Willing and open to exploring new things...

I has been a joy to behold as the children's natural curiosity has unfolded as they have thoroughly enjoyed exploring the world of bugs.   Sasha and I have been so lucky to be a part the process the and spirt of investigation, as the children  have taken on the role of a scientist, wondering about the insects and bugs!

Everyone is so comfortable handing and approaching the insects we find  outside on the playground or on our nature walks in the woods!  The way the children have dug into the worm farm  remind us of  archaeologists! They place the worms on their wrists like bracelets, on top of their hands and on their shoulders!

Their comfort level with insect and bug has carried over to other other living creatures.  Yesterday Micah G brought his dog Rusty to school for a visit.  As the children who don't have animals at home or contact with animals in general, where so open and willing to engage with Rusty!   They pet his belly, feed him treats, and  played catch with Rusty! 

 Micah, Rusty is one special guy!  Tell Rusty he can come back and visit anytime.

Worms!

How long is a worm?  A real big earthworm might reach from the top to the bottom of a small book.  Some are even longer than that.  When you look closely at an earthworm, you see that it's body is made up of many rings, or segments.  It moves with the help of hairs like bristles on a brush.. Worms can be smaller than earthworms or could be longer than an automobile- like the giant Australian worm!

The Tel Aviv children have been learning a lot about worms!  We read books about worms, measure worms, dig for worms outside, count worms, and play them.   We have also talked about how to be gentle and  care for worms, as they  help the environment!

When you get a chance check out our worm farm.

Worm Farm!

Worms are fascinating critters! Today we created a worm farm in our sensory table!  By creating a habitat for the worms the children have the opportunity to keep observing without killing the worms with kindness. The natural world taps into children's innate sense of wonder and curiosity. 

At circle time we introduced the worms to the entire group.  We talked about how important worms are for the environment.  They are natures way of composting naturally,  worms bring air to soil by tunneling in the dirt and we modeled how to handle the delicate creatures, gently and respectfully. 

As soon as the classroom opened for free play the children gravitated to the worm farm for a ringside seat to all the wonderful worms!  If you get a chance stop into the Tel Aviv classroom and check out our little friends!

Sticking Foam Pieces to Wet Paint

Today the children noticed at the easel that foam shapes can stick to wet paint. Harold, Samantha and Ellen place the foam pieces gently on the wet paint and they stay there because its as sticky as glue. It's also fun to paint over the foam shapes, too.

Science Talk...

Last week the children had the opportunity to place lima beans and/or beans they found outside on the playground on a wet paper towel in a Ziploc bag.  We taped the bags to the window and have been watering/spraying/observing them everyday.

During choice time today, I sat with the children at the science center table and listened to them as they shared their observation and ideas.   Over the three day weekend the children discovered that the beans changed!   I asked each child..."Do you think your beans changed?"   Zach was so excited when he saw his beans!  Over and over again he kept saying,   "Mine growed, mine growed!"   Noah said, " Mine are magic beans that will grow a bean stalk."   Adam said, "Mine are yellow not white anymore."   Micah R ," Mine growed when I watered them!"   I continued to ask the children questions like "Do you remember what the beans looked like when we placed them in the bag?"   Then I repeated and asked again, "How have they changed?"   I  encouraged them to open our Science Log Journal and draw an observational drawing. 

One way to focus children's observations and thinking on growth and development is to help them compile a journal of drawings and notes they make over time.  We will continue to encourage the children to use our Science Log to record changes in the beans growth and development.  Eventually we will plant the sprouted beans in some potting soil, and continue to track the plants growth over time.

Friends!

Friends...Walk hand in hand, dance, make observations, discover ,sing, build, and smile together!

Science Talks...

 

Three-to five-year-olds have been exploring water all their lives, whether in the bath, at the sink, in the rain, or on the beach.  Ideally they have had regular opportunities to explore at the water table in the classroom too.  This open exploration of water builds on children's prior experiences by giving them plenty of time to explore water with materials selected to highlight water's movement and its ability to take the shape of its container.  In addition, open exploration introduces children to science talks with the whole class, which continue throughout open and focused explorations.  Science talks give children opportunities to reflect on their observations, experiences, questions, and theories, and they create a group sense of shared purpose and excitement.

During our morning circle we invited the children to fill up little cups of water , select an object in the classroom, and place it in the cup of water.   Then we asked them the following questions:
-What happens to water when you put it in the freezer?  Micah -"It freezes."
-Does water move when it's frozen?  Noah-"No it becomes hard."
-Will the water or toys change color?  Noah-"Yes it will turn brown because when my Mom put bananas in the freezer they turned brown." 
-How how does water freeze?  Adam- "Like this!"  Adam put his arms out to the side of his body and became still...Frozen!

Following our science talk a few children walked down to the Community Room kitchen and placed the small cups of water in the freezer.
Stay tuned for an update on our observations and explorations tomorrow morning!

Building Challenge!

 

The children have been playing with different kinds of building materials, experiencing how the stability of their structures are affected by the ways they put materials together and by the materials they use. Some of the children have become interested in stacking blocks; others build tall structures such as rockets and towers as part of their magnitile and block play. On Monday at our morning meeting we invited the children to become expert tower builders by trying to build the tallest structure they can using foam and/or rectangular wooden blocks. We asked the children..Which blocks do you think are best for making tall towers? Which towers do you think will get the tallest? As the children were busy building towers we engaged the children in breif converstions. We asked them about their structures and then in the context of their play encouraged them to build up. For example...Tell me about your building? Can you add a look out tower? Tell me about the house you are building can you build a roof? Some of the other children were really interested in making a car garage and playground. We did not want to interfere with their focus. Today we discussed strategies for tower building, Charlotte suggested, "Building flat helps blocks stay up." Elias and Josie said, "A lot on the bottom will keep them up." We will continue to facilitate science talks, take photos, sketch structures and encourage the children in the tower challenge!

Exploring with simple machines!

In this activity the children hammered screws or nails into real wood and then pry them out or screw them out with a screw driver or hammer. Last week the children hammered golf tees into styrofoam. Switching to real nails and screws was clealy more challenging for the children. They embraced the challenge and became very excited and focused while hammering away! Screwing the nails out of the wood was initially awkward for them as they tried to manipulate each screw out of the wood by twisting and swirling the screw driver with their two hands. Simple machines encourage scientific exploration and the construction of physical knowledge. With simple machines, children can perform a physical action, lifting a heavy object with a screw (a spiral inclined plane). It can lift a heavy object easily, as when a car jack that utilizes a crank lifts an automobile. Observing the children as they interact with the materials, and asking pertinent question to delve into their thinking, has been an enjoyable experience!

The wedge and lever...

The wedge and the lever help focus our energy to make work easier. Micah and Noah found it was easier to pry the golf tees out of the styrofoam with the spoons. But Micah had a better, "The spoons breaks when you take out the tees. You can use the hook part of the hammer, that works better and it does not break." Micah showed Noah how to pry the tees out with the hook side of the hammer. Noah took his time and proceeded to remove all the tees from his piece of styrofoam. Each time he pryed out a tee he said, "Look another one!" The children figured out first hand, the hammer allows us to push the golf tee into the styrofoam easier than by hand alone, the spoon enables us to pry them out, which is difficult by finger strength alone.

Green Slime!

The Tel Aviv Lunch Bunchers enjoyed the process of making real green slime! All you need is glue, borax, water, green watercolors and glitter!

Experimenting with color and making paint...

 

The Question of the day was, "Who would like to make paint and experiment with color?"  The entire group gathered around the long rectangular table eager to hear more.  We talked a little about some of our experiences experimenting with color, over the last several weeks. Then we talked about the materials on the table in front of us...salt, four, water and water colors.  The group was asked, "What colors can we mix together to make another color?"    Noah responded with, "Blue and red makes purple and red and yellow makes orange."   Then we looked at the water colors on the table, blue, orange, green and purple.   Unfortunately we did not have all the primary colors available to us today, so we worked and experimented with what we had.

First the children decided what ingredient they wanted to measure out and pour into the bowl.  Then we went to work.  It was amazing to see how well the children worked together waiting patiently for their turn.  Once we added the dry ingredients we added the water and water colors.  The children observed and watched the colored water  change the color of the white salt and flour.  Then we took turns mixing the two bowls of paint.  When we were done we had a bowl of sea green paint and gray paint.

Then the children decided to paint with q-tips.  When they were done painting they brought their art work over to the other table near the window and were asked to write their name.  Josie, asked the teacher to make a J for her.  Elias walked over and said, "Joise I can make a J for you!"   Micah R asked the teacher to make a C and Josie offered to make C for Micah.  Writing their names became a  collaborative team effort!

Tomorrow the children expressed their preference to paint at the easel with the sea green and gray paint, with "the big brushes."

Flubber Fun!

 

Slimy flubber is easy for children to make and ever so fun for children to play with.  This ooey, gooey, slippery, and slimy stuff provides a perfect opportunity to guide the children to discover new things by applying what they already know.

The children asked me to put the recipe on the blog...

FLUBBER RECIPE

Mix thoroughly

Bowl 1

• 1 1/2 cups very warm water
• 2 cups Elmer's glue
• food coloring or water colors

Bowl 2

• 1 1/3 cups very warm water
• 2 level teaspoons Borax

Mix the contents of the two bowls together kneading until it is fully combined.  Discard any remaining liquid.

HAVE FUN!

What's New In The Sensory Table

The Rainbows came in this morning and noticed that something was different in the sensory table. The water was gone and in its place was something small and white. "What is it?", the kids asked. "It is rice. but you don't eat it. You play with it.", the teachers replied. The children began exploring the new substance by pouring, mixing, stirring, scooping, using funnels, and finding buried treasures mixed deep inside the rice. Thank you Sunshine class for putting in the rice and sharing it with us. We look forward to further exploration with the rice in the coming weeks.

Discovery - together!

The Rainbow class arrived this morning to find that some of their animal toys were frozen in chunks of ice. The chunks of ice could skate along on the pond that had appeared on the table. Audrey and Sami were quite taken by the sensation of the ice melting in their hands, and the cold water dripping off of their fingers. They had a friendly talk about the feeling and about the animals they could see peeking out of the ice. Here is another example of the dyad play that occurs more and more frequently in our room. After our fire drill and Music with Josh (Thanks for inviting us to visit, Levana class!), we came back to find much of the ice had melted. Once we put the chunks into the water table, the animals were free!

How we love science!

JB Royal, Sam's father, did an amazing job showing the Kohavim children how to use a microscope. He captured the attention of them all. In addition to bringing in the perfect kind of scope for them, JB brought in slides which he divided in to the following categories: Feathers, Little Creatures, and Grasshoppers. The children looked at turkey, chicken, duck, pigeon, and canary feathers. Little Creatures was divided in to plant louse, fruit fly, shrimp eggs, and silk worm larvae. We were also able to look at the antennae, leg, and wing of a grasshopper. JB also had some crystals which the children loved to look at under the microscope. At an adjacent table some of the children drew pictures of what they had seen with the microscope. We would love to have our own class microscope to continue our study of the world of small things. MANY thanks to JB and Sam for leading such an exciting and informative activity. It was truly great.

"Look what I found!" -Eliza

Eliza became very excited and shouted out, "Come see what I found!" Lily, Hannah and I came over to see what Eliza was so excited about. She pointed to one of the lima bean plants and said, "Look it's growing!" I said, "Yes look the lima bean is growing; the dry white bean took in water from the soil, some wonderful sunlight and is now a new a new lima bean plant!" We will continue to make observations as we care for our classroom plants.

Red and blue make...

What started as an individual work of art with very distinct and bold swaths of red and blue was transformed as Molly welcomed Josh's participation at the easel. I overheard them talking. Josh asked, "Do you think red and blue will make purple?" As they continued to combine the colors, they exclaimed......

"It did! It did! We made purple!"

We are seeing more examples of dyad play as the children find ways to work and play with a partner. We also see the spontaneous formation of small groups at play. It is wonderful to see them discovering the joy of being part of a team - whether it's painting, washing a table, or building a tower.

Where does oil come from?

In addition to lighting our oil menorah today, we also pressed some olives to remove the oil from them. All the children seemed to know that we would get oil as a result of this process. Maria brought in a mortar and pestle which she usually uses as a garlic press, to mash the olives. Teddy Fox in particular really wanted to do this activity and loved every minute of it. Mia remembered mashing grapes with her bare feet when she was a Unicorn! What a great connection Mia. We will explore the properties of oil some more as we continue to celebrate Chanukah over the next couple of weeks.

What kind of bug is that ?

Is it a praying mantis, grass hopper maybe or a leaf bug? Sam Royal discovered an interesting bug on the jungle gym this morning. He called over a few friends to come check it out. After a long discussion with teachers and some time to observe the little creature, Sam and his friends agreed it was a leaf bug.