performs puppet show for preschool.

The Allentown Health Bureau brought their traveling puppet show to preschool. Using a cat and dog puppet, they explained to us about petting friendly animals with permission and to not approach strange animals. See more photos...
The whole center held interactive activities where families could spend time with their children. Some classes had a family breakfast or lunch, while others made family murals and a family quilt.

Pre-K Counts performs a "Recycling" play.

It was standing room only during the Pre-K Counts performance of a play about recycling to improve our environment. Our class created the entire play ourselves. We wrote the script, artfully made the costumes and the backdrop, and picked out our own props. Family members gave a standing ovation for the wonderful theatrics of 4-year-olds. Allentown's Mayor Ed Pawlowski received a private performance afterward. The city's recycling initiative is what gave the class the inspiration for the play. See more photos...

LVCC at Lincoln School
To coincide with the investing theme for the week, our school-age class read "A Chair for My Mother" and discussed saving money for things that we may need.

Our Mad Science program continued. This time the mad scientist brought along stunt planes and gliders, arousing interest in aeronautics.

We were given a special treat by our teachers. We ate lunch at Sweet Memories in Emmaus!

LVCC at Lower Nazareth

Pennsylvania State Representative Marcia
Hahn with LVCC at Lower Nazareth students.

State Representative Marcia Hahn visited our school-age students enrolled in LVCC at Lower Nazareth. She read "Stop Snoring Bernard" and spoke with us about our interests. Rep. Hahn also brought us each a gift of "Billy & Betsy" coloring books!

LVCC at Muhlenberg
We performed fun and exciting experiments when the Da Vinci Science Center brought their traveling laboratory to our classroom. It gave us the opportunity to "think like scientists" and formulate our problem-solving skills.

A school year photo montage was on display for our families during our special parent/child snack. We gave our parents a gift made with love. Each of our classmates received a piggy bank and a book about how to manage money from our teachers.

LVCC at NAIS student cleans
up for Earth Week.

LVCC at Nazareth Area Intermediate
Our Earth Week project was to weed and pick up the garbage in front of our school. Everyone chipped in. By working as a team, we were able to get the job done quickly.

LVCC at NAIS students make
S.A.D.D. cards for prom.

Our female classmates made cards for Nazareth Prom participants. The S.A.D.D. (students against destructive decisions) club asked us to make a card personally addressed to each student going to the prom and placed at their table. The message inside the card is to encourage the prom-goers to be safe and make good choices.

We held interactive activities with our parents, including an art project, reading station, and a science touch-and-feel station. We also created a child and parent photo album to take home. Our families had the opportunity to watch the safety videos that we created earlier in the year.

LVCC at Ritter School

Pennyslvania State Representative
Steve Samuelson with LVCC at Ritter.

State Representative Steve Samuelson visited our school-age class. After he read a story about Native Americans, we drew illustrations depicting our ideas about the book. We then had conversations about the story and our many interests. Rep. Samuelson told us some facts about himself too.  See more photos...

LVCC at Shafer School
We also held interactive activities with our parents, including an art project, reading station, and a science touch-and-feel station. We created a child and parent photo album to take home. Our families had the opportunity to watch the safety videos that we created earlier in the year.

LVCC's South Mountain

Pennsylvania State Representative
Justin Simmons with Pre-K Counts.

State Representative Justin Simmons brought along one of his favorite childhood books during his visit to LVCC's South Mountain. He read "Tootle" to our Pre-K Counts class, which we really liked. We remained highly attentive and excited when Rep. Simmons asked us each about our name tags that listed what we want to be when we grow up. See more photos...

Allentown's Mayor Ed Pawlowski
with Pre-K Counts.

Allentown's Mayor Ed Pawlowski read to both preschool and Pre-K Counts. He brought each of us a pack of crayons and a firetruck coloring book. See more photos...

Allentown's Mayor Ed Pawlowski
with preschool. 

Pennsylvania State Representative
Joe Brennan, Ms. Oval, and preschoolers
singing "Build a Bridge..."

LVCC at St. Luke's
Our preschool class kept State Representative Joe Brennan engaged in lots of activities during his visit. He spoke to us about how he once wanted to be a kindergarten teacher and the importance of education. We sang "Build a Bridge, Dig a Tunnel, Build a Road" with Rep. Brennan, which involves a partner and lots of hand motions. Rep. Brennan taught us some math and measuring skills when we asked him his height. We compared Rep. Brennan's height of 6' 5" when he stood next to Ms. Oval who is 5'. Rep. Brennan also brought us each a "Billy & Betsy" coloring book and crayons to keep!  See more photos...

Toddlers stretching like otters with
Bethlehem librarian, Ms. Regina.

Ms. Regina from the Bethlehem Library read "Stop Snoring Bernard" to our toddlers. She made the book fun by having us participate with questions and answers, and then moving around to get out our wiggles.  See more photos...

Our families were invited to join us for breakfast muffins where we gave them a hand-made gift. We also had our picture taken with our parents, which will later be displayed on our family tree in the center's foyer for everyone to see.

We started our children's garden by planting seedlings. The garden will continue to grow as we add painted river rocks.

Pennsylvania State Senator Lisa Boscola
with LVCC at St. Luke's preschoolers.

Senator Lisa Boscola had a room full of precocious preschoolers while reading "When I'm Feeling Kind." One of our preschool classmates brought the book from home and asked if the Senator could read it to us. She asked us questions about the book and we all wanted to give answers.  See more photos...

Toddlers and preschoolers dancing with
Tooth Buddy Tales puppet show.

Our toddler and preschool classes watched an exciting puppet show by Tooth Buddy Tales. Using comedy and colorful puppets, the father and son acting team taught us the difference between good, healthy snacks (like fruits, vegetables, and milk) and bad, cavity-causing snacks (like candy, chips, cakes, cookies, and pies).We laughed at the funny puppets and actors. We danced to high energy music. The entire audience, including the teachers, participated. We all became tooth buddies because we learned how to fight cavities by brushing our teeth regularly and staying away from sweet and sticky treats!  See more photos...

 LVCC at Stones Crossing

Pennsylvania State Representative
Bob Freeman with LVCC at Stones Crossing

State Representative Bob Freeman read two rainy-day, sleepy-time books, "The Napping House" and "Stop Snoring Bernard" to our infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. He kept us highly engaged and entertained with his witty impression of Bernard, the otter with a snoring problem.  See more photos...

Pennsylvania State Representative
Joe Emrick with LVCC at Stones Crossing

State Representative Joe Emrick also visited our center. He was very animated and lively while he read "The Napping House" and "Stop Snoring Bernard." We enjoyed having him as a special reader.  See more photos...

Our parents deposited "centamints" into a center piggy bank. On these slips of paper, they wrote us notes of love and how much they value us. Our teachers later read these notes to us, which give us a smile throughout the day! We also had a family fun time, where families could decorate a square for the center's family quilt.

LVCC at Truman

Pennsylvania State Representative Justin
Simmons with LVCC at Truman

State Representative Justin Simmons visited our school-age class. After reading to us, he talked with the whole class about what he does as a legislator. The class had lots of questions. He also asked us about our interests.  See more photos...
We constructed cards for senior-citizens at local nursing homes. Some of our messages included jokes and inspirational notes to give the elderly recipients a smile. With this project, we discussed what happens when we age and how we can learn from older adults.

A TD Bank representative came to our center to talk about the importance of saving money. The representative explained some of the best ways to start saving at an early age.

Pre-K Counts planting flowers
at LVCC on Union Blvd.

LVCC on Union Boulevard
Our Pre-K Counts class instituted "Project Pretty" this week. We cleaned up and beautified the outside of our center by planting flowers in planter boxes. We used teamwork skills to help one another weed and plant.  See more photos...
Quiver Traveling Farm came to visit in our play yard. Our classes had the opportunity to pet and feed the various animals which included, a 19 lb rabbit, a calf named Lorelie, ducks, chickens, baby chicks, a goat, a lamb, a turkey and a pig. We LOVED the animals!  See more photos...

Pre-K Counts family tree project

Our Pre-K Counts families joined us in making our own family tree. Our families added photos while we drew creative artwork. Our teachers then displayed our family trees together on the wall so we can see all the different photos.  See more photos...

Walnut Street preschoolers doing "The Otter
Hokey-Pokey" with Allentown librarian, Ms. Joan.

LVCC on Walnut Street
Ms. Joan from the Allentown Library read our preschool class two special books, "Stop Snoring Bernard" and "Otter On His Own".  She engaged us with questions about the books and brought along animal toys to bring the books to life. We especially enjoyed dancing and singing to "The Otter Hokey-Pokey" with Ms. Joan.  See more photos...

LVCC at Wilson

Pennsylvania State Representative Bob
Freeman with a few LVCC at Ritter students

State Representative Bob Freeman visited the school-age center in honor of Week of the Young Child. After reading "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss, he asked us questions about the book. Rep. Freeman had one-on-one conversations about our interests. He also entertained us with his slight-of hand tricks that we tried to mimic.  See more photos...

The Real Mother Goose

Many of us have read the Mother Goose nursery rhymes as children. We read these same rhymes to the students at Lehigh Valley Children's Centers, and now have taken it to the next level! The children of Pre-K Counts at LVCC's South Mountain had a real Mother Goose visit this week.

Mother Goose brought along some friends from her farm. The children at first didn't know what to make of the rat named Templeton, but soon warmed up to him. They loved holding the two little turtles. Farmer Rachel was also here with her farm dog, Moe, by her side. The preschoolers practiced gentle touches with all the animals and especially with Mother Goose's baby, named Todd.

Farmer Rachel read to us and described life on the farm. We learned about all different animals and had lots of fun! 

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Mixing Martial Arts, New Friends, & Science Experiments Gone Mad

Martial Arts

Our Pre-K Counts class from LVCC on Union Boulevard had a fantastic field trip to Leading Edge Martial Arts in Bethlehem.  Sensei Joe and Carolyn, instructors, spoke to us about the importance of discipline and how we can use this discipline to stop a bully.

We learned that when a bully bothers us, we don't always use our hands. Use our words first! Our voice is our most important weapon against a bully. We should tell an adult if we are being picked on and always ask for help from the people around us if we can't get out of a bullying situation.

Sensei explained that we shouldn't run away from our friends if they are being bullied. We should stick up for our friends because there is power in numbers.

The instructors kept us psyched as we practiced the basics to martial arts - punch, block, kick. We practiced the "attention stance", where we come to attention with feet together and hands at our sides. We also practiced the "ready stance" standing with feet apart and hands in front of us in fists.

After the class ended, we each received a washable tattoo and a coupon for a free class. Thank you Leading Edge Martial Arts!

Click here to view photos of Martial Arts with LVCC on Union Blvd.

Making New Friends

Many of the students at LVCC's Fowler Center had the opportunity to interact with Japanese exchange students studying through Moravian College. Our new friends played games and read stories with us.

We were given various small shapes and asked to use them to make new, larger shapes. This activity helps with the development of fine-motor skills, shape and color recognition, and spacial organization.

Our Pre-K Counts classroom received eggs just before Easter that hatched into baby chicks on Tuesday! The preschool class was invited to visit the baby chicks and practice gentle touches while interacting with the animals. Our temporary pets went back to the farm on Friday.

Pre-School has learned a new dance game! One child dances in the middle while the others form a circle around him or her. This activity helps the children learn how to take turns and develop their appreciation for music and movement.

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Science Experiments Gone Mad

What do you get when you mix sodium borate solution, polyvinyl alcohol, and green food coloring? Green slime, of course! The Mad Science lab truly sparked imaginative learning with our class from LVCC at Western Salisbury.

The slime was a big hit with the school-age students, with plenty of "eews" and "awes" to go around. Each student received the proper utensils to mix the ingredients and watch their experiment get gooey as they stirred. Once the consistency of gelatine, we could stretch the slime to great lengths. We found that we could blow slime bubbles with a straw! Although non-toxic, the slime was not edible.

In the four-week course, a "Mad Scientist" brought his mobile laboratory to LVCC. Other experiments included making silly putty and watching our stunt planes and gliders fly through the air.

Click here to view photos of Mad Science