2024 Thanksgiving Boxes
Common Ground Childcare is working with Cornerstones to gather Thanksgiving boxes for Reston Families in need!
What's a Thanksgiving Box? Each one is fully stocked with everything needed to make a complete Thanksgiving dinner for a family. No person should ever have to go hungry, especially in a time of giving and gratitude. Let's show gratitude for our good fortune by sharing it with our community!
HERE IS THE LINK TO OUR SIGNUP GENIUS
If you would like to help us build these Thanksgiving Boxes, there are a couple of different ways to sign up!
>You can choose to help your child's class by purchasing certain items. Each class with decorate and pack one box, while our School Aged Program will build all of the additional boxes donated through individual items and cash donations!
> You can build your OWN box as a family
ALL ITEMS AND BOXES MUST BE BROUGHT TO COMMON GROUND CHILDCARE CENTER BY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15TH, BY THE END OF THE DAY.
That will ensure that we have enough time to organize them and fill in any missing pieces before drop off on Wednesday, November 20th.
Do you know someone in your family or neighborhood who would like to sign up to donate a Thanksgiving box?
Encourage them to sign up! There are hundreds of families who are struggling to provide for their families this year… we want to help as many people as we can every way we can.
Common Ground Childcare: sign-up here
September Family Dinner Night - MOD PIZZA
OUR FIRST FAMILY DINNER NIGHT OF THE SCHOOL YEAR IS ON THE BOOKS!
On Tuesday, September 26th, Our local MOD PIZZA in Reston, VA will be hosting an all day fundraiser for our school!
All pizzas (and other scrumptious things) sold to customers who show our flyer will earn us 25% of their purchase.
THIS MEANS ANYONE YOU SHARE THE FLYER WITH CAN SUPPORT COMMON GROUND CHILDCARE! Please pass it along to friends, neighbors, coworkers, anyone who loves a good time and may not want to cook on a busy Tuesday.
YOU CAN ALSO ORDER ONLINE WITH THE CODE: MODGIVES25
Forget Taco Tuesday, Mod Pizza has delicious options for your most limited eaters!!
You can get your pizza or salad any way you like. We have had kids just order the pizza crust with olive oil and rosemary!
They offer gluten-friendly and cauliflower crusts.
They offer little cakes that are SO AMAZING they do not need a name.
Check out their menu here!
You can do takeout, but you can also dine-in! Many families from Common Ground take these nights as an opportunity to dine with other CG friends. Dinner out with littles is a lot more fun when they have a whole host of friends they get to see out side of the classroom.
WHO KNOWS? Maybe your child will see another kid trying a pizza they’ve never had before, and get curious! Trying new foods is much more likely to happen with peers than parents.
Hope to see you there! Post your favorite pizza order in the comments!! And no haters ;) we love everyone at Common Ground, even people like me who dig the pineapple/jalapeno combo.
Harris Teeter - Together In Education, time to relink!
Make sure to sign up each year after August 1 to support Common Ground!
It’s time to RELINK your VIC card to Common Ground!
Harris Teeter has a WONDERFUL program where they donate to schools and Common Ground is on the list!!
Here’s the link: https://tie.harristeeter.com/tie/login
LINKING STEPS:
1) Enter email associated with your VIC account
2) Enter the one-time passcode sent to your email
3) Search for your school and click "add" to link
Together in Education
Harris Teeter’s Together In Education program gives schools a chance to earn funds when you link your VIC card and shop Harris Teeter brands.
Harris Teeter has donated over $32.4 million to Together In Education schools since 1998! When you shop Harris Teeter brands, a percentage of your purchase is donated to the school that your VIC card is linked to.
There are NO LIMITS to how much a school can earn!
Any customer with a VIC card can link their card to a school. Customers can link up to five (5) schools to their account. The more people that connect their loyalty cards to a school, the higher the earning potential for a school.
Stuffy Sleepover at the BOOK FAIR
ON MONDAY 28TH, WE ARE HOSTING ANOTHER STUFFY SLEEPOVER!!
What is a Stuffy Sleepover? We are glad you asked!
Kids bring their favorite toy. It can be a stuffed animal, a doll, an action-figure, an excavator! They leave them in the loving care of our teachers for a night of music, books, and awesome activities. Kids can watch their favorite toys play with their best friends’ favorite toys from either Facebook Live or YouTube.
Basically, it is a heartfelt way for kids to be together without BEING together.
We had seen them before, Scrawl Books does an especially fun series of them featuring amazing children’s authors.
They are ridiculous fun for everyone involved. CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS FROM THAT NIGHT ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL
STUFFY SLEEPOVER VIDEOS
OUR THEME THIS TIME IS FALL FUN! We will be doing Autumn crafts, reading Autumn books, and singing fun songs that may or may not be Autumn themed, but DEFINITELY sing-a-long-worthy!!
Then, in the morning, all our stuffed animals will board the Common Ground bus and be returned to their best friends with stories to tell and goodies to share.
Sign Up Right Here!
$30.00 Donation to our COMMON GROUND GIVING TUESDAY Campaign gets you a ticket for the stuffy sleepover! It includes the goodie-bags, the fun, the live-videos, and more surprises!
Then you can drop your stuffed animal off on Monday the 28th AT THE BOOK FAIR and it can be picked up on Tuesday, November 29th!
The money raised will go towards necessary educational initiatives at Common Ground Childcare.
This is our favorite way to be with you, even when we are apart! Thank you so much for being a part of our community.
Miss LJ
2022 Thanksgiving Boxes - Let's make the holidays bright!
Common Ground Childcare and St. Anne's Episcopal Church are working with Cornerstones to gather Thanksgiving boxes for Reston Families in need!
What's a Thanksgiving Box? Each one is fully stocked with everything needed to make a complete Thanksgiving dinner for a family. No person should ever have to go hungry, especially in a time of giving and gratitude. Let's show gratitude for our good fortune by sharing it with our community!
HERE IS THE LINK TO OUR SIGNUP GENIUS
If you would like to help us build these Thanksgiving Boxes, there are a couple of different ways to sign up!
>You can choose to help your child's class by purchasing certain items
> You can build your OWN box as a family
ALL ITEMS AND BOXES MUST BE BROUGHT TO COMMON GROUND CHILDCARE CENTER BY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8TH, BY THE END OF THE DAY.
That will ensure that we have enough time to organize them and fill in any missing pieces before drop off on Thursday, November 10th.
Do you know someone in your family or neighborhood who would like to sign up to donate a Thanksgiving box?
Encourage them to sign up with either Common Ground Childcare or St. Anne’s Episcopal Church! There are hundreds of families who are struggling to provide for their families this year… we want to help as many people as we can every way we can.
Common Ground Childcare: sign-up here
St. Anne’s Episcopal Church: sign-up here
April 22nd is Earth Day - Things to do with your Kids
FRIDAY, APRIL 22ND IS EARTH DAY AND WE ARE SUPER EXCITED TO LEARN ALL WE CAN WITH YOUR KIDS!
What is Earth Day? I Earth Day Videos for Kids I Our Earth Day Post 2021
A lot of our classrooms have done Creative Curriculum Units, like Trees and Recycling, about protecting their planet. They have learned poems about The Litter Monster and read books on all the wonderful things trees do to keep our planet healthy and safe. Even in the Busy Bees’ Space Unit, they cover that Earth is our little blue dot in the vast expanse of the universe, and the only known one to hold life!
In celebration of Earth Day, rather than focusing everything on the one day, we have provided a month’s worth of activities, songs, and experiments to awaken curiosity and excitement for the subject from a bunch of different avenues!
World Wildlife Fund Activities and Presentations
Millions of Monarchs: A Journey Through The Monarch Butterfly’s Winter Home
Court Whelan, Natural Habitat Adventures
April 26, 2022
1pm ET | 10am PT Register now and download the supplemental material pack for pre- and post- activities.
Recommended for grade levels: 2-6Plant a pollinator garden
Interested in a hands-on project that supports pollinators? Use your green thumb and our Pollinator Garden Guide to create a garden of wildflowers at school, in your community, or at home. Learners can track the garden’s progress (and its visitors!) with the included wildflower science journal.
As part of the One Square Foot campaign, Air Wick and WWF are giving out free native wildflower seeds suitable for your region. Visit the Air Wick page to get your free seeds and learn more.Discover the Northern Great Plains
Teach about ecosystems and the impacts of human activity through the lens of one of the last remaining healthy temperate grasslands in the world using lessons from our Grasslands of the Northern Great Plains Content Pack.Just added! An activity book with fun printable puzzles and easy-to-read infographics on pollinators, wildflowers, and grasslands.
Some Excellent Teachers Pay Teachers Activities: We know it seems a little counterintuitive to print a bunch of activities out on paper for your kids… but these are really fun and simple. You can do math activities, language art activities, art activities, anything that interests you!
Science Experiments for Earth Day: We are so excited for these we may do some of them at school! But if you’re looking for a “non-screen” activity to do with your kids, these are excellent options.
Fun Songs to Sing Together — Have an Earth Day Dance Party!!!
Excellent Books to Share Together
What kinds of songs, books, and activities do you have? Do you all do a family clean-up day, or daily activities to help the Earth out? We would love to hear from you! If we all share and learn together, we can do incredible things.
All The Earth is a Garden! Let’s grow together.
LJ and your CG Family
How to Help Ukraine and Ukrainian Families
Russian-Ukraine War: Info and Ways to Help I Write to Elected Officials I Voices of Children
What’s Happening in Ukraine? I How to talk to your child I Books and PBS Info for Kids
Ukrainian families are fleeing their homes, and those that cannot escape must seek refuge in subway stations. Hundreds of thousands of people are without electricity, water, or basic supplies. There could be as many as seven million refugees in desperate need of help. It is disheartening to see people suffering and feel powerless offer assistance, especially when so many of them are children.
How do we do anything that seems gigantic and overwhelming and impossible?
One piece, one step, one breath at a time.
A crisis like this is a marathon, not a sprint. Help how you can, when you can. Whether it’s time or funds, you will be able to offer aid less often and consistently if you overextend yourself.
Ask for help. Many hands make light work, and if you encourage everyone around you to give a little, and they reach out in turn, the ripples from your initial kindness will expand exponentially.
Here is some guidance for how to help out:
UNICEF - Protect Children in Ukraine: UNICEF has been working nonstop in eastern Ukraine, delivering lifesaving programs for affected children and families as fighting has taken an increasingly heavy toll on the civilian population of 3.4 million people — including 510,000 children — living in the Donbas region
World Food Program USA: $75 can provide a family with an emergency box containing enough food for an entire month.
NOVAUKRAINE is a local Northern Virginia group that you can volunteer your time with.
AirBNBs in Ukraine: A lot of people cannot get out of Kyiv. As a result, a lot of Ukrainians who run AirBnBs in the country are offering their houses to families who can’t stay at home. You could purchase a week in an airBnB to support a family directly, especially families that are offering their homes.
NPR gathered a ton of vetted charities where you can donate. Check them all out HERE.
Another small way to help that might also be meaningful to kids and to help them feel connected is to buy digital patterns (sewing/knitting/crochet/etc) or art from Ukrainian creators on Etsy. It’s a small but measurable way to help. One woman is using her Etsy store to sell digital art made by her children JuliaHappyArts's shop on Etsy https://etsy.me/3sy2OsF. (Thanks for the brilliant suggestion!)
Educate yourself and your child about what’s happening. We have provided some helpful links above.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: Encourage your children’s desire to help and comfort, not any desires for violence or vengeance. If the kid says “I wish I could fight the bad guys,” help them to write a letter to a Ukrainian child instead. Focus on the people who need help. Encourage helpful behaviors and compassionate feelings.
If you have any questions or anything to add to our list, please email us or message in the comments below. We will update this! Let’s extend Common Ground’s reach. Love your neighbors, wish them well, work toward a better world.
Love Love Love,
Your CG Family
Read Across America Day March Second
Reading is an essential building block to every child.
It is the key to a universe of learning.
It is an essential guide to empathy and understanding Other.
It is the breadcrumb path leading into a forest of imagination.
It is a shared experience for bonding, love, and growth.
It’s also just really really fun.
NEA's Read Across America is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every child in every community to celebrate reading with the theme: Celebrating a Nation of Diverse Readers.
Every month the National Education Association has recommended books for kids of every age.
Here are February’s Books - The Theme is “Explore Families and History”
Here are March’s Books - The Theme is “Play with Stories”
It’s Also Dr. Seuss Week!
Dr. Seuss’s birthday is Wednesday, March 2nd. We use Dr. Seuss books throughout the year in our classrooms, but we have been reading them a lot in the run up to Dr. Seuss week! We would love for you to ask your kids which Dr. Seuss books they like, which they’ve read, and then share your favorites!
One of the ways to celebrate is doing family readings in whacky places. Build a fort to read a book in! Turn off all the lights and read by flashlight! Read behind the shower curtain in a bathtub filled with pillows! Remind your kid (and yourself!) that reading is an ADVENTURE that you can go on without a single step. If you loved doing it, snap a picture and share it with us! We would love to create an album of our families celebrating reading and being together.
We will also be doing clothing themes every day next week! See below for details!
Make sure that they have back-up clothes that are weather appropriate if they’re wearing costumes or other odd pieces of clothing.
Let us know if you have any questions, and share your favorite kids books in the comments!
Your CG Family
Mod Pizza Fundraiser -- Pizza Your Way!
(* NOTICE * Date updated!)
On Tuesday, February 22nd, Mod Pizza will be hosting a fundraiser for us ALL DAY LONG!
Where: The Mod Pizza in the Plaza America Shopping Center: 11642 Plaza America Drive, Reston VA 20190
When: Tuesday, February 22nd from 10:30AM-10:00PM
What: A fundraiser where you get your delicious, fully customized pizza, and your school gets 20% of what you pay!
How: You an order in store, through the Mod Pizza App, or directly on the website! Whether or not you do sit in or carry out, it counts! If you are ordering online, make sure to use the code MODF2789. If you are ordering in person make sure to show this flyer! Please note: ordering through apps like UberEats, DoorDash, etc WILL NOT COUNT toward the fundraiser!
Why: Mod Pizza has a pizza for everyone. Each pizza is lovingly created with your preferences, style, and dietary needs in mind! It is fun and scrumptious for the whole family! Which is why it is absolutely perfect for a Common Ground Community Fundraiser. Help us celebrate our 50th Birthday this year by helping us earn funding for our mission to lift early childhood educators up and provide living wages!
Friends of CG Fridays: Hero Pediatric Dentistry
If you participated in our THANKSGIVING STUFFY SLEEPOVER, then you got an incredibly thoughtful, thorough SWAG BAG from our personal dental heroes, HERO PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY!! They are thoughtful, warm, insightful, and amazingly CLEVER!
Check out this HILARIOUS and informative video they made where they show us how to take care of our stuffy friends’ teeth!
HERO PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY VIDEO
Our teeth are so very important, and developing good habits to take care of ourselves begins at birth like all learning!
Consider these brushing basics:
Brush your teeth twice a day.
Use the proper equipment. Use a fluoride toothpaste and a soft-bristled toothbrush that fits your mouth comfortably.
Practice good technique. Hold your toothbrush at a slight angle — aiming the bristles toward the area where your tooth meets your gum. Gently brush with circular short back-and-forth motions. Brushing too hard or with hard bristles can hurt your gums.
Brush your teeth for two minutes. Remember to brush the outside, inside and chewing surfaces of your teeth, as well as your tongue.
Keep your equipment clean. Always rinse your toothbrush with water after brushing. Store your toothbrush in an upright position and allow it to air-dry until using it again.
Know when to replace your toothbrush. At least every 3 months!
See the dentist twice a year. Start taking your kiddos to the dentist around age 1! A lot of people talk about “baby teeth” like they don’t matter, but oral health is KEY to a happy, healthy life!
Why Hero Pediatric Dentistry?
Hero Pediatric Dentistry has a new location in Herndon! You should always take your kid to a pediatric dentist because they are specialized in kid care! They know all about growing teeth and gums, and know just how to make sure the dentist is not only a healthy experience, but a FUN one. We trust our friends at Hero Pediatric Dentistry implicitly, and recommend them for our students!
Tell us about your experience with them in the comments! We only wish we were young enough to get our teeth cleaned next to a green dinosaur…
Your CG Family
The Season of Giving! Bleed Red or Give Green
We have another blood drive coming up on DECEMBER 10TH from 1:00PM-5:30PM
HERE IS THE SIGN UP LINK.
BLOOD DONATIONS ARE THE LOWEST THEY HAVE BEEN IN A DECADE. Please help us do our part to bolster our hospitals and protect our neighbors.
The holidays are a time of joy, family, and giving. If you give blood, you may just give the gift of a life this year.
Help us give back to our community in the most essential way.
Do you want to give back to your community but don’t qualify to give blood?
Make a pledge to our Teacher Fund for 2022
Put “Childcare Center of the Common Ground Foundation” as your Amazon Smile Charity! Don’t know how? CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS.
Do you want to give blood but have questions?
Check out these FAQs from INOVA Blood Donor Services!
Season of Giving: Scholastic Fair
IT’S THE SEASON OF GIVING, AND WE WANT TO GET OUR KIDS IN ON THE ACTION!
We are doing an IN-PERSON Scholastic Book Fair November 29th-December 3rd (online shopping until December 12!), and along with doing your normal Holiday Shopping, we encourage you to contribute to our BOOK FUNDRAISER! Any book you buy for the fundraiser will be donated to a kiddo in need for Christmas.
We have heard how there will be a lot of shipping delays for the holidays. The bonus of our Scholastic Fair is that the books will be right here! You can bring them home, stash them in your present closet, and not be constantly checking your Amazon Orders to see if it will come on time. Give yourself the gift of Peace of Mind.
Kids are constantly bombarded with ads for toys. YouTube, streaming services, other kids on the playground, jingles from stores, shows WITH toys, books based on shows based on toys, it’s a consumeristic NIGHTMARE that is almost impossible to turn off.
What we are hoping for with our Scholastic Fair is to encourage kids to look around the fabulous, eye-catching, technicolor Smörgåsbord of books and pick out a gift for someone else.
Books help stimulate the mind, body, and spirit. Books can inspire empathy for a character as intense and real as it could for a friend they know off the page. Books are an incredible outlet and emotional guide. Is there any better gift than a book? Yes. Teaching a kid to give that incredible, life changing gift to another kid.
DO YOU HAVE FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND NEIGHBORS WHO WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE??
Make sure to share our link when it goes live! We will share it EVERYWHERE!!
SIGN UP FOR OUR FALL FUN STUFFY SLEEPOVER!!
ON MONDAY NOVEMBER 28th, WE ARE HOSTING ANOTHER STUFFY SLEEPOVER AT THE BOOK FAIR!!
What is a Stuffy Sleepover? We are glad you asked!
The Stuffy Sleepover kicks off our Book Fair and our Giving Tuesday Campaign. Kids bring their favorite toy. It can be a stuffed animal, a doll, an action-figure, an excavator! They leave them in the loving care of Miss LJ, Mr. Josh, Miss Janette, Miss Liz, and Miss Victoria for a night of music, books, and awesome activities at the Book Fair. Kids can watch their favorite toys play with their best friends’ favorite toys from either Facebook Live or YouTube. Then their favorite friend will ready for pick up at our BOOK FAIR!
Basically, it is a heartfelt way for kids to be together without BEING together.
We had seen them before, Scrawl Books does an especially fun series of them featuring amazing children’s authors.
They are ridiculous fun for everyone involved. CHECK OUT OUR VIDEOS FROM THAT NIGHT ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL
STUFFY SLEEPOVER VIDEOS
OUR THEME THIS TIME IS FALL FUN! We will be doing Autumn crafts, reading Autumn books, and singing fun songs that may or may not be Autumn themed, but DEFINITELY sing-a-long-worthy!!
Then, in the morning, all our stuffed animals will board the Common Ground bus and be returned to their best friends with stories to tell and goodies to share.
Sign Up Right Here!
$30.00 Donation to our COMMON GROUND GIVING TUESDAY Campaign gets you a ticket for the stuffy sleepover! It includes the goodie-bags, the fun, the live-videos, and more surprises!
Then you can drop your stuffed animal off on Monday the 28th at the center. It will “sleepover” that night at the Book Fair, then be picked up by your child the next morning.
The money raised will go towards necessary educational initiatives at Common Ground Childcare as part of our Giving Tuesday Campaign.
This is our favorite way to be with you, even when we are apart! Thank you so much for being a part of our community.
Thanksgiving Boxes - Let's make the holidays bright!
Common Ground Childcare and St. Anne's Episcopal Church are working with Cornerstones to gather Thanksgiving boxes for Reston Families in need!
What's a Thanksgiving Box? Each one is fully stocked with everything needed to make a complete Thanksgiving dinner for a family. No person should ever have to go hungry, especially in a time of giving and gratitude. Let's show gratitude for our good fortune by sharing it with our community!
HERE IS THE LINK TO OUR SIGNUP GENIUS
If you would like to help us build these Thanksgiving Boxes, there are a couple of different ways to sign up!
>You can choose to help your child's class by purchasing certain items
> You can build your OWN box as a family
ALL ITEMS AND BOXES MUST BE BROUGHT TO COMMON GROUND CHILDCARE CENTER BY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH, BY THE END OF THE DAY.
Do you know someone in your family or neighborhood who would like to sign up for a Thanksgiving box?
Encourage them to sign up with either Common Ground Childcare or St. Anne’s Episcopal Church! There are hundreds of families who are struggling to provide for their families this year… we want to help as many people as we can every way we can.
Common Ground Childcare: sign-up here
St. Anne’s Episcopal Church: sign-up here
NOVEMBER 5TH: TRUNK OR TREAT IS BACK!!
EDIT: DATE UPDATED FROM OCTOBER 29TH TO NOVEMBER 5TH PLEASE ADJUST YOUR CALENDARS. Scroll down for an updated FAQ.
IT IS THAT SPOOKY TIME AGAIN!! We have been waiting since last year and are SO EXCITED to trunk or treat with our families.
WHAT: Common Ground Trunk or Treat Spooky Spectacular!
WHEN: November 5th from 4:30-5:30PM
WHERE: Common Ground Childcare Upper Lot
WHY: To provide a safe, outdoor event for our families and children to enjoy Halloween together in their Covid Cohorts.
ALL KIDS ARE ENCOURAGED TO DRESS UP! They will be taken out to the trunks and tables to trick or treat with each of their classes starting at 4:30PM. Our School Aged children will also be setting up a (not so) Scary Haunted House for the kiddos who are waiting for their turn!! There will be music and dancing, treats, and maybe a few TRICKS!
HOW CAN YOU HELP: Just like last year, we need volunteers! We need parents who are willing to decorate EITHER their trunks or a rectangular table! Parents can provide treats, stickers, little favors, anything they like, and can pick any theme they like for their decorations!! We just want as many trunks/tables as we can get. Make sure to dress up!!
Sign up HERE for a slot and help us make this the best Halloween yet!!!
We are going to give you some FAQ answers below, but if you have any more questions please feel free to email us.
This is a Common Ground community-wide event! We have a ton of parent volunteers running trunks and tables for our students, but you don’t have to be a volunteer to show up! The event is from 4:30PM-5:30PM and we encourage you all to come and enjoy the festivities! The Trunk or Treat is in the upper lot, please join us.
Rain or Shine we are outside: We want all our families to be able to participate, but we also want everyone to be safe from the Covid-19 pandemic. We have seen the forecast for Friday, and it does look wet! So we have a couple of mitigation tactics.
We will be putting up as many of our tents as possible! If you have a little outdoor cover you could lend us, we would really appreciate it.
Have rain gear ready just in case! Rain jackets, rain boots, anything that helps you embrace the mantra “no bad weather, only bad clothes!”
If it gets truly torrential or it’s active lightning, we will, of course, pack it in early to keep everyone safe. We have a hard stop at 5:30PM so, while we will try to “wait it out” if this happens, we know our limitations.
Costumes Costumes Costumes! We recommend sending your kid in normal clothes, but putting a costume in your child’s backpack! That way they don’t have to wear a costume all day, but they can participate in Trunk or Treat all dressed up.
Pizza Pizza Party Party!!
On Friday, October 15th, we had a DAY LONG PIZZA PARTY!
We are big fans of themes here at Common Ground, and if there is an opportunity to integrate FUN into eating, we are going to take it!
All of our classes got to have Ledo’s cheese pizza, and they chowed down! Even our littlest Common Ground champions got into the fun.
That night, we had several families and friends who continued the pizza party fun! Some ordered from their favorite restaurant, some made pizzas from scratch, and some got the best of both worlds by making individual pizzas from our Little Caesar’s Fundraiser!
Part of the awesome benefit of the LITTLE CAESAR’S PIZZA KITS is that picky eaters get to MAKE their own pizza, and know EXACTLY what goes into it! Maybe they try a little bit of cheese while they put it on. Maybe they lick the sauce spoon, or like the look of the little olive circles so much that they use them to make a pizza smiley face. At the end, once it’s all baked, maybe the kiddos are so proud that they want to try the food that THEY MADE THEMSELVES. Give them agency over what they put on their pizza. Maybe they don’t want to try the sauce. Maybe they just want to add olive oil and rosemary to the bread. Maybe they want to put the cheese on before the sauce or wrap the pepperonis inside the dough!
Remember: You aren’t just making pizza. You are making little independent learners who aren’t afraid to experiment. You are rewarding their curiosity and cherishing the experience rather than being tied to convention or recipe. And who knows? Maybe Banana pizza with cinnamon topping is your next family tradition.
THANK YOU FOR CREATING NEW MEMORIES WITH US! Remember! Even when we are apart, we are together.
CG Fundraiser: Little Caesar's! So Good it's SCARRRYYYY
YOU ASKED FOR IT, WE ARE DOING IT AGAIN!
From October 1st until October 31st we will be hosting another
Little Caesar’s Pizza Kit Fundraiser!!
What is a Little Caesar’s Pizza Kit?
Little Caesar’s has created these amazing kits with all the fixins you need to create a pizza night for your family! They have mini pizzas, regular sized pizzas, breadsticks, and so much more!
Kids can help you create your perfect pizza! They can spread the sauce, sprinkle the cheese, add the ingredients. Did you know that kids are more likely to try foods they help prepare? You can reward them with a scrumptious cookie they also baked themselves!
These are frozen! They keep for any occasion. Movie nights! Birthdays! Rainy days when you don’t feel like cooking. Rough days when you want to see a smile. Have a perfect memory stored away for when you need it most.
Anyone can buy them and support us! Share THIS LINK on your social media, with your office, with your fam! Anyone who buys a mouth-watering pizza, breadsticks, cheese bread, or cookie kit with our link earns us money!
This fundraiser is completely online and runs 24/7! The Pizza Kits get delivered right to your door, so it’s simple, easy, perfect.
You could have a Pizza Pumpkin Party where you carve pumpkins and eat pepperoni!
You could watch (not so) spooky movies with a large spinach and pineapple pizza!
You could roast marshmallows in the cool Autumn breeze, tell Halloween stories, and enjoy simple-yet-effective cheese pizza!
What other Autumn Pizza Nights could you Enjoy? Share in the Comments…. also….
WE ARE TRYING TO CREATE RESTON’S LARGEST PIZZA PARTY!
On October 15th we will be cooking our own pizzas and going live from the center! We will read books, sing songs, and YES! Eat lots of pizza! We encourage you to order your kits early and do the same! If we get enough people taking pictures and eating their pizza at the same time from their homes, we could actually host THE LARGEST PIZZA PARTY RESTON HAS EVER SEEN! When Rome did it, they got 1,146 people. While we know that it’s Covid and wow… that’s ambitious… LET’S SHOOT FOR THE MOON! We can only land among the delicious pizza stars.
HOW DO YOU HELP US SELL PIZZAS AND ACHIEVE OUR GOAL OF LARGEST RESTON PIZZA PARTY?
HERE IS OUR PIZZA FUNDRAISER LINK
Share with friends, family, neighbors, tiktok buddies, facebook acquaintances, insta-friends, and more! Tell them to check out our Facebook on the night of the 15th from 6:00PM to 9:00PM and take pictures with their pizzas!
We are so excited to share this hilarious, fun, ridiculous goal with you. This is going to be SO AMAZING that… it’s almost spooky.
Save the Date!
Your CG Family
Save the Date: Flu Shot Clinic
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30TH: GET YOUR FLU SHOT AND PROTECT YOUR COMMUNITY!
We will be hosting a flu shot clinic right here in the Common Ground Parking Lot!
WE WILL BE SELLING LARGER PIECES OF LEDO’S PIZZA FOR $2.00 EACH FOR ALL FAMILIES WHO WANT TO GET THEIR SHOT AND REWARD THEMSELVES WITH DINNER! We take cash and venmo! Please do exact cash if possible.
SIGN UP TO LET US KNOW YOU'RE COMING, BUT WALK-INS ARE WELCOME. This does not promise you a specific time, this just allows us to know how many people might be coming and helps send you reminders.
Studies show that a flu shot helps prevent serious symptoms and hospitalization with Covid-19
With the Covid-19 pandemic, hospitals are struggling with capacity. With Flu season coming we need to do everything we can to keep our community safe and healthy. This is open to the public, so please encourage everyone you can to come out to get their shot! Even if you get the flu, with the shot the symptoms are mitigated. This clinic is open to everyone ages 4 and up.
The Flu Shots are free with insurance, incredibly cheap without, and you are not required to pay onsite! Just sign up, get the shot, and enjoy the food truck afterward!
HERE IS THE SIGN-UP. You can sign up for any of these:
- Influenza (Flu Shot)
- Shingles
- Pneumonia
- TDAP/Whooping Cough
You can also just show up on the day! Please encourage everyone you know to get the flu shot this year, whether or not they get it with us it is ESSENTIAL to keeping our community healthy!
Your CG Family
CG Spirit Night: BASKIN ROBBINS BACK TO SCHOOL
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH FROM 6-9PM
WE WILL BE CELEBRATING THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR
AT BASKIN ROBBINS!!!
A lot of our school age kiddos have already started classes (which is also worth celebrating!!) but our preschool programs start on Tuesday, September 7th! We wanted to give everyone the opportunity to say goodbye to the summer months and Hello to school in any delicious style they want.
IT IS ALSO A FUNDRAISER!! Every wonderful, yummy, technicolor treat purchased gives us proceeds to help support your classrooms all year! Encourage your friends, family, and neighbors to come celebrate the new year with us, because everyone should have an excuse to get icecream.
Worried about Covid? They have amazing outdoor seating! Still don’t want to stay out? You can order pick-up or delivery!!
However you order, just make sure that you are letting them know you are ordering to support Common Ground! Along with eating something delightfully tasty.
If you have any questions you can email LJ Donnell. Happy September!
SAVE THE DATE: SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR IN AUGUST
FROM AUGUST 2ND TO AUGUST 6TH WE WILL BE HOSTING
AN ONLINE AND OUTDOOR BOOK FAIR.
What does this mean!?
It means that EVERY DAY from 3:30-5:30PM we will have our ENTIRE SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR outside to peruse during pick up!! We will also have games, contests, wish lists, and recommendations ready to help really cement the experience.
The books will range from board books to camper-level chapter books, so make sure to swing by and find your kids’ new favorite! Especially since school is just around the corner…
YOU WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO SHOP ONLINE 24/7. There are over 6000 books, learning aids, and fun scholastic products that make good gifts for any age.
All the proceeds help Common Ground save up to build our READING RAINBOW LIBRARY and buy much needed curriculum supplies for the coming school year!
Save the date, shop with us, share our online site with your friends when it’s available! We cannot WAIT!!
Love Love Love,
Your CG Family