why did you put this out?

"Why did you put this out? Asked Jayden. Before I could reply, she said "Did you think it would be a good idea?".

"Yes!" I exclaimed "This is hard work!"

During her December trip to Israel, Tina Golden (Levana teacher) had several opportunities to visit a preschool classroom. She brought back many great ideas and photographs of the Israeli children playing and learning. One of the activities that I found fascinating was a simple empty water bottle and thin strips of newspaper. The children had to rip or squish the newspaper and then push it through the small opening at the top of the water bottle.

During the OT presentation on Curriculum Night, we learned that manipulatives are not just toys that you use with your hands. A true manipulative is something that you can manipulate or change for a purpose. We realized that using this newspaper and water bottle activity would be a great opportunity to help the Sunshine children strengthen their hand muscles and fine motor skills.

At first, Lizzie tried to shove a lot of newspaper into the bottle using a fist. She finally figured out that she needed small pieces of paper and began ripping the newspaper with her fingers. Later, as she began putting the smaller pieces in, she realized that using her fingers helped to maintain better control of the paper so that it could fit into the small opening.

Mesmerizing Magnet Tiles

At some point through the day every child in the Tel-Avv class was playing with magnet tiles. There were houses, castles, spaceships and even a fire station made today in our block area. Magnet tiles are a great toy for this group because it allows for independent, parallel and cooperative imaginative play. It was great to see different groups of children playing with each other and to see the social fluidly among groups of children in the Tel Aviv class. One of the highlights included the repetitive building and knocking down a magnet tile tower. It was great to see Jacob, Dylan, Ezra and Eli all taking turns knocking the tower down. Eliza put two triangles together and made a diamond. She said that it was a bird flapping her wings. It was great to watch the children experiment with shapes and building while using their imaginations. I can’t wait to see what they will imagine tomorrow!

Working together

Our Scientists truly enjoy the company of one another. With a whole bunch of new manipulative toys to investigate, our friends decided to dive in together.

Above, our friends are building with our new Legos, a donation from Judi. Many of these new creations will end up in our new "Building Creations" book that we are making. In this new book, the Scientists are drawing the structures that they are making, so that long after they have been taken apart we still have the ability to enjoy them.

Here Jeffrey and Lucas are working to put together a three-dimensional puzzle. This puzzle is made up of streets and cars. Almost every piece has at least one half of a car, and to put the puzzle together, the cars have to be completed! There is no correct way to put this puzzle together, so these cars can end up having two fronts, two ends, or being two-toned. But the important thing is the communication that our friends were using with one another to put this together.

Jayden and Becca are enjoying a tried and true favorite, playdoh! Using different cookie cutters, rolling pins, and hammers, they made some wild stuff!

Puzzles can always be found in the room, but sometimes the key is to get them out as an option! Here our boys are working with one another to put together one of our small but tough puzzles!

-Alison Simpson

Water, Water, Everywhere building ( last week)

Avery and Max work cooperatively to connect the pipes. How do they fit together? Some are wide at the end and some are more narrow. What to do? They soon get the pipes connected and build higher and higher with Jacob and Dylan. Their imagination kicks in and there is water water splashing everywhere.