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.

Creative Exploration

I spent part of my morning on the playground today working with kids who were coloring their parent's hopes and wishes for their year. I happened to have a bottle of glue with me and it attracted Ben who wondered to the table. Ben had no intreats in coloring but loved the glue so I let him explore with the glue for awhile. He dripped it on to the paper and used both the glue cap and his fingers to spread the glue around. He had nothing to glue but the process of glueing and the tactile experience of the sticky substance was captivating and he enjoyed doing this for a while. 

After awhile he seemed done with glueing and I asked him if he wanted to glue something to his paper, we didn't have any collage supplies so I modeled how to rip paper. His eyes lit up with excitement.  He than began to rip, which was not an easy task. He used coordination and fine motor skills to rip each stip. Sometimes he struggled, yet he felt a sense of accomplishment when he finally was able to tear the paper. He then returned to glueing but this time his mission was to use the glue as an adhesive for his torn paper, strip by strip he glued until all the glue was covered. 

His final step was taking a "Batman black" marker and coloring his collage. I was so impressed by the amount of time, and focus Ben took to create his collage. Through this creation process he experienced different mediums, used different muscles groups and really took to a step-by step exploratory creative process. 

As an atelierista I seek to find these moments of discovery and document exploration and learning through art. Ben was able to use the medium of glue to inspire a whole collaging process which captivated him for over twenty minutes.  When kids go though the discovery process on their own they feel accomplished knowing that they too have the ability to create. 

First Day Fun!

We had a blast getting to know each other, exploring the classroom and digging on the playground!!  Looking forward to seeing everyone again on Wednesday!!

Sensory Exploration!

Once again experimenting with corn starch, water and water colors was a big hit! As the children
poured and mixed the ingredients together they talked about how the cornstarch looks like flour. When you mix water and corn starch together, the corn starch and water sticks together!

Gak

Just before it started to rain we worked together to mix and measure all the ingredients, to make Gak! Adom and Kahol could not decide what color to make the Gak ; so everyone took turns and squirted about three drops of water colors into the bowl of water and glue. We asked the children, "What color do you think the Gak will be?" All the Adom children said, "Rainbow"!

Just as we finished making the Gak it started to rain! We took our Gak inside to play! The children added beads to the Gak , rolled it, made ice cream and just simply had fun touching, manipulating, and playing with the cool Gak!

Adom treasure hunt

The Adom boys celebrated Our week together by having a treasure hunt, map and all! We explored our map for treasure markings, got our buckets, and set out to collect our squirmy treasures (spiders and snakes.)

Cornstarch and Water Fun!

In this exploration, the children experience the ways in which cornstarch is transformed from soft, silky powder to slipper, crunchy liquid. In the process, they also observe and reflect on the beautiful creation of color.

I introduced the children to the materials. Water, cornstarch, spoons and water colors. I coached the children about moving the water from the cups onto the mixing tray. Then I demonstrated how to move the cornstarch onto the tray of water with a plastic teaspoon. The children then had the opportunity to squeeze drops of water colors onto the their tray! It was like magic when the children discovered that the white watery powder turned pink, orange and or green when the colored water meets the cornstarch and water.

During their exploration, the children used their spoon to add cornstarch into the mixing tray, and added colored water to it; they poured water in their mixing tray and squeezed the watercolors out of the bottle onto their tray! As the children explored I asked them a few questions...

-What does dry cornstarch feel like on your skin? (Hannah,"soft")
-What happens when the water meets cornstarch?( Grace,"scratchy")
-What happens when the watercolors meets the mixture of water and cornstarch? (Everyone agreed it was a beautiful and magical!)

Finger-paint fun!

Today the children had the opportunity to finger-paint! We covered the table with white butcher paper. We made sure we had plenty of room for each child's work space and big arm movements. It was a joy to see the children explore with the paint and color.

I asked a few open ended questions as they moved their tiny little fingers, pushing the paint up and down, side to side and in a circular motion all over the white butcher paper. "How does the paint feel?" Grace said, "Cold." "What colors do you see?" Hannah's response, "lemon".

Check out our colorful mural hanging on the bulletin board in the classroom! Finger-paint is slippery, slick, cool, sticky, vibrant, and bold! We look forward to more encounters with finger-paint later in the week!

measuring growth

Our plants have started to grow beautifully.  Today, we took some time to measure how TALL and how small they were.  We chose from two measuring tools:  a ruler or Unifix cubes that link together (see picture).  After comparing and selecting the smallest and tallest, the children placed a purple toothpick (tall) and a red toothpick (small) near their chosen plant.

Now...we just have to wait for the flowers to bloom!!

Can You Cut?

Cutting play dough with a tool furthers children's knowledge of the properties of dough and the reactions of the dough to simple machines.  This activity allows children to manipulate tools and compare how they affect the dough.

Some of the Tel Aviv children ignored the tools and explored the dough with their hands.  Zach noticed the similarities and differences among the cutting tools.  The pastry and pizza wheels "make a smooth line in the dough."  The knives "leave bumpy lines in the dough."

As the children explored and played with the dough I asked questions to extend their thinking...What can do with these wheels?  How can you make smaller pieces of dough?   How did you do make this straight line?

A Bar of Chocolate?

Over the last couple of days we have been learning how to use real screwdrivers and screws.  We were all able to identify the different screwdrivers and screws, but not everyone was able to identify the bars of soft substance we putting the screw into.  "Is it chocolate?" "Is it candy?" Finally, Eliana yelled out "It's soap!"    

Bringing Nature into the Levana Classroom

The children explored our sensory table filled with a variety of natural materials from the garden. There were gigantic stems and leaves from a sunflower, a living "leaf" bug, gourds with seeds, tiny pumpkin shaped and lantern plants. Piper is practicing her cutting skills on an enormous leaf. Avi is shaking the large stem in the air. Olivia, Graham and Avi take a closer look at the insect in the jar. Bringing the outside into our classroom encourages exploration of the natural world and reinforces children's curiosity about the world we share. 

Exploring and Creating!

At each child's work space, there were q-tips, paint, and a brown marker.   I told the children we were going to use these materials to create trees you might see during the fall season.

It was interesting to watch as some of the children picked up the brown marker right away and started drawing lines, swirls, and rectangles, which they called the trunk and branches of the tree.

After they created the trunk and branches they started dipping the q-tips in the yellow, green, and orange paint.   Once they had enough paint on the tip of the q-tip they created colorful leaves.   Josie placed the q-tip on the little lines she called the branches and rubbed the q-tip in a circular motion.   Zach dipped his q-tip in the paint and placed the q-tip on his paper, then he quickly pulled it up away from his paper and then placed it down again.  He continued moving the moist q-tip up and down, over and over again.

When the children felt finished with their painting, they laid it on the sensory table to dry.   We displayed them in our classroom today.   When you get chance come in and see your child's colorful, bright fall trees! 

Exploring Sukkot

The Keshet class was excited to visit with Rabbi Jay in the sukkah this morning.  We explored the sukkah, noticing the beautiful decorations: greens, pumpkins, and some lovely creations that were hanging from the roof.  We all looked out through the roof to see the blue sky and the clouds floating way above us.  Rabbi Jay explained how the Jewish people had lived in huts like ours long, long ago.  He also shared the lulav with us.  The kids had a chance to shake the lulav: in front, behind, to the right, to the left, up high, and down low.  Rabbi Jay explained that this was a way to remember that God is everywhere.

We took our paper crafted apples with us to the sukkah and hung them on the walls to add some bright color to this wonderful place.  We plan to return to the sukkah on Thursday and to have our celebration of Shabbat inside.  Please feel free to stop in for a look around the sukkah when you bring your child to school.

We Explore different fruits...

 During Sukkot we look at and explore different fruits. I wonder what they taste like? What do they look like? Are other fruits similar?

Painting rocks and hands!

Ally and Olivia spent time exploring with paint and brushes as they painted the carnival rocks and their hands! They had a great time!

Field Day!

First we all enjoyed a long Shabbat snack together! Then we had the opportunity to explore Avery Field! We found dandelions, insects and ran along the rocky path on the outskirts of the field! Some of the children initiated an imaginary game of baseball. Last but not least we all enjoyed playing parachute games!

Shabbat Shalom!

Outdoor classroom...Curiosity and Initiative!

The outdoors is such an interesting and dynamic environment that encourages children to engage in a continuous cycle of exploration! As you watch them, you can see how one experience leads to another; their curiosity prompts them to ask questions and their initiative leads them to investigate.

Today Hannah became very excited when she found a slug on the playground. Her excitement was contagious as her friends and classmates gathered around her to see and feel the wet slimy slug! The children all observed the slug for a while and decided to name it "Slimy the Slug".

magnetics 101

Magnet exploration moved to a whole new level this morning.  After working with magnetiles for a bit, Noah Sussman and Aleeza thought it might be fun to take our magnet manipulatives out and see if they could work together.  Aleeza's fancy headband even got caught in one of our magnetiles.  That's when we realized it must be made of metal!!

It was exciting to add smaller metal objects to our towers and see which ones would stick and which were too heavy to stay put.  Noah Sirlin even enjoyed a quick game of "golf"!!  Fortunately, our magnet rods were pretty strong and most of the metal balls clung easily.  No need to shout "FORE" today!!

Art in the Woods!!

So today with, "Art and Sasha" we went exploring in the woods!! The goal of the woods was to find sticks and rocks and build with them to create outdoor sculptures.  Lucy found many sticks and built a princess tower.  Adam and Elias found sticks and rocks and decided to explore rather than build which was wonderful as well.  The neat thing about rocks is that underneath them you can find...WORMS!!

  They found short worms and long worms and baby worms and a few rolly polly bugs as well. Elias loved collecting and comparing them and sharing his observations. We talked about how the dirt is their home and how sometimes dirt feels cold because its wet and worms need the water in the dirt to survive. At the end of the day we dug a shallow hole and buried our handful of worms. 

It was a beautiful day to be outside and exploring, we had a blast!