Night of Lights Parade! We’re excited to celebrate another magical evening together, and we’d love to have our
CCP community participate. CCP families & friends and CCP Staff are invited to walk in this year's Night of Lights
HMB Parade on Friday Dec 5. 

Our group usually gathers along Purisima Street between HMB Library and Filbert Street starting @ 5:30 (under a
light if possible). Look for CCP Staff, CCP Banner, and children & families from our CCP Agency and "Estrella" our
CCP Christmas tree mascot.

Parade is scheduled to begin moving at 6:00pm on Friday Dec 5, 2025.

Reminder: come early as possible there will be a lot of traffic and limited parking. Wagons & strollers are
welcome. Bring battery powered Xmas lights/necklaces etc. Our group is encouraged to wear Holiday colors
GREEN, RED, WHITE 

***We all understand that there is NO CANDY THROWING during the parade, no children under 18 are permitted
to walk next to motorized entries, that all motorized entries must have a walking adult escort on each side of the
float during the parade, and there may be NO PEOPLE (adults or children) DRESSED UP LIKE SANTA (it confuses
the little kids and the Chamber has a Santa already) Thank you for your family's cooperation of following the
​HMB Chamber rules for this parade :)

​Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day (RBWTSD) on November 14, 2025 is the perfect opportunity to teach children about the civil rights movement and make connections to today's collective efforts for change. RBWTSD gives children the opportunity to celebrate Ruby's courage by walking to school. The students behind RBWTSD have a dream of celebrating this special day across California and the nation. Help them realize their dream by signing your school up for Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day on the Ruby Bridges Foundation website and receive free materials!

https://www.smcoe.org/for-educators/student-services/srts/ruby-bridges-walk-to-school-day

CCP El Granada School Age Center - "As the leaves change and the weather cools, we are feeling inspired by the creativity of the season. November is all about exploring their artistic sides and planning for their annual Thanksgiving meal that they will all put together and share." ~ Lorena Velazquez, Site Supervisor

CCP Montara Preschool and School Age Centers - "The children are creating projects with a focus on weather changes, leaves and trees, what we are thankful for and of course turkeys! And planning for ​our Agency wide “The Polar Express” Kids’ Night In & Parents Night Out." ~ Shannan Gotschall, Site Supervisor

CCP Half Moon Bay Preschool and School Age Centers - "Our Halloween parade and party were a big success with the help of our parents. The children and staff really enjoyed it! This month we will explore the changes of the environment, such as trees, plants, and leaves and talk about the weather. We will also have our first Family Literacy Workshop “Falling in Love with Reading” at the HMB Library." Yesenia Ramirez, Site Supervisor

It is a bittersweet time at CCP. Our Most Senior Staff member, David Aliamus, will be leaving CCP on February 26. David has been an integral member of Coastside Children's Programs for 25 years as a Teacher and Supervisor. He has touched so many lives in the Half Moon Bay community with his commitment to young children and their families. He has worked with countless teachers, administrators and Board members tirelessly for the betterment of CCP. Not only has he performed impeccably as an employee, he has volunteered countless hours on improvements to his and other sites facilities. He has been instrumental in our fundraisers and has brought his "good friend" Santa to all of our holiday events.

Fortunately he is able to visit since he will still be working at one of our community organizations down the road. We wish David the best of luck in his new career with the Boys and Girls Club.

David, you will be missed but always be remembered for your dedication and love for CCP.

Thank you!

At the moment we are living in a challenging world from the effects of Coronavirus to the civil unrest we have been seeing. These are all very difficult thinks to speak with children about. I know I personally rarely have the news on in front of my own kids. Some would say this is good some would say this is a bad thing. We all have our own feelings on how we should raise our children during these times and how much news we should expose them too.
 
The one thing I do know is no matter how hard you try to protect them from the news, the negativity, the stress, and anxiety of the world around us it sneaks in. At the early stages of the Coronavirus Pandemic Sesame Street took on the challenge of speaking with our children about what was going on through town hall events. They are now doing the same for racism. Join Sesame Street and CNN as they partner together to hold a child and family friendly town hall addressing some of the current concerns. “The 60-minute special. “Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism.” Will air on Saturday, June 6, at 10am ET. The show will talk to kids about racism, the recent nationwide protests, embracing diversity and being more empathetic and understanding.”
 
The special will not require cable and can be accessed via CNN’s app, cnn.com, CNN en espanol.
 
Link:https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/02/us/cnn-sesame-street-standing-up-to-racism/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0sumiVxJPMfLf9BUnaGgLew3g4phj6Rjz5S1_ApEK2u7LLEe4t-bsMLyM
​

What is one of the all-time favorite activities for children? BUBBLES!! As I was cleaning my garage last weekend, I came across a bucket of homemade GIANT Bubble, bubble solution. My first thought was I wonder if it still works? After all it was made over 2 years ago. To my surprise it did!

​​I originally made this bubble solution when I was teaching preschool in Pacifica. We were nonstop bubbles for a whole week. Each day we focused on a new bubble activity. I was originally planning to duplicate this process at home this week but living in this fluid time our plans changed. I did get one bubble activity in and I was hoping for a home run. But my best laid plans fell flat.
 
My goal was to create bubble paintings, though the end result was not as planned it was a good lesson in experimentation and process art. I used the following bubble paint recipe which I found on the Tinkerlab website, https://tinkerlab.com/bubble-paint-recipe/.
 
Bubble Painting Recipe:

• 2 Tablespoons tempera paint (liquid, not powdered)
• 2 Tablespoons dish soap. *I used dawn, please note the blue color of the soap altered the color of paint)
• 1 Tablespoon water
• Straws
• Paper
• *Small bowls, I used paper

 
Directions for Bubble Painting:

1. Pour ingredients into a small bowl and combine.
2. Insert straw into bowl and blow.
3. Place paper on top of bubbles and you have a print.

​My Process and Result:
Since I had never done this before I decided to do a small test before I presented the project to my kids. I gathered my supplies and made one bowl of blue bubble paint. The bubbles were slightly hard to create but it worked!! I was so excited, while my kids ate lunch, I prepared five different colors for them. This is when I discovered the blue dawn dish soap changes the color of red and pink paint, the colors became a little darker and slightly muddy. I set everything aside for our project later in the day.

​
Finally, we were finished with our schoolwork and it was time for art, the kids were excited!  I used the same bowl of paint that I tested earlier to demonstrate the process except this time the bubbles would not stay formed. The kids decided they wanted to try anyways, and each grabbed a color. Unfortunately, the bubble paint did not work any better for them. The bubbles were still weak, but kids being kids they were having fun just trying to make the bubbles and creating a splatter mess. My fist though was maybe the soap broke down since it sat, I quickly made a fresh bowl of bubble paint thinking this will work. Nope, the bubbles were still not stable enough.
 
​However, while I was bummed and frantically trying to fix the art to make it work my kids were having a great time creating their own versions of bubble art. I took a step back and thought “chill out Mom, art is about the process not the end result.”
 
As I looked over I saw my daughter using her straw as a paint brush and my son was blowing single bubbles out of the end of his straw and letting them drop onto his paper. They were figuring out what worked for them, it was time for me to just let them explore.

​Well we got a break from the rain this week and got outside. We were interested in participating in the Chalk Your Walk trend on Social Media however, we do not have sidewalks in our neighborhood. The next best thing for us is our fence and stone pavers outside our house.

​Today I did a super easy Tape Resist Art project with my daughter. This is something you could do with children of all ages. It can also be fun for adults. You just need a few items, most of which you may already have at home.
 
Supplies:

• Masking tape (painters’ tape or washi tape also work, try experimenting)
• Paint (we used acrylic, but we have used tempera paint as well, finger paints would be fun for little ones)
• Cup of water (to clean the brush)
• Paint brush
• Framed Canvas (you can also use the canvas boards)
• Paper Towels (to clean up messes)

​
​
​Procedure:

1. Gather your supplies and set up your workspace.
2. Prepare the canvas by tearing strips of tape to create your design. Do your best to press the tape so the edges are sealed to the canvas. This will help prevent paint from seeping under the tape.
3. Select your paint colors and paint away.
4. Peel away the tape to reveal your design.
5. Add any extra detail if you wish.

I hope you all have fun painting. You could also try:

• Tape resist using watercolors.
• Tape resist with chalk pastels.
• Tape resist with dot paints.

​When the rain stops, we are going to do a Tape Resist with chalk on our fence.