Mirrors and Building Toys!

At "Peace Out Time" the children were drawn to the small colorful wooden blocks placed at the rectangular table. This building toy was placed on small mirrors across from a sunny window, taking advantage of the interplay of light, reflection, and the colors of the blocks. The children sat at the table creating designs and patterns with the colorful blocks for a long period of time. Look closely at each of these photos and notice the patterns, lines, light, shapes, and colors.

Horray for Lunch Bunch!

Our first day of Lunch Bunch was busy! We all joined together for a quiet lunch full of great conversation, of course! Then we introduced "Piece Out Time"...Which is when the children have the opportunity to take out some quiet activities on the rug and at the tables. Then the children cleaned up and we had a "curriculum meeting". The children talked about what they wanted to do in Lunch Bunch this year. They came up with some great ideas and activities!

The following are a list of their thoughts/ideas so far:

-to make putty and play dough
-painting
-to make jewelry
-to make french toast, hot chocolate, pizza, smoothies, cookies, brownies, salad/people
-to play in the Community Room(with balls ,mats, slides etc.)
-play outside a lot
-juggling
-parachute play
-to play in the kitchen(Tel Aviv room)
-science stuff/experiments

The very last thing we did today was to go outside for some gross motor fun on the playground! I can't wait until tomorrrow!

Fruit Loops?

The Lunch Bunchers enjoyed stringing fruit loops during peace out time today! Check out these photos!

Mr. Sun was out Today!

Lunch Bunch was very busy from start to finish. As always chatting with friends at lunch is something both the teachers and children look forward to. "Peace Out" time was spent building with magnatiles, writing in journals and playing/building a road with small blocks and cars. Outside time was extra special today because "Mr. Sun" joined us! Finally some Spring weather! The children enjoyed challenging themselves as they climbed up the slide in new and different ways. Ellen organized a group of children to go behind the fence to gather up playground toys and garbage. What a fun day!

Mr. Clay is Back!

"Mr. Clay" is back! Last week the All Star Lunch Bunch children had their last curriculum planning meeting. The teachers ask them what would you like to do for the last week of school? Well it was unanimous..."We want to play with Mr. Clay!"

Today we played with Mr. Clay but he was a little on the dry side, so we sprayed him with a bit of water and that seemed to do the trick. We used our thumbs and fingers to pinch and mold "Mr.Clay". He will be back tomorrow!

Take Two... Indoor Campfire!

Well, the indoor campfire was so much fun we did it again! We told spooky stories, funny stories, enjoyed delicious s'mores and had a lot of laughs!

More Drama Stories in the All Star Classroom!

Josh could not wait to act out his drama story with his friends! There were quite a few children who wanted get up on the stage and act out Josh's story. We had two little goats, two medium goats, two big goats and four trolls! Wow! It was a tight squeeze up on the stage, but we worked it out! In case you were wondering what the name of Josh's drama story was..."The Three Billy Goats Gruff".

Connecting Spoken Words with Print!

Avery washed his hands in the bathroom then dried them with his usual one to two paper towels. He walked over to the trash and said, "Lauri why don't we have a sign that says trash, on the trash can?" My response, "Avery that is a very good question, why don't you make a sign and tape it on the trash can!" He helped himself to a pair of scissors, a roll of tape, wrote the word trash and posted it!

Next time you are in the bathroom check out Avery's trash sign...Avery and I agreed that even Oscar the Grouch would appreciate his sign! Then we started singing Oscar's s favorite song "I love trash!"

The All Star Lunch Bunch...

The All Star Lunch Bunchers had a great day! We all enjoyed catching up a bit while. chatting over lunch At "Peace Out Time" we built structures with magnitiles, made necklaces and bracelets with beads, played with play dough quietly at the table while we listened to Josh's CD. After we cleaned up we had a meeting and did some curriculum planning together. The children decided for the remainder of the school year we would do "a little bit of this, and a little bit of that", which means the following: Cooking/food preparation, arts and crafts, more fun with Mr. Clay, and to continue on with our science experiments! Last but not least we went outside to play, on this beautiful day!

Experimenting with Gak!

Most preschool children like to do experiments! So I asked the LB children, "What kind of experiments would you like do?" Teddy Fox suggested we mix a few colors together and make gak. Sam R had a great thought too..."Let's mix flour and water together".

Today we gathered the ingredients to make gak. Alison S brought back two different kind of glue, Elmer's and clear glue. First we measured and mixed the ingredients together to make gak with the clear glue. The children picked out turquoise and red food coloring. We asked, "What color do you think the gak will be?" Sam R said, "Purple because I know blue and red make purple!" Well everyone agreed with Sam! The gak was definitely purple, but the consistency was more like jello not gak. So, we decided to use the Elmer's glue and try it again. Well, this batch of gak came out just right! The best part was at the end of the day the children brought a little bit of gak home to stay!

Tomorrow we will repeat the experiment using different colors!

Experiments!

Will it dissolve?  Today we used four clear cups, filled them with water made predictions and verified results. Will a rock dissolve, salt, sugar, a leaf etc?

What The Children Had To Say:

"A rock will not dissolve, it is so thick and heavy."
"Salt, will because it is tiny."
"A leave will crack and curl up."
"Sugar will because it is like salt."
"The salt water turns the water gray."
"The sugar water stays the same when you mix the water up."

Embedding Fine Motor Activities into Preferred Play!!

Sam R spent most of "Peace Out Time" preparing for his Drama Story show. The name of his story is the "Green and Yellow Platforms". As he was tracing rectangular wooden blocks, and then fitting them onto yellow construction paper for the big show he said to me, "Lauri I am so excited to do my Drama Story with my friends!" My response, "Sam I can't wait to see your story come alive on stage!" Tomorrow he will finish preparing for the performance, which is scheduled for a 1:30pm showing. Hope to see you there!

Chocolate Covered Matzah

Chocolate-Covered Matzah

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons water
1 sheet of Matzah, cut into 6 rectangles

1. Melt chocolate
2. Using tongs or fingers, dip the matzah in the hot melted chocolate. Place it on wax paper on a baking sheet. Let harden for a few minutes in the refrigerator.

Most Important Part: Lick the pot as the first, very necessary step in cleaning up!

The Lunch Bunch children enjoyed one of their most favorite Passover foods...CHOCOLATE-COVERED MATZAH!

Making Costumes for Drama Stories!

Last Wednesday we read Jay's Drama Story, before we sat down to have lunch. We also asked Jay and his friends to pick a role from the story Jay wrote ,to act out. After we decided on roles for the play, we brainstormed a bit about costumes. Jay had the lead role, as he was the main Vampire, he thought the Vampires should be in red and wear capes. I suggested at "Peace Out" time that they make their costumes. Then Mia and Jesse suggested we use face paint. I looked at Alison, and I asked "Did you go to face painting school?" Alison replied, "Yes Lauri ,how did you know?" In the photos below, check out Alison's face painting art!