I can make a Snowman!

The Tel Aviv class is working on their cutting skills. So we decided that cutting out snowmen are a perfect way to practice circles! We had paper with different size circles on them and kids could pick out which three (or four!) they wanted to have as their snowman. When Molly first saw the paper she said, "I can't cut circles I can only cut squares. " I told her it didn't have to be perfect that snowballs come in all shapes and sizes and it's just fun to practice! Micah Gladstone showed her his and exclaimed, "see I can do it!" We looked at Micah's together and saw that it was beautiful even though it wasn't all cut on the line! Micah was proud of his work and Molly was ready to give it a go! Many kids spent the part of the day cutting circles; however Josie and Molly were enjoying creating snowmen so much that they went on to glue the circles to big blue pieces of paper. We are going to keep working on the project over the next few days. Soon we will have enough snowmen to fill our whole classroom!

A new tool to experiment with

After snack today, we had a chance to experiment with some unusual scissors. They have a loop of flexible plastic that connects the two blades in back, allowing the children to use a pinching or squeezing action to bring the blades together to cut paper. Everyone was excited to get a chance to try the scissors. It was interesting to see some children working out which hand they wanted to use to hold the scissors. Some used two hands to squeeze from the very back of the curved handle. This activity is a great opportunity to work with eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills. We explained to the children that they should only use scissors when they are with a grownup and that they need to keep their fingers away from the blades to avoid getting hurt.

Intense Concentration

It was wonderful to see the Rainbows enter the classroom with big smiles as we all returned from our break. The children had fun rediscovering all of the different play areas together.

There were some tiny farm animals wandering about on the table that occasionally wandered into puddles of blue gak. The Rainbows stretched, rolled, and flattened the floppy, flowing material.

There were also several pair of scissors available and the kids put them to good use. These scissors are chosen for ease of use with small fingers on young hands. The red curved handle is grasped in a pinch, using the whole hand. This proves to be much more comfortable than the two holes of a standard pair of child sized scissors. There were looks of great concentration as the kids took the wiggly gak and tried to find a way to cut it. Once success was achieved, the faces showed pride and pleasure at the accomplishment.

Finger Licking Good!

Today in Lunch Bunch the children made Pumpkin Soup, and let's just say it was "finger licking" good! The children had a great time cutting, slicing and dicing the fresh fruit for the soup! Next week we will make pizza from scratch... I can't wait!

Unicorns on the Cutting Edge

Our barber shop has finally opened! All the Unicorns practiced their cutting skills. We had so much fun snipping, giggling and styling our grass. The Unicorns were so happy with how they turned out, they decided to take their grass people home to share with their families.
~More Photos from our "Seeds Grow Unit"~