Muddy Hands Enrichment Center Mallets Bay Colchester, Vermont (802) 652-4848	Our Programs and Age Groups     Muddy Hands Enrichment Center offers childcare services for infants and children ranging in age from 6 weeks to 12 years old.     We offer full time, part time, and after school programs.     For more info, please contact Deanna at: (802) 652-4848. Our Services     At Muddy Hands, we offer a complete curriculum that nourishes each child's individual needs and provides a group dynamic that is welcoming and respectful. Muddy Hands incorporates scholastic subjects such as art, math, science, social studies and literature into many fun activities that are geared towards children of all ages. To create balance in a large group setting and encourage social interaction, Muddy Hands offers a mixture of structured and unstructured activities that include music, games, story telling, and puppet shows.     At Muddy Hands, we believe that outdoor activities and learning about nature are very important components of your child's development. Our curriculum includes many outdoor activities and time to explore nature. Muddy Hands provides many opportunities for children to collect items in nature and bring them into the classroom to add an interesting component to their education. Our Childcare Philosophy     Muddy Hands Enrichment Center believes that children deserve the freedom to explore and create. Children have a natural curiosity and love for learning. They often exhibit this curiosity through play. At Muddy Hands, we believe in creating an environment in which children are able to obtain vast learning experiences while providing sufficient time to learn and grow.          Nature plays an important role in our program. Whether the children are making bird feeders, painting outside, going for a nature walk or exploring snow in the water table, children will be learning about nature on a daily basis.     Respect plays an important role in our childcare setting. Children learn to respect themselves, others and property by modeling respectful behavior. Our staff is trained to respect each other, parents, and children.  Some examples of respecting a child are:      - to tell the child that you are about to change their diaper as opposed to just picking them up and changing them     - to take the time to understand the child, validating their feelings and communicating effectively with the child      Toddlers often have difficulty adjusting to transitions - our teachers are aware of this and provide special care to ensure the child knows when the situation is about to change. Some examples of how we communicate these changes to a child are by saying things like:  "we are going to go back inside in a few minutes" or "after we pick up these toys we'll get ready for lunch."     At Muddy Hands Enrichment Center, our days are filled with a balance of planned structured activities and free play. Although structured activities are hands on and interesting, children may chose not to participate. Our teachers have the flexibility to change the activity if the children are not benefiting. No child is ever forced to participate in an activity and alternative activities are always available.      Free play is designed to allow children to explore the environment at their own leisure. Generally, we do not have set limits on the number of children allowed in any area. It is the role of the teacher to observe and document how well the environment is working for the children. For example, if there seems to be a trend of too many children in the block area, instead of creating limiting rules, our teachers would re-design or expand the block area. If a teacher notices that a child enjoys only playing with trucks and isn't picking up any books, the teacher would put out more books about trucks, etc.      The best environment is one in which a child can act upon; not one that acts upon a child. The more gadgets and electronics that are involved in a toy or game, the less likely a child is to use his or her own imagination. We strive to provide excellent open-ended toys, games, books and art activities to quench a child's thirst for knowledge and creativity.