why did you put this out?

"Why did you put this out? Asked Jayden. Before I could reply, she said "Did you think it would be a good idea?".

"Yes!" I exclaimed "This is hard work!"

During her December trip to Israel, Tina Golden (Levana teacher) had several opportunities to visit a preschool classroom. She brought back many great ideas and photographs of the Israeli children playing and learning. One of the activities that I found fascinating was a simple empty water bottle and thin strips of newspaper. The children had to rip or squish the newspaper and then push it through the small opening at the top of the water bottle.

During the OT presentation on Curriculum Night, we learned that manipulatives are not just toys that you use with your hands. A true manipulative is something that you can manipulate or change for a purpose. We realized that using this newspaper and water bottle activity would be a great opportunity to help the Sunshine children strengthen their hand muscles and fine motor skills.

At first, Lizzie tried to shove a lot of newspaper into the bottle using a fist. She finally figured out that she needed small pieces of paper and began ripping the newspaper with her fingers. Later, as she began putting the smaller pieces in, she realized that using her fingers helped to maintain better control of the paper so that it could fit into the small opening.