Unexpected Coloring!

Today on the playground we had paper set up on (and under!!) the climbing structure! We had paper under the landings, on the bottom part of the tunnel and on some of the poles. These unexpected coloring areas were a huge hit as children from all different classes came together to reach up high and color!  Some colored with one hand, others both! Many of the younger children were fascinated that the older one's could color under the tunnel.

Both Ben G. and Zach S.  tried to jump in order to make a dot. Having a dot on the paper helped them feel accomplished as they added to the tunnel's decorations. It was neat to see how coloring was not only a creative activity but a physical one too. Kids needed height or strength to reach up high. Also many of the kids were squatting under the climber. This activity forced them to be aware of how their body fit in space, which can be a very tricky skill.

Keshet and Levana kids loved painting the poles. Noa and Alex L. Spent a lot of time making sure that all the white was filled in. it was so nice to see how proud Noa was to show off her communal drawing at pick-up. It was a beautiful day filled with wonderful community created art.

 Hopefully we can do it again soon!

Go Lily and Noah!

Lily and Noah did it!  They went down the "fire pole all by themselves!  Lily watched Noah walk through a few "practice runs" until he was able to go down the pole independently (with a teacher spotting and encouraging him).  When I asked Lily if she wanted to try it Noah chimed in with,  "Lily I can show you how to do it!"   Watch me Lily, "Hand, hand,hug your belly button to the pole, and down you go!"

Going down the "fire pole" works our upper body and core muscles!  It's not an easy task ...Try it sometime! 

Celebrating with Adam!

Rabbi Todd came in to celebrate Adam's birthday!  We sang "Happy Birthday" in Hebrew first and then English!  Then Rabbi Todd read Adam's Birthday Book and a few books Adam hand picked from home.  The first book was about Star Wars...surprise, surprise!  The second book was a wonderful story about an up -coming holiday, Shavuot.

Last week just before Adam's 4th birthday he successfully mastered sliding down the "fire pole" on the TBSCC playground!  He was so proud of himself!  Check out the photos in the collage.  Here is how it is done...hand, hand on the pole, then bring your belly button to the pole,and down you go!

Gross Motor Fun!

The weather outside was a little crazy...Snow, sleet and rain.  We did not let the weather stop us from moving and grooving!  We played "balloon-o", stood on our hands for a while, played Mr. Fox and enjoyed a game of "freeze tag"

Movement with Nancy!

The children walked across the balance beam enjoyed a few forward rolls, jumped, hopped, galloped ,and danced with Nancy! 

Tel Aviv LOVES Snow!

The Tel Aviv kids have been spending LOTS of time in the snow this week! The snow has been fun and it's not too cold when you are wearing the proper snow gear and this combination has meant that we have been spending over an hour outside each day! We have made snow angles, snowmen and practiced our climbing skills! While making a snowman yesterday Lily, Charlotte, Josie, Molly and Micah Rosin negotiated how to roll the ball and where to put in the sticks for arms. often times they had different ideas for how they envisioned the snowman but they were able to use their problem solving strategy to create a solution that everyone was happy with! Later in the morning we went up to the parking lot and practiced climbing on the snow banks. I was impressed with how each child navigated the plains of snow and carefully paid attention to their footing as they slowly climbed up the snow banks. It was quite a site to see and once they got to the top, they roared with laughter as they slid down. Such fun mornings playing in the snow! We hope that it will stay warm and snowy like this for the rest of the week!

Indoor Play!

We are not going to let the cold weather stop us from moving and grooving!  In the Community Room had a lot of action this week!  We scooted on the dollies on our tushes, bellies and knees.  Bounced on balls, ran up and down the ramp/stairs,  jumped and rolled on the matted cylinder.  In the classroom we played "Squirrel in the Tree".  Which is a non competitive movement game that encourages cooperation, problem solving and sharing.

Hopefully this cold weather will "brake" over the weekend!

Stretching and Dancing with Nancy

First Nancy walked us through a  fun and challenging stretching routine.  Then we rolled, hopped, galloped, twirled, leaped and danced all around the big Community Room!

Moving and grooving with Nancy just gets better and better!

Gross Motor Fun!

The cold weather did not stop us from from getting some well needed exercise! We played in the Community Room and enjoyed a few games of "Mr. Fox" in our very own Simon Hall.

If I had a hammer

Thursday was a day for experimenting with real hammers and some (golf tees) nails.  We had a large heavy piece of styrofoam to work with, and the children had lots of fun experimenting with techniques for getting the nails in and out of it.  Some tapped lightly and others enjoyed banging with gusto.  Everyone was respectful of one another as they waited for a turn and worked safely across from one another.  It is quite impressive to see what these young children are capable of!

 

Is it a road or a tower?

On Thursday in the Keshet class, Nancy decided to try something new and put out our wooden blocks for a change.  The children made roads, tunnels and even garages.  Joseph went a step further and took out the cardboard blocks and stacked them up.  You can see his focus as he sees how many blocks he can stack before they fall.  He also tried to run a car up on this uphill "road".

No trolls under this bridge, just the rug!

Today was a day for using our bodies in fun ways.  Keshet children enjoyed climbing up the stairs, balancing on the top, and walking down the other side.  With no railing to hold, it's quite a challenge for a toddler.  Some kids found this to be rather a good way to spend the morning.  Just look at Isabella's expression of delight as she sprung off the last step!  Beyond gross motor development and practice with balance, the kids worked at taking turns - making sure that each child had a turn - and going to the back of the line to wait for her next turn.  

Tree Pose!

Today the Tel Aviv class started their day with morning stretches to “Modeh Ani” and some yoga! We have wonderful cards with different yoga positions on them and one by one we picked a card and tried to mirror the poses on the cards. I was so impressed with how carefully and thoughtfully the Tel Aviv children moved their bodies to imitate the pose. It was a very calm activity and all the children stayed in their own spaces and focused on themselves and their bodies, which was very impressive for our first yoga session! Yoga is a great way that our class takes cares of our bodies and teaches us about flexibility, concentration and awareness of our body in space.  Nice work Tel Aviv class! I can’t wait to do yoga again with you soon!

Fine Motor Development

Too many people think fine motor development means the way a child holds and uses pencils, crayons, and scissors.  But fine motor development is much more.  To understand fine motor development it is important to understand a little about how the human body develops.

Human development progresses from the head down and from the trunk outward.  The torso and shoulders develop long before the elbow, the hips, the knees, and so on.  In other words, skilled use of one's hands and fingers is the last in a long process of development.

Fine motor development is enhanced early in life by many opportunities to develop and refine large motor skills.  It is developed by giving young children big pieces of paper and large crayons, allowing them to practice their movements.   We also help children's fine motor development through a variety of activities, such as working with play dough, constructing with Legos and Tinkertoy, stringing beads, doing puzzles, and playing with pegs boards and other table toys.

Such engrossing activities are better than tasks at which the child may "fail" or those that are very repetitive.  Through these fun, natural activities,  children improve their fine motor development without frustration or boredom.

Today the Tel Aviv children had the opportunity to remove corn kernels by pushing and pulling until they fell off  the cob.  Each child was very determined and focused as they removed each and every kernel from their piece of the cob.  They all enjoyed this small motor activity!   There was only one problem. Everyone was very disappointed when we out of the corn full of kernels. 

You should try this activity at home.  Once the corn is off the cob try sorting the  kernels according to there color or have your child create a fall collage with the kernels, glue and paper.  HAVE FUN! 

Circle Time Fun

We got on our feet during circle time today.  Everyone joined in today as we pretended to be apple trees.  We shook the trees until the apples fell, "Mmm Mmm they were good!"

Peer Mentors!

Young children are very egocentric. They see the whole world in relation to how it affects them. Most young children appreciate the value of adults. After all, adults are the ones who feed them, bath them, take them out for dinner and read them books. Dyad play requires that children begin to see their own peers as valuable resources as well. Throughout the school year we will encourage the children to share their talents and strengths with each other.

Today on the playground the children had the opportunity to play with the hula- hoops. Charlotte repeatedly picked up the hoop and moved her hips around and around very slowly and the hoop kept dropping to the ground and would not stay on her hips. I suggested that Charlotte move her hips a little faster and to keep practicing. After a few more tries Charlotte said in an overwhelming voice, "I can't do this! Hannah was watching near by and said in a friendly voice, "I can show you." Hannah picked up the hoop and showed Charlotte how to keep the hoop moving around her hips. I asked Hannah to give Charlotte some " hula tips". Hannah's response, "You do this, this and this!" After a quick lesson, Charlotte tried it again and had some success!

Charlotte was the mentor this time...Charlotte was sitting on the edge of the slide balancing with no hands which is great exercise and really challenges your core muscles. Noah was watching her and asked her, "How do you do that?" Charlotte was more than please to teach Noah how to balance with no hands on the side of the slide!

We should all continue to seek out child mentors both at home and at school. When a child is struggling at a particular time of the day, such as snack, buckling their own car seat, cleanup, catching a ball, pumping on a swing, help them find a child mentor to partner with.

Basketball Fun!

Hannah challenged me to a one on one game of basketball! When Sarah and Nathan saw us playing they asked, "Can we play too?" Hannah took the lead and showed them how to play defense, dribble and shoot the ball! We all had a lot of fun!

In the door and out the window!

That's right, most of the time people go in a house through a door and out the same way. Today Zach and Noah decided to go in the door and out of the house through the window? They went out the window and crawled forward onto their hands until their feet hit the ground. They also figured out how to do a safe forward roll out the window of the house, by tucking their head.

We have the photos to prove it!

The Bike Rodeo!

What a day of fun! There were bikes, scooters, a bike wash station, sidewalk chalk, a craft table, snacks and so much more! There were two wheel bikes, bikes with training wheels, bikes with horns, bikes with baskets, bikes with decorations and bikes with no peddles at all!

Both the TBSCC staff and the children all agree this was one of the best days ever!

Thank you Dancing Nancy

 It's hard to believe that today was our last session with Dancing Nancy. Fortunately we still have Shalom Day to look forward to and to share with Nancy. Thank you so much Nancy for working and playing hard with us all year. The children are clearly excited about performing our new dances on the last day of school.  Today they continued to work on regulating their body movements by freezing along with the music. They also had to follow multi-part directions as they practiced their dances. Using the hula hoops is always a hit, and today was no exception. It was great to see all the creative uses of the hoops that the children discovered. Maria and I tried to use them the old
fashioned way but without much
success. We need more practice.
Thank you Nancy for another great year!