Exploration

Today the children had the opportunity to arrange and glue corn kernels and pumpkin seeds onto a piece of cardboard.   Some children were interested in constructing with the materials, while others just enjoyed studing one object at a time. Some children seemed to be interested in design and in setting up a pleasing composition.  Other children used the materials to tell a story.

What's a Flyswatter Anyway?

Today we had a guest assistant, Laura's daughter Lily!  Lily helped the children make their own paint using cornstarch, water, and liquid watercolors.  We then dipped flyswatters into the paint, started swatting, and watched our abstract creations emerge!   Jacob was covered in splattered paint when he was done.  Laughing, he said "This is so fun, but what's a flyswatter anyway?" 

Creating insects with playdough...

The children spent a lot of time creating bugs and insects with pipe cleaners and playdough! Adam made a rainbow worm, Micah G. a cockroach and spider, Molly an ant and Charlotte made beetle. All week we have been changing the materials at the playdough/insect table...challenges the children's fine motor skills! Keeps the activity fun and interesting too!

firefighters in training

Rose, Bennett and Josh did some serious firefighting today.  The cleaned and filled their fire hoses, used the fence to hold hoses while they put out flames, and used tools to view potential fires in the area.

When they finished putting out a fire at a house near the climbing structure, they were sure to tell the owners that it was safe to return, "but everything is soaked".  Job well done!

Phase One

We bought some beautiful pink roses as part of a secret Mother's Day project. We have seen other classes amazing work painting flowers and decided to take our turn at interpreting the still life. We were impressed with the intense focus!

Caution: Imaginations at Work

Today the large cardboard box was not a box, but a fire station, and then a three dimensional canvas inviting artistic expression.  It was fun to see how Joseph and Ethan worked at climbing the large wooden platform outside of the fire station and hoisting themselves onto the other platform we placed inside.  At different points over the course of the morning, Joseph and Harrison individually maneuvered the very large box around on the floor in order to better suit their play.  Muscles and imaginations worked together to add to the enjoyment of the children's explorations.

Abby and Eva are working their arms as they paint on the walls - positioning their fingers in the pincer grasp as they strengthen the muscles in the shoulder girdle.

Not a Box

is the title of a book by Antoinette Portis.  Here's a summary: "A box is just a box . . . unless it's not a box. From mountain to rocket ship, a small rabbit shows that a box will go as far as the imagination allows.  Inspired by a memory of sitting in a box on her driveway with her sister, Antoinette Portis captures the thrill when pretend feels so real that it actually becomes real-when the imagination takes over and inside a cardboard box, a child is transported to a world where anything is possible."

Exploring the possibilities began this morning.  It was a hiding place, a fire station,  and it was also the canvas for artistic expression.   Ben and Ethan chose to draw on the top and the sides, and then Ally and Ethan continued drawing on the inside, on the ceiling and on the walls.  I wonder what they will do  with it next?

 

Take Care of the Earth Artware

We brought in different types of flowers, leaves and created some art work to represent the outdoors. We remember ways in which we can keep the outdoors green and beautiful with flowers blooming. We "recycle plastic containers, we put things in the trash, we pick up things on the ground and recycle them."

Olive at Work

Olive loves to express herself through her artwork and often can be found working on a drawing or a painting.  Last week she asked if she might borrow a camera to take some photogaphs.  Olive started in our classroom, taking shots of friends and then made her way to the hallway and into Ellen's office.  Needless to say, this became a favorite choice for many of our friends.  Thanks for the inspiration, Olive!   

Elijah's Cup!

Jacob said, "Look at what I made!". He was so pleased with himself! You can see why!

Jacob's Elijah's cup was sitting on the table ready to go home at the end of the day. Jacob decided to draw it free hand!

Fun with Oil Pastel and Water Colors!

Last Thursday we had a fantastic art class with eight Unicorn, Levana and Rainbow friends! We started our lunch bunch time reading a book about Edgar Degas and we talked about how he used oil pastels to draw horses and dancers. We passed around the oil pastels and felt that they were softer than crayons and smooth to draw with. After the book we did a small science experiment. We pored some liquid water color in a cup of water and saw how the color and the water all mixed together. Then we took another cup of water and guessed what would happen if I poured oil in it. Most of the group thought that the oil and water would mix just like the food coloring and boy were they surprised! We saw that the oil floated and that they didn't mix together. I then asked them what did they think would happen if we put water color on top of oil pastels and they agreed that they wouldn't mix.

Then we started our project. We took some time and drew designs with oil pastels and after they were done we added water colors! They colors were beautiful and it was neat to watch the group use two materials that are so different in the same painting. They spent a lot of time on their pieces and were so proud of their final products! We will continue exploring color and color mixing through colored bubbles and liquid water colors this Thursday! Hope to see you there!

Who is an author and what do they do?

Today in our morning circle we held a brief discussion about what the children think an author does. We explained that all authors have their own writing style and some authors have particular topics they write about and have their own writing styles. We then proceeded to look/read though some library books together and listened for the general writing style of the author( words that repeat, rhyming words etc).

When we opened the classroom for free play the children continued to work on their own books in our writing center. When we authors finish writing and illustrating our books we will put them in our very own library.

Today I feel...

When children become aware of how their words and behaviors affect others, they can begin to evaluate what kinds of behavior will work to make friends. When they grab a toy away, they can look at their friends face and discover that grabbing is not a good strategy to maintain a friendship. When they help a friend find their missing shoe, they can see the smile on their friend's face and discover that helping is a good friendship skill. Today we read Today I Feel Silly & Other Moods That Make My Day ,by Jamie Lee Curtis. After we read the book we all had the opportunity to create bagel faces that express a certain mood(silly, mad, crazy, happy). Fun activities like this, help children develop this awareness of how we communicate our feelings/moods with facial expressions/body language.

A Kohavim rock group is born!

Hadley, Mia, and Ilana took wooden blocks and tree pieces to create microphones so they could belt out a Mickey Manage tune. It was a bit hard to catch all the words but I believe one line was: "Did you hear that heart beat running away?" Forgive me girls if I got it wrong. Even after going on line I wasn't able to find out much of anything about your singer. I expect that we will hear more in the weeks ago since Maria said something about bringing in a karaoke machine! We are really rocking in the Kohavim room!

Lauri "Can I trace YOUR body?"

Sure... Using those fine motor skills, taking turns, lots of giggles and fun while creating Lauri !!!